Reduced Maintenance Costs For Rotating Equipment Through Monitoring: A Rationale Based On North Sea Experience

The use of electronic aids in monitoring the performance and condition of rotating machinery has performance and condition of rotating machinery has in the past decade taken a considerable upward trend. Widespread use is being made of vibration measuring systems coupled with the monitoring of temperature, pressure, load and speed, all of which are indicative pressure, load and speed, all of which are indicative of the system performance. Other methods such as magnetic chip debris collection and spectrographic oil analysis procedures (SOAP) are being increasingly employed outside of the aerospace industry in which they were conceived. The upward trend in offshore rotating machinery monitoring appears to result from the present high cost of frequent and often unnecessary routine overhauls. Improved techniques in machinery monitoring have in may cases enabled operators to reduce shutdown frequency and operate on a planned for basis rather than a pull it to pieces and lets see approach. Unfortunately, the unsurge of interest in this field has inevitably led to jumping on the bandwagon and a wide range of equipment claimed to give early indication of damage over a wide range of machinery components is now being promoted. This paper seeks to briefly outline the inherent difficulties of relating machinery damage to vibration presents hands on experience from several major presents hands on experience from several major northern North Sea developments and brings to light why many of the available systems are entirely unsuitable as general purpose indicators of damage. Concluding remarks include a section on future trends and developments toward truly universal system.