Toshiba to Develop Failure Detection Diagnostic Technology to Contribute to Greater Reliability of Major Equipment for Thermal Power Plants

-Addressing the Challenge of Increased Demand Fluctuations for Renewable Energy Using AI and Digital Technology-

NEWS RELEASE

Thermal Power

R & D / Technology

September 29 2020

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation

KAWASAKI, JAPAN―Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation (hereinafter “Toshiba ESS”) announced today that it has been commissioned by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) to carry out “Carbon Recycling/Next-Generation Thermal Power Generation Technology Development.”* Under this project, Toshiba ESS will develop technology for equipment life prediction, early failure detection, and diagnostics, with the overall goal of contributing to greater reliability of major equipment for thermal power plants. This project will run from September 2020 to March 2022.

Increasing the penetration of variable renewable energy in numerous countries around the world requires that thermal power plants respond to fluctuating load demands with greatly increased flexibility. Rapid and frequent load changes increase the stress on major power plant equipment and can result in increasing rates of failure and maintenance costs.

To address this new and demanding operating environment, Toshiba ESS is developing advanced maintenance technologies for thermal power plants to increase plant availability and reduce maintenance costs.

As an original equipment manufacturer, Toshiba ESS is using its experience and know-how on equipment, as well as plant operation and maintenance, for this project. To help inform preventive maintenance plans, visual inspections and non-destructive inspections have normally been necessary and require a plant outage. This project will develop technologies to monitor and predict the condition of major equipment without the need to shut down the plant, while also being enhanced by utilizing AI and digital technology. These technologies will be developed to predict the remaining life, detect early signs of failure, and diagnose faults in steam turbines, generators, and condensers, and will enable owners to plan optimized outage intervals using only remote monitoring, which will increase the economic efficiency of the thermal power plants. These technologies are applicable to steam turbines in both conventional and combined cycle thermal power plants, and will be developed and tested with the cooperation of Delta Electricity Co. in Australia at Unit 5 and 6 at the Vales Point Thermal Power Plant.

Takao Konishi, Director and Senior Vice President of Power Systems Division at Toshiba ESS commented, “We will further contribute to global promotion of enhancing maintenance and operation services by developed technologies for equipment life prediction, early failure detection, and diagnostics, with the overall goal of greater reliability of major equipment for thermal power plants.”

Toshiba ESS is striving to become one of the world’s leading cyber-physical system (CPS) technology companies. With our experience, technology, and know-how in the energy field, coupled with our use of IoT, the fusion between cyber technology and physical technology is made possible, allowing us to provide the necessary infrastructure services to increase the value of the existing assets in infrastructure and contribute toward creating a sustainable society.

*The official project name is “Carbon Recycling/Next-Generation Thermal Power Generation Technology Development/Next-Generation Thermal Power Generation Basic Technology Development/Coal-Fired Load Fluctuation Response Technology Development/Turbine Power Generation Equipment Next-Generation Maintenance Technology Development.”

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