Background
Hydropower is the most economical and reliable renewable energy. Hydropower units are the core equipments for economic benefits of a water control project. With the expansion of their capacity and size, the operational stability of hydropower units exerts an increasing impact on the safety of hydropower stations and interconnected power grids. China will build "Internet Plus" smart hydropower stations according to the 13th Five-Year Plan for Hydropower Development. In this context, there is an urgent need to know the real-time operation status of hydropower units, so as to scientifically and reasonably determine the operation and maintenance mode, and achieve more intelligent management and safer and more efficient operation.
Contents
· Testing the start-up and trial operation of hydropower units and the full-head operation stability and energy characteristics of the units, and using the testing platforms to study the mechanical features of key rotating components, including the dynamic stress of runners and the torque of main axis and guide blade.
· Analyzing and studying the coupling relationship between characteristic parameters and operating condition parameters of hydropower units based on massive data about testing, monitoring, operation and maintenance;
· Investigating the health assessment, performance degradation mechanism and degradation trend prediction of hydropower units; and
· Researching the centralized monitoring and diagnosis strategy for large-scale inter-basin hydropower facility that integrates multiple units and systems.
Achievements
· The characteristics and laws of hydropower unit operation have been mastered, taking the lead in establishing the zoning criteriafor safe and stable operation of units and proposing the evaluation standards for operational safety and stability;
· A theory and method of intelligent assessment and diagnosis of hydropower units has been put forward for the first time based on big data of health, and a multi-dimensional model developed for health assessment, anomaly detection and performance degradation predication of hydropower units; and
· A system platform for remote condition monitoring and diagnosis has been created for large-scale, inter-basin hydropower equipment that integrates multiple units and systems, and a unified communication interface protocol established for monitoring data of device status.
Application
The achievements have been applied in 26 provinces of China, including Hubei, Zhejiang, Sichuan, Yunnan, Tibet and Jilin, and 16 other countries, including Guinea, Ethiopia, Iran, Chile, Turkey and Malaysia.
The key technologies and the intelligent health assessment system for safe and efficient operation of hydropower units, proposed by this project, have been successfully integrated into 285 hydropower units with a total installed capacity of 80,200 MW at home and abroad, brining significant economic and social benefits. These applications include giant hydropower stations in China, such as the Three Gorges hydropower stationand the Xiluodu hydropower station, and large and medium-sized hydropower stations in countries along the Belt and Road, such as the Keleta hydropower station in Guinea, and Gibe III hydropower station in Ethiopia.
Hydropower unit health assessment results
Horizontal vibration peak-to-peak values of upper bracket under full head conditions
Main interface of Diagnostic Center of the China Three Gorges Corporation
26F unit operating area of the Three Gorges Hydropower Plant by operational standards
Transfer Diagnostic Center to Three Gorges Corporation
