This article will define a business case for achieving significant rotating equipment maintenance and energy cost reduction at industrial and municipal facilities.
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To explain why the apparent temperature seen through a thermal imager can be significantly different than the actual temperature, we will review our knowledge of physics.
Potential to Failure (P-F) curves graphically display the failure time cycle and measurement techniques that can be used to detect asset failures prior to reaching the asset incurring functional failure. Proactive strategies should focus on managing assets high on the P-F curve, or early (P1 to P5) in the failure cycle (Figure 1). The ability to detect failures early in development allows top quartile performers to proactively manage their maintenance programs by understanding the health of their assets. Many companies, however, find it difficult to operate proactively and continually react to assets that reach functional failure with little or no warning.
As pump users, we often have to deal with fuzzy concepts, such as: What is low flow? When are vibration levels too high? When is suction specific speed value too high? When is a pump's energy level high?
Your company has recently purchased a laser based alignment system. Your newly trained technicians are asked to align a critical process pump. You witness the alignment. They save the final alignment data. You review the data, but what does it mean? How does it compare to dial indicators? Why did they rotate both shafts when measuring the misalignment? Why are the numbers at the feet higher than you would like? How do you KNOW the alignment is good? The debate begins.
Water chemical compatibility and electrical interference are two major challenges for control systems. Two major sources of fresh water can limit the performance of the control system.
State and federal requirements increase the need for pump monitoring and control.
Explore hermetically sealed gauging probes for hostile environments like saw mills and wood processing plants.
Frequency analysis is an important method of vibration analysis. It provides information on vibration sources and helps identify those components in the vibration signal that are often small, but nevertheless important, for diagnosis. Each vibration can be attributed to a particular excitation source or machine part.
In the last decade, ultrasonic flowmeters have grown in popularity in laboratory and process areas as a cost-effective, noninvasive alternative for measuring the velocity and flow rates of liquids and gases. Just as the price of Blu-RayTM disc players has plummeted, the cost of ultrasonic flowmeters has dropped so much that users have been able to replace their older technologies with what were formerly expensive devices.
Latest Instrumentation Articles
This article will define a business case for achieving significant rotating equipment maintenance and energy cost reduction at industrial and municipal facilities.
Industry analysts predict that in the near future, most motors will be controlled by variable frequency drives. Here are the reasons why.
PWM inverters introduce motor shaft voltages and bearing currents. The bearing damage in inverter-driven motors is mainly caused by the shaft voltage and bearing currents created by the common-mode voltage and its sharp edges [1]. All inverters generate common-mode voltages relative to the power source ground that cause coupling currents through the parasitic capacitances inside the motor. The main source of bearing currents is the capacitance-coupling currents that return via the motor bearings back to the ground.
Economic pressures to minimize production downtime and improve operating efficiency are increasing the emphasis to accomplish on-site problem detection, analysis, and resolution as fast as possible. These requirements place a great deal of pressure on maintenance personnel to have all the right tools readily available in one place.
Most VFD systems use some form of closed-loop feedback to avoid surging, excessive noise, and in extreme cases, vibration. A reliable encoder signal is one method that minimizes speed variance and helps eliminate these unwanted effects. Here's how it works.
The Village of Mundelein, Ill., 35 miles northwest of Chicago, had a growing water demand and needed options for managing the increasing demand.
Traditional control techniques examine the "running" status and the "not ready" status of the control circuit. While this method has served well for decades, it does have limitations. First, monitoring the contact of a starter does not detect if the wires have become disconnected, or if the linkage between the pump and motor is intact. Likewise, the "not ready" status will indicate an electrical problem is present, but it will not identify the problem, or how it occurred.
Interpretation of equipment clues can help diagnose problems before failure occurs
One electrical equipment specialist is relying on a cleaning system to ensure that a variety of stamped and turned parts are thoroughly degreased at their production facility.
Precision laser alignment can help end users avoid multiple problems in wind turbine applications.
Columns and Blogs
In this multi-part series, we will investigate several aspects of centrifugal pump efficiency.
First of Five Parts
Since the original publication of this draft standard in the January 2008 issue of Pumps & Systems, I have received feedback, encouragement, numerous questions and criticism. The draft listed three basic levels of repair.
The McGraw-Hill scientific dictionary [5] states that a volute is "a spiral casing for a centrifugal pump... designed so that speed will be converted to pressure."
