August Technology Evening
The August Technology Evening was hosted by Endress+Hauser at Umhambi Lodge on the topic of Memosens sensor technology. Jan Swart began by introducing Memosens, the contactless inductive, digital transmission of analytical data which started with pH measurement and is now being adapted to other applications. The benefits of using Memosens digital technology include no contact corrosion, watertight connection, no interference due to galvanic decoupling of sensor and transmitter, data safety, easy handling thanks to storage of sensor-specific data, calibration in the laboratory possible, easy replacement due to automatic sensor recognition and predictive maintenance.
Jan went on to illustrate a complete system utilising the Memosens technology comprising the digital sensor, transmitter and Memosens data cable and retractable cable assembly. Memosens technology is currently available for pH, ORP, dissolved oxygen and conductivity measurement. Jan stressed that many companies have been switching to Memosens technology to make their plants safer and more productive.
The smart sensor head is where all the quality-related as well as measured values are stored for transmission. The data includes manufacturing data such as serial number, calibration data (calibration date, slope, number of calibrations, operators signature for calibration adjustment) and application data. Jan concluded by giving installation guidelines as well as discussing sensor handling and plug coupling.
September Technology Evening
The September Technology evening was hosted by ifm electronic where Antony Hittler gave a presentation on the topic of vibration monitoring equipment using FFT (Fast Fourier Transform) versus traditional vibration monitoring methods.
Antony began by outlining the possible benefits of installing intelligent vibration monitoring equipment, which included permanent machine protection, reduction in maintenance costs, increased availability due to online monitoring, root cause analysis and improved planning for repair. He went on to state the guidelines when making a decision to install permanent vibration monitoring equipment. Points like application, number of measurement points, acceptable alarm limits, reaction to an alarm and measurement variables, such as unbalance or looseness, all have to be taken into consideration.
It was then time to make a comparison between the traditional methods of measuring RMS vibration in mm/s versus the method of FFT. Standard vibration monitoring is only capable of measuring general machine vibrations in the range of 10-1000 Hz. High performance vibration monitoring using FFT and HFFT offers additional root cause analysis of the individual frequencies being monitored such as for roller bearings, sleeve bearings, misalignment, unbalance, looseness, crash, cavitations and gearing.
A video was played to illustrate how Fourier transform are utilised in FFT and HFFT. A practical demonstration unit utilising the ifm Efector Octavis intelligent vibration monitor showed how to detect different types of defects on a roller bearings inner and outer race, something not possible using traditional vibration monitoring.
Upcoming events
Year end function: scheduled for 17 November, the planning is in full swing and details will be available soon.
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