No. 1 Way To Avoid CATASTROPHIC FAILURE

Plant managers can protect their operations and their workers from catastrophic failures by continuous monitoring. Preventative and predictive maintenance, based on frequent visual inspections, non-destructive testing of welds and periodic measurement of bearing vibration help, but these techniques...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inPollution Engineering Vol. 40; no. 7; p. 28
Main Author Gutzwiller, Les
Format Trade Publication Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Troy BNP Media 01.07.2008
Subjects
Accident prevention
Bearings
Catastrophes
Cracks
Failure
High temperature
Inspections
Monitoring systems
Nondestructive testing
Power plants
Preventive maintenance
Shutdowns
Velocity
Vibration
United States > US
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Summary:Plant managers can protect their operations and their workers from catastrophic failures by continuous monitoring. Preventative and predictive maintenance, based on frequent visual inspections, non-destructive testing of welds and periodic measurement of bearing vibration help, but these techniques alone cannot effectively prevent sudden and catastrophic failures. Many fans are designed to use rolling element bearings, either single-row-deep-groove ball bearings or spherical roller bearings. With these bearings there is a direct mechanical link from the shaft, through the rolling elements and the races, to the bearing housing. Therefore, for these bearings, it is advisable to mount seismic probes to the bearing base to monitor the bearing housing vibration level at all times. Industrial process fans that are subject to erosion, corrosion or elevated temperatures are often at risk of catastrophic failure. While no system can absolutely eliminate the risk of failure, continuous vibration monitoring combined with a fast-response shutdown system offers substantial protection.
ISSN:0032-3640