Wednesday, 14. October 2009

Customer-specific condition monitoring system

Bayer Technology Services has installed a customer-specific system for the conditioning monitoring of reactor vibrations at Kronos International Inc. Vibrations are induced in plant components as part of the titanium dioxide production process. Increased throughputs have resulted in greater vibrations, which must be monitored.

Commercially available standard systems do not meet the specific requirements with respect to the frequency/amplitude range and the demanding operating environment. Vibration experts from the Materials Engineering Unit therefore put together a customer-specific system and adapted it to the specified conditions of the process control system. The dynamic changes at the apparatus are recorded in three dimensions using non-contact laser sensors. Signal shapers and additional filters transform the fast analog signals for validated transfer to the control system.

Additional sources of information for in-house plant control options were also tapped. Correlation with operating parameters enabled cost-saving modes of operation for reduced loads on the apparatus, and also contributed to further enhancing plant safety.

Since it was commissioned in late 2008, the robust metrology has delivered reliable data with no problems. The proven technology will be deployed to monitor an additional production line in August 2009.

Sensor adaptation and calibration on a vibration-insulated apparatus