WIND TURBINE MAINTENANCE OPTIMIZER
First Claim
1. A method of scheduling a maintenance task in a power plant, comprising:
- generating, based on one or more processors, a predicted cost of electrical power associated with a utility grid coupled to the power plant for a time window;
identifying a time slot within the time window for performing the maintenance task;
upon determining that the predicted cost during the identified time slot is expected to be below a cost threshold, scheduling the maintenance task in a maintenance schedule; and
upon determining that the predicted cost during the identified time slot is expected to be above the cost threshold, determining whether the maintenance task can be postponed based on a service deadline associated with the maintenance task.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
A service planning engine may predict the future wind speed at a wind farm as well as the future price of energy of the utility grid coupled to the wind turbines. Based on the predicted values, the service planning engine identifies times to perform maintenance when lost revenue is minimized—e.g., when the predicted price of energy is low. Furthermore, the service planning engine may calculate a service priority associated with the turbine to determine when to perform service. The service priority may be based on a status signal associated with the component to be serviced or the time window stipulated in the service contract for performing the maintenance. In one embodiment, the service planning engine also considers resource constraints such as labor costs (e.g., work schedules, overtime costs, availability of technicians with certain skills, availability of components, shipping costs, and the like).
36 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of scheduling a maintenance task in a power plant, comprising:
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generating, based on one or more processors, a predicted cost of electrical power associated with a utility grid coupled to the power plant for a time window; identifying a time slot within the time window for performing the maintenance task; upon determining that the predicted cost during the identified time slot is expected to be below a cost threshold, scheduling the maintenance task in a maintenance schedule; and upon determining that the predicted cost during the identified time slot is expected to be above the cost threshold, determining whether the maintenance task can be postponed based on a service deadline associated with the maintenance task. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A system, comprising:
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a computer processor; and a memory containing a program that, when executed on the computer processor, performs an operation for scheduling maintenance tasks in a power plant, comprising; generating a predicted cost of electrical power associated with a utility grid coupled to the power plant for a time window; identifying a time slot within the time window for performing the maintenance task; upon determining that the predicted cost during the identified time slot is expected to be below a cost threshold, scheduling the maintenance task in a maintenance schedule; and upon determining that the predicted cost during the identified time slot is expected to be above the cost threshold, determining whether the maintenance task can be postponed based on a service deadline associated with the maintenance task. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer program product for scheduling maintenance tasks in a power plant, the computer program product comprising:
a computer-readable storage medium having computer-readable program code embodied therewith, the computer-readable program code comprising computer-readable program code configured to; generate a predicted cost of electrical power associated with a utility grid coupled to the power plant for a time window; identify a time slot within the time window for performing the maintenance task; upon determining that the predicted cost during the identified time slot is expected to be below a cost threshold, schedule the maintenance task in a maintenance schedule; and upon determining that the predicted cost during the identified time slot is expected to be above the cost threshold, determine whether the maintenance task can be postponed based on a service deadline associated with the maintenance task. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
Specification