18 project updates
Condition monitoring pinpoints the exact cause of gearbox vibration CONDITION-BASED MONITORING IS a proactive maintenance health check for all types of electromechanical equipment and is crucial for identifying underlying system performance issues without stopping production. Avonmouth Engineering Services (AES) provided this service to an aerospace company, Leonardo, to help investigate a loud noise generated by a lathe gearbox. The lathe is a critical item in the plant as it is the first step in the gear machining process. The cost to purchase a new machine would have exceeded £100,000 and would also have led to a loss of production caused by
downtime while a new lathe was installed. AES carried out a detailed vibration analysis on the equipment. This is a nonintrusive method that can be used to detect obscure faults such as unbalance, resonance, misalignment or bearing failure. Combining the results with the technical drawings – which outlined the number,
location and specification of the gears and bearings in the gearbox – AES was able to pinpoint that the exact cause of the excessive vibration came from a single bearing. Leonardo carried out the bearing change and have confirmed that the machine is now running without issue. www.avonmouth-es.co.uk
Speedily adapted high-voltage extruder motor WHEN LARGE MOTORS OPERATING AT HIGH OUTPUT fail, there can be long lead times for a replacement manufactured from scratch. Customised configuration of a suitable standard motor can offer an economical alternative. This was the case for a petrochemical plant operator which urgently needed to replace a failed extruder motor featuring 6000kW rated power, 10kV nominal voltage, requiring >57kNm nominal torque. Originally, the extruder was driven by a squirrel-cage machine. However, a motor with similar design parameters was not readily available on the market. Fortunately, Berlin-based Menzel Elektromotoren was able to provide a suitable three-phase slip ring motor. Its design also offered advantages for the application – driving an extruder – as it provides the required full torque from standstill. Menzel was able to procure a starter for the slip ring motor as well as implement all necessary modifications in-house. Within two weeks, the customer was able to restart the extruder system. The modular MEBSSL motor series is designed to enable flexible configuration for various applications and conditions. One of the most time-consuming jobs was fitting a bushing in
the customer's coupling hub, machining it from a diameter of 280mm to 240mm. In addition, Menzel manufactured adapter plates to adjust the shaft height from 800mm to the failed motor center height of 900mm. The replacement motor is designed with protection class IP55 and cooling type IC 611 with an air-to-air heat exchanger. www.menzel-motors.com
QUICK PUMP REPAIR HELPS KEEP ROMANCE ALIVE WEBB-ELEC QUICKLY JUMPED INTO action after it received a call from the manager of a hotel saying that they had no incoming water supply due to a failed pump, at what was an incredibly busy time – the hotel was hosting three wedding receptions during the week, which would have to be cancelled if the water supply could not be reinstated. Webb-Elec's site team attended the premises within the hour. They were able to isolate, disconnect and remove the faulty pump and took it to the workshop
Quarter 4 2021
for inspection. The pump was found to be in very poor condition but was also obsolete. A replacement, which would have been the quickest option, was not possible without extensive pipework alterations. The site team informed the customer of the situation, who instructed them to carry out a repair to the pump immediately. The repair included a replacement motor, machining and sleeving of the pump shaft and mechanical seal housing
due to wear. A replacement mechanical seal was fitted and the impeller cleaned and dynamically balanced. The pump was then reassembled and tested on an in-house pump test rig. The team returned to the hotel early the following morning and re-installed the pump. They then conducted a full pump test in front of the manager who signed the job off, and happily, all the wedding receptions were able to take place. webb-elec.co.uk www.theaemt.com
