Condition Monitoring in an Age of Modernization: How (and why) to Adapt

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The widespread application and use of electricity, which may now seem like a simple commodity, is considered one of the greatest technical developments of all time. However, keeping up with today’s demand for power is anything but simple: a vast amount of resources goes into maintaining a reliable infrastructure.
A century ago, we didn’t have as many assets to monitor and protect against failure— but naturally, as society has developed and adopted technology, our global need for power has expanded, and with that expansion grid infrastructure has also grown. And as the grid grows, it must also adapt as the industry faces new challenges and opportunities, such as supporting modern, renewable resources and large industrial complexes.
The application of digitization and analytics is common in many industries to address evolving demands: enterprises are using automation to manage and troubleshoot networks, substantially cutting down maintenance time and operational costs with around-the-clock monitoring capabilities; healthcare facilities are leveraging data to enhance patient care and improve pharmaceutical ordering; and airline designers like Boeing and GE are using digital twins and virtual replication to transform the way they produce aircraft.
Across the board, industries are leveraging data to drive efficiency, reliability, resilience and better outcomes for customers with one thing in common — proactivity in their approaches. So, if the power industry paved the way for so many of these remarkable evolutions, how are we advancing the way in which we meet our own industry’s needs?

Condition monitoring: What it is and its role in modernization
Condition monitoring—the process of monitoring a parameter related to asset condition to identify a significant change indicative of a developing fault—helps utilities make informed and confident maintenance and repair decisions across all the assets they manage.

Read full article in the magazine.

SOURCEElectricity Today Magazine March/April 2019 Volume 32, No.2
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Tony McGrail is Doble Engineering Company’s Solutions Director for Asset Management & Monitoring Technology, providing condition, criticality and risk analysis for utility companies. Previously, McGrail spent more than 10 years with National Grid in the U.K. and the U.S. McGrail is a substation equipment specialist with a focus on power transformers, circuit breakers and integrated condition monitoring. He has also taken on roles of Substation Asset Manager and Distribution Asset Manager, identifying risks and opportunities for investment in an ageing infrastructure. McGrail is a Fellow of the IET, a member of the IEEE, and a member of the IAM. He is currently Chair of the Doble Client Committee on Asset and Maintenance Management and a contributor to SFRA and other standards at IEEE, IEC and CIGRE. He holds a B.S. in Physics, supplemented by a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering and a M.B.A. McGrail is an adjunct professor at Worcester Polytechnic Institute of Massachusetts, leading courses in power systems analysis.

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