In Duisburg, Germany, the Siemens mega test center has been in operation for 1000 days. This huge facility meets the current demand for giant equipment to be tested for their suitability in the remotest parts of the world. On the other hand, it happens that engineers have to maintain systems at customers’ sites throughout the world.
In order to achieve this, Siemens chose ProDAQ from Bustec for their data-acquisition hardware and CODA from m+p for their mobile data acquisition unit for on-site testing. m+p mobile Coda systems support 96 channels to measure temperatures, pressures, flows and strains. Bustec products such as our VXIbus motherboards, numerous products from the ProDAQ Function Card Series and many others from our ProDAQ 5000 Series of signal conditioning cards and systems are used in these mobile coda systems.
Furthermore, m+p stationary data acquisition systems, using Bustec products, have also been successfully providing continuous data acquisition, data processing, and real-time monitoring at the Siemens giant test facility in Duisburg for several years. They acquire, and verify, not only the performance data and thermodynamic parameters, but also the vibration data of turbocompressors. A single stationary data acquisition unit acquires up to 168 process signals, and 48 vibration signals. So far over 500 turbines with up to 80 megawatts of capacity have been tested there.
This mega test centre was built because new oil and gas reserves are being developed in ever more remote and inhospitable regions, such as the Arctic Ocean, or off the Brazilian coast at a depth of 5000 meters. As was stated during the opening ceremony, the search for energy sources requires more money and improved technology. This technology must be operated under extreme conditions without personnel and also be maintenance free. This requirement for the turbines, which cost up to 40 million Euro, can be measured and proven in the new test centre.
Siemens Energy has received orders for air separation plants in India and Inner Mongolia. 15 compressor trains for oxygen production, and three compressor trains for coal gasification are to be delivered. From this large order, the first compressor and its drives are to be tested in spring 2014, and the last in early 2015. Checks will include mechanical running behaviour with wave vibrations, bearing temperatures, lube oil consumption, but also often the intake volume, pressure increases and the efficiency.
“Our test center is the most modern of its kind and puts us well ahead of competitors and their testing capabilities”, says test center boss Norbert Geilich.
We at Bustec are always glad to be part of the implementation and achievement of great projects.