Power station vibrations

Monitoring vibration of power station turbines to provide essential data, calls for transducers such as RDP Electronics PY series that are fully up to the task of operating in such high temperature environments.

Power station turbines are typically operated continuously with little down time for maintenance and these sensors are widely used in the industry for measuring vibration on the high pressure and low pressure turbines of power stations. Transducers are fully welded and sealed to be suitable to operate at high temperatures and pressures. The PY Series of non-contact transducers use the variable reluctance principle which works with any suitable material that can be targeted by a magnet. With ranges up to 6mm, they can be positioned to accurately measure the position and check the vibration and other run out events in the turbine. A common arrangement is to deploy the PY sensors in conjunction with a target ring of suitable material fitted around the turbine and incorporating a calibration space containing a dip of a known depth, in order for the signal to be analysed while the turbine remains running.

The PY Series comes in single or double coil versions with options to measure gaps from a mere 1.5 mm to 6 mm and suitable for temperatures from -220 ºC to +600 ºC and radiation doses up to 1 M Gy also permitting their use in areas subject to nuclear radiation.