Document Type: Tutorial

NI Supported: Yes
Publish Date: Apr 22, 2011

National Instruments Products for Oil and Gas Condition Monitoring

Overview
This document addresses the main components of oil and gas condition monitoring and presents National Instruments monitoring solutions. Oil and gas monitoring encompasses monitoring for
control applications as well as preventive measures. Preventive monitoring is necessary to extend life cycles, schedule maintenance, and predict fault conditions. The following list of preventive
monitoring types covered in this document is not an all-encompassing list. Depending on your application, you may need to use other types of preventive monitoring.
Table of Contents
1. Overview of Oil and Gas Condition Monitoring Systems
2. Hardware - Measuring the Physical Signals
3. Software - Data Recording and Processing
Overview of Oil and Gas Condition Monitoring Systems
The oil and gas industry is at the forefront of technology adoption as it looks for new ways to access and refine ever more hard to reach oil supplies. With this increase in technology, however,
comes an increase in the number of critical machines used in exploration, production, transport, and refinement. Condition monitoring offers the ability to reduce cost of ownership for these critical
machines by predicting failures before they occur, which allows proper maintenance to be effectively scheduled.
An oil and gas condition monitoring system is built around the asset being monitored, with the measurements chosen based on the parameters most likely to indicate failure. A typical block diagram
for an oil and gas condition monitoring system is shown in Figure 1. Sensors and hardware are used to acquire physical signals, and then software is used to analyze these signals into a
meaningful machine condition and predict failure.

Figure 1. Block Diagram Showing a Typical Oil and Gas Monitoring System
Hardware - Measuring the Physical Signals
You can measure a variety of physical signals off your assets of interest, from vibration and strain to temperature and oil quality. By measuring these different signals together, you can generate a
better picture of the assets state.
National Instruments offers two main platforms for reading in the signal from these different sensors: C Series and PXI. C Series is an industrial, portable form factor that is ideal for distributed
monitoring or portable diagnostics. PXI offers a higher-performance, higher-channel-count system for use in test setups or much larger monitoring systems.
C Series

PXI

Rugged operating spec (temperature and shock)

High performance and processing

4- to 32-channel systems

High-channel-count systems (500+)

Portable or fixed implementation

Solid-state hard drives for rugged data storage

USB or Ethernet based (NI CompactDAQ or CompactRIO)

Ethernet, Modbus, RS232, and many other industrial buses

Embedded processing, storage, and control

Sample rates at more than 200 kS/s per channel

Sample rates at more than 50 kS/s per channel

Use the CompactRIO Advisor to build your own embedded system

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Use the CompactRIO Advisor to build your own embedded system

Use the NI CompactDAQ Advisor to build your own portable system
Use the PXI Advisor to build your own high-performance, high-channel-count system
Vibration
Vibration monitoring is one of the most important aspects in oil and gas monitoring because it helps determine the condition of rotating equipment. This is especially important for pumps,
compressors, drills, and various types of turbomachinery. Depending on the application's frequency range, you can use either position sensors (0 to 36,000 CPM), velocity sensors (36,000 to
60,000 CPM), or accelerometers (60,000+ CPM) for measuring vibration. These sensors are rigid mounted to the asset and return an analog voltage signal proportional to the instantaneous motion
they sense. For more information on accelerometers, read the Sound and Vibration Transducers Guide.
For rotating equipment, the sensor data must undergo order analysis to display vibration signals in terms of the harmonics of the asset being monitored. These harmonics provide insight into the
performance of various components of the machine and allow for easier diagnosis. For more information on order analysis and signal processing, read the Software section below.
Additionally, vibration measurements can be made on nonrotating equipment, usually to indicate unexpected movement on pipelines or other static assets. By measuring vibration, you can predict,
be alerted to, and quickly react to any changing conditions that may threaten your asset.
To measure a vibration sensor, your data acquisition device should have
High sampling rates to fully capture the vibration signature
High dynamic ranges to detect small vibration changes
Simultaneous sampling on all channels so data can be directly compared and phase matched
Antialiasing filters to prevent unexpected vibration measurements
For measuring vibration, National Instruments offers two major platforms that meet all of the above requirements.

C Series

PXI*

For industrial distributed and portable systems

For high-performance, high-channel-count systems

NI 9234

NI PXIe-4496

51.2 kS/s

204.8 kS/s

102 dB dynamic range

114 dB dynamic range

4 simultaneous channels

16 simultaneous channels

2 mA IEPE excitation

4 mA IEPE excitation

*Note: You can choose from a variety of PXI modules for these applications. For higher-channel-count and even better performance options, click here.
Oil Lubrication Quality
Oil is a key component in wind systems because improper lubrication can reduce efficiency and cause increased friction, resulting in heat and increased vibration that lead to mechanical failure.
Most bearing and gear wear results from incorrect oil lubrication. Monitoring of oil lubrication usually consists of oil contaminant particle counting and moistness measurements.
You can use oil particle counting to determine the quality of oil and verify the existence of contaminants. These contaminants can come from either dirt and grit introduced into the system or from
metal shavings and other particles that corrode and break off internal machine parts. Contaminant particles cause excessive wear, initiate rolling element bearing fatigue, and clog filters. Particle
counters usually communicate with the RS232 protocol.
Moisture measurements indicate the amount of water contamination in oil lubrication, which causes premature component failure and oxidization of the oil lubricant. Oil moisture sensors return their
measurements through either an analog voltage or current or, similar to the particle counters, through RS232.
For measuring oil quality with both RS232 protocol and voltage input, National Instruments has the following offerings.

C Series

PXI Express*

For industrial distributed and portable systems

NI 9870

For high-performance, high-channel-count systems

NI PXIe-8430

RS232 Protocol
4 RS232 serial ports

8 RS232 serial ports

NI 9205
Voltage Input

NI PXIe-6341

-10 to 10 V analog input

-10 to 10 V analog inputs

32 single-ended or 16 differential inputs

16 analog input channels

NI 9203
Current Input

NI PXI-6236

-20 to 20 mA analog input

-20 to 20 mA analog input

8 analog input channels

4 analog input channels

*Note: You can choose from a variety of PXI modules for these applications. For higher-channel-count and better performance options, click here.
Strain
Strain measurement is largely used for structural monitoring in the oil and gas industry. The large structures holding up various oil and gas assets are critical to the performance of the machines
they carry and can serve as a warning of an out-of-balance machine.
For measuring strain, National Instruments offers two major platforms that meet all of the above requirements.

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C Series

PXI*

For industrial distributed and portable systems

For high-performance, high-channel-count systems

NI 9237

NI PXIe-4330

50 kS/s

25 kS/s

4 simultaneous channels

8 simultaneous channels

Quarter-, half-, and full-bridge completion (with NI 9944/45)

Quarter-, half- and full-bridge completion built in

Selectable excitation

Programmable excitation per channel

*Note: You can choose from a variety of PXI modules for these applications. For higher-channel-count and even better performance options, click here.
Acoustic
Acoustic monitoring is increasingly used to detect gas leaks in pipes. When high-pressure gas leaks into the atmosphere, the pressure differential creates a high-velocity flow with a unique acoustic
signature both in the air and in the solid material making up the pipe. There are measurable frequencies created in both the audible frequency band (12 to 20 kHz) and in ultrasonic frequencies
above the normal range of human hearing. Being able to detect these leaks and respond to them quickly not only saves product but also is a significant safety issue.
A microphone sensor has many of the same data acquisition requirements as an accelerometer:
High sampling rate to fully capture the vibration signature
High dynamic range to detect small vibration changes
Simultaneous sampling on all channels so data can be directly compared and phase matched
Antialiasing filters to prevent unexpected vibration measurements
For measuring acoustics, National Instruments offers two major platforms that meet all of the above requirements.

C Series

PXI*

For industrial distributed and portable systems

For high-performance, high-channel-count systems

NI 9234

NI PXIe-4496

51.2 kS/s

204.8 kS/s

102 dB dynamic range

114 dB dynamic range

4 simultaneous channels

16 simultaneous channels

2 mA IEPE excitation

4 mA IEPE excitation

*Note: You can choose from a variety of PXI modules available for these applications. For higher-channel-count and even better performance options, click here.
Temperature
Temperature is another measurement that you can use for preventive and predictive maintenance. When machines begin to fail, they often have increased friction, which is converted to heat. Heat
is not only a signature of machine failure but also a contributor to further failure.
You can measure temperature with a variety of sensors, but the most common sensors are thermocouples and resistance temperature detectors, or RTDs. These sensors often require signal
conditioning because of their low output ranges. An ideal data acquisition device for temperature sensors should have
Amplification to increase the low output range of the sensor
Cold-junction compensation to convert the relative sensor readings to an absolute temperature
50/60 Hz noise rejection, which eliminates environmental noise
For measuring temperature, National Instruments offers two major platforms that meet all of the requirements above.

C Series

PXI

For industrial distributed and portable systems

NI 9211 or 9213

For high-performance, high-channel-count systems

NI PXIe-4353

16 thermocouple channels

32 thermocouple channels

Built-in cold-junction compensation

8 built-in cold-junction compensation channels

24-bit ADC for 0.2 C measurement sensitivity

24-bit ADC for 0.2 C measurement sensitivity

Summary
The following is a summary of the recommended NI C Series and PXI modules for the various measurements that could be required by an oil and gas condition monitoring system.
C Series

PXI

Vibration

NI 9234

NI PXIe-4496

Oil Quality (RS232)

NI 9870

NI PXIe-8430

Oil Quality (Voltage)

NI 9205

NI PXIe-6341

Oil Quality (Current)

NI 9203

NI PXI-6236

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Strain

NI 9237

NI PXIe-4330

Acoustics

NI 9234

NI PXIe-4496

Temperature

NI 9211

NI PXIe-4353

Use the CompactRIO Advisor to build your own embedded system

Use the NI CompactDAQ Advisor to build your own portable system
Use the PXI Advisor to build your own high-performance, high-channel-count system
Software - Data Recording and Processing
LabVIEW
For oil condition monitoring, NI LabVIEW software combines advanced signal analysis with a user-defined GUI (graphical user interface). Additionally, LabVIEW provides the tools for all of the data
acquisition from the various NI hardware platforms and can even perform data logging and database communication.
LabVIEW offers the flexibility of creating a monitoring system that is perfect for your application while providing all of the standard processing features you find in any other analysis environment,
such as statistical analysis, fast Fourier transform (FFT), and root-mean-square (RMS) measurements.
To learn more about using LabVIEW for condition monitoring, view the webcast Using LabVIEW for Embedded Condition Monitoring and Machine Protection .
Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite
For more advanced analysis than that provided by LabVIEW, take advantage of the NI Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite. This suite offers order analysis, waterfall plots, envelope analysis,
and more add-ons to LabVIEW. To learn more about the Sound and Vibration Measurement Suite, click here.

Figure 2. Orbit Plot and Analysis in LabVIEW

Figure 3. Waterfall Plots for Run-Up and Run-Down Analysis

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