Author: Li Congying
Recently, Beijing Zhongtang Electric Engineering Consulting Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongtang Electric Consulting Company") scientific and technological research project - wind turbine tower coating leakage automatic detection robot first-generation principle machine successfully completed the test, the successful landing of the project, marking the realization of an automatic testing technology innovation method in the field of non-destructive testing of wind turbine towers.
The achievement is a "four new" products with "new technology, new process, new method and new equipment", with a number of innovative points, with higher detection sensitivity, providing the necessary basis for quantitative and qualitative determination of defects, and helping to establish evaluation standards for the operation status of wind turbine towers.
Illustration: The first generation of automatic magnetic leakage detection robot for fan tower coating
Scientific and technological innovation improves quality and efficiency
In order to continue to deepen the industrialized operation of commerce and logistics, continuously improve the market-oriented development ability, accelerate high-quality development with scientific and technological innovation, combined with the current business development trend in the field of wind power, Zhongtang Electric Consulting Company gives full play to its years of experience and expertise in metal non-destructive testing and weld quality inspection, innovatively proposes the combination of "magnetic leakage" and "magnetic disturbance" for weld inspection, carries out the "automatic project of magnetic leakage scanning of defects under the coating of the wind turbine tower", and develops the "automatic weld inspection robot of the in-service wind turbine tower" ”。
This project combines the new combination inspection theory with the intelligent system to solve the problem of "de-artificial" non-destructive quality supervision during the operation of the wind turbine tower, and accurately applies it to the quality inspection of the coating weld of the wind turbine tower.
It is understood that the fan tower is mainly welded into a cylinder by coil plate, and then welded by multiple cylinders, the weld is a weak area of the mechanical properties of the tower, under the action of complex loads and atmospheric corrosion and other factors, it is easy to form defects such as corrosion and cracks in the weld area, which seriously threatens the health of the tower structure and is a major safety hazard in the operation of the wind turbine tower in service. The complexity of the geometry and the diversity of defect types of the weld gap place strict requirements on defect detection and sensor principles. The large diameter of the tower and the multiple welds also present challenges to the field adaptability of the inspection technology.
In the past, the inspection of the coating weld seam of the wind turbine tower required the inspector to climb along the inside of the tower to the designated part of the tower, and then carry out the instrument inspection after building the ladder. Since fans are generally located in areas with strong winds, inspectors often need to overcome harsh natural conditions and carry out inspection operations at an altitude of more than tens of meters above the ground.
The birth of the automatic magnetic leakage detection robot of fan tower coating can eliminate the need to manually build a bracket platform, greatly reduce the risk of high-altitude work of inspectors, and greatly ensure production safety. The automatic magnetic leakage detection robot of the fan tower coating can automatically trace and climb along the weld of the fan tower for tens of meters, complete the accurate positioning of the weld defect, realize the rapid and accurate detection of the tower coating weld, and improve the work efficiency. For the health evaluation of the weld of the in-service wind turbine tower, it also provides an effective detection method to predict the hidden dangers of tower quality in time, so as to guide the timely arrangement of maintenance, avoid the occurrence of irreversible risks such as fan failure, and provide important basic data support for the scientific operation and maintenance of wind turbines.
Party building leads and learns from each other
Adhere to the word "real" first, and the word "dry" first. Zhongtang Electric Consulting Company listed the "Defect Leakage Magnetic Leakage Scanning Automation Project under the Coating of Wind Turbine Tower" as a key research project of "Party Building Guidance + Tower Inspection Robot Research and Development", focusing on the key difficulties in research and development and concentrating on tackling tough problems. At the same time, the party committee of the company set up a "party building leads scientific and technological innovation" party member shock team, with 7 party members and party activists as the backbone, to complete the whole process of project development discussion, process testing, technical opinions, and phased testing.
"Key core technologies are not to come, not to buy, not to get", it is precisely with the belief of self-improvement, Zhongtang Electric Consulting Company insists on independent innovation in key core technologies and breaks through technical breakthroughs.
Illustration: Members of the R&D team went to the wind power site to test the robot
It is reported that at the beginning of 2022, the company established a special R&D team for the project, and the project successfully passed the feasibility review after multiple expert reviews, and obtained an "excellent" evaluation. In August 2022, the project officially passed the approval and approval of the material group.
In order to better play the characteristics of combining cutting-edge technology and actual working conditions and effectively solve the actual work needs, the consulting company established a cooperative relationship with Beijing University of Technology, jointly developed the project in the way of "production, learning and research", and established a research and development team, opening the mode of linking "production demand" and "advanced technology". Combine theory with practice, take advanced concepts as the guide, take scientific and technological means as the support, apply what we have learned, practice and learn from each other, and clarify the direction and highlight the results in practice, exploration and improvement.
Worry about the time and always have urgency. In order to apply theory to practice as soon as possible, the R&D team took time and cooperated to complete a series of work in full swing: finite element modeling of defect magnetic detection of three-dimensional morphology of welds; Development of integrated sensors and multi-channel magnetic detection instruments for magnetic disturbance and high-sensitivity magnetic leakage detection; Integrated development of tower weld defect detection robot; Weld defect detection, signal processing and defect identification algorithm software development, etc.
In the laboratory, the fierce collision of precision instruments and fiery thinking presents each set of theoretical data, which has been carefully calculated by researchers many times. In the practice field, a series of footprints spread all over manufacturing plants and project sites in Hohhot, Hebei and other factories, and docking personnel worked tirelessly to test robots, sensors and prototypes, and obtained a large number of valuable on-site working conditions.
It seems to be the most ordinary and strange, but it is easy but difficult. After many adjustments and improvements in equipment parameters, countless nights and days of laboratory perseverance, and finally completed the on-site application testing experiment of wind turbine tower at the end of June 2023, and ushered in the acceptance and delivery of the first generation of automatic magnetic leakage detection robot for wind turbine tower coating.
Deeply cultivate service model innovation
Technology leads the way, and the confidence is more sufficient. At present, the robot industry is booming, which is greatly changing human production and lifestyle, injecting strong momentum into economic and social development. In accordance with the overall deployment of the "Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People's Republic of China and the Long-term Goals for 2035" and the implementation of the key tasks of the "14th Five-Year Plan" for the development of the robot industry, Zhongtang Electric Consulting Company deeply recognizes that the application of "robot +" is gradually becoming a strong support for enhancing the market competitiveness of enterprises' own brands, promoting industrial self-reliance and self-improvement, accelerating the construction of a manufacturing power, digital China, and promoting Chinese-style modernization.
High-quality development is inseparable from the support of scientific and technological innovation, Zhongtang Electric Consulting Co., Ltd. focuses on technological innovation and scene promotion, not only pioneers the application of "fan tower coating leakage magnetic leakage automatic detection robot" to wind power project construction and tower weld inspection of in-service wind turbines, but also strives to promote business model innovation, categorized policies to expand the application depth and breadth of robots, accurately serve downstream customers in the industry by leasing, sales, professional customization, etc., and deepen the joint construction of production and use to the greatest extent.
Because the research and development of this technology can not only meet the inspection of the weld of the wind turbine tower, but also expand to other fields, such as the weld inspection of ships, pipelines, steel structures, etc., and can even be extended to the metal equipment testing work in many fields such as electric power, petroleum, and chemical industry, it can have good performance in energy infrastructure construction, inspection, operation, maintenance, emergency disposal, etc. To this end, Zhongtang Electric Consulting Company will continue to be committed to the lightweight, miniaturization, automatic and intelligent all-in-one machine, upgrade and improve the second-generation robot, deepen customer service, maximize user experience, and increase application data accumulation, so as to deepen the "one-stop" application innovation covering the whole process of product design, technology development, process optimization, mass production and demonstration and promotion.
Only by not forgetting the original can we open up the future. As a traditional company engaged in supervision and inspection business, Zhongtang Electric Consulting Co., Ltd. adheres to the self-discipline concept of "service is the foundation of survival" and overcomes difficulties in the field of energy supervision and inspection with "extremely professional" service standards, eliminating customers' worries and solving customers' difficulties. Under the call of the new era, new journey and new mission, Zhongtang Electric Consulting Co., Ltd. implements scientific and technological innovation work, is committed to empowering high-quality development with scientific and technological innovation, builds a high-quality brand of "Zhongtang Electric Consulting", and gradually develops from traditional supervision and inspection business to high-end consulting led by scientific and technological innovation and professional services.
Walk in triumph, not far from mountains and seas; Take advantage of the momentum, not limited by the sun and the moon. On the one hand, it is to pass on the torch and inherit the spirit of craftsmanship, and on the other hand, it is to keep pace with the times and be brave in scientific and technological innovation. Zhongtang Electric Consulting Co., Ltd. will fulfill the social responsibility of central enterprises and contribute to accelerating the high-quality development of new energy, building an energy system that serves the upstream and downstream of the supply chain, and serves safety and efficiency. Looking back to the present, Zhongtang Electric Consulting Company will always uphold the vitality and vigor of integrity and innovation, condense the strength of endeavor, help the group company's "secondary entrepreneurship" to go deeper and solid, and the high-quality development of the commercial logistics industry, write the chapter of youth on the motherland, and condense scientific and technological strength for the modernization of the motherland.