Plant asset monitoring technology firm Kittiwake used this week's Maintec exhibition at the NEC, Birmingham, to launch a handheld device claimed to provide instant indication of machinery condition.
Based on acquired Holroyd's acoustic emission-based technology, the instrument – dubbed the MHC Bearing Checker – is aimed at maintenance engineers and detects the high frequency activity naturally generated by deteriorating rotating machinery.
Kittiwake managing director Martin Lucas explains that the unit uses Holroyd's so-called 'distress parameter' to indicate machine state – so removing the need for machine specific interpretations.
If the distress is greater than 10, the plant technician knows there is a problem and can instigate further checks. A dB Level is also provided, giving an indication of the overall noise of the bearing, which increases with speed of rotation, but also with degradation of the bearing or lubrication.
"The MHC Bearing Checker provides entry level condition monitoring at a price that makes it a feasible addition to every engineer's back pocket," insists Lucas.
"This is a simple, cost effective means of spotting problems in bearings, gearboxes, motors and pumps at an early stage, ultimately saving the company money by avoiding downtime," he adds.
And Lucas concludes: "If maintenance personnel are empowered to monitor condition themselves, identify where action is needed and then check that the action taken has solved the problem, then [acoustic emissions] has significant advantages of cost, speed, flexibility and ease of field application in comparison to other condition monitoring techniques."
Each measurement takes about 10 seconds, requires no set-up, previous history or knowledge of machine design details – such as bearing type, number of balls or race diameters – he says.
The same 'distress' interpretation is applied across all machine types, effectively deskilling the application of technology developed with Rolls-Royce.
