Granted Patent B2

US 12,416,284 · App. 18/975,501 · Granted Sep 16, 2025

Inventors: Jarkko Määttä (Kajaani, FI); Pauli Harila (Kemi, FI)

Assignee: TMV DETECTIONS OY

F03B11/008F03B11/04F03B15/16F05B2220/32F05B2270/1095

Abstract

Claims (34)

1. A method for analyzing cavitation in a hydro turbine of a hydroelectric power plant, the method comprising:

measuring, by using at least one motion sensor coupled to a rotor of the hydro turbine, motion of the rotor during operation of the hydro turbine to generate measurement data;

acquiring, by at least one processor, the measurement data and one or more operational parameters of the hydro turbine employed during said measuring, the one or more operational parameters indicative of power supply of the hydro turbine;

computing, by the at least one processor based on the measurement data and the operational parameters, at least one metric indicative of an effect of the cavitation on the hydro turbine;

comparing, by the at least one processor, the at least one metric with at least one threshold and determining, based on the comparison, that the effect of the cavitation is too high; and

outputting, by the at least one processor based on said determining, information indicating unsuitability of the one or more operational parameters,

wherein said acquiring, computing, and comparing are performed for a plurality of different sets of one or more operational parameters and for a plurality of different power supply regions, and wherein said outputting indicates at least one suitable set of one or more operational parameters and at least one unsuitable set of one or more operational parameters.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein said information comprises an alarm signal.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operational parameters configure the power supply to a region below 20 percent of a maximum power supply of the hydro turbine.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising changing, by an automated governing system of the hydro turbine based on the information output by the at least one processor, at least one of the one or more operational parameters of the hydro turbine.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the at least one of the one or more operational parameters of the hydro turbine comprises a pitch angle of rotor blades of the hydro turbine.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the automated governing system is configured to trigger automated shut down the hydro turbine based on the information.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more operational parameters comprises at least one of output power of the hydro turbine, a flow rate of liquid through the hydro turbine, a hydrostatic pressure at the turbine, a number of revolutions per time unit of the rotor, an absolute level of the liquid at an inlet of the turbine, an absolute level of the water at an outlet of the turbine, pitch angle of rotor blades, an elevation between the inlet and the outlet of the liquid in the hydro turbine, and an operational state of the hydro turbine indicating whether the hydro turbine is running, stopped, or in state transitioning.

8. A method for analyzing cavitation in a hydro turbine of a hydroelectric power plant, the method comprising:

measuring, by using at least one motion sensor coupled to a rotor of the hydro turbine, motion of the rotor during operation of the hydro turbine to generate measurement data;

acquiring, by at least one processor, the measurement data and one or more operational parameters of the hydro turbine employed during said measuring, the one or more operational parameters indicative of power supply of the hydro turbine;

computing, by the at least one processor based on the measurement data and the operational parameters, at least one metric indicative of an effect of the cavitation on the hydro turbine;

comparing, by the at least one processor, the at least one metric with at least one threshold and determining, based on the comparison, that the effect of the cavitation is too high; and

outputting, by the at least one processor based on said determining, information indicating unsuitability of the one or more operational parameters,

wherein the measurement data comprises acceleration data, the method further comprising computing, by the at least one processor, at least one of a first derivative, a second derivative, and a higher derivative of the acceleration data and computing the at least one metric based on the at least one of the first derivative, second derivative, and higher derivative of the acceleration data.

9. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program instructions that configure, when read and executed by a computer, the computer to carry out a computer process corresponding to the method of claim 8 .

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer program instructions that configure, when read and executed by a computer, the computer to analyze cavitation in a hydro turbine of a hydroelectric power plant, by performing operations comprising:

measuring, by using at least one motion sensor coupled to a rotor of the hydro turbine, motion of the rotor during operation of the hydro turbine to generate measurement data;

acquiring, by at least one processor, the measurement data and one or more operational parameters of the hydro turbine employed during said measuring, the one or more operational parameters indicative of power supply of the hydro turbine;

computing, by the at least one processor based on the measurement data and the operational parameters, at least one metric indicative of an effect of the cavitation on the hydro turbine;

comparing, by the at least one processor, the at least one metric with at least one threshold and determining, based on the comparison, that the effect of the cavitation is too high; and

outputting, by the at least one processor based on said determining, information indicating unsuitability of the one or more operational parameters,

wherein said acquiring, computing, and comparing are performed for a plurality of different sets of one or more operational parameters and for a plurality of different power supply regions, and wherein said outputting indicates at least one suitable set of one or more operational parameters and at least one unsuitable set of one or more operational parameters.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein said information comprises an alarm signal.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the one or more operational parameters configure the power supply to a region below 20 percent of a maximum power supply of the hydro turbine.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the one or more operational parameters of the hydro turbine is changed by an automated governing system of the hydro turbine based on the information output by the at least one processor.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the at least one of the one or more operational parameters of the hydro turbine comprises a pitch angle of rotor blades of the hydro turbine.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the automated governing system is configured to trigger automated shut down the hydro turbine based on the information.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 10 , wherein the one or more operational parameters comprises at least one of output power of the hydro turbine, a flow rate of liquid through the hydro turbine, a hydrostatic pressure at the turbine, a number of revolutions per time unit of the rotor, an absolute level of the liquid at an inlet of the turbine, an absolute level of the water at an outlet of the turbine, pitch angle of rotor blades, an elevation between the inlet and the outlet of the liquid in the hydro turbine, and an operational state of the hydro turbine indicating whether the hydro turbine is running, stopped, or in state transitioning.

Priority Claims (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (29)