Use of vibration analysis in the power generation industry

Plant maintenance based on need rather than preventative maintenance can prove effective at keeping the plant operational whilst saving significant sums of money. In order to adopt this strategy it is necessary to be able to determine the condition of the plant in a cheap and noninvasive manner. One of the most effective ways of doing this for rotating plant is vibration analysis. This can be supplemented with additional techniques as appropriate. With turbo generators there is a requirement to record more than one channel of data simultaneously and in this case some form of multichannel recording method has to be used. Traditionally, tape recorders were used to store online vibration data for subsequent analysis, but they are now being upgraded to computer-based systems. Such systems offer real-time data analysis; remote access and data transfer, and the ability to log operational parameters. This paper suggests functional requirements that a transportable system should have, and describes an actual system and its application