Forecyte is the remote vibration / temperature monitoring system manufactured by NIDEC and promoted by GES as part of our machine condition monitoring programme, used by many customers throughout UK & Ireland. The Forecyte system allows continuous vibration monitoring of any equipment over an unlimited period of time and at recording intervals determined by the user. This system is ideal for logging fault conditions which may occur during unmanned periods and unsocial hours. The system operates by recording and transmitting data to on a stand-alone basis through a chosen mobile phone network therefore does not pose a risk to the customer’s network. Varying degrees of alarm through email and messaging can be set up to alert the user of real time events occurring during monitoring.
GES were requested by a customer to ascertain the root cause of a suspected vibration problem arising somewhere in their Evaporator Area pipework and to identify any vibration which could be causing the Installed sensitive density Meters to continuously fail after a relatively short period in service.
Our GES engineer set up the Forecyte Condition Monitoring System to monitor vibration over a 48-hour period. This is simple setup and just requires a power supply from the customer. The sensors were attached to the customers pipework on which the density meter had been mounted. During this period, all vibration levels within a pre-set spectrum were recorded and plotted. This allowed our engineers to examine and identify the different frequencies and temperature changes occurring due to varying plant conditions, all recorded while the section was unmanned. The data collection sensors collect vibration data in three axis (Triaxial) therefore the amplitude and direction of the recorded vibration could be analysed. This information is a crucial part of identifying vibrational issues on any equipment.
Using the data collected, our engineer was able to see there was a high amplitude vibration occurring at random intervals throughout the time period. This damaging frequency was quickly identified as being related to the pumping process causing a pulsed resonance effect at the adjoining pipework intermittently peaking at over 100mm/second. The process engineering team were informed and recommendation made by the GES engineer to correct the problem.
