News

Posted On: 04/14/2005

Machinery health transmitter reports problems

The CSI 9210 Machinery Health transmitter mounts on a motor-pump system, monitors vibration sensors, analyzes the data, and reports problems to operators via a Foundation fieldbus network. The transmitter is completely self-contained; that is, it inputs data from up to six vibration sensors, plus temperature, motor flux and machine speed sensors, and then analyzes the data itself using an on-board embedded processor and expert software.

Emerson Process Management says its studies show that 43% of all plant shutdowns are caused by mechanical equipment. A typical plant has 2,500 machines they say, and 60% of those are motor-pump combinations. Therefore, the first application for the CSI 9210 is for motor-pump systems. Additional models will follow, tailored to various other mechanical plant equipment.

Because it can identify potentially damaging conditions, such as pump cavitation, bearing degradation, excessive vibration, and motor overloading and overheating, it eliminates the need for a vibration specialist to examine reams of vibration data, and eliminates the need to transmit millions of bytes of data to a central software system. The data is available if needed for additional analysis, but the monitor can alert operators by itself.

Emerson says maintenance personnel with expertise in vibration analysis are leaving plants, and not being replaced. This system will help fill the gap, they say.

Alarms sent to the operator include advisory, maintenance and failure warnings, along with recommendations for specific actions. If a change in upstream head, volatility, or composition results in increased flashing or cavitation, operators will be alerted so they can make adjustments to eliminate the problem.

The system performs a complete analysis of real-time data every 30 seconds, so it can detect potential problems as soon as possible. It collects 11 channels of data simultaneously. This allows potential machine problems detected at one location to be compared to data from other locations that was gathered at the same time.

The monitor is intended to work with Foundation fieldbus and the company’s PlantWeb architecture and AMS Asset Management software to provide a complete maintenance management system. It will also be available in a standalone version with industry standard outputs. Price vary from $4,000 to $7,000, depending on the installation.