MRO QUIZ
FEATURE
L. (TEX) LEUGNER Monitoring equipment condition has been around since the creation of the wheel. The wheel squeaked, the wheel hub began to burn, and we learned to grease the wheel with tallow. As the application of the tallow became more precise, the time between wheel failure was extended. In turn, the development of troubleshooting using the senses of sound, sight, touch, and smell. However sensory perceptions have the disadvantage of being subjective and imprecise, over the years, condition monitoring technologies have been developed for industrial equipment. In his book, Reliability Centered Maintenance , John Moubray describes 96 14 MRO / Winter 2023
techniques to monitor the operating condition of equipment. These range from sensory techniques to the application of highly sophisticated technologies such as fast Fourier transform (FFT) analyser, to determine the causes of vibration frequencies in rotating equipment. The use of testing techniques can only be justified if they demonstrate a clear economic benefit. Substantial evidence exists that the intelligent use of even simple testing techniques will provide huge benefits to industry including: 1. Elimination or reduction of catastrophic machine failures and secondary damage where a failure has occurred. 2. Reduction in maintenance costs by avoiding repairs. 3. Reduction in downtime by reducing the
scope of repair. 4. Increase in production by scheduling repair when convenient to operations. 5. Reduction in downtime and costs by having advanced warning, permitting effective planning, and scheduling. 6. Reduction in risk to equipment and personnel from a safety perspective. 7. Revised insurance costs. 8. Elimination of ineffective or unnecessary preventive maintenance tasks. 9. Extension of time-based intervals of necessary preventive maintenance tasks. 10.Improvement in reliability, productivity, and efficiency of machinery. Operators often know more about the equipment they operate than do maintenance personnel and can be trained to monitor equipment condition. Effective testing MROMAGAZINE.COM
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Easy to use testing techniques by operators are useful for troubleshooting equipment
