Plant equipment should be assigned to the PdM Program according to the following priorities:

Priority 1 - Critical Equipment: Equipment which, when lost, causes the shutdown of the plant and Safety related items

Priority 2 - Failure prone equipment: Equipment that has a history of frequent failure (with significant operational or economic impact)
2A - Equipment with major impact
2B - Equipment with moderate impact

Priority 3 - Other equipment with significant operational or economic impact or long lead time parts

Priority 4 - All other equipment which would benefit from Predictive Maintenance

Priority 5 Equipment with little or no potential benefit from Predictive Maintenance

Tip excerpted from “Predictive Maintenance Management” Course workbook by Jack Nicholas Jr. available at
http://www.masteringmaintenance.com

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Phase analysis is a parameter often used for rotor balancing and as a Diagnostic Tool for detecting Alignment, Eccentricity, Bent Shaft, and Looseness faults in rotating machinery.

Additional techniques for phase analysis involve not just one static measurement, but a series of measurements aimed at detecting the change of phase in a vibrating system. The series of measurements is designed to detect the drift in the unbalance vector. Some sources of phase change might include slippage in felt driven paper rolls, slippage in sheaves and pulleys, trapped fluids in hollow rotors, or condensate buildup in paper machine dryer cans, cracked drive shafts, or loose rotor fits. Sometimes phase modulation may not be considered a “problem”, i.e., as in the monitoring of beat frequency induced by two or more rotating sources in close proximity.

As with other tools, extended use of phase analysis can draw the analyst a little closer to the root of the problem, or at least narrow the field of suspected faults.

Tip provided by Dan Ambre, P.E.
Full Spectrum Diagnostics, PLLC
Phone: 763-577-9959
Email:

Vibration Analysis Forum

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Lubricant Screening Process

The following is a sequential method of testing on-site new and used oil samples that have been collected for the purpose of evaluating lubricant and equipment health. This data must include sensory and inspection data along with all other relevant maintenance activities that can provide a clear evaluation of the lubricant, equipment and operating conditions.

Competent training and understanding of the on-site test equipment remains critical as in all diagnostic equipment. Calibrating or verifying calibration must be part of the lubricant testing program to ensure accuracy and repeatability of the tests. Test equipment and methods may be substituted to reflect the equipment presently in use in your facility as long as the test equipment is quantifiable and qualitative.

Basic Screening Tests
• OPERATIONAL CONDITIONS (Temperature / Pressure / Flow)
• APPEARANCE
• COLOR
• PARTICLE COUNT
• WATER CONTAMINATION (% Water Saturation and/or Crackle)
• VISCOSITY
• RULER (antioxidants and/or AN)
• FERROUS DENSITY / COUNT
• FERROGRAPHY
• DEBRIS ANALYSIS (Patch Test)

Tip provided by Kevan Slater
Trico Corp
800-558-7008
http://www.tricocorp.com

Evolution of Change – Oil Analysis Programs by Kevan Slater

Avoiding a disconnected RCA

When conducting Root Cause Analysis investigators who cannot be there when the failed equipment is opened should have a strategy for data collection if the equipment fails again. The reason for this is because you may not be able to acquire all the data necessary for you strongest conclusions. This can happen when a RCA is not required at the time of the failure but at some later date it is decided that a RCA should be performed (Sometimes Political). It is difficult to perform an effective RCA when months have gone by since the failure occurred. The interviewees now have faded memories, parts have been thrown away, positional data is forgotten, and paper data is minimal. The strategy can be very effective if the equipment in question fails again.

Tip provided by Mark Latino
Reliability Center Inc.
http://www.reliability.com

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Production costs must be driven down to finance “big innovation,”, or step changes in technology or processes. The most effective approach for financing this is through “little innovation” at the plant and shop floor level, improving the processes so that the cost are not incurred, and eliminating the defects that cause the failures in the equipment and processes. Innovation here is about everyone constantly seeking to do the work a little bit better each day.

Put the right processes in place, get your people engaged with a sense of ownership, create an environment for pride, enjoyment and trust, and cost will decline as a consequence.

Tip excerpted from “Selecting the Right Manufacturing Improvement Tools: What Tool? When?” by Ron Moore, published by Butterworth -Heinemann

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Here is something to consider as food for thought in maintaining lubricant stores. The large brands have accommodations in their bulk handling guidelines for local vendors to package lubricants into one and two plastic jugs. If you can arrange with your supplier to package to these size containers, and then stock these containers at the respective in-plant lube storage area, you can save yourself a tremendous amount of time and energy working to keep the lubricants and lubricant handling practice clean and orderly.

Keep in mind that the local vendor needs to be licensed to package into these containers, and needs to have very specific cleanliness targets, before they can begin the process. The cleanliness targets should be set by you, the user. The targets should be based on the widely recognized ISO cleanliness codes for the types of applications that the lubricant will protect. Once these details are in hand, the vendor can use the ISO cleanliness requirement to purchase the right quality filters. The vendor will probably have to purchase additional filtration equipment as well.

You will need to periodically analysis the oil to verify that you are getting what you think you are getting. And, you obviously must be willing to pay them for the extra effort in packaging and delivery. The cost will likely be a few pennies per gallon, but their cost to perform this function will probably be less than what yours would have been. And, you will be contributing to your vendor’s long term capabilities and well being by pushing them into this type of support function.

Tip provided by Mike Johnson

Benchmark Your Lubricant Delivery, Storage and In-Plant Handling