Pulp Paper & Logistics
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therefore enhance production reliability by reducing downtime. There was a great opportunity
to bring the systems up-to-date, improve asset health and its condition, and reduce breakdowns and associated losses.
The evaluation Glyn Gannon, maintenance manager at James Cropper, worked with David Stevens, AVT Reliability’s technical authority and reliability data centre manager, to develop and specify a much improved web-based condition monitoring system that would integrate with the plant maintenance strategy and improve asset reliability. Pros and cons for both the
existing set-up and the new system were considered, and these ultimately highlighted the benefits of the Machine Sentry system which enables a mobile device to be turned into a powerful condition monitoring data collection tool over a 3G/4G network.
Adding the site’s historic data and combining it with Machine Sentry’s five million readings enables a more informed analysis and improved decision making.
The solution The Machine Sentry system from AVT Reliability is a proprietary cloud-based solution that provides acquisition of data
on effective vibration, thermal imaging, visual inspection, and oil that is remotely accessible for analysis. The recommendations resulting from the analysis enable effective maintenance planning, management reporting and production optimisation. The system works with any Android web-enabled device, allowing faster collection times and standardisation of processes. With no limit to the historical
data storage, all condition monitoring techniques, watch keeping, process measurements, thermal imaging, lubrication management, vibration analysis, oil analysis, asset technical documentation and even visual inspection notes can be accessed through the Machine Sentry web platform. These parameters and many more are incorporated into one online database. Key performance indicators
can be set to measure the effectiveness of the programme and track specific activities and usage. Common fault diagnosis is automatic, identifying potential problems and suggesting verification procedures to confirm. A built-in analysis support tool
allows immediate onsite fault condition identification with recommendations for James Cropper. Meanwhile, the web- based system means that all of the data is immediately available at the AVT Reliability RDC such that
the expertise and experience in this remote support facility can be utilised immediately. Indeed the data can be accessed from any web-enabled device with a secure log-on. Having the remote facility means that costly travel time is replaced with true technical analysis allowing data trends to be identified and rectifications or preventative work to be identified and undertaken to maximise MTBF (mean time between failure). Machine Sentry can be deployed worldwide and data from multiple sites can be accessed from anywhere in the world.
The benefit The Machine Sentry system installed at James Cropper will maximise uptime by improved fault identification and prevention. Not only will the system find potential failure modes, analysis of the online data by AVT Reliability’s dedicated senior condition monitoring engineers allows the root cause to be identified and action taken to resolve future issues. The system not only reduces administration, but also the length of time taken and the need for highly-skilled engineers to collect the data. The Machine Sentry devices tell the operator where to collect the data and how. James Cropper will take
The James Cropper paper mill at Kendal in the English Lake District
advantage of AVT Reliability’s experience, spanning more than 40 years of reliability monitoring, analysis and recommendation. It means their highly trained engineers are immediately on- hand thanks to the cloud-based system. In addition, if advice is required by the site, a telephone call to the AVT Reliability helpline means that decisions can be made, thanks to the full dataset being available to view.
The results The new Machine Sentry system has already been used to identify a number of ‘bad actors’: equipment whose breakdown could cause production problems. As an example, it identified an issue with a fan pump drive motor which had suffered electrical discharge on one of its rolling element bearings, and also an issue with a gas compressor that was found to have suffered rotor rubbing. Both issues were identified using Machine Sentry, and it is estimated that a potential saving of more than £75,000 was made. Considering that the first year cost for the system and software is in the region of £13,000, and a potential failure was avoided on the first week that Machine Sentry started operation, the return on investment was more than justified just one day, five hours and 28 minutes after the system had been implemented.. It is anticipated that further
savings will be made and uptime greatly improved to give James Cropper an even higher return on investment. In essence, Machine Sentry
allows simple and easy data collection giving engineers both onsite and in the remote AVT Reliability offices greater time to review and analyse the information assembled. The system provides a
comprehensive overview of all of the assets, with detailed historic information, to further enhance evaluation and recommendation of actions to take, before any failure occurs, so avoiding costly repairs whilst maintaining uptime, production levels and profitability. More information from AVT
Reliability, Unit 2, Easter Court, Europa Boulevard, Warrington, Cheshire WA5 7ZB, UK. Tel: 44 3303 322101. Website: www.
avtreliability.com
May/June 2018
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