December 2017Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Many organisations do not have the ability to monitor and predict the condition of their rotating equipment. This includes electric motors, turbines, gearboxes, pumps, fans, etc.
The traditional method to monitor the condition of bearings was to embed a temperature sensor in the casing. Any fault condition like lubrication, worn bearings, misalignment, etc., will eventually cause the temperature to rise.
The thinking around machine condition monitoring has changed over the years and it is now stated that vibration is the better measurement over temperature because it gives an earlier warning and more information as the vibration signal contains many frequencies and many amplitudes, each pertaining to some moving part of the machine.
There are basically two ways to establish a predictive maintenance programme. An entry level programme where a portable vibration data logger is used to measure and record vibration levels. In order for this method to be effective, strict adherence must be kept to the measurement routine and record keeping. If not, then this programme will not be effective.
A much better way is to install fixed mount vibration sensors. These are then hard wired to a control room where the information can be logged and displayed as trend graphs or in real time. A further improvement would be to program the control software to incorporate warning and trip levels, which eliminates the human factor in decision making.
R&C Instrumentation is pleased to announce that it can now supply and support the RC range of vibration measurement products. These instruments are custom manufactured in Europe, and conform to European standards as far as manufacture, quality and reliability are concerned.
The standard range of RC vibration sensors is available with either mV/G or 4-20 mA velocity output, as well as the best of both worlds’ sensor with 4-20 mA vibration and 10 mV/°C temperature output. Portable instruments, raw data converters, and programmable vibration switches complete the range of products.
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