Why Condition Monitoring is Important for Your Rotating Machinery
In a typical industrial operation, the efficiency and longevity of industrial rotating equipment is often a significant driver of plant costs. When a centrifuge or generator goes down, it can take an entire operation down with it.
Routine monitoring of the condition of rotating equipment is not just smart maintenance—it’s smart business.
Plant Maintenance and Condition Monitoring
Condition monitoring is not a new idea. Since the dawn of the machine age, workers on the floors of industrial operations have used their eyes, ears, and hands to detect problems in their equipment. But today’s technology allows for far more accurate detection of even subtle variances, allowing for predictive rather than reactive maintenance.
A data-driven monitoring system using machine-mounted sensors continuously analyzes performance for signs of anomalous movement. Analysis results can be sent anywhere, allowing anyone—floor operators, remote managers, and third-party maintenance contractors—to check for problem signs in real-time.
Sophisticated monitoring techniques allow for real-time detection of subtle variations in the way a rotating machine is working. Every machine creates predictable oscillating vibration patterns. When a part begins to fail or a miscalibration arises, the vibration patterns change in distinct ways depending on the nature of the failure.
A loose mounting bolt, misaligned shaft, or failing bearing will each produce characteristic signs that the vibration analysis equipment will detect and pass back to managers, who can direct their maintenance work at the specific source of the problem.
Advantages of Condition Monitoring
The advantages of the preventive maintenance approach cannot be overstated; keeping rotating machinery in tip-top shape is a complex job. When a single component goes out of calibration or begins to fail, the forces involved can rapidly pass to other components, leading to additional failures.
Worse, these remote problems may not be obvious until the original problem is repaired. Catching and addressing a problem before the cascade of damage begins can dramatically reduce downtime.
Trust DXP with Your Condition Monitoring Today
At DXP Enterprises, we are passionate about improving the operating results of our clients. Our industrial technology services provide expert installation, maintenance, and training for a wide range of equipment monitoring systems. To find out more about how DXP can save your business money, contact us online today.