 Into
a nuclear power plant with
B&B Electronics 802.15.4 wireless
Lloyd Pentecost, Maintenance Engineering at the San Onofre
Nuclear Generating Station in California, searched for a method
to monitor large secondary plant motors with a wireless mesh
networking system.
Monitoring temperature of pump motors gives one indication
of the operating conditions or "health" of the 2500 horsepower
motors. If a motor were to fail unexpectedly, the plant would
operate at only 80% capacity for a number of days, resulting
in losses that could exceed $400,000. Collecting and analyzing
motor temperature data in real-time allows action to be taken
before a catastrophic failure occurs.
As the monitoring system plan developed, it was decided a
new wireless data communication was called for. Avoiding new
cabling would save initial installation expense and improve
life-cycle and system ROI considerably. Pentecost required
a system that would be reliable in his RF noisy environment,
and meet demanding security requirements, while providing
a path for future expansion.
An 802.15.4 wireless mesh network from Sensicast Systems
was selected. "Evaluating various wireless technologies, Sensicast's
networking platform provided the right set of features for
the job," Pentecost said.  "With
battery powered sensors, no power wires are needed. It has
excellent performance and range compared to the other technologies
we tested."
As part of Pentecost's system, B&B Electronics is supplying
custom RTD to 802.15.4 wireless converter nodes. They will
connect to embedded RTD sensors and convert their analog signals
to RF signals for the wireless network.
IEEE 802.15.4 is just one of the wireless standards in which
B&B Electronics is fluent. Contact us for off-the-shelf or
custom products.
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