Eliminating faults with intelligent condition monitoring

In the industrial manufacturing and resources space, machines and components are subject to heavy wear due to the inherent nature of the ambient conditions and production processes in which they operate.

Core plant equipment such as pumps, fans, electric motors, cooling ovens, rotary kilns and heat exchangers, all require monitoring solutions as part of an effective preventative maintenance strategy. This helps diagnose faults in the early stages, allowing plant managers to action any maintenance regimes immediately to prevent costly downtime in the future.

In gypsum plants for example, the generation of dust and dirt during the manufacture of products for drywall construction, floors, plaster and facades, has typically led to the unexpected shutdown of critical equipment. The accumulation of dust and dirt on the blower blades poses a significant risk, potentially leading to unplanned equipment breakdowns.

As machinery is generally positioned in hazardous, difficult-to-access areas, this gives rise to occupational safety challenges, therefore highlighting the demand for condition monitoring solutions and preventative maintenance strategies that meet the specific needs of a manufacturing environment and its processes.

Schaeffler is one company that has pioneered condition monitoring solutions in the heavy industrial sector by helping companies spot machine failure early and maximise the life of their equipment through a full suite of industrial maintenance products and services.

Keeping machines and operations running smoothly is all part of Schaeffler’s commitment to delivering lifetime solutions. Designed with maintenance teams and plant managers in mind, its product portfolio offers everything workshops and plants need to maintain continuity, whether operating in a food and beverage, pulp and paper, cement and mining, or any other industrial environment.

2023 marks 50 years for Schaeffler in the Australian market. During this time, the company has worked closely with its customers, partners, and society to shape the future of mobility and motion.

The Australian Mining Review caught up with Schaeffler Australia Condition Monitoring and Reliability Systems Manager, Mark Ciechanowicz, to understand how the company’s reliable condition monitoring and automated lubrication technology is transitioning their customers to a more planned and scheduled maintenance approach.

“We understand many of our customers’ operations run 24/7, and that means their equipment must be working as productively as possible” Mr Ciechanowicz said.

“We not only offer product support and technical know-how, but solutions that provide precise, automated machine condition monitoring. This allows our customers to monitor and identify any faults in their Ecosystem, and take corrective actions with any necessary maintenance.

“Our intelligent OPTIME CM (Condition Monitoring) detects failures and anomalies in the ecosystem, ensuring maintenance teams are always informed about the condition of a machine via a remote mobile device.”

OPTIME Simplifies Maintenance

The OPTIME CM, ProLink CMS, and OPTIME C1 lubrication system, are part of the Schaeffler Lifetime Solutions portfolio, which are designed to support maintenance professionals over the entire lifecycle of a machine. This Ecosystem integrates a number of elements that work cohesively to reduce downtime.

“When the OPTIME CM is combined with their modular ProLink CMS and OPTIME C1 lubrication system, the ecosystem user interface gives plant managers and maintenance teams full visibility of their machines and components,” Mr Ciechanowicz said.

“The ProLink CMS features vibration sensors which are installed in components such as bearing housings, gear units and motors. Our smart lubrication system essentially eliminates the need to conduct walk-through checks as maintenance personnel have a complete overview of all lubrication points.

“The intuitive mobile app, dashboard and expert viewer mean you always have easy access to the right information at the right time, no matter where you are.”

Mr Ciechanowicz added that this is made possible via the OPTIME Cloud & Analytics, which delivers extensive processing power and capacity, collecting huge amounts of data and translating it into easy to understand, actionable intel.

“This data comes from your OPTIME vibration sensors and smart lubricators via the OPTIME Gateway, a standalone device that makes secure cloud connectivity and IT integration simple,” he said.

“The automatic and self-learning OPTIME Mesh Network connects all OPTIME devices. It is easy to set up, requires minimal energy, and makes large-scale installations possible.

“So, you can monitor your machines from wherever you are with OPTIME CM, while simplifying the lubrication of your machines with OPTIME C1.”

The OPTIME Ecosystem also includes the OPTIME Connector Service and the OPTIME REST API. The OPTIME Connector Service allows sites to connect other devices to the OPTIME Ecosystem, and the OPTIME REST-API makes it easy to connect the OPTIME Ecosystem to other existing systems.

KNAUF welcomes next level condition monitoring & smart lubrication

Founded in 1932, German company Knauf is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of modern insulation materials, drylining and flooring systems, thermal insulation composite systems, plasters and accessories. Today, Knauf is represented in over 90 countries and operates more than 80 raw stone plants and over 300 factories across five continents.

Schaeffler were contracted to implement their OPTIME CM and OPTIME C1 lubrication solution at Knauf’s cement production plant, specifically to monitor their product cooling ovens, Roto-Packer and rotary kiln.

The scalable OPTIME CM system was used for the cooling ovens and Roto Packer, which consisted of wireless sensors, a gateway and a digital service including automatic data analysis in the cloud, and the provision of key information in an app and a web-based dashboard.

Shortly after commissioning, alerts in the form of push messages were displayed on the OPTIME dashboard for product cooling ovens and Roto-Packers.

Low-frequency vibrations were increasing in the product cooling ovens, which indicated that the fans were unbalanced. It turned out that the blades had caked due to heavy contamination. After cleaning they worked again without
any problems.

For monitoring the rotary kiln, the Knauf maintenance team preferred to use the multi-channel ProLink CMS system. Its high performance makes it possible to reliably monitor the rotary kiln, despite its variable operating conditions and surface temperatures. An LTE router was used to connect the rotary kiln‘s measurement data to the OPTIME Cloud. Knauf uses the modular ProLink CMS with 11 vibration sensors attached to various bearing housings, gearboxes and motors. The vibration signals correlate with the number of rotations additionally measured.

Overall, the OPTIME CM solution enabled Knauf to diagnose the first failures shortly after installation. Adding the intelligent OPTIME C1 relubrication solution opened up completely new possibilities for them. Combining the two systems, Knauf could simplify two very important tasks and avoid unplanned downtime, simply by monitoring machine performance in a single digital platform.

Benefits

• Cost-efficient solution to monitor machines wirelessly
• Easy reading of the data and alarm via app on a smart phone
• Easy and quick installation and initiation of the OPTIME components
• No more manual checking of difficult-to-access machines as the app and the web-based dashboard provide transparency on the machine condition
• Less unplanned downtime of monitored machines

Schaeffler Australia

Phone: +61 2 8977 1000

Email: [email protected]

Website: www.schaeffler.com.au/en/