Vibration Monitoring on Reciprocating Equipment
Although overall vibration trending is an excellent tool for monitoring the health of rotating machinery, it is not generally effective for monitoring reciprocating machinery. Since impacts generally have little effect on overall vibration level, common faults are not detected at an early stage. As a result, abnormalities are not diagnosed until damage has occurred and it is too late to take simple corrective measures.
There are several reciprocating machinery faults which do not significantly increase a machine’s overall vibration level until damage has reached a severe level, including:
- Loose or broken bolts
- Loose or cracked rod nuts
- Cracked connecting or piston rod
- Excessive crosshead/slipper clearance
- Excessive clearance in connecting pins
- Liquid or debris in the cylinder
- Scoring in the cylinder
- Other broken parts
The patented IMI Sensors Reciprocating Machinery Protector (RMP) Model 649A01, is very sensitive to these faults in their early stages of development. For this reason, the RMP is particularly effective in monitoring reciprocating compressors. Model 649A01 is a loop-powered device which detects mechanical shock events occurring in or near the machine’s cylinder assembly. The Reciprocating Machinery Protector continuously outputs the peak acceleration value, as long as there is no fault condition detected. When a threshold is exceeded, the RMP recognizes a potential fault condition and accurately outputs a computed Reciprocating Fault Index (RFI) proportional to the severity of the fault. With configurable speed parameters, adjustable sampling time, and ability to customize alarm levels, the RMP is a powerful tool for reciprocating machinery protection.
Model 649A01
Reciprocating Machinery Protector (patent pending)
- Detects faults and mechanical looseness in reciprocating compressors
- Improves on existing impact monitoring technology
- Provides continuous trending, with alarm and alert levels for early warning
- Field programmable set points & alarm levels optimize performance
- Hermetically sealed, loop-powered design
- Intrinsic safe version available
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