Hitachinaka Thermal Power Station. Image credit: TEPCO
A business partnership launched by TEPCO Fuel & Power, Inc. and Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems to target efficiency enhancement at thermal power plants worldwide has produced an advanced fault detection model for coal-fired power stations.
The effectiveness of the model was confirmed at TEPCO’s Hitachinaka Thermal Power Station in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. The model used data from previous cases of equipment malfunction to detect signs of an impending tube leak, which could potentially cause a plant shutdown, one month before it actually occurred. The evaluation confirmed that the model can prevent emergency shutdowns and shorten unscheduled shutdown time, improving the availability of power generating equipment.
The companies plan to launch services making use of the new model and verifying, via an internet of things platform, equipment data monitored at the Pagbilao Power Station operated by TeaM Energy Corporation in the Philippines and other power stations both in Japan and overseas.
