Reduction of Operating and Maintenance Costs Through Automated Diesel Generator Performance Monitoring

One of the keys to reducing operating and maintenance costs for Emergency Diesel Generators (EDGs) at nuclear power plants is accurate, historical, and real time data from critical system parameters. This data can then be used to reduce overall maintenance cost by assisting the maintenance personnel in determining when and if maintenance can be deferred; identifying degrading performance before failures occur; and reducing troubleshooting time and assisting in root cause analysis investigations after a failure occurs.

A cost effective diesel generator performance monitoring system has been developed that will provide plant personnel with on-line and historical analysis capabilities. The system presented here was designed based on a modular approach that decreases the complexity of the systems individual components and increases the flexibility of the performance monitoring system based on the needs and desires of the individual plants. The system design also allows for future expansion to control various operating parameters.