Voith supports hydropower plant operators in discovering potentially dangerous incidents by detecting sound anomalies, classifying them into warnings and alarms, as well as allocating them to specific equipment, which enables the derivation of information for smarter recommendations and decisions with regard to maintenance and operations.
All this is possible with the help of OnCare.Acoustic, an app based on Voith’s Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform OnCumulus that can be extended with more functionality by adding OnCumulus.Suite to the package. The app detects sound anomalies, making hydropower plant operators more aware in discovering potentially dangerous incidents. The sound monitoring system contributes to ensuring the reliability, availability and safety of hydropower plants and it is also equipped with an acoustic sensor and the BlueBox for connecting data to the cloud.
After having been made aware of the suspicious sounds, the plant operator can decide whether to take action or not. By classifying the events and allocating them to specific equipment, plant operators get further insights into their hydropower plant and thereby increase the chance of identifying possible dangerous conditions, ahead of other alarms. In addition, Voith experts offer consulting services that include the analysis of inspection and maintenance reports in combination with operation and condition monitoring data.
OnCare.Acoustic is based on the IIoT platform OnCumulus and therefore offers the possibility of benefiting from bridging information from different sources and applications. The acoustic monitoring system meets the highest industry standards and best practices in regards to privacy, security and compliance, while the cybersecurity experts at Voith ensure end-to-end security at all times.
“The risk of major accidents and plant unreliability as well unavailability that urges power plant operators to take action has increased,” said Uwe Wehnhardt, CEO Voith Hydro. “With OnCare.Acoustic Voith delivers critical actionable information for intelligent hydropower to overcome the challenges through value-driven intelligence as well as to optimize availability and the use of resources.”
As hydropower plants are often located in remote areas and are also unmanned, they rely heavily on regular service cycles and monitoring systems to discover any occurring anomalies. Without monitoring systems and advanced analytics, hydropower plant operators risk possibly dangerous conditions, especially with equipment that has no condition monitoring or is not continuously under surveillance.
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