Plant Services - August 2008 - (Page 25) TECHNOLOGY TOOLBOX Predicting Motor Failure Power signatures reveal potential problems with performance and reliability lems that vibration monitoring might miss. Motor signaotor reliability and efficiency are directly influture data are transferred to the MotorView module of AMS enced by power supply quality. Disturbances Suite: Machinery Health Manager, from which automated such as transients, unbalance and harmonics analysis, trending and comparison with other diagnostics is can harm the windings and decrease performance. Voltage possible. Also, All-Test Pro On-line II performs signature sags and interruptions can stop an industrial process. Surges and power-quality analysis from a handheld device. might induce equipment failure. The costs will be signifiStart-up controls: Soft-starting technologies manage the cant if downtime, production losses and premature equippower supply at startup to reduce motor wear. Baldor’s miment replacement or repairs are involved. croprocessor-controlled Digital Soft-Start control regulates Surge protectors, voltage regulators and ride-through sysvoltage, reduces inrush current and optimizes tems limit the effect of power disturbances, power factor to eliminate over-fluxing. but ongoing motor analysis and power-quality The Allen-Bradley SMC-3 offers soft-startmonitoring increase the chance of detecting See if your ing technology with extended current ratings. degradation before damage is done. Trending, utility will Electronic overload protection with adjustable benchmarking and warnings improve your trip class, motor and system diagnostics, conpredictive maintenance. offset the cost figurable auxiliary contacts and multiple start Motor analysis revival: Monitoring operof upgrading modes are among this controller’s ating motors has long been an effective stratmotor systems and stop In a networked environment, it can features. egy for performance management. Factoring and controls. perform signal conditioning, event detection in the influence of electrical supply and disand alarming. tribution extends these benefits. For instance, Cost factors: Some devices, plus instalthe rotor signature determines a motor’s load lation, exceed the cost of a small motor. Hard-wiring or and efficiency, but power quality affects its accuracy. “Sysadapting the plant to Ethernet might be involved. A cost/ tems that take the signature of a motor rotor and use it as an benefit analysis can determine whether it’s cost-effective. analysis tool are most useful when they calculate efficiency See if your utility will offset the cost of upgrading motor while the equipment is online,” says Dennis Bowns, execusystems and controls. Idaho Power’s Custom Efficiency for tive director of Green Motors Practices Group. “Other alComplex Projects program compensates eligible efficiency ternatives require shutting the equipment down to perform projects — as much as 70% of the cost — to modify a proa resistance test, and then bringing it back online. cess or install a more efficient one. In-service analyzers: Baker Instrument offers the Making rewound motors more resistant to overload and EXP3000/3000R portable, battery-operated Motor Control voltage imbalances reduces energy costs and the risk of furCenter that allows remote monitoring of voltage levels and ther equipment failure. The Australasian Chapter of the balance, harmonic and total distortion, overcurrent, torque Electrical Apparatus Service Association (EASA) is develripple, motor efficiency and other power-quality conditions. oping a new Code of Rewinding Practice that will increase The newest feature, CM3000 continuous-monitoring softefficiency and reliability, and strengthen the financial arguware, allows users to choose which of more than 40 data ment for choosing rewinding over replacement. points to monitor in real time. The continuous data feed assists in detecting and analyzing intermittent problems. The online motor current analysis capabilities of Emerson’s E-mail Contributing Editor Sheila Kennedy, managing director of CSI MotorView technology support the diagnosis of probAdditive Communications, at Sheila@addcomm.com. For more information, see: www.greenmotors.org www.bakerinst.com August 2008 M www.mhm.assetweb.com www.alltestpro.com www.baldor.com www.PLANTSERVICES.com www.ab.com www.idahopower.com www.easa.com 25 http://www.mhm.assetweb.com http://www.ab.com http://www.greenmotors.org http://www.alltestpro.com http://www.idahopower.com http://www.bakerinst.com http://www.baldor.com http://www.easa.com http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.