Fortum takes no risks when building Sweden’s largest biofuel-fired co-generation powerplant in central Stockholm.
Building in central Stockholm always places high demands on safety. When building right next to a power plant in full operation, the safety requirements reach an entirely new level.
“The entire Värtaverket co-generation plant is in operation, producing electricity and heat during the construction period,” explains Martin Jonsson, Regional Manager at ÅF. “So vibration measurements are an important part of our work for securing the electricity supply for Stockholm residents. A major power outage simply cannot be allowed to happen.””The entire Värtaverket co-generation powerplant is in operation, producing electricity and heat during construction,” explains Martin Jonsson, Regional Manager at ÅF. ”So vibration measurements are an important part of our work for securing the electricity supply for Stockholm residents. A major power outage simply may not happen.”
Vibration-sensitive turbines
ÅF has been given the assignment to take charge of all land project planning, work which began in 2012. For the client, Fortum Värme AB co-owned with the City of Stockholm, the plant is an important step in the development of a sustainable energy supply. When the plant is commissioned in 2016, carbon dioxide emissions will decrease by approximately 650,000 tonnes per year globally. But until then, careful safety work is needed to secure the electricity supply.
”There is an extreme amount of sensitive equipment here that could be damaged by vibrations,” explains Martin Jonsson. ”Rotating machines like turbines and fans, distribution substations and 100-tonne transformers. Investigating risks and insulating what could be damaged from vibrations has been a complicated process.
Besides the existing power plant, there are also nearby homes, cable tunnels and important parts of the city’s road network to take into consideration.”
Measurement with short start-up time
With many measurement points and large amounts of vibration data, a well-functioning measurement system with reliable measurement equipment is needed.
”We chose Ava Monitoring since our measurement consultants knew their field instruments and had worked with the AvaNet web-based measurement system before,” says Martin Jonsson, Regional Manager at ÅF. ”This meant that we had a very short start-up time. We take advantage of all measurement data being online every day.”
Long battery life minimises the work
Several different sensors are used together with the AvaTrace M60. field instrument in the measurements at Värtaverket. Vertical, horizontal and triaxial geophones as well as accelerometers have been placed to register data over an extended period of time.
”For us, the long battery life is one of the largest advantages of the system. It minimises our work. But I also have to mention the cooperation with AVA Monitoring. We have had a very good collaborative climate where we have received good service the entire time. They are professional, straight forward and easy to work with. And this is something I appreciate a great deal,” concludes Martin Jonsson.
