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Since 2022, CerTa Veritas has expanded its services portfolio with testing of Steam Traps, a crucial yet often overlooked component in your steam systems.

Steam traps (Dutch: condenspotten) play a vital role in the reliable and efficient operation of steam system by removing condensate, air, and other non-condensable gases. When functioning properly, steam traps prevent unnecessary steam loss, ensuring that energy is used efficiently for heating, industrial processes, or power generation.

Advantage of periodical testing of Steam Traps:
Ensure proper process operating conditions
Minimizing of energy losses
Reducing make-up water consumption
Prevention of erosion and water-hammer

From both an energy efficiency and cost-savings perspective, minimizing steam losses is essential. Faulty steam traps can result in significant energy waste and higher CO₂ emissions.

Our Steam Trap Testing service enables quick detection of leaking or defective steam traps, allowing for condition-based maintenance. This proactive approach helps restore system performance, reduce unnecessary energy loss, and lower emissions, making it a key component of any robust energy management strategy.

Learn more about Steam Trap Testing

CerTa Veritas has expanded its data-analysis tool MagicCorr with a powerful new feature: a polar plot for simultaneous visualization of comparable process variables.

This new functionality allows users to display, for example, the complete evolution of 24 exhaust gas temperatures of a gas turbine over the course of a full day in a single graph. With the integrated time-selection slider, operators can easily focus on specific moments of interest. The corresponding data points can be connected by lines, providing an immediate overview of uniformity, or irregularity, across all measurements.

For power plant operators and gas turbine service providers, this tool offers a clear advantage:
Rapid detection of non-uniform combustion
Condition-based maintenance opportunities
Support for combustion tuning to optimize performance and extend expander lifetime

With this new feature, MagicCorr becomes an even more valuable solution for analysing, diagnosing, and optimizing gas turbine operation.

Learn more about MagicCorr and Data Analysis

The growing share of decentralized renewable energy sources such as wind, solar, and biogas is reshaping the way large electricity grids are balanced. Traditionally, Frequency Containment Reserve (FCR), the capacity to stabilize grid frequency by adjusting power output up or down, was supplied exclusively by large power plants. With their declining share, Transmission System Operators (TSOs) are seeking ways to integrate renewables, storage systems, and even EV charging infrastructure into FCR control.

Pilot Project: Aggregating Decentralized Resources

In 2017 a pilot project was launched by the Dutch TSO, involving aggregation of multiple decentralized sources to provide FCR. In this setup, distributed small-scale assets are pooled and controlled as one virtual unit with a minimum capacity of 1 MW.

To qualify, bidders’ control and information systems were audited, including frequency response tests on individual representative assets within their pool.

CerTa Veritas Testing Contribution

As part of this program, CerTa Veritas carried out detailed frequency response tests on:
A cluster of 3 wind turbines
2 biogas engines
A Tesla Powerwall battery energy storage system
2 types of electric vehicle (EV) chargers

Using a high-speed power analyzer, these tests delivered valuable insights into the frequency response behavior and limitations of each technology.

Enabling the Future Grid

The project marks an important step towards the integration of renewable power, energy storage, and EV charging infrastructure into grid-balancing services. CerTa Veritas is proud to have contributed to this initiative, supporting the transition to a more resilient and sustainable energy system.
Learn more about Frequency Response Testing