Continuous asset monitoring and its importance

Among the many reasons for continuous asset monitoring, some that are more relevant to the reality of Brazilian maintenance were selected: life cycle optimization; work safety; assistance in contracting industrial insurance, and requirements for implementing an asset management system.

WHAT IS CONTINUOUS ASSET MONITORING?

The concept of Industry 4.0 brings about the digitalization of industrial processes, and machine sensing is undoubtedly part of this.

This sensing allows continuous monitoring of assets and is part of predictive maintenance techniques.

Through it, it is possible to monitor the condition of a machine, from the collected parameters, such as vibration and temperature.

One of the most effective ways to collect this data is through sensor meters, installed on the machines or components.

These meters collect information at user-defined sample intervals and allow the generation of graphs with measurement history.

The Solution, Dynamox’s meter and analyzer, autonomously samples the vibration parameters in three axes, as well as their temperature, at a user-defined time interval.

In the image below there is an example of a real application, in which the user set the time interval at 10 minutes and, through the generated vibration graph, could identify an early stage failure in one of the machine’s bearings.

You can see that before the failure, the radial and horizontal axes (pink and yellow) were vibrating at about 2 mm/s.

After the failure, you can see, especially in the radial axis, that the values have doubled.

By analyzing the graph, the customer was able to intervene quickly, perform the required maintenance, and normalize the operation, even before the situation escalated and affected other components.

THE CURRENT MODEL OF VIBRATION MEASUREMENT AND ANALYSIS

Practical experience has shown that most companies still have a model of vibration measurement and analysis by sampling, most often done by an outsourced vibration technician or analyst.

The frequency of collection can vary, from monthly to quarterly spacings.

In fact, it is like a snapshot of the momentary situation of the evaluated point, which may or may not be repeated in the next measurement collection. Therefore, it cannot indicate a failure trend.

To perform this work, the technician needs:

• have a piece of equipment, with the functions of a vibration meter and analyzer;
• move to the site – a factory floor;
• perform the measurements, within the available time;
• generate a report.

This service has a cost, and the report is usually not available immediately.

On the other hand, as the technician needs to get to the point of the component to be monitored, due to the hazardous condition of the work, it is often not possible to collect at specific hazardous points.

When continuous monitoring is done by installing wired sensors, real-time information is obtained.

It is, however, a high cost solution and carries the risk of cable breakage, which is often difficult to identify and correct.

THE BENEFITS OF CONTINUOUS MONITORING

The reduction of life cycle cost and the extension of asset life: 80% of machinery failures are random, i.e. they give no advance notice to happen.

One way is preventive maintenance, following the manufacturer’s guidance.

Another, more effective one is the condition monitoring of components or machinery. It has the advantage of allowing the use of parts and components up to the point where they do not generate risks of unscheduled downtime.

At the same time that it records a movie of the operational condition of the machinery, through vibration and temperature time series, it also records spectral analysis, whenever there is an indication that something is out of the ordinary.

Workplace safety and adaptation to NR12: Brazilian Regulatory Norm NR-12 and its annexes define technical references, fundamental principles, and protection measures to ensure the health and physical integrity of workers, and, to this end, establishes minimum requirements for the prevention of occupational accidents and diseases.

Working at heights, in confined environments, generating heat, soot and dust, noise, with excessive vibrations, where there are heated surfaces, with substances that react dangerously, are examples of unhealthy environments and even inaccessible to the maintainer.

So why not let continuous monitoring technology take care of that? In addition to installing a wireless meter, data collection can be automated through the use of a gateway.

The maintainer does not need to be exposed to this hazardous environment, while the condition of the machinery is analyzed remotely over the internet.

Viability criterion and lower cost of contracting insurance for industrial assets: if the asset’s condition is known, allowing maintenance intervention at the best possible opportunity, it is assumed that the risk of breakage, production stoppage, and risk of accidents are reduced.

Periodic reports on the condition of the equipment are produced, evidencing proper management.

Extracting value from assets: the modern maintenance paradigm is to extract maximum value from operating, performance-efficient machinery, i.e., available, reliable, and producing at maximum quality.

Going further, it is expected that the adequate knowledge of the assets’ condition will lead to continuous improvement in production processes – operation, maintenance, training – in cost management, and also in risk management, always supported by data.

These efficient asset management practices are within the requirements of ISO 55000.

Futhermore, continuous monitoring is highlighted as a relevant point for its implementation.