CASE HISTORY
HOW MACHINERY MANAGEMENT
CHANGES MAINTENANCE
In Argentina, Plant Asset Management Helps Transportadora de Gas
del Sur Reduce Maintenance Costs and Increase Availability of TG Sets
Marcelo Ale
Field Engineer
Bently Nevada Argentina
email: marcelo.ale@bently.com
Javier Beret
Maintenance Department Supervisor
Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A.
Rubén Etchegno
Maintenance Department Engineer
Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A.
Ariel Sebalt
Maintenance Department Engineer
Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A.
4 ORBIT 1Q04
Transportadora de Gas del Sur S.A. (TGS) Cerri Complex in Argentina.
In Argentina, Transportadora de
Gas del Sur S.A. (TGS) is the coun-
try’s leading transporter and proces-
sor of natural gas. TGS also is one
of the most important dealers of
LPG. TGS delivers over 60% of the
gas consumed in the country
through 7400 km of pipelines.
They have a production capacity of
62.5 million cubic meters per day
(MMm3/day), which is 98% fully
subscribed under firm transporta-
tion contracts. The company was
formed in December 1992 when
Gas del Estado, the former state-
run gas company, was privatized.
Although TGS is basically a natu-
ral gas transportation company, it
also processes the gas at its Cerri
Complex in order to optimize
hydrocarbon utilization. The Cerri
Complex has the necessary facili-
ties to separate ethane, propane,
butane, gasoline, and carbon diox-
ide from the natural gas. These
materials, which represent 12% of
the total transportation load, are
stored at Cerri and Puerto Galván
for delivery to diverse users and des-
tinations, while the natural gas con-
tinues toward Buenos Aires
through the three main pipelines.
The Cerri Complex, which has a
total processing capacity of 44
MMm3/day, includes:
r A cryogenic turboexpansion
plant for the separation and
fractionation of ethane, propane,
butane, gasoline, and carbon
dioxide
r A refrigerated absorption plant
for the extraction and fraction-
ation of propane, butane, and
gasoline
r A storage and dispatch sector
In the cryogenic turboexpansion
plant, there are several critical
machines that are connected to
Bently Nevada’s Data Manager®
2000 (DM2000) software and a
 CASE HISTORY
TO DETERMINE THE CONDITION MONITORING STRATEGY, THE EQUIPMENT WAS DIVIDED INTO THREE CATEGORIES:
number of semicritical machines
connected to Trendmaster® 2000
(TM2000) software.
In Puerto Galván, TGS has a stor-
age and dispatch plant for normal
and refrigerated products.
Strategic Analysis of
“Maintenance & Improvements”
The main rotating equipment at
Cerri includes gas and steam tur-
bines, centrifugal and reciprocating
compressors, generators, expanders,
and a wide variety of centrifugal
pumps, electric motors, and other
machines which total more than
120,000 hp installed. There are also
other assets, such as boilers, process
towers, and tanks that are critical
to management of the plant.
The process plant has two refriger-
ated absorptions trains which are
30 years old, two cryogenic turbo-
expansion trains which are 20 years
old, and a new cryogenic turbo-
expansion train built in 1998. Since
some relatively old technologies
coexist with new ones, this creates
a challenge for the maintenance
team. Analysis must be timely,
organized, and comprehensive.
The Maintenance and Improve-
ments department bases the man-
agement and execution of their
tasks on the Reliability and
Continuous Improvement philoso-
phy. This philosophy is supported
by preventive maintenance, predic-
tive maintenance, and proactive
CRITICAL, SEMI-CRITICAL, AND AUXILIARY
maintenance strategies. The facility
uses a computerized maintenance
management system (CMMS) and
specific reliability software to take
advantage of the synergy of the
newest methodologies of mainte-
nance. These methodologies
include Reliability Based Main-
tenance; Reliability Centered
Maintenance II; Total Productive
Maintenance; Root Cause Failure
Analysis; Reliability, Availability,
and Maintainability; and ISO 9001
and 14001 (certified in 2001), the
quality and environmental man-
agement system standards.
Due to the complexity and diver-
sity of the installed equipment, the
maintenance strategy for each piece
of equipment was based on a func-
tional analysis of criticality and
potential failures. To determine the
condition monitoring strategy, the
equipment was divided into three
categories: critical, semi-critical,
and auxiliary.
The Need For Machinery
Condition Monitoring
Software
Today, competitiveness demands
high reliability and more than 97%
availability. This demands that
installations meet these new objec-
tives by using advanced technolo-
gies and specialized human
resources. To increase availability,
reliability must increase (increased
mean time between repairs,
1Q04 ORBIT 5
 CASE HISTORY
VER LOA VER LA
HOR LOA HOR LA SEIS A
SEIS B
AXIAL A
KPH
AXIAL B
WHEN A CRITICAL Machine train diagram showing probe locations. | FIG. 1
MACHINE SHUTS DOWN,
MTBR) or maintainability must
IT MEANS THE
improve (decreased mean time to
PROCESS repair, MTTR).
Before TGS was formed, in spite of
IS INTERRUPTED
significant damage to the machines
and the high cost of lost produc-
tion due to shutdowns, incidents
were not evaluated punctually.
Basically, the corrective actions
were always focused on reacting to
a problem. But, with the creation
of the new company, the concept
of maintenance was changed from
reactive to proactive.
The age of the machines (some
were over 20 years old) and the
required investment meant that a
thorough analysis of the critical
variables had to be performed:
penalties, operative security, envi-
ronment impact, reliability/avail-
ability, and lost production
capacity. When a critical machine
shuts down, it means the process is
interrupted. The result is loss of
production and penalties, and that
means loss of money.
The installation of DM2000 was
carried out in 1997, after an evalu-
ation of the primary equipment. In
the beginning, the system monitored
two steam turbines, two compres-
sors, and two new turboexpanders.
The first impression was like an
“awakening of the senses.” The new
6 ORBIT 1Q04
information provided by the system
brought about a new way to oper-
ate and maintain the plant. The
qualitative and quantitative aspects
of the new information boosted the
capacity of failure diagnostics,
operative events evaluation, and
proactive maintenance by provid-
ing detailed insight to the condi-
tion of the machinery.
The system also was very useful in
the commissioning and startup of
two new turboexpanders and six
centrifugal compressors. It allowed
TGS to verify the correct operation
of the machinery and to take proac-
tive action to improve its operation.
Since the time of the initial
DM2000 installation, six centrifu-
gal compressors, one turbo
expander, and two steam turbines
have been added to the condition
monitoring program. All of the
equipment, totaling an additional
100,000 hp, is critical to plant
operation.
Case History
In May 2001, TGS installed
DM2000 on two turbogenerators
that supply power for the entire
plant. If the turbogenerators stop,
TGS has to purchase electricity
from the local utility company.
Each train consists of a steam
 CASE HISTORY

turbine; a gearbox; and a 4.5 MW,
1500 rpm, generator. All machines
use fluid film bearings.
The machinery protection system
consists of a 3300 rack, XY probes
on each radial turbine bearing, dual
axial probes on the turbine thrust
bearing, and two seismic sensors on
the gearbox (Figure 1).
Two months after installation, the
maintenance diagnostics specialist
detected an increase in overall vibra- THE MAINTENANCE
tion in the steam turbine of turbo-
generator unit TG 6001. When they
DIAGNOSTICS SPECIALIST
observed the spectrum (Figure 2), DETECTED AN INCREASE
they saw that the 1X vibration com-
ponent was amplified, and there was IN OVERALL VIBRATION
an even larger 1/2X component, too.

POINT: HOR LA 45˚ Right Waveform Pk to Pk: 2.54 mil pp

MACHINE SPEED: 4468 rpm
23 JUL 2001 17:00:06 Steady State
WINDOW: None SPECTRAL LINES: 128
2.0
AMPLITUDE: 0.1 mil pp/div

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 1X 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X 7X 8X
ORDERS: 0.2X/div

POINT: HOR LOA 45˚ Right Waveform Pk to Pk: 2.92 mil pp

MACHINE SPEED: 4468 rpm
23 JUL 2001 17:00:07 Steady State
WINDOW: None SPECTRAL LINES: 128
2.0
AMPLITUDE: 0.1 mil pp/div

1.5

1.0

0.5

0.0
0 1X 2X 3X 4X 5X 6X 7X 8X
ORDERS: 0.2X/div

Spectra of inboard and outboard turbine bearing vibration. | FIG. 2

1Q04 ORBIT 7
 CASE HISTORY

Y: VER LA 45˚ Left DIR AMPL: 2.47 mil pp

X: HOR LA 45˚ Right DIR AMPL: 2.54 mil pp
23JUL2001 17:00:06 Steady State DIRECT
AC COUPLED
UP Y: VER LA

0 20 40 06 08 100
X: HOR LA

0.2 mil/div 4468 rpm 0 20 40 06 08 100

ROTATION: Y TO X (CW) 5 ms/div 4468 rpm

Y: VER LOA 45˚ Left DIR AMPL: 1.02 mil pp

X: HOR LOA 45˚ Right DIR AMPL: 2.92 mil pp
23JUL2001 17:00:07 Steady State DIRECT

UP

0.2 mil/div 4468 rpm

ROTATION: Y TO X (CW)

Orbit and timebase data from inboard and outboard turbine bearings showing symptoms of
heavy load and rub. | FIG. 3

8 ORBIT 1Q04
 CASE HISTORY
Damaged interstage seal from turbine, and the debris that caused
Their next step was to evaluate the
dynamic information contained in
the orbit and timebase waveform
(Figure 3). The orbit shape was
very elliptical, almost flat, indicat-
ing a heavily loaded condition. The
1/2X relationship can be seen in
the waveform; there are two
Keyphasor® dots in each cycle of
vibration, and they stay in rela-
tively the same place from cycle to
cycle. The maintenance specialist
concluded that a heavy load on
their steam turbine was causing a
rub condition.
(Editor’s note: The first balance resonance
frequency of the turbine was just below half
running speed. The rub increased the system
stiffness, increased the resonance frequency
to just 1/2X, and excited the resonance.)
Next, they decided to decrease the
generator load to see if that affected
the turbine response. When the
load was decreased, the turbine
vibration decreased, too. Based on
the problem. | FIG. 4
this data, the maintenance special-
ist recommended decreasing the
load and, when the demand was
THE MAINTENANCE SPECIALIST
lowest, stopping the machine.
After the machine was stopped, CONCLUDED THAT A HEAVY
maintenance first inspected the cou-
pling to check for damage that could LOAD ON THEIR
be related to the variation in vibra- STEAM TURBINE WAS CAUSING
tion level associated with the load
decrease. The coupling did not show A RUB CONDITION
any problems, so the turbine was
inspected next.
The bearing did not show any sign
of a rub, and, when they opened the
turbine, neither the wheels or DM2000 MADE
diaphragms were damaged.
A $147,000
However, one interstage seal showed
considerable damage (Figure 4),
DIFFERENCE
which confirmed the hypothesis of
rub. There was an accumulation of
metallic particles on the seal that
produced the wear on both the
rotating and fixed parts. These par-
ticles displaced the shaft and caused
the seal parts to rub. The damaged
1Q04 ORBIT 9
 CASE HISTORY

Y: VER LOA 45˚ Left DIR AMPL: 0.879 mil pp

X: HOR LOA 45˚ Right DIR AMPL: 2.61 mil pp
27JUL2001 12:39:55 Steady State DIRECT

UP

0.2 mil/div 4476 rpm

ROTATION: Y TO X (CW)

Y: VER LA 45˚ Left DIR AMPL: 0.878 mil pp

X: HOR LA 45˚ Right DIR AMPL: 1.36 mil pp
27JUL2001 12:39:55 Steady State DIRECT
AC COUPLED
UP Y: VER LA

0 20 40 60 80 100
X: HOR LA

0.2 mil/div 4511 rpm 0 20 40 60 80 100

ROTATION: Y TO X (CW) 5 ms/div 4511 rpm

Orbit and timebase plots of the turbine inboard and outboard bearings taken after the fixed part of the
interstage seal was replaced. | FIG. 5

10 ORBIT 1Q04
 CASE HISTORY

shaft seal did not cause an unbalance ing part required the disassembly of unit during low-demand hours and
because the seal was worn evenly, the wheels, shaft seal, etc. Once the before more serious shaft damage
and its diameter was small com- seal was replaced, the machine was could occur.
pared with the wheels. restarted and ran normally, as In contrast, consider the costs for
It was concluded that the metal shown by the orbit and timebase in TG 6001 against those for a similar
debris came from the admission Figure 5. There was some loss of event that had occurred in 2000
valve pipeline. A suction filter is power because of the damaged seal, (prior to the installation of
supposed to screen out the type of but it was not significant. DM2000) on TG 6002. Although
particles found on the seal, but a similar machinery malfunction on
when it was checked it was found Return on Investment a nearly identical machine, that
intact, suggesting that the material The entire repair on TG 6001 took event cost considerably more at
probably came from downstream of only six hours, with a total cost of almost $160,000. It involved 3 days
the filter. $10,000 USD. The customer was of downtime at $7700 and the need
Maintenance opted for a partial proactively warned about the situa- for a spare rotor at $150,000. In
solution by replacing only the fixed tion and was able to minimize fact, had a spare rotor not been
part of the seal; changing the rotat- downtime costs by repairing the available, the downtime cost would
have been even higher – as much as
$80,000 per month.
Reliability Calculation This information is summarized in
Table 1 which spans the same time
MTBR – Mean Time Between Repair period for both machines and
Total functioning life of all units of a population encompasses the ten months prior
MTBR = –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of repairs in the population during the measurement to the DM2000 installation as well
MTBF – Mean Time Between Failure
as the two months after. Notice that
the availability of both machines is
Total number of life units of an item
MTBF = ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– over 99%, which is very good for
Number of failures in the population during the measurement unspared assets. Even so, TG 6001
MTTR – Mean Time To Repair experienced its rub event after
Total length of time of all units of a population spent in repair (downtime) DM2000 was installed (July 2001),
MTTR = –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Number of failures in the population during the measurement interval which increased its availability to
Note: When MTBR or MTBF is long compared to the mission time, you observe reliability. When MTBR or MTBF
nearly 100%. Conversely, TG 6002
is short compared to the mission time, you observe unreliability.

Availability – The proportion of time the unit or system is performing its function to
the total time the system was suppose to be performing its function:
Reliability, availability, and
Uptime MTBR
Availability = ––––––––––––––– = –––––––––––––––– costs of repair for units
Uptime + Downtime MTBR + MTTR
TG 6001 and TG 6002.

TABLE 1

PERIOD OPERATION MAINTENANCE TOTAL

Machine ID Start End MTTR (days) Cost (K$) Cost (K$) Cost (K$) Failure Mode
TG 6002 29/07/00 29/07/01 3.00 7.70 150 157.70 Radial load at seal
TG 6001 29/07/00 29/07/01 0.25 0.65 10 10.65 Radial load from misalignment
PERIOD AVERAGE
Machine ID Start End MTTR (days) MTBR (days) Availability (%) Total Cost (K$/failure)
TG 6002 29/07/00 29/07/01 3.00 362.00 99.1 157.70
TG 6001 29/07/00 29/07/01 0.25 364.75 99.9 10.65

1Q04 ORBIT 11
 CASE HISTORY

POINT: HOR LA 75˚ Right DIR AMPL: 2.93 mil pp

MACHINE SPEED: 4464 rpm
15 JUL 2002 02:25:45 Steady State
WINDOW: None SPECTRAL LINES: 128

3
AMPLITUDE: 0.2 mil pp/div

0
0 2X 4X 6X 8X 10X 12X 14X 16X
ORDERS: 0.5X/div

Spectrum of the vibration signal from the turbine inboard bearing. | FIG. 6

Y: VER LA 15˚ Left DIR AMPL: 1.96 mil pp

X: HOR LA 75˚ Right DIR AMPL: 3.01 mil pp
14JUL2002 02:46:39 Steady State DIRECT
UP

WITH THE EXPERIENCE THEY GAINED...

THEY COULD ONCE AGAIN SEE THE

SYMPTOMS OF A HEAVY LOAD ON THE ORBIT

Orbit from the turbine

inboard bearing showing
signs of a heavy load. 0.2 mil/div 4467 rpm
ROTATION Y TO X (CW)
FIG. 7

12 ORBIT 1Q04
CASE HISTORY

POINT: HOR LA 75˚ Right Waveform Pk to Pk: 0.261 mil pp

MACHINE SPEED: 4463 rpm
23 JUL 2002 16:30:07 Steady State
WINDOW: None SPECTRAL LINES: 128

0.3
AMPLITUDE: 0.2 mil pp/div

0.2

0.1

0.0
0 2X 4X 6X 8X 10X 12X 14X 16X
ORDERS: 0.5X/div

Y: VER LA 15˚ Left Waveform Pk to Pk: 0.286 mil pp

X: HOR LA 75˚ Right Waveform Pk to Pk: 0.261 mil pp
23JUL2002 16:30:07 Trend DIRECT

UP

0.2 mil/div 4463 rpm

ROTATION: Y TO X (CW)

Orbit and timebase data from the turbine inboard bearing after machine was realigned. | FIG. 8

1Q04 ORBIT 13
 CASE HISTORY
experienced its rub event in calendar
year 2000, before DM2000 was
installed. This is reflected in TG 6002's
lower availability, lower MTBR, and
higher MTTR. Most dramatically, it is
reflected in operating and maintenance
costs that are nearly 16 times lower for
THESE SYSTEMS ALLOW
the machine that had DM2000
MAINTENANCE AND installed at the time of an event than
for the machine that did not. DM2000
OPERATIONS TO made a $147,000 difference.
ACT IN A Data Identifies Another Load-
PROACTIVE Related Problem
WAY On July 13, 2002, when TG 6002
tripped due to a steam supply problem,
TG 6001 had to support the full load
of both turbogenerators and was sub-
jected to an excessive torque. Under
these conditions, TG 6001 also tripped,
but because of electric protection.
When the machines were started
again, maintenance people observed a
high vibration level in TG 6001 at the
coupling end. The spectrum (Figure
6) showed a high 1X and a significant
2X component in the vibration signal.
With the experience they gained
TGS IS NOW ABLE through evaluating the dynamic infor-
TO PLAN mation, they could once again see the
symptoms of a heavy load on the orbit
MAINTENANCE (Figure 7).
BASED ON ACTUAL First, they checked the diaphragm
coupling, reasoning that the excess
MACHINE CONDITION torque could have damaged it. The
coupling was not damaged, so they
proceeded to verify the alignment and
discovered that the machine was not
aligned properly. They quickly aligned
the machine and restarted it. The spec-
trum and orbit (Figure 8) show a dra-
matic reduction in vibration.
14 ORBIT 1Q04
Conclusion
For TGS, Bently Nevada systems have
become a fundamental link in the
chain for development and implemen-
tation of their philosophy of Reliability
and Continuous Improvement. In
many instances, these systems have
shown their capability to generate
information that allows Maintenance
and Operations to act in a proactive
way to avoid failures and optimize the
utilization of their plant assets.
TGS, with the help of Data Manager
2000, is now able to:
r Diagnose machine behavior quickly
and accurately based on dynamic
information
r Compare current condition of the
machine against historical data
r Use mechanical condition infor-
mation to reduce the chance of
unwanted shutdowns and downtime
r Plan maintenance based on actual
machine condition
r Increase production capacity and
operative security
r Integrate protection and monitoring
systems with control systems
r Reduce overtime by maintenance
personnel
r Increase corporate learning
r Reduce environmental impact
r Optimize resources
r Prevent catastrophic failures
For more information on using Bently
Nevada’s condition monitoring and
asset management solutions to improve
your plant operating and maintenance
results, contact your local Bently
Nevada sales professional or visit us
online at www.bently.com.