Vibration Analysis for Predictive Maintenance and Condition Monitoring

The vibration analysis and condition monitoring solution from Radio Bridge provides advanced predictive maintenance capabilities for rotating machines and other equipment. Continuous 24/7 monitoring of your assets will detect early signs of wear and warn you before a failure occurs, saving you downtime and expensive repairs.

APPLICABLE TO

Motors
Gearboxes
Pumps
Fans
Compressors
Other equipment

TYPES OF FAILURES DETECTED

Bearing Faults
Misalignment
Lubrication Problems
Imbalances
Gear Mesh Defects
And more

HOW IT WORKS

ADVANCED DATA ANALYSIS

The Radio Bridge Console provides advanced data analysis capabilities for the vibration sensors and allows for additional predictive condition monitoring. Analyze vibration speed and g-force data over time, set up threshold alerts, and more.

Features:

10Hz to 10kHz bandwidth
Low frequency analysis (<1kHz) according to ISO standards
High-speed ultrasonic analysis (1KHz – 10kHz) using proprietary technology
Battery powered with 2+ years of battery life depending on usage
LoRaWAN wireless technology
Easy to install stud mounting

Case Study

Originally published in Pumps and Systems, August 2020

EVOQUA WATER TECHNOLOGIES

Evoqua Water Technologies supplies reverse osmosis systems at large refineries where it provides the critical water needed for plant operations.

PROBLEM

Customers require 100% uptime, meaning the equipment cannot fail and bring the operation to a halt. Thus, redundant pump systems are put into place, but this also introduces the possibility of problems with respect to pump interaction.

Typical challenges with multiple pumps on a common header include:

Runtime balancing
Cavitation during pump switch over
Improper manual or automated valve sequencing
Running too few or too many pumps
Early wear out or seal failure due to improper operation
issed fault detection due to pump not running
Missed preventative maintenance due to pump not running

It is common for a pump designed for a 20-year life to only last five to seven years, typically due to improper operation or maintenance.

SOLUTION

A vibration monitoring trial was performed where the vibration data was combined with operational data, and those results were analyzed by the team. The team knew that if the vibration monitoring could provide additional insights to the typical challenges listed above, the result will be increased pump reliability and life span.

Typical challenges with multiple pumps on a common header include:

RESULT

A number of problems including faulty valves, questionable pumps, and the actual level of system redundancy was discovered. Two key pieces of information were established using vibration data:

Detected an impaired redundant pump system where the redundant pump was actually running 38.6 percent of the time instead of redundant mode only.

Detected pump interaction on a common header due to incorrect valve position. The data showed a correlation between Pump A stopping and Pump B incurring high vibrations due to a manual valve being incorrectly positioned.

CONCLUSION: The vibration data uncovered not only issues with individual pump health, but by processing data from all pumps in the system, additional insights and problems were detected with system level interactions. The end result was increasing the life of the pumps and at the same time ensuring 100% up time by avoiding costly maintenance events.