Reduce Long-Term Plant Equipment Component Engineering and Maintenance Costs Using Wireless Vibration Sensors - MTA-MA-024

Administrative Items
Date	04/23/21
Functional Area Where Benefits Will Be Realized	Maintenance Engineering Operations
Reference Implementation Guidance	Online Monitoring – Engineering Change Package Content for a Distributed Antenna System and Wireless Vibration Sensors (EPRI 3002011820) 2018 TIP Award Wireless Vibration Sensor (ID: 11254565) EPRI’s Continuous Online Monitoring (COLM) Quick Guides (such as EPRI 3002012763 for vertical pumps and EPRI 3002015789 for centrifugal fans) that may be used to determine what applications the wireless vibration sensors can be used for
Industry SME	EPRI – Mike Taylor EPRI – Stephen Lopez Contact: NuclearPlantMod@epri.com
Previous Implementation	Several nuclear power plants have implemented wireless vibration sensors. Contact EPRI for details on previous implementations.
Implementation Enablers	MTA-MA-003 – Implement a Wireless Network Infrastructure Using a Distributed Antenna System (DAS) MTA-MA-004 – Implement a Wireless Network Infrastructure Using WiFi
SWEEP Score	Cost – Level 3 – Implementation cost is less than $1 million and includes engineering, installation, and development of the software to integrate the data with the plant historian. Savings – Level 1 – Savings are less than $1 million per year, however, cost savings could be significantly greater if vibration monitoring helps avoid equipment failures. Payback – Level 3 – Payback period is less than one year. Technical Readiness – Level 3 – This technology is commercially available and is already in use at commercial nuclear sites. Licensing Readiness – Level 3 – This technology has already been implemented at nuclear power plants and no changes to the site license are required. Implementation Proficiency – Level 2 – For full remote monitoring (wireless data transmission), implementation proficiency is dependent on site‑specific experience related to wireless data infrastructure, wireless data transmission for maintenance and monitoring, and cyber‑security protocols.
Applicability	All reactor types All geographic regions
Keywords	Wireless vibration sensor; online monitoring; performance monitoring; reduced maintenance
Business Case Analysis Cross-Reference	Plant Modernization Business Case: Monitoring and Diagnostic Program Development (EPRI 3002018424).

Description

Wireless vibration sensors are non‑invasive devices that can be mounted on plant equipment, such as pumps, motors, heat exchangers, compressors, couplings, and fans, to monitor and trend the health and performance of the equipment. The monitoring and trending data can then be used to identify degraded conditions that could lead to equipment failure. A wireless vibration sensor system includes the sensor hardware, the gateway/receiver for data transmission, and the interface processing software to integrate the data into the plant historian. The mounted vibration sensor is battery‑powered and measures velocity or acceleration of the monitored plant component and transmits the data to the gateway/receiver. The gateway/receiver then transmits the data either wirelessly or through a wired connection to the plant business network or specified computer for data integration. The data is then integrated into the plant historian using software either developed in‑house or purchased from a vendor depending on the utility’s historian configuration. The data can then be used for trending to assess the equipment performance to increase reliability and reduce maintenance costs. The wireless vibration sensors can be mounted using various methods, such as a stud, epoxy, or magnetic mounting. Choice of mounting is dependent on the application and site‑specific requirements.

Several other MTAs for continuous online monitoring describe applications for wireless vibration sensors, such as MTA-MA-002 (motors), MTA-MA-008 (heat exchangers), MTA-MA-009 (pumps), MTA-MA-010 (compressors), MTA-MA-011 (couplings), and MTA-MA-014 (fans).

Benefits

Benefits Estimate

Level 1 – Savings are less than $1 million per year, however, cost savings could be significantly greater if vibration monitoring helps avoid equipment failures.

Benefits Description

• Increased equipment reliability because adverse equipment performance trends and degradation can be identified early.
• Reduction in labor hours associated with traditional trending and monitoring by integrating data into the plant historian.
• Reduced installation cost for wireless sensors compared to wired instrumentation, which can exceed $1M to implement due to cable routing.
• Reduction in maintenance costs by supporting the transition from time‑based monitoring to condition‑based monitoring.
• Reduction in personnel dose by enabling the replacement of in‑person, manual monitoring of equipment in high‑dose areas with automated monitoring.

Costs and Schedule

Cost

Level 3 – Implementation cost is less than $1 million and includes engineering, installation, and development of the software to integrate the data with the plant historian.

Schedule

One to three years for engineering, installation, and development of software in‑house. Schedule can be reduced to less than six months should the utility purchase software from a vendor.

Scope Context

Per site.

Risks

The system must be properly segmented and implemented to avoid an increase in vulnerability to cybersecurity threats. Following the cybersecurity guidance in the available reference implementation guidance will mitigate this risk. Alternatively, the sensors could be used for monitoring only and not for operational decision making.

Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) must be considered to ensure that the wireless signals from vibration sensors do not adversely affect nearby equipment. Following the EPRI and U.S. NRC guidance for equipment EMC qualification and maintaining a minimum separation distance, if required, will mitigate this risk.