Tucson Electric Power on the cutting edge of predictive maintenance
Tucson Electric Power (TEP) has received an international award for predictive maintenance at the Springerville Generating Station (SGS).
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| TEP's Springerville Generating Station Solar System. Credit: Tucson Electric Power |
TEP received the Emerson Process Experts 2013 Reliability Program of the Year award for the use of effective reliability and maintenance practices that saved the utility more than $1.4 million in 2012 alone, using technology to monitor and identify equipment in need of repair or replacement.
"Because we are able to predict failures before they happen, the company is only paying the cost to replace parts instead of having to spend significantly more for new equipment, and we can schedule maintenance at our convenience rather than wait for a failure," said Mark Mansfield, vice president of generation, TEP. "Ultimately, this program helps us to maintain reliable service and lower costs on behalf of our customers and co-owners."
Specialized tools and equipment such as vibration analysis, infrared thermography, oil analysis and electrical motor testing are used to predict when bearings or other parts in motors, fans and pumps will go bad so the parts can be replaced or fixed before the equipment fails.
In 2013, TEP began installation of a wireless vibration system throughout the plant's coal handling facilities, which automatically collects vibration data and sends it to system supervisors for analysis. For example, as gears deteriorate, vibration increases -- a change that can be detected with the vibration system. Once fully installed, the system is expected to be among the largest wireless vibration networks of any power plant in the world and among the top five largest of any industry in the world.
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