Impact of condition monitoring on the maintenance and economic viability of offshore wind turbines

Yan, Rundong; Dunnett, Sarah; Jackson, Lisa

Abstract

This study explores how condition monitoring (CM) can help operate offshore wind turbines (OWTs) effectively and economically. In this paper, the Petri Net (PN) simulation models are developed to quantitatively assess the OWT availability and operation and maintenance (O&M) costs. By investigating the impact of two CM approaches (i.e. purpose-designed CM and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA)-based CM) and their combinations with various maintenance strategies, the paper addresses two fundamental questions about OWT CM that have plagued the offshore wind sector for many years. They are ‘is a wind farm SCADA system a viable alternative to purpose-designed condition monitoring system (CMS)’ and ‘what is the best way to integrate CMSs and maintenance strategies to maximise the financial benefit of OWTs’. The research suggests that although utilising both a wind farm SCADA system and a purpose-designed CMS can achieve the highest turbine availability, it is not the most cost-effective option in terms of maintenance expenses. Instead, combining purpose-designed CM with less frequent advanced service can achieve the desired availability at the lowest cost. Furthermore, the use of a purpose-designed CMS is essential for the economical operation of OWTs and cannot be replaced by the current wind farm SCADA system.

Citation

Yan, R., Dunnett, S., & Jackson, L. (2023). Impact of condition monitoring on the maintenance and economic viability of offshore wind turbines. Reliability Engineering and System Safety, 238, Article 109475. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2023.109475

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 25, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jun 30, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-10
• Deposit Date: Jun 27, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 28, 2023
• Journal: Reliability Engineering & System Safety
• Print ISSN: 0951-8320
• Electronic ISSN: 1879-0836
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 238
• Article Number: 109475
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ress.2023.109475
• Keywords: Wind turbine, Condition monitoring, Maintenance, Petri net, Offshore wind system
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/22361249
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0951832023003897?via%3Dihub
• Additional Information: This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)