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Predictive Maintenance of HVDC Converter Stations within Manitoba Hydro

From Flir Systems Incorporated
 

 
Manitoba Hydro electrical system supplies the Canadian province of Manitoba and has an installed generation capacity of 5423 MW. Nearly 70 percent of the electricity is transmitted through Manitoba Hydro's Dorsey Converter Station. As a result, the HVDC system is expected to operate at a very high reliability level. The converter station consists of a number of different components ranging from disconnects to thyristor valves. Equipment failures can impact safety, cause environmental damage, and develop high outage costs. Consequently reliability now becomes an important issue. Most equipment failures have a 4 to 12 hour duration time and can interrupt from 300MW to 1000MW of power. To reduce the maintenance costs and proactively prevent forced outages, a comprehensive infrared scanning program was implemented in 1980. Infrared thermography has become the non-destructive testing tool of choice to reduce equipment failure, increase safety, reduce environmental damage, and prevent costly outages. It has also allowed us to extend equipment maintenance frequencies. This paper describes a number of cases where infrared scanning was successfully applied to prevent potential equipment failures.
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