Predictive maintenance & condition monitoring


needs to be read, understood and interpreted into meaningful action. So, whilst organisations can buy relatively inexpensive monitoring equipment, they need to have the expertise to use that equipment and understand the data. This is why many companies now outsource Vibration snalysis to a specialist company. Companies, such as Brammer Buck &


Hickman, who provide vibration analysis use dedicated, trained staff who can read frequency patterns and understand what they mean in relation to a wide range of machinery and its component parts. As this is a professional service, Brammer Buck & Hickman also use more sophisticated machinery which provides highly accurate readings and detailed information. The type of low cost monitoring equipment some companies using in-house is pretty basic and frequently misses nuances. If you do decide to outsource this service, you


can expect a typical analysis visit to take around two days to complete; one day to data collect from the machinery, and a further day to interpret the data and produce a report. Larger routines sometimes need a days’ setup to create a database. Obviously, this depends on the size of the site and the number of points to be analysed. The engineers will measure the absolute and


relative vibration on your machinery. The level of vibration can be compared with your historical baseline data to assess the severity. The report supplied by the company should detail the findings for each of your assets, along with clear photographs, and a remedial list of actions required to remedy any faults. The frequency of the analysis very much


depends on the nature of the process and machinery to be measured. Monthly in-depth analysis is recommended for sites where you cannot easily stop a line. Other processes, where the components are low cost and easily replaced, would require less.


Vibration analysis DeliVering results


Whilst the market for vibration analysis is growing, the reality is that the majority of businesses remain either unaware or unconvinced of the benefits. For many, it is the cost of the service which puts them off and a lack of awareness of the ROI. This has not been helped by a number of companies professing to offer a professional vibration analysis service when in fact they do not have the training and skill levels, leaving the customer with a negative experience. The advice of Brammer Buck & Hickman is to


ask the prospective company for samples of the reports they have produced for customers and read them to see if your engineers would be able to take appropriate action based on those reports. Ask to speak to some of their customers to find out if the analysis has really delivered a good ROI; whilst many companies may not want to put cost savings in writing, they are often happy to speak to a fellow colleague on a one-to-one basis. For one such customer, Brammer Buck &


Hickman’sVibration Analysis service certainly made a good first impression. On the first day of


Instrumentation Monthly October 2021


setting up a Vibration Analysis programme at their site, Brammer Buck & Hickman made an unexpected discovery. As already mentioned, day one involves identifying exactly what and where to analyse and taking sample readings, with the actual analysis to start the following day. However, even within that brief time frame the sample analysis clearly showed one of the motors to have serious issues. This was mentioned to the customer and just half an hour later the motor blew up. Although it was too late for this motor, the customer was very impressed that Brammer Buck & Hickman had been able to identify an issue in such a short time frame. From that moment on the customer clearly understood how vibration analysis would benefit his business going forward, meaning it would not be left in this position again. But it is not just aging or worn parts that can be


identified by vibration analysis. One customer uses Brammer Buck & Hickman’sVibration Analysis service to firstly identify potential issue during the bi annual shutdowns for repair and major maintenance. Then Brammer Buck & Hickman returns after the repair work has been done to ensure it has been carried out correctly. The company has been able to identify some poor repair work, which would have reduced the life of the component part and led to unnecessary downtime, enabling it to be remedied all before the site returned to production. Similarly, Brammer Buck & Hickman was asked


recently by a customer – a manufacturer of bricks - to look at a repair done on a critical fan used to regulate the kiln temperature. Vibration analysis showed the repaired fan, that had originally been out of balance and at risk of breaking, was actually


worse than when initially removed. The company who had conducted the repair work was unable to fix it. Brammer Buck & Hickman found a catalogue of mistakes, including poor alignment of pulleys and motor, broken anti-vibration feet and inadequate fan balancing causing vibrations which were reverberating through the structure. Ultimately the customer decided to buy a new fan, but this was on a long lead time so, in the meantime, Brammer Buck & Hickman helped to


make the existing fan work until the new one arrived. It also installed a temporary wireless vibration analysis unit to monitor severe fluctuations in the fan, so they could be caught before breaking the fan beyond repair. The Vibration Analysis service and the work carried out prevented the site from closing which would have been hugely costly. Condition monitoring in all its forms has seen a


significant uptake over the past decade, with vibration monitoring and analysis gaining greater traction. Manufacturing, engineering and processing sites are seeing genuine benefits and in many instances vibration analysis is becoming business critical. Some insurance companies are even insisting on vibration analysis for safety, as Brammer Buck & Hickman has regularly seen when it comes to electrical panels. If you have not previously considered it, or maybe you have not had a positive experience, it is worth looking at the return a professional vibration analysis service can bring to your business for a relatively modest sum.


Brammer Buck & Hickman uk.rubix.com/en/service/condition- monitoring


37


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78