pwr_january-2025 - 14

FOCUS ON O&M
2. Field workers, such as these working on
a communications tower, benefit from having
more information available about the work
needed on an asset. They can make repairs
and also look for opportunities to do preventative
maintenance. Courtesy: Sitetracker
is paying dividends in O&M. GenAI
can take data from diverse sources-
job-scheduling information, weather
forecasts, site maps, incident reports,
and other relevant inputs-and distill it
into safety notices pushed to workers'
mobile devices as they arrive onsite.
It might tell them to keep an eye out
for rattlesnakes, that there's afternoon
lightning risk, or that steep grades have
caused past injuries, for example. Without
AI, accessing all that information
might involve field technicians (Figure 2)
tapping through the screens of different
applications for weather, work orders,
forms, and also safety, taking time better
spent on actual O&M work.
GenAI can make safety information
immediately accessible, clear, and tailored
to location. Such a system can
also build in intelligence that raises flags
if a worker misses a check-in, doesn't
show up at a site, or is solo when he
or she shouldn't be. Such a system can
pay off by keeping scarce field resources
healthy and on the job, and it demonstrates
to workers a genuine concern
for their well-being. On the jobsite security
front, DOM systems can integrate
remote locks with access codes that
the system provides only if a worker is
certified to do work at the site on a particular
day or days.
Empowered O&M Field Teams
This is about giving the staff contractors
doing the O&M work greater
agency. Time was, dispatchers handed
out paper schedules listing fixed time
blocks during which they should be
doing a particular activity. Broader priorities
still take precedence, but the
wealth of information now available to
workers in the field provides a basis
for commonsense adjustments on the
fly-particularly when opportunities to
build synergies present themselves.
14
One example might be a worker
stopping to check in on a jobsite that
happens to be on the way home from
the one they had been formally assigned
to work. Another might be a
technician recognizing that a corrective
fix on one hardware element is cause
for preventative fixes on similar onsite
equipment. Centralized DOM systems
enable the immediate approval of such
work and the dynamic reordering of
subsequent tasks. That's good for the
renewable energy developer or EV
charging company, and it's also good
for employee retention.
AI Computer Vision, Object Detection
Will Boost Quality Assurance
Computer vision and object detection is
an emerging area of renewable energy
O&M in particular. With assets, it can
confirm whether the hardware instance
a tech is poised to work on is in fact the
one that needs to be worked on. It can
also identify whether that asset has corroded
or been damaged.
Some of the more exciting computer
vision applications incorporate GenAI.
That combination enables real-time repair
instructions based on the problem
immediately at hand, and image-based
verification that a repair was done correctly.
For example, if there are supposed
to be four screws in a panel and
the system detects only two, it lets the
technician know. That prevents revisits,
and connectivity with core systems
means managers can see that the work
was done right the first time.
Augmented reality (AR) will play a role
here sooner rather than later, although
there are hurdles such as connectivity
at far-flung sites and the availability of
affordable, field-grade AR hardware.
Still, some wearable technology is already
capable of verbally or visually
walking a technician through repairs as
they happen.
Easing Burdens on Control Center
Staff
The jobs of renewable energy and EV
charging control center staff are already
challenging, and they get harder with
each additional system added to the
stable. Anything you can take off their
plates is a win. AI agents can do that,
specifically by flagging those that need
human review, such as when estimated
costs seem above market rate.
An AI agent can reach out via text,
email, or voice based on the preference
of an O&M service provider. The
www.powermag.com
AI agent tracks approvals, contacts alternate
O&M providers if primary contacts
don't come through, and follows
up. It only alerts human staff if it deadends.
In a busy control room, AI agents
can offload tedious work and enable
the management of more assets with
fewer people.
For those reasons and others, DOM
naturally extends to O&M. It's already
making a big difference in renewable
energy and EV charging, and there's
much more to come. DOM developers
and their customers are working together
to add AI and other capabilities
to more effectively and profitably manage
and service what's already been
deployed-even as the energy transition's
ambitious (if not quite so frenzied)
buildouts continue.
-Chaue Shen is a group product
manager at Sitetracker.
How to Prevent Oxygen
Pitting in Boilers: A Safer
Alternative to Hydrazine
Experienced boiler operators know that
oxygen can cause localized, severe corrosion
in steam boiler systems through
a process called oxygen pitting. This occurs
when dissolved oxygen in the water
comes into contact with the metal
surfaces of the boiler, typically the interior
walls and tubes. The corrosion
process happens through the following
mechanism:
■ Oxygen
Dissolution. Even small
amounts of dissolved oxygen in the
boiler water can create serious corrosion
issues. When oxygen is present, it
reacts with the metal (typically iron or
steel) of the boiler's internal surfaces.
■ Electrochemical Corrosion. The oxygen
creates an electrochemical reaction
that causes localized corrosion.
3. This closeup image shows a failed tube
due to oxygen pitting. Pitting severity can be
affected by several factors including high oxygen
concentration in boiler water. Courtesy:
Scott Bryan/Cortec
POWER| January 2025
http://www.powermag.com
pwr_january-2025

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