Process condition monitoring at FUGEN

Lund

PNC TN3410 98-001, 14 Pages, 1998/01

PNC-TN3410-98-001.pdf:3.07MB

At the FUGEN Power Station a system for online monitoring of selected process component behavior, CONFU (CONdition monitoring at FUgen) has been implemented. This system is based on MOCOM (Model Based Condition Monitoring System), developed at IFE/OECD Halden Reactor Project. The system is currently monitoring the heat exchangers for the Reactor Auxiliary Cooling Water System. These heat exchangers has shown a slowly degrading performance over time due to fouling, i.e. accumulation of a heat resisting layer of organic material on the sea water side. This slow degradation, which is not detected by the conventional control and alarm systems, is not an operational, but rather a maintenance problem. CONFU is using dynamically updated mathematical models to compute the performance degradation of the heat exchangers, expressed in overall heat transfer, heat transfer coefficients or heat exchanger efficiency. The results of testing CONFU on real plant data identify the expected degradation trends. The data from CONFU can, in addition to give the plant operator a good impression of the component's operational state, be utilized by the maintenance planning personnel for determination of the most optimal maintenance schedule. Furthermore, the process models in CONFU have been used for simulation purposes.