Condition monitoring is an important industrial automation process that is used to continuously monitor large machinery to ensure that they are defect proof. This article explains the condition monitoring process and vibration monitoring, one of the popular methods of condition monitoring.
To understand Condition Monitoring we need to understand Predictive Maintenance; which is a technique designed to help determine the condition of an in-use instrument or equipment to avoid breakdowns and major loss of production or activity. Condition Monitoring is a subset of Predictive Maintenance. Condition Monitoring, therefore, is the process of monitoring a parameter of any condition in the machinery (vibration, temperature etc.), in order to identify a significant change which is indicative of a developing fault. Condition Monitoring is colloquially known as Vibration Monitoring too because it is normally used on rotating equipment and other machinery like pumps, electric motors, internal combustion engines etc. In a more industrial scenario, vibration monitoring is useful in industries like Cement, Paper, Metal, Chemical etc.
Some of the condition monitoring methods applied in the industrial sector includes:
In industrial sector, there are various types of vibration monitoring instruments like Vibration Switches, Vibration Meters, Vibration Monitors and Vibration Transmitters.
What is a Vibration Transmitter?
The function of a vibration transmitter is to continuously detect the vibration in a system and monitor for any unusual operating conditions and potential failures.
For example, in a cement manufacturing plant various verticals include kiln drives, crushers, screens, conveyor belts, raw mills, elevators, separators and blower etc; vibration sensors or transmitters can be installed on all of these devices to measure disruptions protection of valuable rotating machines against costly breakdowns including motors, fans, pumps etc. The vibration from these installations is converted into an analog signal at the current output.
In another instance, a vibration transmitter mounted on a cooling fan can provide data to identify small but potentially vital changes in operating conditions. These might be caused by incorrectly installed or misaligned bearings, an outboard bearing that was incorrectly locked down, or a grid coupler running dry – or any combination of those or other issues.
A typical vibration transmitter measures vibration in different parameters like acceleration, velocity and displacement. Vibration Transmitter is a strategic tool for predictive maintenance. It measures online vibration and provides easy communication to data acquisition system where vibration can be displayed, trended and alarm can be generated. It provides output for essential continuous monitoring of critical fan, pump, motor and other industrial machines.
Vibration is measured in terms of r.m.s. and peak. When overall vibration is to be measured, r.m.s. and peak measurement technique is considered best for general machine health.
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