For operation and testing of the pilot plant, a new type of condition monitoring system was designed that archives not only quantities such as mean values or spectral amplitudes from raw data, but also stores a history covering multiple weeks of sampled, raw radio frequency data itself. The advantage of this is the flexibility in selecting the process used to analyze results according to when the results come in. This would not have been possible if the data had been compressed at the time it was captured, resulting in a loss of information, as is the case with traditional condition monitoring systems. However, this design places the highest demands on the performance of the database-driven system, since the data with sampling rates of up to 14 kHz comes in from several thousand channels.
HistoryBase, the attractive ring buffer database by Weisang
Weisang successfully met these demands with its HistoryBase ring buffer database developed in house and was awarded the contract to supply a condition monitoring system for the Nyhamna pilot plant as early as 2010. The system provided valuable information during system start-up and subsequent test runs. After the positive experiences with the Nyhamna system, Aker Solutions awarded Weisang with a contract at the end of 2011 to provide three condition monitoring systems for the Åsgard oil field project. The systems were delivered on schedule in November 2012.
HistoryBase is specifically optimized for time series data collection and analysis requirements. The incoming data streams can be stored using the entire hard disk bandwidth and downstream systems can be readied without significant delay. The ring buffer design limits the size of the database and provides a moving history for the data. The system-integrated tools for replicating and taking snapshots provide an easier way to manage and safeguard the data.
