THERMOGRAPHY

Thermography is a predictive maintenance technique that can be used to monitor the condition of plant machinery, structures, and systems. It uses instrumentation designed to monitor the emission of infrared energy, i.e., temperature, to determine their operating condition. By detecting thermal anomalies, i.e., areas that are hotter or colder than they should be, an experienced surveyor can locate and define incipient problems within the plant. Infrared technology is predicated on the fact that all objects having a temperature above absolute zero emit energy or radiation. Infrared radiation is one form of this emitted energy. Infrared emissions, or below red, are the shortest wavelengths of all radiated energy and are invisible without special instrumentation. The intensity of infrared radiation from an object is a function of its surface temperature. However, temperature measurement using infrared methods is complicated because there are three sources of thermal energy that can be detected from any object: energy emitted from the object itself, energy reflected from the object, and energy transmitted by the object. Only the emitted energy is important in a predictive maintenance program. Reflected and transmitted energies will distort raw infrared data. Therefore, the reflected and transmitted energies must be filtered out of acquired data before a meaningful analysis can be made. The surface of an object influences the amount of emitted or reflected energy. A perfect emitting surface is called a blackbody and has an emissivity equal to 1.0. These surfaces do not reflect. Instead, they absorb all external energy and reemit as infrared energy. Surfaces that reflect infrared energy are called graybodies and have an emissivity less than 1.0. Most plant equipment falls into this classification. Careful consideration of the actual emissivity of an object improves the accuracy of temperature measurements used for predictive maintenance. To help users determine emissivity, tables have been developed to serve as guidelines for most common materials. However, these guidelines are not absolute emissivity values for all machines or plant equipment. Variations in surface condition, paint, or other protective coatings and many other variables can affect the actual emissivity factor for plant equipment. In addition to reflected and transmitted energy, the user of thermographic techniques must also consider the atmosphere between the object and the measurement instrument. Water vapour and other gases absorb infrared radiation. Airborne dust, some lighting, and other variables in the surrounding atmosphere can distort measured infrared radiation. Since the atmospheric environment is constantly changing, using thermographic techniques requires extreme care each time infrared data are acquired. Most infrared monitoring systems or instruments provide special filters that can be used to avoid the negative effects of atmospheric attenuation of infrared data. However, the plant user must recognize the

specific factors that will affect the accuracy of the infrared data and apply the correct filters or other signal conditioning required to negate that specific attenuating factor or factors. Collecting optics, radiation detectors, and some form of indicator comprise the basic elements of an industrial infrared instrument. The optical system collects radiant energy and focuses it upon a detector, which converts it into an electrical signal. The instruments electronics amplifies the output signal and processes it into a form which can be displayed. There are three general types of instruments that can be used for predictive maintenance: infrared thermometers or spot radiometers, line scanners, and imaging systems.

ULTRASONIC MONITORING
This predictive maintenance technique uses principles similar to vibration analysis. Both techniques monitor the noise generated by plant machinery or systems to determine their actual operating condition. Unlike vibration monitoring, ultrasonics monitors the higher frequencies, i.e., ultrasound, produced by unique dynamics in process systems or machines. The normal monitoring range for vibration analysis is from less than 1 to 20,000 Hz. Ultrasonics techniques monitor the frequency range between 20,000 and 100 kHz. The principal application for ultrasonic monitoring is in leak detection. The turbulent flow of liquids and gases through a restricted orifice, i.e., leak, will produce a high-frequency signature that can easily be identified using ultrasonic techniques. Therefore, this technique is ideal for detecting leaks in valves, steam traps, piping, and other process systems. Two types of ultrasonic systems are available that can be used for predictive maintenance: structural and airborne. Both provide fast, accurate diagnoses of abnormal operation and leaks. Airborne ultrasonic detectors can be used in either a scanning or a contact mode. As scanners, they are most often used to detect gas pressure leaks. Because these instruments are sensitive only to ultrasound, they are not limited to specific gases as are most other gas leak detectors. In addition, they are often used to locate various forms of vacuum leaks. In the contact mode, a metal rod acts as a waveguide. When it touches a surface, it is stimulated by the high frequencies (ultrasound) on the opposite side of the surface. This technique is used to locate turbulent flow and/or flow restriction in process piping. Some of the ultrasonic systems include ultrasonic transmitters that can be placed inside plant piping or vessels. In this mode, ultrasonic monitors can be used to detect areas of sonic penetration along the containers surface. This ultrasonic transmission method is useful in quick checks of tank seams, hatches, seals, caulking, gaskets, or building wall joints. In a typical machine, many other machine dynamics will also generate frequencies within the

bandwidth covered by an ultrasonic instrument. Gear meshing frequencies, blade pass, and other machine components will also create energy or noise that cannot be separate from the bearing frequencies monitored by this type of instrument. The only reliable method of determining the condition of specific machine components, including bearings, is vibration analysis. The use of ultrasonics to monitor bearing condition is not recommended.

Intelligent CBM
The term intelligent implies a CBM system is capable of understanding and making decisions without human intervention. Technologies making this possible include: sensors with built in intelligence (SMART Sensors) capable of transmitting relatively rich, high grade information [11]; re-programmable on-line sensors [12], designed to be reconfigured with new rules in the event that detectable recognisable patterns change; algorithms, fuzzy logic and neural networking, designed to analyse trends within recovered sensory data, and produce decisions on the likelihood of failure of monitored plant items [12]; artificial intelligence algorithms capable of providing proxy data as a substitute for failing or a failed sensor, whilst the malfunctioning sensor is repaired [13]. Further intelligence is possible through integration of a CBM system with a companys computerised purchasing system, thus automating parts ordering [11]. As technological advancements have fed into CBM so the method of deploying CBM systems and integrating them with other business systems has changed. Two recognised deployments are: Localised CBM, and Remote CBM.

Localised CBM
Localised CBM is an independent predictive maintenance practice, likely to be undertaken within immediate proximity of the components being monitored, by a maintenance engineer (technician) or operator. A typical procedure involves taking and recording CBM data at periodic intervals in order to determine the condition of the component being monitored, and then deciding whether the condition of the component is acceptable or not.

Remote CBM
Remote CBM systems can be either standalone or networked to another business system/s. Remote CBM involves monitoring the condition of a component at a location away from the immediate vicinity of the component in question. Monitoring will be undertaken automatically or manually depending upon the systems capabilities at intermittent time periods. Diagnosing the condition of the component may be either automatic or manual, again depending upon the systems capabilities.

Wireless sensors present opportunities for placing sensors in difficult-to-reach locations, electrically noisy environments, and mobile applications where wire cannot be installed. Discussion on the latest developments in wireless sensors is presented by F. Zorriassatine [14]. Presenting CBM information through web pages accessible by Internet browsers, is given the name Internet CBM, or E-Monitoring Machine Health System. Internet CBM takes remote CBM to another level, i.e. providing global remote capabilities. Since browsers reside on many platforms, Internet CBM systems may be accessed by multiple users working on any type of operating system. This presents the opportunity for employees to monitor their machinery whilst away from the factory, i.e. overseas on business calls. Unauthorised access to an Internet CBM system is prevented with the inclusion of user name and password access on the index web page (first page) for the web site. User name and password access may also be used to control access rights onto specific web pages and degree of user system interaction. V.R. Kennedy [15] explains how interaction between users and the Internet CBM system is performed using Active Server Pages (ASPs). ASPs, programmed using VBScript and JavaScript working behind the scenes within the Web server, offer flexibility to system designers. They carry out programmed instructions within the web server, define how the HTML is assembled and presented to users, providing users with the power to interact with the user interface and make choice selections. As an example, Lloyd Dewey Lee [16] explains how vibration or process levels may now easily be transmitted over the Web and presented to the end user as gauges, reporting the condition of the remote machine in real time. Further examples presented by Rolf Orsagh et al. [13], include displaying graphs showing performance trends, and tables of performance parameters, anomalies, and diagnosed faults.

OIL DEBRY ANALYSIS When analysing oil from a machine, there are a number of techniques that can be used or applied to look at the chemical composition of the oil and foreign materials in it. Ferrography and magnetic chip detection examine iron based wear, and can help pinpoint the specific component that is wearing. Spectrometric oil analysis measures the presence and amounts of contaminants in the oil through atomic emission or absorption spectrometer. It is useful for determining not only iron, but also other metallic and non metallic elements, which can be related to the composition of the various machine components, such as bearings, bushings, piston rings, washers, and so on. It is useful when wear particles initially being generated in the early stages of failure, as those particles are small. Chromatography measures the changes in lubricant properties, including viscosity, flash point, pH, water content, and insoluble fraction, through selective absorption and analysis.

CORROMETER TEST There are several tests for corrosion using a simple electric circuit monitored by varying degrees of sophisticated instrumentation. The corrator uses the electrochemical polarisation method in a vessel with corrosive liquid. The Corrometer uses the electrical resistance across a probe inserted in the active environment (e.g. refinery process equipment). The Corrometer is a new corrosion "sensor" designed to respond and advise of deterioration in electronic components and other susceptible equipment. The operating principle is straightforward: over the same distance travelled, as corrosion increases so does electrical resistance.