Spin doctors weigh in
24 Mar 2008
Turbomachinery generally operates at high speeds, often generating huge levels of rotating mass with blades spinning at near supersonic speeds to very tight tolerances. As well as the safety issues, downtime costs can run to $100,000 an hour, while repair work can take weeks or even months to complete.
The critical task of protecting these large assets is attracting increasing attention from major process control companies offering systems and services to protect equipment, which can cost up to $100 million.
According to vendors, demand is being driven by customers tired of dealing with multiple vendors and looking to move to a single company able to supply integrated solutions to machinery health monitoring. End-users are also alert to the potential advantages of new technologies such as wireless.
According to Don Marshall, marketing director at Emerson's Machinery Health Management business, many reliability engineers today are running predictive programmes with all-Emerson tools but using a protection system from another vendor.
Emerson has recently added the CSI 6000 machinery health monitor to complement its existing predictive diagnostics and performance monitoring technologies. The system, which is being targeted particularly at the aftermarket business, is not SIL-rated, but does comply with the API 67 specification - the American Petroleum Institute's standard for industry best practices for turbomachinery protection. CSI 6000 offers full turbine supervisory instrumentation, including case expansion, differential expansion, thrust position, and both relative and absolute vibration with a local display option.
"End-users can also drill down to see, for example, if an alarm sensor is giving good information, if the problem is real and how critical, and then down to process parameters," explained Marshall. "They can then call in the experts to find a solution and understand with precision the problem with the machine."
The I/O modules come in two types, providing comprehensive control. A Servo Module is designed to control turbine speed by interfacing with specific sensors and actuators to manipulate steam and fuel control valves. The High Speed Protection Module protects the turbine from over-speed and other critical conditions by shutting steam and fuel valves.
Meanwhile, Honeywell, in collaboration with SKF, has introduced OneWireless Equipment Health Monitoring (EHM) as an alternative to manual inspection for the condition monitoring of rotating equipment such as pumps, compressors and motors.
The eight-channel monitoring device communicates over the OneWireless industrial mesh network, collecting acceleration, velocity, temperature and bearing condition data and delivering it to process operators and maintenance personnel.
"Wired equipment instrumentation solutions provide effective condition monitoring, but the equipment and installation costs may be impractical," said Jeff Becker, global wireless business director for Honeywell Process Solutions. The wireless system, he said, "acts as another set of eyes in the field and helps technicians better anticipate maintenance and avoid downtime."
The critical task of protecting these large assets is attracting increasing attention from major process control companies offering systems and services to protect equipment, which can cost up to $100 million.
According to vendors, demand is being driven by customers tired of dealing with multiple vendors and looking to move to a single company able to supply integrated solutions to machinery health monitoring. End-users are also alert to the potential advantages of new technologies such as wireless.
According to Don Marshall, marketing director at Emerson's Machinery Health Management business, many reliability engineers today are running predictive programmes with all-Emerson tools but using a protection system from another vendor.
Emerson has recently added the CSI 6000 machinery health monitor to complement its existing predictive diagnostics and performance monitoring technologies. The system, which is being targeted particularly at the aftermarket business, is not SIL-rated, but does comply with the API 67 specification - the American Petroleum Institute's standard for industry best practices for turbomachinery protection. CSI 6000 offers full turbine supervisory instrumentation, including case expansion, differential expansion, thrust position, and both relative and absolute vibration with a local display option.
"End-users can also drill down to see, for example, if an alarm sensor is giving good information, if the problem is real and how critical, and then down to process parameters," explained Marshall. "They can then call in the experts to find a solution and understand with precision the problem with the machine."
The I/O modules come in two types, providing comprehensive control. A Servo Module is designed to control turbine speed by interfacing with specific sensors and actuators to manipulate steam and fuel control valves. The High Speed Protection Module protects the turbine from over-speed and other critical conditions by shutting steam and fuel valves.
Meanwhile, Honeywell, in collaboration with SKF, has introduced OneWireless Equipment Health Monitoring (EHM) as an alternative to manual inspection for the condition monitoring of rotating equipment such as pumps, compressors and motors.
The eight-channel monitoring device communicates over the OneWireless industrial mesh network, collecting acceleration, velocity, temperature and bearing condition data and delivering it to process operators and maintenance personnel.
"Wired equipment instrumentation solutions provide effective condition monitoring, but the equipment and installation costs may be impractical," said Jeff Becker, global wireless business director for Honeywell Process Solutions. The wireless system, he said, "acts as another set of eyes in the field and helps technicians better anticipate maintenance and avoid downtime."
