Feasibility of using a wireless mesh sensor network in a coal-fired power plant

Low cost, battery powered wireless sensors have recently become commercially available and have the potential to radically alter traditional methods of equipment monitoring in power plants. This paper reports on a research project co-sponsored by Southern Company and EPRI to demonstrate wireless sensors in a power plant environment. The designed wireless mesh sensor networks studied in this project operated consistently in the 2.4 GHz wireless frequency band within a coal-fired power plant. Transmission distances of approximately 30-50 feet were achieved inside the plant despite concrete and steel obstructions. Communication across multiple levels or floors of the plant was also achieved. The lifetime of the wireless sensor node batteries was adequate for temporary installation (approximately 4-6 months), but can be further increased by reducing data sampling rates, using intelligent local processing techniques, using power harvesting where practical, and taking advantage of advancing battery technologies as they become commercially available. In addition to on-board, embedded sensors that measure light intensity, noise, humidity, temperature and other variables depending on the sensor board, the motes were interfaced to thermocouples for high temperature and accelerometers for rotating machinery vibration measurements.