Earth leakage protection is integrated into the CAMOS high and medium voltage cable monitoring solution, which, through cable and screen OCTs, monitors the current flowing through the conductor and screens. In addition, it is complemented with screen overcurrent protection (50). In this aspect, we have built PSCAD models of mixed lines with sections of buried cable and aerial sections, for the simulation of internal and external faults. A test bench has been arranged with 6 cable OCTs and 6 screen OCTs, connected to an interrogator and into which the simulated fault currents are injected using OMICRON equipment in order to validate the differential protection.

In addition, in the Amboto project we have also improved the design of cable OCTs and screens, looking for a more compact and resilient design. For example, working on the identification of optical components with better behavior in adverse environmental conditions and that ensure good measurement precision.

As part of the project and with the aim of validating this design, LUMIKER has carried out various tests at Tecnalia such as measurement precision tests to demonstrate Class 1 precision (basic precision and with temperature variation from -25ºC to 40ºC), precision tests in protection, tests to determine the IP and IK of the enclosures, salt mist tests, vibration or solar radiation tests with a xenon lamp.

La entrada LUMIKER receives a new HAZITEK grant for the AMBOTO project se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

AINES I entails the development by LUMIKER of a digital interface with new virtualization made with Python and new web visualization techniques, for Digital and Remote Monitoring, Protection and Control of Underground Transmission Cables, including: installation diagram and map, insulation state analysis through analysis of capacitive currents and current harmonics, calculation of fault location by GPS coordinates, calculation of remaining thermal capacity in real time at cable terminations and joints, and analysis of load vs. operating temperatures.

La entrada LUMIKER receives a new HAZITEK grant for the AINES I project and its funding se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

AINES is an initiative in which LUMIKER participates together with the Energy Cluster, Barbara IoT, Alerion and UNICAN for the creation of new predictive systems based on AI and ML for optical monitoring for electrical networks.

Through this economic aid, LUMIKER will integrate new predictive analyzes on transport capacity and Ampacity into its CAMOS (Cable Advanced Monitoring Optic System AINES I) digital interface, in order to make critical operating decisions, or know the thermal state of the critical points of the installation before an alarm or failure occurs.

La entrada LUMIKER receives an AEI grant for the AINES II project se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

In this case, the two grants granted to our team will allow us to advance the AVOGADRO and EOMONIT projects. You can visit the link to each of them to learn more.

La entrada Lumiker will finance two projects thanks to the Hazitek program se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

The Optic Fibre-Based Hydrogen Leak Control Systems project OPTHYCS has just been launched. Hydrogen has emerged as a required fuel and commodity needed for the decarbonization of the generation, distribution, storage, and energy consumption. Through the EU Hydrogen Strategy, the EC recognised the important role of hydrogen, and the need for the hydrogen market to be significantly scaled up. The boost in hydrogen production and its introduction in the energy market has raised an important challenge: reinforce security of hydrogen and prevent eventual greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions across its value chain.

In this sense, the OPTHYCS project will aim to develop new sensor technologies for continuous leak detectors based on optical fibre sensors technologies which will lead to anticipate eventual hydrogen applications risks, from production to storage and distribution, both in new infrastructure, working with pure H2, and in natural gas repurposed installations and pipelines, contributing to a safe and economically viable implementation of H2 production, transport and storage processes.

The OPTHYCS project is built upon 3 conceptual areas:

• Technology pillars analysis and definition of new sensor technology,
• Validation of key use cases (pipelines, Hydrogen refuelling stations and midstream sites such as compression and metering stations) of the new technologies in 3 different controlled validation sites, and
• Aspects of the technologies derived from the use cases, including the assessment of the security and environmental risks evaluations and regulatory framework, and a scalability and cost efficiency study.

Partners of the OPTHYCS project

Enagás (ES)

Enagás is Spain’s TSO (Transmission System Operator) and Technical Manager of the Spanish gas system, with 50 years’ experience in the development, operation and maintenance of energy infrastructures. It has more than 12,000 kilometres of gas pipelines, three strategic storage facilities, eight regasification plants and operates in seven countries: Spain, the United States, Mexico, Peru, Albania, Greece and Italy.

In accordance with its commitment to the energy transition, Enagás has announced that it is bringing forward its goal of becoming carbon neutral to 2040. The company is committed to the development of renewable gases (such as biomethane or green hydrogen), sustainable mobility and energy efficiency, among other areas. The company is a world leader in its sector in the main sustainability indices, as the Dow Jones Sustainability Index World, is included in the CDP Climate Change A List 2021, and has obtained the highest ESG rating in its sector in the FTSE4Good sustainability index. Enagás is leading the OPTHYCS project.

GRTgaz (FR)

GRTgaz is a European leader in NG transmission and a world expert in gas systems. In France, the company operates more than 32,000 km of buried pipelines to transport gas from suppliers to consumers connected to its network. Within GRTgaz, the R&D Center for Energy (RICE) is the division dedicated to R&D in Research, Development and Innovation for gas infrastructure. GRTgaz-RICE provides tested and proven industrial applications, as well as technical offers based on the development and the sharing of innovative ideas, scientific knowledge and technical expertise developed within the framework of the gas infrastructure, covering 3 main areas:

1. Integrity of metallic and nonmetallic networks;
2. Improvement of operational performance, industrial safety and asset management of industrial infrastructure, and
3. Analysis, odorization, detection and metering of gases.

Tecnalia (ES)

TECNALIA Research and Innovation is the first private applied research centre in Spain and the 5th in Europe. In the field of Hydrogen, TECNALIA has been working since 2002 on the development of several technologies within the whole value chain of hydrogen, including hydrogen generation, distribution, transport, storage, and end uses. Moreover, TECNALIA has a new department “Hydrogen Technologies”, with two objectives:

1. coordinating all the activities related to hydrogen at TEC, and
2. developing specific technological solutions for the hydrogen value chain, being Electrolysis technologies the key research line.

Lumiker (ES)

LUMIKER is an entity that has been developing advanced photonic sensors for biotechnology analysis, FBG and Brillouin critical location and distributed fibre optic solutions since 2010 and the first company in the world to develop the measurement of current utilizing the FARADAY effect with our own technologies.
LUMIKER provides condition monitoring solutions based in photonic and fibre optic sensors for critical asset management.

FEBUS Optics (FR)

FEBUS manufactures distributed optical fibre sensing systems: DTS, DSS and DAS. FEBUS brings robustness, flexibility, and cost-effectiveness in all its monitoring solutions for real-time surveillance systems of different infrastructures. FEBUS provides solutions in several markets: Structural Health Monitoring, pipeline integrity monitoring, landslides and intrusion detection, umbilical, power cable and risers life cycle assurance.

Aragon Hydrogen Foundation (ES)

FH2A is a private non-for-profit technological centre promoted by the Regional Government of Aragón (Spain), other public bodies and private companies. Its team manages R&D projects in cooperation with regional, national and EU companies. FH2A has been supporting the regional strategy for the uptake of hydrogen and fuel cell technologies, publishing the Hydrogen Master Plan in Aragón, and showcasing the whole H2 chain from production to the efficient use, from renewable sources. FH2A also develop training from students to technicians and D&C activities.

GERG (BE)

GERG (The European Gas Research Group), along with its member organisations, work with the European energy community to develop innovative solutions in the European gas infrastructure of the energy system. GERG is an association that represents R&D interests and coordinates corresponding efforts of its
members on a EU level. GERG membership includes EU TSOs, DSOs, major NG suppliers, universities and research institutes, as well as international standardisation organisations.

About the Clean Hydrogen Partnership

The Clean Hydrogen Partnership is supporting research and innovation (R&I) activities in hydrogen technologies in Europe. It aims to accelerate the development of advanced clean hydrogen applications ready for market, across end-use sectors such as energy, transport, building and industry, while strengthening the competitiveness of the clean hydrogen value chain. The members of the partnership are the European Commission, fuel cell and hydrogen industries represented by Hydrogen Europe and the research community represented by Hydrogen Europe Research.

The OPTHYCS project has received funding from the Clean Hydrogen Partnership under grant agreement No. 101101415.

La entrada OPTHYCS: Lumiker participates in a new Optic Fibre-Based Hydrogen Leak Control Systems project se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

In this project, LUMIKER provides the Critical Variables Monitoring System, through the implementation of H2 detection sensors and products for H2 measurement and detection based on fiber optics.

As results of this project, it is intended to generate new products or substantially improved existing products:

• Investigation of materials and specific treatments for components in contact with H2 gas
• Type I low pressure receiver, pre-cooler, compressor and Type IV tank design
• Development of a power electronics optimization tool
• Hydrogen sizing and simulation models for road and rail transport
• Refueling protocol for future hydrogen trains
• H2 Detection Sensors
• Products for measurement and detection of H2 based on fiber optics

AVOGADRO fits perfectly into the Basque Hydrogen Strategy, which sets ambitious goals for the year 2030, such as having a fleet of 20 buses that run on hydrogen, 450 goods transport vehicles of different sizes and 10 hydrogen stations for the general public. In addition, this is in line with the Euskadi 2030 Energy Strategy, which aims to develop hydrogen technologies related to land transport to reduce dependence on oil in this sector.

On our page dedicated to Renewable Hydrogen you can obtain more information about LUMIKER’s contribution to the AVOGADRO project.

La entrada AVOGADRO project: developments in the Basque hydrogen initiative in which LUMIKER participates se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

Optical monitoring systems for electrical networks

This initiative arises from the need to anticipate the prediction of anomalous operating situations in critical industrial assets electrical energy supply networks, under different load patterns and known environmental conditions. Its main purpose is the creation of management tools for the operation and maintenance of smarter electrical networks, through the dynamic classification of cables in real time correlated with finite elements and analytical models, the predictive thermal behavior of cables based on scheduled loads and AI in real time and the predictive analysis of the effects of outdoor temperature, the relative humidity of the soil and the load of the cable in capacitive current, harmonics, homopolar current and cross earth currents.

To this end, Red Eléctrica will provide one of its pilot facilities in electricity networks. An infrastructure based in Barcelona already equipped with CAMOS and LTS-BRAGG monitoring systems with which to synchronize the current and temperature measurements (in substations and several intermediate points) on the 3 phases of each circuit. 

AI-based prediction model

AINES will create a prototype of a functional predictive analysis module that will strengthen the functionalities of analysis and data exploitation of the circuits in operation. It will focus on the application of AI technologies, digital signal processing, Edge processing and Visual Analytics to improve operational decisions on transport circuits where a monitoring system already exists.  

The project covers two main lines of work in the field of Artificial Intelligence, which will be developed by LUMIKER in collaboration with Alerion Technologies S.L. On the one hand, they will investigate the generation, validation and integration of AI models focused on predictive functionalities for power distribution lines. The main pillar of this predictive capability will be the generation of individual models of each cable based on both physical simulators and Machine Learning models based on the data captured during cable operation.  

Thermal models

On the other hand, the project will be oriented to the development of calculations at the Edge with correlation of the results of thermal and capacity models of each cable. At this point, the collaboration of Barbara IoT S.L. comes into play. They will be responsible for data storage and deployment of algorithms in the Cloud, the creation of alert generation services and the management of connectivity at the Edge. 

The University of Cantabria will play an external collaborative role in the project, with the definition of these thermal models. Its contribution will allow prognosis data to be emitted under existing operating conditions and to correlate predictions with it. In this way, the project will also aim to validate the predictive analysis module and validate the thermal analysis model of cable behavior, both of which may be necessary elements for future operational or maintenance decision-making.

La entrada LUMIKER will take part in the AINES project for the development of new optical monitoring systems for electrical networks based on Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

Hydrogen refuelling stations: One of the key challenges in the hydrogen economy

Hydrogen refuelling stations are one of the critical elements in accelerating the deployment of this new energy vector with on-site generation, given that most of the main applications in the short term are geared towards mobility related to buses, lorries and medium-long distance trains, for example. Although this technology is well known, its performance needs to be improved and adapted to recharging heavy duty vehicles so that it can be done at similar costs and under similar conditions to current fuels.

The AVOGADRO “Advanced renewable hydrogen gas refuelling system for mobility applications” industrial research project is aimed at filling this gap. (Note: AVOGADRO is an acronym that comes from the Spanish name from the project – Sistema AVanzadO de recarGA de hiDRÓgeno gas renovable para aplicaciones de movilidad) It has ambitious goals of developing a new HRS technology for heavy goods transport vehicles with tank filling pressures of 350 bar, with hydrogen flow rates of more than 500 kg/day, low energy consumption (2 kWh/kg), high availability (99%), low annual maintenance cost (0.15 €/kg), and an innovative system to detect leaks early and balance of plant (BoP) based on photonics and objectives that are in line with the “Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda 2021 – 2027“, published by the Clean Hydrogen Joint Undertaking. The values are taken from table 15 “KPIs for hydrogen refuelling stations (HRS)”.

To this end, the main technological challenges of the project relate to research into optimised configurations, specific dispensing protocols for heavy goods vehicles and rail transport, materials, components, equipment and disruptive monitoring solutions for safety and increased availability of HRS to meet the requirements of future green hydrogen refuelling stations for heavy goods vehicles.

An opportunity for international positioning

The development prospects for the European and global hydrogen market are expected to be significant, not least due to its ability as an agent for decarbonising the transport sector, which will bring opportunities throughout the entire hydrogen value chain. However, the Basque Country and its industrial fabric will need to adopt a strategic approach that will put it in the best position to take advantage of energy, environmental and industrial and technological development opportunities.

In this situation, where there is growing international expectation and momentum for hydrogen technologies, the Basque Country has the opportunity to take advantage of this technological change in the energy sector to strengthen its industrial fabric, create new companies or business lines in existing companies and thereby facilitate the creation of new jobs. In order to meet this challenge, the AVOGADRO project will focus on researching, understanding and gaining knowledge of the different critical areas identified in relation to HRS for heavy goods vehicles (power electronics as a power source for the electrolyser, hydrogen storage systems, high-pressure hydrogen compression systems, cooling or pre-cooling systems for hydrogen, filling protocols for hydrogen dispensers, Type IV composite hydrogen tanks for heavy goods vehicles and railways, optical monitoring system for ATEX and passive sensors, and the compatibility of materials and their processing for demanding operating conditions) in order to anticipate their needs in terms of components, equipment and advanced sensor solutions.

Eight Basque companies headed by Iberdrola

The AVOGADRO project is focused on the needs identified today in terms of HRS, meaning that Iberdrola, ABC Compressors, CAF Turnkey&Engineering, Cikautxo, Ingeteam, Lointek, Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas and Tratamientos Térmicos TTT will receive significant technological training that will help them work on new refuelling systems that can be configured with new components, equipment and fibre optic sensor solutions. Agents from the Basque Science and Technology Network will also be involved and will contribute their knowledge and experience in the technological training of the companies.

AVOGADRO fits perfectly into the Basque Hydrogen Strategy, which has set targets of a fleet of 20 hydrogen buses, 450 goods vehicles of various sizes and a network of 10 HRS with public access by 2030. It is also in line with the 2030 Basque Energy Strategy, which includes the need to develop land transport-related hydrogen technologies in order to minimise dependence on oil in this sector.

The project has an overall budget of €5.7 million and will last 34 months (2022-2024). This strong investment will be reflected in a competitive improvement in the companies involved, allowing them to offer highly innovative products and services to the market with a high market potential.

La entrada A consortium of eight Basque companies, headed by Iberdrola, is developing a new high-performance hydrogen refuelling station (HRS) for heavy vehicles  se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

These solutions focus in:

#EOMONIT: enhancing Blade Pitch Control to optimize the energy generation efficiency of WTGs whilst enabling the digitalization of the Blade Integrity control. Our System will be tested and validated at the facilities of the #CTA in Miñano, a testing facility with a long legacy of Aerospace systems and structures validation knowledge.

#FLOAT&M: to locate, predict and prevent faults, and monitor 24/7 remotely, Critical Wind Park Components such as the Cable Conncectors, the Inter-Array String Cables, and the Floating Platforms in Floating Wind Parks. Our systems will implement sensorized elements in DITREL Connectors, and NAUTILUS platforms, and will be validated with TECNALIA in offshore conditions at it newly built HarshLab.

La entrada LUMIKER has been awarded HAZITEK projects funding to develop innovative and disruptive Asset Management Solutions se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.

The main objective of this project is to design and develop precise optical amplification technology to reduce the number of fibres required and to increase the distance between the location of passive sensors and the interrogating equipment.

This project will enable the application of light power amplifiers (EDFA – Ebrium Fibre) in the systems that LUMIKER installs for the supervision of long-distance mixed power transmission lines.

This type of asset is being implemented in Europe for electricity interconnection between the different member states and enables progress towards a decentralised model between the points of generation and the points of consumption. Therefore, this technology is key to the implementation of renewable generation points (wind, marine, solar), which can serve cross-border territories, thereby achieving a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions.

Project characteristics

Due to the high degree of complexity involved in a single fibre, the desired result will be two interconnecting fibres. This reduction in fibres means poor measurement accuracy, due to the splitting of the signal through the multiplexer, so the signal-to-noise ratio must be improved. To achieve technical success, two different methods are proposed:

Increasing the emission power of the measuring light

For the measurement, light pulses are used from the interrogator (data acquisition device), multiplexed in time, and distributed in power through the network of sensors deployed. This increase in emission power is one of the keys to the project, given that it aims to carry out this amplification with passive systems, which do not require auxiliary power, a totally essential condition in this type of measurement system. These semi-distributed amplification mechanisms will mean the generation of a new patent within the development of LUMIKER.

Improving signal reception

Currently, there is a tendency to seek a minimum number of interconnection fibres, which means a division of power due to multiplexing that entails using very low light powers. This is associated with low signal-to-noise ratios, which makes it difficult to differentiate between the noise and the signal, making measurement more difficult and leading to a loss of precision. To achieve this objective, there are various ways of improving signal reception; in this project, three different ways have been proposed. This new technology is a differential element within the systems developed by LUMIKER and in the international market. In addition, it should be noted that this project responds to the following business objectives:

• To increase Lumiker’s competitiveness compared to other companies in the same sector thanks to the launch of new generation products with high added value.
• To achieve Lumiker’s leading position in measuring devices through this new development, which will have a significant technological impact on the market.
• To achieve a substantial improvement in the service offered by Lumiker by providing high intangible added value through the development of the new technology necessary to reduce the number of fibres required for the interconnection between passive sensors and data acquisition installations.
• Increasing the know-how of the company’s technical staff, providing it with greater technical capabilities for the development of future highly innovative projects which, also contribute to boosting the company’s prestige in terms of Research and Development.
• To consolidate the company’s key strategies: internationalisation, constant innovation, and sustainable growth.
• Improve the company’s products by integrating additional functionalities to cover the new needs of the sector, thus positioning the company in a privileged position at the forefront of the sector.

La entrada LUMIKER is awarded the EDFAINTERSEN project by CDTi se publicó primero en Lumiker Aplicaciones Tecnológicas.