Intelligent Sound Analysis for Hydropower Plants

With OnCare.Acoustic, hydropower plant operators can discover potentially dangerous incidents by detecting sound anomalies, classifying them into warnings and alarms, as well as allocating them to specific equipment. This enables the derivation of information for smarter recommendations and decisions for maintenance and operations.

Hydropower plants today are already highly automated. As hydropower plants are often located in remote areas, problems might remain undetected and can cause severe damage to equipment. Many hydropower plants are unmanned, relying on regular service cycles and monitoring systems to discover any anomalies that could lead to dangerous incidents. Without monitoring systems and advanced analytics, hydropower plant operators risk possibly dangerous conditions, especially with equipment that has no condition monitoring or is not continuously surveilled.

The modular offering supports hydropower plant operators in becoming aware and discovering potentially dangerous incidents by detecting sound anomalies. The sound monitoring system contributes to ensuring the reliability, availability and safety of hydropower plants. It is equipped with an acoustic sensor and a BlueBox for connecting data to the cloud. The offering includes different modular packages.

Plant operators are informed about suspicious, detected sounds which are already pre-classified in warnings and alarms. This supports customers in deciding whether they need to act. By classifying the events and allocating them to specific equipment, plant operators gain further insights into their hydropower plant which increases the chance of identifying possible dangerous conditions ahead of other alarms.

OnCare.Acoustic is based on the IIoT platform OnCumulus, offering the capability of benefiting from bridging information from different sources and applications. The acoustic monitoring system meets the highest industry standards and best practices regarding privacy, security, and compliance. The cybersecurity experts at Voith ensure end-to-end security always.