VIBRATION BASED CONDITION MONITORING OF HYDRO-GENERATING EQUIPMENTS

Abstract

Abnormal vibration in electrical machines could reduce their reliability and efficiency. Prolongation the machine in same condition leads to deterioration and failure. Vibration condition monitoring (VCM) enhances the performance of Hydro Generating Equipments (HGE) by minimizing the damage and breakdown chances such that equipments stay available for a longer time. Failure of the equipments due to vibration causes shut down or sometimes even disaster of hydropower station. Advanced VCM is to examine the perforniance of such equipments on line automatically and to know the status of complex systems in hydropower generation. Fault detection techniques and vibration signal processing are the other techniques which have more scope to study. The execution of VCM and diagnosing system in a hydroelectric plant includes theoretical and experimental exploitation. The hydro generating equipment vibrates with the influence of different factors i.e. electrical, mechanical and l-lydraulic. The causes for this vibration are very complicated and mostly unavoidable. Hence the analysis of vibration signal is very important for diagnosing the fault of the machine. Inspection of these causes and handling them in an earlier stage are necessary for safe and stabile operation. This thesis gives a brief explanation of vibration related faults. Experimental results observed on a synchronous generator under different abnormal operating conditions are also provided. Future prospectus of VCM is discussed.