Steam turbine health monitoring

Turbine Torsional Vibration Advisor (TTVA)

TTVA is GE’s digital solution for model-based torsional vibration monitoring and diagnostics for steam turbines. The system offers health monitoring of the turbine’s shaft line for focused outage planning. The advisor enables real-time insight into stresses and vibration amplitudes in all critical locations along the rotor, using a combination of state-of the-art signal processing technology and physical model results (rotor dynamic digital twin).

Permanent monitoring of the torsional vibration helps to assess the potential impact on the fatigue of shafts and components. Unmonitored torsional vibration resonances may lead to catastrophic events as there is a higher risk of rotor cracks in cycling operation modes (high number of starts in year). 

Valve & Actuator Monitoring System (VAMS)

The Valve and Actuator Monitoring System (VAMS) is a computer- based system that provides the required hardware and software to monitor the status and behavior of the valve components in steam turbines and enables assessment functionalities to determine health status.

Conventional power plants need to operate more flexible due to the increase of renewable power generation compared to the original design intent of baseload operation. The change in operation modes increase the risk of failure for steam valves as the change to being continuously throttled increases wear and tear. VAMS helps to reduce maintenance costs, increase plant availability, and reduce the risk of forced outages.

Turbine Lifetime Advisor (TLA)

The Turbine Lifetime Advisor provides steam turbine lifetime consumption information. It records operation data such as startup, types of start, combined with critical turbine parameters and monitoring. It supports the customer in optimizing asset operation based on business needs and maintenance planning.