News
Wave-Phire Sensors Accumulate 50,000 Fired Hours in the FieldOxford, UK, May 2010. Wave-Phire fibre optic dynamic pressure sensors have successfully accumulated 50,000 fired running hours during a field trial conducted in collaboration with RWE NPower, part of the RWE Group.
Oxsensis Ltd have been developing their novel fibre optic based dynamic pressure sensors in close collaboration with OEMs and Utilities over several years. This has involved detailed and rigorous testing in R&D rigs and full engines, which gave confidence in the high level of performance that the Wave-Phire sensors can produce. What these R&D level tests did not address was proof of durability of the sensors for the expected lifetimes of sensors in industrial gas turbine environments. These lifetimes have to be in line with the maintenance and inspection intervals of the gas turbines, which can be typically 24,000 or 32,000 hours.
In October 2009, in order to address this proof of durability, Oxsensis installed 5 of their Wave-Phire DPT950 sensors on two Siemens SGT5-4000F (V94.3A) Gas Turbines at Didcot B power station in the UK, which is owned and operated by RWE Npower. Three of the sensors were mounted on the burner flange of the combustor on one the GTs (GT62) and two of the sensors were mounted on the exhaust housing of the neighbouring GT (GT61), so that they were protruding into the diffused gas flow. These sensors were then left to operate within the gas turbines until January 2011, where the two SGT5-4000F units reached their mid-life refurbishment point. In this period the sensors accumulated a total of just over 51,000 hours, with the longest running sensors achieving over 10,000 hours each.
The combustor mounted sensors were exposed to temperatures of around 450°C and 17bar pressure and the exhaust mounted sensors were operated at temperatures of around 550°C and pressures around atmospheric. The combustor sensors were monitored continuously with data being recorded at one second intervals. Calibrations of the sensors were performed before and after installation and the variation between these were found to be typically 2.5%.
John Drake, the Engineering Director at Oxsensis Ltd stated “We are very pleased that the sensors have demonstrated their consistent performance within a full representative environment over long periods of time. This coupled with the performance demonstrated in multiple R&D tests shows that the sensor is meeting the required standards of the Power Generation industry.”
Kevin Smith, Mechanical Engineer at Didcot B stated “We are happy to have been able to support an innovative company that has technology that may be of use to RWE Npower in the future.”
Oxsensis and RWE Npower will continue their collaboration with RWE Npower giving permission for Oxsensis to install further sensors in units GT61 and GT62 beyond their mid-life refurbishment.
Click here to download the press release