December 2005Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Rotating plant and aero-derivative engines, such as gas turbines, can now enjoy better protection with the release of two new condition monitoring modules from Rockwell Automation. As extensions to the company's XM Series of distributed machinery protection and condition monitoring tools, both new modules will rely on open control networks to gather and distribute data, greatly reducing the cost of installation and maintenance.
Suited to a wide array of applications within the marine, power generation, water/wastewater, petrochemical and other industries with large rotating equipment, the new modules form part of the industry's first machine monitoring and protection system that successfully integrates maintenance tools into the control architecture. This allows plant engineering and maintenance personnel to continuously and cost-effectively monitor and protect critical plant assets. "By integrating maintenance into the control design and engineering environment, organisations can achieve greater return on investment over the life of the equipment," says Brett Spindler, Rockwell Automation CSM manager, Africa & Middle East.
The XM-220 dual-speed module is an accurate and configurable solution for monitoring machine speed and related parameters, such as direction of rotation and acceleration. Good for rotary equipment such as centrifuges and turbines, the module measures rotor acceleration and peak speed and is capable of detecting zero speed, locked rotor and reverse rotation.
The XM-123 aero derivative module is an intelligent 2-channel special-purpose monitor that is uniquely suited for monitoring aero derivative gas turbines. The XM-123 can be configured, per channel, to perform either tracking filter or band pass style measurements while also continuously measuring each channel's broadband overall level. These capabilities enable the XM-123 to meet the demanding monitoring requirements of almost any engine in service today.
Information gathered by the modules allows maintenance personnel to identify developing faults and correct problems before downtime occurs, helping to prevent impacts to production and safety. Because the XM Series can use a plant's existing control architecture, users are able to reduce wiring by as much as 80%.
For more information contact Brett Spindler, Rockwell Automation, 011 654 9700, bspindler@ra.rockwell.com
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