A new autonomous sensor will reduce cost of operations and maximise life of offshore wind turbines.
4Subsea’s Smart Monitoring Sensor (SMS) Strain measures the dynamic strain of offshore wind turbines with high resolution and accuracy.
Peter Jenkins, CEO of 4Subsea, said: “The sooner you know the status of your asset, the larger the range of available options to either optimise or mitigate the findings. The key to unlocking this knowledge is increased understanding, which our sensors deliver.”
“SMS Strain is the latest of our autonomous sensors that help operators reduce the cost of operations and maximise life of assets when combined with our data analytics and engineering specialists within the company.”
Low power consumption
SMS Strain has extremely low power consumption, enabling continuous logging and data storage at 10Hz sampling frequency for a full 12 months.
SMS Strain sensors can be cabled to motion sensors like the SMS Gateway (topside) or SMS Motion (subsea) to provide fully synchronised strain and motion data. This gives a unique opportunity to assess structural loads in correlation with deflections and response frequencies which are critical parameters in wind turbine design.
Furthermore, the sensors are made as true IoT sensors where that given access to power and the internet, they will automatically start sending data to the cloud where the data is processed, and insight from the data can be visualised to the customers.
The SMS Strain is an autonomous, retrofittable sensor that can be installed without special requirements such as the use of specialised technicians, equipment, or a clean environment. In addition, the technology can easily be installed by hand on the turbine tower or using divers or ROV for subsea installation, for instance, on the substructure.
