Online Condition Monitoring on a Coal-Conveyor

Savage is (an energy service provider) located in Amarillo, Texas, USA has installed SPM online condition monitoring system on a coal-conveyor to eliminate concern of equipment failure; and therefore ensure uninterrupted and safe supply of fuel to Xcel Energy’s Harrington Generating Station.

Bearing Monitoring Keeps Coal Safely on the Move

The only damage which conveyor systems are subject to is not wearing. Because, even in normal use, conveyors may face the risk of fire due to the ignition of the materials being transported or equipment failure.

In fact, The Harrington plant gets its coal primarily from the Powder River Basin (PRB) in Wyoming. PRB coal has special properties including its its propensity to self-ignite and friability. Also, PRB coal creates combustible dust that can penetrate into different parts of the conveyor system such as the bearings.

Handling PRB coal has brought extraordinary hazards for the maintenance department of Savage. And, careful management of these hazards is vital. For instance, a mechanical fault in the bearing of a roller can cause ignition of the coal or the belt. Also, the friction between the belt and a seized roller lead to fire. Actually, online condition monitoring program plays an important role in dealing with safety issues that are related to handling of PRB coal.

Therefore, Savage implemented its condition monitoring program to detect potential equipment failure at an early stage. And, to monitor 40 conveyor and crusher bearings, they installed SPM Intellinova online system. Also, they used SPM HD to measure the condition of these bearings.

SPM HD Technologies for Condition Monitoring an be utilized on rolling element bearings throughout the range of 1-20,000 RPM since they are well suited for low-rpm applications.

Initial readings showed deteriorating condition on one of the pulley bearings. Savage engineers (using online monitoring system) were able to keep a watchful eye on the development of the damage for a full 15 months before replacing the bearing.

As you can see in the graph (please see the attached file) the HDm readings (black) were already in the yellow warning zone, when measurements started. After some time, HDm readings started to move into the red, but the condition degradation was relatively slow. However, a significant increase was seen in September 2011. That’s why they decided to replace the bearing. And, after the replacement, the readings dropped into the green zone immediately.

Online Condition Monitoring on a Coal-Conveyor

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