As a business, it is important to keep a check on the health of your employees and the functionality of all devices. One way to keep check is using Vibration Sensors. These tools made their debut in the early 1900s as large mechanical devices used to measure and record tractive and brake effort in the automotive industry. The device consisted of two tracing pens centered and mounted above a paper scroll. This device was essential in measuring acceleration. Today, most vibration sensors are electronic devices that measure the amount and frequency of vibration in a given system or equipment. Furthermore, there are various industrial areas that employ vibration sensors. The following are brief examples of those different areas: aerospace, automotive, metalworking, oil and gas refining, and etc.
Vibration sensors are monitored by directly or wirelessly connecting to a device. The two key data types collected frequency, the measure of how often vibration occurs, and intensity, the measure of how high the vibration is. The measured data is collected and logged down for comparison purposes. You will be able to predict failures by comparing the different trends of frequency and intensity.
There are seven types of vibration sensors in the industrial business with its own application.
This is a foil that is directly applied to the surface of the machine being monitored. The purpose is to get readings that measure the vibration of an object.
The most common type of vibration sensor measures the change of velocity (a.k.a acceleration) of a given component. The change of velocity is represented by an electrical signal which is interpreted to produce vibration data. Common examples of accelerometers include piezoelectric accelerometers and piezoresistive accelerometers.
This is a non-contact sensor that produces magnetic fields which are used to measure the relative movement of a given object. The sensor measures relative movement. The sensors are frequently used in laboratories where fragile equipment is used and measurements need to be precise.
Another type of non-contact sensor where it uses a laser beam with triangulation where it detects the change of the beam’s position towards an object. They work better with stationary objects in clean settings and will not interfere with delicate instrumentation.
Sensors that detect change that might occur in high frequency vibration that is undetectable with the human ear. They can accurately detect changes in vibration frequency but not absolute values.
Vibration meters are handheld devices that analyze vibration data and place it as a readable format. They are usually used to perform quick checkups on assets.
In the past, accelerations were measured with vibration sensors. Today, vibration sensors are used to measure the frequency of vibration to detect imbalances or issues in the asset and predict future breakdowns. This is important for any business that uses heavy equipment in its daily operations. The following are the advantages of monitoring vibrations.
As a business, it is important to spend your budget without being wasteful. With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and global recession, it is important for businesses to balance costs. Thus, the need for vibration monitoring is in high demand.
Previously, it was mentioned that vibration sensing is used in a wide range of industries. If you are a business that uses a wide range of machines such as the following, vibration sensing will be your companion.
Thus, if your business requires machine maintenance, then you should be practicing vibration sensing.
Despite the major benefits associated with vibration sensing, some businesses might be intimidated by it. As a business, you should not be afraid. Rather, think about the smart financial decisions you can make. This can be done with “conanair”.
“conanair” is a wireless, battery-powered, compact-sized vibration sensor created by NSXe Co. LTD. The company is based in Mie Prefecture, Japan, and specializes in construction within factory-based facilities. Generally, vibrations are diagnosed from frequency analysis from using Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) and a high-frequency band. “conanair” has 1 kHz, a low-frequency band compared to others, but from simultaneously measuring and storing vibration data in three axial directions, it can perform the same vibration sensing compared to an average device. Furthermore, “conanair” can detect with higher sensitivity and less noise as possible because it synthesizes the envelope waveforms of each of the 3-axis vibration waveforms.
“conanair” is a perfect device for businesses that are easily intimidated by technology. No additional system applications or updates are required to perform vibration analysis with “conanair”. The device can be attached to the machine through simple magnetic placement. Measurements can be taken down and analyzed immediately through your smartphone or computer’s browser. Moreover, you can schedule when to measure within the range of every 30 minutes to every month or perform them on demand. Also, you can drag down past data and use it for comparison purposes or export the data in a . CSV format. Below is a sample screenshot of a browser with frequency analysis.
To summarize, here is a brief explanation of the steps on using “conanair”.
Below are the general specs of “conanair”.
With the understanding of what “conanair” is, as a business why should you choose it over other products? Currently, other devices that measure vibration can cost up to $3000, whereas “conanair” being one of the inexpensive choices priced at only a fraction of that. Furthermore, data is always collected in the same format and has two modes: manual and automatic. In manual mode, businesses can measure vibration at many locations as possible and perform patrol measurements conveniently. On the other hand, the automatic mode does not require any additional human force. You can create a schedule to collect vibration data to be uploaded to the cloud of your choice or to your PC through a Wi-Fi access point.
Overall, the compact size, low cost, the two modes, and convenience usage of no additional installment makes “conanair” an easy tool.
Efficient productivity is a goal that every business should aim for. This is significant for business such as manufacturing or a business that deals with mass machinery. Like any human employee, businesses should perform checkups on their machinery similarly to humans. One good way is to create a robust maintenance strategy that is both cost-efficient and effective.
Predictive Maintenance (PdM) is a process of checking the condition of machinery as it operates to predict which parts are likely to fail. This is done by taking measurements such as machine vibration and plant operating data such as flow, temperature, or pressure. With PdM, large costs of equipment failures or outages can be avoided as businesses will have an advanced warning of a potential problem. Furthermore, businesses can perform replacements on their own schedule.
Here are some examples of predictive maintenance:
If your business has the following characteristics then PdM is suitable for you:
Predictive Maintenance (PdM) is a process of checking the condition of machinery as it operates to predict which parts are likely to fail. This is done by taking measurements such as machine vibration and plant operating data such as flow, temperature, or pressure. With PdM, large costs of equipment failures or outages can be avoided as businesses will have an advanced warning of a potential problem. Furthermore, businesses can perform replacements on their own schedule.
Here are some examples of predictive maintenance:
If your business has the following characteristics then PdM is suitable for you:
Preventive Maintenance (PM) is a type of maintenance that involves a scheduled shutdown of a machine or plant. While the process can cut down failures before they happen but also leads to increased maintenance costs.
Examples of Preventative Maintenance include the following:
Time-Based Maintenance (TbM), also known as periodic maintenance is a routine based where tasks are performed on an asset at a fixed time interval regardless of its condition. The purpose of TbM is to prevent failures before they happen and improve performance. However, this does not imply a balance between risk and reward, as certain parts might are replaced unnecessarily.
Here are some examples of time-based maintenance:
Time-based maintenance should be used to prevent failures that are critical to the organization. This can include safety-related activities such as fire alarm inspections because the cost of the asset is high but the cost of the maintenance itself is low.
Condition-Based maintenance (CBM) focuses on preventing asset failures, downtimes, and unnecessary practices by monitoring the asset’s health to determine what maintenance needs to be completed and when. This maintenance is only performed when there are signs indicating a decreasing performance or upcoming failure. In general, condition-based maintenance is done on a needed basis and has the potential to decrease maintenance cost.
While there are various maintenance techniques, the one thing they all have in common is that if they fail, they can result in plants and equipment outage. This means that businesses will have to spend extra thousands of dollars.
From the list above, Preventative Maintenance is probably the most popular management strategy in the industry. If your business is suffering from unreliable equipment and rising costs related to unplanned replacement, implementing Preventative Maintenance would be a good choice. However, great data management is necessary. (But this will not be a problem if you use “conanair”.)
On average, an average industry will spend around $29k to $47k per hour during downtime. These costs come from revenue losses, recovery costs, and penalty-related fines based on service level regulations or agreements. Furthermore, the average industrial area has 20 to 25 percent of electric motors that are critical to their business. According to the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Industrial Technologies, they estimate that motors represent 60 percent of electrical energy consumption in manufacturing industries, and up to 90 percent in electro-intensive industries. Therefore, with these numbers, being efficient and effective is more important now than ever.
Both Predictive and Condition Based relies on the usage of sensors. However, Condition-Based only alerts businesses when equipment begins to display problems. On the other hand, predictive maintenance provides data to give business a heads up of repairs or replacements. For a better judgment, it is better for business to not assume that equipment failure occurs only after a fixed period of time in service. According to research done in IEEE, plants that practice predictive-base maintenance have better productivity. The reason is because they have key data that shows businesses more reasons for failure besides time being a factor.
