Hydro Sensors
Bently Nevada's hydro sensors - for measurement of vibrations help to avoid unplanned outages.
When you need to know what’s going on with your hydroelectric generator – especially while it’s in operation – Bently Nevada† has you covered with our family of proven Hydro Sensors.
We at Bently Nevada pioneered this space over 50 years ago with the launch of our eddy current proximity transducers to which have been added dynamic pressure, generator air gap, and stator end winding vibrations.
Bently Nevada's 4000 series capacitive generator air gap sensor sets the standard for real-time air gap measurement between your generator’s rotor and stator – vital if you want to understand your unit’s behavior under load. Air gap dimensions along with rotor and stator shape cannot be effectively measured with the generator out of service because of the combined effects of centrifugal, thermal, and magnetic forces. In short: you need real time monitoring to get real, usable data.
The company's Hydro Sensors record multiple variables – not just one – so that you can obtain a more accurate understanding of your machinery’s vibration monitoring system issues. And with increased data and understanding comes the ability to more accurately diagnose a problem, and react accordingly avoiding costly downtime, misdiagnoses, and in some cases avoiding costly tear-down inspections that weren’t needed.
Product Features
Provides Dynamic Measurements – Our Dynamic Pressure Sensor makes static and dynamic measurements for hydro turbine or pumps monitoring applications. Dynamic pressure measurements can help you detect and understand hydraulic pulsations and instabilities associated with inefficient or damaging operating modes.
Our 4000 Series Air Gap Sensor System provides vibration monitoring and diagnostic capability for all new and existing hydro generators and motor/generators and fully integrates with the 3500/46M Hydro Monitor and System 1† software.
Delivers Cost-Effective Results - Bently Nevada’s Stator End Winding Accelerometer offers a cost-effective way for the accurate monitoring of stator end winding vibration associated with insulation breakdown and deterioration.
Bently Nevada’s industry-proven and reliable 3300XL Proximity Probes and a full range of accelerometers and velocity transducers round out a complete solution for your hydroelectric generator protection and monitoring needs.
Hydro Sensors Product Family
Product Family
The 4000 Series Air Gap Sensor System provides monitoring and diagnostic capability for all new and existing hydro generators and motor/generators, and fully integrates with the 3500/46M Hydro Monitor and System 1 software. Air gap is a measure of the distance between the rotor and stator in a hydro generator. Monitoring the air gap is critically important because both the stator and the rotor on hydro machines can be flexible and their shape and location are affected by operating centrifugal, thermal and magnetic forces. Air gap measurement is critical because the flexible stator assembly can become non-concentric or out-of-round. The monitor continuously measures average air gap, and minimum and maximum air gaps with their corresponding pole numbers. The software trends and displays these values, along with additional values related to the stator, circularities, and center offsets. The air gap monitoring system provides operations and maintenance personnel with early warning of impending problems with shape and concentricity of the generator rotor and stator. The 4000 Series capacitive sensor is available in two range options. The 20 mm system has a linear range of 18.3 mm, and is appropriate for use on small to medium generators. The 50 mm system has a 45.7 mm linear range, and is suitable for large generators.
Our unique 350300 Hydro-Dynamic Pressure Sensor directly connects to the 3500/46M monitor to provide static and dynamic pressures from the same monitor channel and can be displayed in time and frequency domain formats in the System 1 software.
Our 330446/330447 Hydro Stator End Winding (SEW) Accelerometer system provides a cost-effective and reliable method for monitoring stator end winding vibration. With a dual-axis MEMS capacitive accelerometer, highly insulated probe housing coupled with flexibility and ease of installation, our 330447 SEW accelerometer probe is perfectly suited for the high electric field environments of hydro generators. The highest degree of accuracy - the accuracy you need when determining proper maintenance and catastrophic failure prevention - is achieved through the use of Pole Passing Frequency (or Forcing Frequency) amplitudes along with acceleration measurements in both the X and Y axis thus ensuring you have a complete overview of any vibration issues.
