Ultrasonic Condition Monitoring in Power Plants

Instruments based on airborne/structure borne ultrasound technology offer many opportunities for reducing energy waste and improving asset availability in power plants. They expand the concept of “Condition Monitoring” to include much more than basic mechanical fault inspections. Since these instruments detect friction, ionization and turbulence, their inspection capabilities range from trending bearing condition to determining lack of lubrication, locating compressed air leaks and detecting arcing, tracking and corona emissions in both open and enclosed electric equipment. Portable, instruments based on this technology are used to trend and analyze bearing condition, detect leaks (pressure and vacuum), test valves and steam traps, identify electrical problems and identify potential problems in gears, motors and pumps. This presentation will provide a brief overview of the technology, its applications, energy savings cost analysis and suggested inspection techniques.