In 2007, Exelon Corp. began the Centralized Performance Monitoring (CPM) pilot program. The goal was to reduce downtime costs and lost revenue associated with the 25% of unplanned forced losses across its fleet of 17 nuclear power units without additionally taxing existing personnel or adding new personnel. Exelon determined that at least 2% of these losses could be caught with a centralized monitoring program.
Exelon selected InStep’s PRiSM online condition-monitoring software and interfaced it to Exelon’s existing real-time plant data historian infrastructure. Together, they provide a fleetwide centralized solution requiring only two corporate-level individuals.
Within two months Exelon had developed 500 different models with the InStep solution and identified $540,000 in avoided faults. According to Chris Demars, Exelon corporate engineering CPM project manager, a conservative annualized estimate of failure avoidance is $3.3 million. This program also won the 2008 NEI Top Industry Practice "TIP" award. Here is the story behind this success.
1. Quantify the failure. The top graph indicates a 25% deviation from normal condensate pump operation as determined by the multidimensional PRiSM model analytics. The second graph indicates that measurement sensor readings BRW01V_T2560 (inboard bearing temperature) and BRW01B_T2561 (outboard bearing temperature) are the main contributors to the deviation. Source: InStep Software
Selecting the Solution
Several factors drove Exelon to look for an alternative to the decentralized monitoring model. As staff resources and senior expertise to monitor its plants shrunk, the value of intelligent monitoring grew. A solution that lessened the burden on personnel, extracted more data, found more faults, and was quickly installed and scaled was necessary to increase Exelon’s efficiency and meet business goals. Additionally, early detection of equipment failures prevents the creation of a hazardous environment that accompanies rotating equipment failures or the release of industrial gases and process fluids; it also improves nuclear and radiological safety.
The Exelon CPM pilot focused on monitoring a 17-unit fleet without hiring additional personnel. The software vendor selection process lasted three months, from March to May. Eight vendor products using a variety of different technologies were reviewed and assessed on 35 different factors.
InStep Software’s PRiSM online condition-monitoring software was chosen for the pilot project. PRiSM was interfaced to Exelon’s existing real-time plant data historian infrastructure, which includes InStep’s eDNA and another historian software application. According to Demars, "InStep’s experience in the nuclear industry combined with their data historian specialization, allowed them to develop an effective, intelligent, easy to install and use anomaly detection tool that fit our selection criteria better than any other on the market."
InStep’s PRiSM software is a self-learning analytic application for real-time online monitoring of critical assets for condition-based maintenance. The software uses pattern recognition and advanced data-mining technologies to provide for advanced early warning of equipment problems and failures. PRiSM learns from an asset’s individual operating history and develops a series of normal operational profiles for that piece of equipment. PRiSM then compares the known operational profiles with real-time operating data to detect the subtle changes in system behavior that are often the early warning signs of pending equipment failure. "One of the hallmarks of PRiSM is its ability to quickly develop models; this made it a strong candidate for Exelon early on," says Demars.
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