Applications of Industrial Vibration Monitoring Equipment

It should be obvious that you must take care of your employees – they’re the driving force in your industry. A healthy and supported team can improve productivity and increase your profit margin, but a run-down one will have the opposite effect. This same principle applies to the machinery that your employees manage. Maintaining the health and integrity of your equipment through vibration monitoring can help its longevity and efficiency while also increasing safety for your employees.

Vibration monitoring is a tool that monitors the vibration output of equipment and machinery to detect irregularities or other anomalies in its operating pattern. These systems can detect misalignment, unbalance, loose parts, and irregular wear. Vibration monitoring systems are among the most effective ways to get early warning of major issues, consequently providing a means of predictive maintenance. These early warnings of problems can help prevent machine failure, and the resulting unscheduled downtime to acquire parts and affect repairs.

For over 55 years, Metrix Vibration has recognized the importance of vibration monitoring, and has dedicated our efforts to crafting simple, affordable machinery protection with this technology. For industries like oil and gas, petrochemical, liquified natural gas, and power generation failing to maintain the soundness of equipment can have disastrous consequences, including immense profit loss and employee death. These harmful outcomes of faulty equipment are why we have invested a great deal into monitoring systems for these industries.

Vibration Monitoring in The Oil and Gas Industry
The oil and gas industry often has multiple facilities in remote places that experience extreme weather, sand, and dust. These harsh conditions can cause early wear and tear to the machinery in these facilities. In an already hazardous environment, this can result in machinery becoming especially dangerous to the employees working and other machinery operating on the site. Vibration monitoring equipment can detect early warning signs that indicate faults, allowing employees to correct these issues before they develop into high-risk situations. Moving parts and skilled employees to the facility can take time, so early warning is vital to the success and continued operation of the oil and gas industry. The type of machinery that can benefit from vibration monitoring in the oil and gas industry includes centrifuges, fans, gearboxes, motors, pumps, compressors, and turbines.

Vibration Monitoring in The Petrochemical Industry
The petrochemical industry takes the raw materials collected from oil refining and gas processing and converts them into a wide variety of products. The products produced in this industry include synthetic fibers, plastics, dyes, detergents, adhesives, and fertilizers. Globally, the machinery and equipment used in the petrochemical industry support many other industries and keep them operational. One important piece of equipment in the petrochemical industry is a cooling tower, a type of heat exchanger that disperses the heat produced by industrial equipment and processes. Failures in cooling towers can result in lost production revenue, downtime, safety hazards, failure of other equipment, and health issues. Vibration monitoring systems for cooling towers should be placed in multiple parts of the tower, including the motor and gearbox, to ensure these negative outcomes do not occur in a petrochemical facility.

Vibration Monitoring in The Liquified Natural Gas Industry
Natural gas has become increasingly popular in the heat and power generation industries. As its popularity has increased, safe and effective measures to transport natural gas long distances have become required. This transportation method involves liquifying the gas through cryogenic processes to reduce its temperature to -162°C and reduce its volume by 600 times. This liquefaction process is completed in LNG liquefaction plants, where the unwanted components are removed, and the heavier hydrocarbons are separated by industrial equipment. Because natural gas is flammable, any faults in the equipment that can potentially cause a spark or fire can result in immense amounts of damage to both human lives and other equipment in the facility. Installing vibration monitoring systems to the different equipment used in LNG liquefaction can prevent a natural gas explosion or fire, as well as maintain the LNG output from the facility and supply it to the other industries that use natural gas.

Vibration Monitoring in The Power Generation Industry
The power generation industry obtains its energy from a variety of sources. These include solar, wind, oil, gas, coal, and nuclear power. Each of these can have rotating equipment that can be impacted by normal wear and tear. For industrial complexes, a single day of downtime can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The product produced by these power generation facilities are megawatts. A reliable source of electrical power is fundamental to a country and community’s wellbeing.

Reliable electrical power comes from a variety of rotating and reciprocating machines, these include engines, steam and gas turbines, generators, pumps, motors, and fans. These machinery assets will wear with time. Vibration monitoring is used to sense this wear, or other abnormal machinery malfunctions, and provide early warning to plant operators so they can take action and plan their maintenance. This ability to plan enables these power generation facilities to provide reliable power to other industries and the community.

Multi-Industry Benefits to Vibration Monitoring
Though there are many industry-specific benefits to implementing vibration analysis systems, especially in the oil and gas, petrochemical, Liquified Natural Gas, and power generation industries, there are a few main benefits that stand out among all industries. These include:

● Increased safety for the employees working on or near the equipment
● Reduction in unnecessary downtime of the equipment
● Monitored equipment has an increased lifetime and operating efficiency
● Maintaining facility output to other businesses and industries

Gaining the full benefit of your vibration sensors and other vibration monitoring equipment begins with purchasing high-quality equipment from a company that prioritizes the facility’s Return on Investment. Though there are many benefits from a comprehensive, proactive monitoring system, it does require a plan created just for you by experts in vibration monitoring.

Metrix Vibration has an established methodology that helps ensure we focus on the best outcomes our equipment can bring to our customers. We tailor our vibration monitoring solutions to your business, considering the size of your operation, the effect that each machine will have on your business, and the cost of unscheduled downtime. Ultimately, this means we recommend minimal solutions for non-critical machinery and more comprehensive monitoring systems for high-value machinery in your operation. For more information about how our systems can help your business succeed, contact us today to consult with our vibration monitoring experts.