Sponsor: Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation

• Project duration: 10/1/2004 - 9/30/2008
• Total project (est.): $5,414,986
• Requested ATP funds: $2,653,344

Condition-based maintenance is the increasingly popular concept of monitoring the "health" of essential machinery so that it can be shut down for maintenance when - and only when - it needs it. The alternative is predictive maintenance, shutting the machine down when it statistically ought to need maintenance, or according to some schedule found by experience to be reasonable. In certain industries - notably electric power generation - this is very expensive. The efficient, high-performance gas turbines predominantly used to generate electricity are very expensive pieces of equipment used in an extremely competitive industry. Every hour off-line costs money. The only thing worse than stopping a turbine that doesn't actually need maintenance is unscheduled maintenance due to equipment break-down. To date, it has been impossible to apply true condition-based maintenance to gas turbines because the extremely harsh operating conditions in the heart of a gas turbine preclude using the necessary advanced sensors to monitor the machine's condition continuously. Siemens Westinghouse Power Corporation in a joint venture with partner MesoScribe Technologies Inc. (Stony Brook, N.Y.) proposes a potentially industry-changing technology to build smart, self-aware engine components that incorporate wireless embedded, harsh-environment-capable sensors for continuously monitoring machine conditionr. One key development issue is the need to embed sensors on complex shapes, such as turbine blades. MesoScribe Technologies is developing a process break-through called Conformal Direct-Write^TM technology, based on research at the State University of New York at Stony Brook, for directly depositing sensor components on complex surfaces. Siemens Westinghouse will integrate this technology with a wireless telemetry system to relay the sensor data to assess turbine condition while it is operating. The approach involves several difficult engineering challenges, including positioning sensors in the best places on the turbine for optimum monitoring, protecting them from the extreme temperatures of an operating gas turbine, and successfully transmitting the telemetry signal from an environment very hostile to wireless signals. If successful, the new technology would make a dramatic change in operating and maintenance procedures in the electric power industry and other industries. Turbines are used in numerous ways, including power generation, commercial and military aviation and marine propulsion. The technology has the potential to save operators and owners of gas and steam turbines over $86 M per year through lower cost of operation and lower emissions. The partners require ATP support because embedded wireless sensors represent a major technological leap - the high-risk nature of the research and the long R&D; period preclude most alternatives for research funding. ATP support is expected to accelerate the project by three years.

Active Project Participants

• MesoScribe Technologies, Inc. (Stony Brook, N.Y.)

For project information:

Melanie Forbrick, (407)736-6718
melanie.forbrick@siemens.com

ATP Project Manager

Amit Bagchi, 301-975-3638
amit.bagchi@nist.gov

This is the fact sheet for this project as it was announced on September 28, 2004.
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