Monitoring and control of electric power generation using fiber optics for physical parameter sensing

摘要

This paper is an `extended abstract' for a more complete presentation at the SPIE Conference on Nondestructive Evaluation of Aging Infrastructure, scheduled for June 6 - 8, 1995 Oakland, California. The physical and economic climate of electric power generation, particularly for aging fossil-fuel plants, is reviewed. This calls for reliable sensing and monitoring/control systems to extend equipment life and preclude major breakdowns. An instrumentation system requirement is outlined for a cold reheat header located in the high temperature and contaminated/corrosive environment of the fluc-gas stream of a 480 MW fossil-fuel boiler. The development and installation of what is believed to be the world's first distributed fiber optic temperature and strain/displacement monitoring system, operating at 1100 degrees F, is reviewed. The nature of initial data acquisition and planned future system operation for improved plant health are presented. The installation of a discrete fiber optic system for main steam lines is also presented. Drawing on the technology and experience with the aforementioned development and installation, the planned function of the system is to provide data on thermally induced stresses (creep) for strain reduction by operational control.