Alternative Methods of Machine Online Condition Monitoring: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ROTATING MACHINES IN THE PETROLEUM AND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY

Rotating machine health assessment is an important aspect of machine operation. There are 20 or more online tests and techniques available to assess machine condition while in service. Online condition monitoring and assessment help to detect changes in machine operating conditions at an early stage as well as determining the degree of degradation over time. Assessing machine conditions can help estimate the risk of failure and the potential vulnerability to unexpected or unintended operating events. The objective is to promptly initiate corrective measures, preventing costly shutdowns and production losses. Online monitoring is also helpful in being well prepared ahead of scheduled shutdowns. In this article, individual online tests and monitoring techniques are discussed on both synchronous and induction machines rated between 4.0 kV and up to 13.8 kV. The online monitoring techniques covered are rotor flux monitoring, stator endwinding vibration monitoring, broken rotor bar detection, stator interturn fault detection, and online partial discharge (PD) monitoring. A systematic approach based on years of experience and field studies is presented to provide a clear path for selecting the appropriate tests and choosing optimized and best possible online monitoring techniques that can be used in the petroleum and chemical industry.