The $1.5 billion market for predictive analytics solutions is expected to be worth more than $10 billion by 2022, according to IoT Analytics. Companies are looking for sensors and software that can alert them to potential equipment problems before the develop.
Predictive analytics software has been transformational for SSE, an $18 billion British company that provides gas and electricity services to millions of people in the UK. The company faces competition in many of its markets, and cannot afford technical failures that leave consumers without power. After several big equipment problems developed unexpectedly, SSE turned to GE for a solution that could offer early detection of potential failures.
SSE created an equipment performance center to continuously monitor assets at 11 locations. The system tracks combustion dynamics, turbine vibration analysis, boiler temperatures, and creep analysis. Six SSE employees have access to the system data.
“We all use the GE predictive analytics software for model-based condition monitoring on our assets,” said John Twiddle, manager, SSE equipment performance center. “We’ve made five of six catches every month. That might range from a small thing like an instrumentation fault through to a major prevention of a failure on a critical asset. The value of that to us is, we believe, about 3 million pounds per year.”
The team can monitor more than 800 turbines on a daily basis. When an anomaly is detected, onsite teams are alerted so that they can better plan their maintenance activities. SSE says the timely intervention is enabling the company to maintain uptime and keep the lights on for customers.
