Condition Based Maintenance

Ritwik.A
Introduction
 Condition monitoring (or, colloquially, CM) is the
process of monitoring a parameter of condition in
machinery (vibration, temperature etc.), in order to
identify a significant change which is indicative of a
developing fault.
 It is a major component of predictive maintenance.
 The use of condition monitoring allows maintenance to be
scheduled, or other actions to be taken to prevent
consequential damages and avoid its consequences.
 Condition monitoring has a unique benefit in that
conditions that would shorten normal lifespan can be
addressed before they develop into a major failure.
 Condition monitoring techniques are normally used on
rotating equipment, auxiliary systems and other
machinery (compressors, pumps, electric motors, internal
combustion engines, presses), while
periodic inspection using non-destructive testing (NDT)
techniques and fit for service (FFS) evaluation are used
for static plant equipment such as steam
boilers, piping and heat exchangers.
 Often visual inspections are considered to form an underlying component
of condition monitoring, however this is only true if the inspection results
can be measured or critiqued against a documented set of guidelines.
 For these inspections to be considered condition monitoring, the results
and the conditions at the time of observation must be collated to allow for
comparative analysis against the previous and future measurements.
 The act of simply visually inspecting a section of pipework for the
presence of cracks or leaks cannot be considered condition monitoring
unless quantifiable parameters exist to support the inspection and a
relative comparison is made against previous inspections.
 An act performed in isolation to previous inspections is considered a
Condition Assessment, Condition Monitoring activities require that
analysis is made comparative to previous data and reports the trending of
that comparison.
 For larger, more critical machines where safety
implications, production interruptions (so-called
"downtime"), replacement parts, and other costs of failure
can be appreciable (determined by the criticality index), a
permanent monitoring system is typically employed rather
than relying on periodic handheld data collection.
 However, the diagnostic methods and tools available from
either approach are generally the same.
 Recently on-line condition monitoring systems have
been applied to heavy process industries such as pulp,
paper, mining, petrochemical and power generation.
 Rotating equipment is an industry umbrella term that
includes gearboxes, reciprocating and centrifugal
machinery.
 The most commonly used method for rotating machines
is vibration analysis.
Types of Condition Monitoring
 Subjective Condition Monitoring: Here the monitoring
personnel use their perception of senses and judgment to note
any change of the condition. The guidelines or hints where to
book for leakage, bearing play etc. posture or figures illustrating
different conditions of components may also be helpful.
 Aided Subjective or condition monitoring with simple
gadgets: Here the monitoring personnel are simple gadgets to
add their ability to perceive conditions better.
 Objective condition monitoring: Different instruments and
facilities are used for obtaining data giving direct measure of the
parametric condition of the components even while the machine
is working.
CM process flow
Advantages of Condition Monitoring
 Improved availability of equipment
 Minimized breakdown costs
 Improved morality of the operating personal and safety.
 Improved reliability
 Improved planning
Disadvantages
 Gives only marginal benefits
 Increased running cost
 Sometimes difficult to organize
Vibration Monitoring
 Measurements can be taken on machine bearing casings
with accelerometers (seismic or piezo-electric transducers) to
measure the casing vibrations, and on the vast majority of
critical machines, with eddy-current transducers that directly
observe the rotating shafts to measure the radial (and axial)
displacement of the shaft.
 The level of vibration can be compared with historical baseline
values such as former start ups and shutdowns, and in some
cases established standards such as load changes, to assess the
severity.
 Machinery and parts OEM also define vibration limits based on
the machine design or of the internal parts, e.g. fault frequencies
of bearings.
 One commonly employed technique to interpret vibration
signal is to examine the individual frequencies present in
the signal.
 These frequencies correspond to certain mechanical
components (for example, the various pieces that make up
a rolling-element bearing) or certain malfunctions (such as
shaft unbalance or misalignment).
 By examining these frequencies and their harmonics, the
CM specialist can often identify the location and type of
problem, and sometimes the root cause as well.
 For example, high vibration at the frequency corresponding to the
speed of rotation is most often due to residual imbalance and is
corrected by balancing the machine.
 A degrading rolling-element bearing, on the other hand, will
usually exhibit vibration signals at specific frequencies increasing
in intensity as it wears.
 Special analysis instruments can detect this wear weeks or even
months before failure, giving ample warning to schedule
replacement before a failure which could cause a much longer
down-time.
 Beside all sensors and data analysis it is important to keep in
mind that more than 80% of all complex mechanical equipment
fail accidentally and without any relation to their life-cycle period
 Most vibration analysis instruments today utilize a Fast
Fourier Transform (FFT) which is a special case of the
generalized Discrete Fourier Transform and converts the
vibration signal from its time domain representation to its
equivalent frequency domain representation.
 However, frequency analysis (sometimes called Spectral
Analysis or Vibration Signature Analysis) is only one aspect
of interpreting the information contained in a vibration signal.
 Frequency analysis tends to be most useful on machines that
employ rolling element bearings and whose main failure
modes tend to be the degradation of those bearings, which
typically exhibit an increase in characteristic frequencies
associated with the bearing geometries and constructions.
 Depending on the type of machine, its typical malfunctions, the
bearing types employed, rotational speeds, and other factors, the
CM specialist may use additional diagnostic tools, such as
examination of the time domain signal, the phase relationship
between vibration components and a timing mark on the machine
shaft (often known as a keyphasor), historical trends of vibration
levels, the shape of vibration, and numerous other aspects of the
signal along with other information from the process such as load,
bearing temperatures, flow rates, valve positions and pressures to
provide an accurate diagnosis.
 This is particularly true of machines that use fluid bearings rather
than rolling-element bearings. To enable them to look at this data
in a more simplified form vibration analysts or machinery
diagnostic engineers have adopted a number of mathematical plots
to show machine problems and running characteristics, these plots
include the bode plot, the waterfall plot, the polar plot and the
orbit time base plot amongst others.
 Handheld data collectors and analyzers are now
commonplace on non-critical or balance of plant machines
on which permanent on-line vibration instrumentation
cannot be economically justified.
 The technician can collect data samples from a number of
machines, then download the data into a computer where
the analyst (and sometimes artificial intelligence) can
examine the data for changes indicative of malfunctions
and impending failures
Temperature monitoring
 Slight temperature variations across a surface can be
discovered with visual inspection and non-destructive
testing with thermography.
 Heat is indicative of failing components, especially
degrading electrical contacts and terminations.
 Thermography can also be successfully applied to high-
speed bearings, fluid couplings, conveyor rollers, and
storage tank internal build-up
Pistol Thermometer
 Ideal as a professional tool for maintenance professionals,
the non-contact, pistol grip thermometer enables the
capture of a simultaneous, time stamped digital
photographic images as a temperature reading is taken.
 The logged results and images from upto 100 locations
can be uploaded via a USB connections to a PC.
 Thus the temperatures can be stored, presented graphically
on screen for improved documentation
Temperature Crayons and Tapes
 Temperature monitoring by feel of hand or by simple
measuring items / instruments, like thermometers,
temperature crayons and tapes etc is an age old practice of
finding out defects in components.
 The subjecture of temperature monitoring is touching the
motor etc, and assessing.
 Also temperature stickers are the most common and cost
effectives.
Thermo – diodes & thermo – transistors
a) Thermo-diodes
It is a widely use method for measuring temperature. When the
temperature of doped semiconductors changes, the mobility of their
charge carriers changes and this effects the sate at which electrons
and holes can diffuse across a P.N.Junetion. The difference in voltage
and current through the junction is a function fo the temperature.
b) Thermo Transistors
in thermo-transistor the voltage across the junction between the base
and the emitter depends on the temperature. A common method is the
use of two transistor with different collector currents to find the
difference in the base emitter voltage between item. The difference is
the measure of temperature. It can be combined with circuit
components on a single chip to give a temperature sensor.
Leakage monitoring
 Leakage is unintended discharge or oozing of fluids and gases from mechanical
components, occurring because of,
 Increase in clearance or ear out or
 Exesion of parts like value seats, poppets and spools etc or ⦁ Damage of seals and packing or
⦁ Incorrect selection / filting of seals and components or ⦁ Other reasons Leakage are both
external or internal external leakage are relatively easy to detect as some fluid or gases flow
out of leaking components. Internal leakages are little difficult to detect as the leakage fluid /
gas goes back to reserroir directly or through esting pipelines and is normally not seen
following outside. For detecting fluid leakages of underground pipelines, on crude method is
that the area around the leakage gets wet and the fluid starts coming / oozing out from any
soft location. Few sensors are connected at some distance for timely indication of leakages
for very long times. In some cases, pressure drops are also indicated by leakages. Leak
testing methods can be classified according to the pressure and fluid (gas or liquid) in the
system. The commonly used leak testing methods are ⦁ Acoustic ⦁ Bubble testing ⦁ Flow
detection ⦁ Specific gas detectors ⦁ Quantity loss determination etc Direct sensing in gas
system at pressure is done by acoustic method, bubble method or flow detection. Specific gas
detectors like sulphur hexafluoside, halogen, thermal conductively, mass spectrometer
(helium) leak detector etc. are also used to detect and quantify the leaks for the components at
pressure or at vacuum.
Performance monitoring
 Performance monitoring is a less well-known condition
monitoring technique.
 It can be applied to rotating machinery such as pumps and
turbines, as well as stationary items such as boilers and heat
exchangers.
 Measurements are required of physical quantities:
temperature, pressure, flow, speed, displacement, according
to the plant item.
 Absolute accuracy is rarely necessary, but repeatable data is
needed. Calibrated test instruments are usually needed, but
some success has been achieved in plant with DCS
(Distributed Control Systems).
 Performance analysis is often closely related to energy
efficiency, and therefore has long been applied in steam
power generation plants.
 In some cases, it is possible to calculate the optimum time
for overhaul to restore degraded performance.
Model-based voltage and current systems
(MBVI systems)
 This is a technique that makes use of the information
available from the current and voltage signals across all
three phases simultaneously.
 Model-based systems are able to identify many of the
same phenomena also seen by more conventional
techniques, covering electrical, mechanical, and
operational areas.
 Model-based systems work on the lines and measure both
current and voltage while the motor is in operation and
then automatically creates a mathematical model of the
relationship between current and voltage.
 By applying this model to the measured voltage, a
modelled current is calculated and this is compared with
the actual measured current.
 Deviations between the measured current and the
modelled current represent imperfections in the motor and
driven equipment system, which can be analysed using a
combination of Park’s vector to simplify the three-phase
currents into two orthogonal phases (D&Q), Fourier
analysis to give a power spectral density plot, and
algorithmic assessment of the resulting spectrum to
identify specific faults or failure modes.
 These systems are designed for permanent installation as a
condition monitoring solution rather than as a short-term
diagnostic measurement device, and their outputs can be
integrated into normal plant systems.
 Being permanently connected, historic trends are
automatically captured.