06Condition Monitoring Integration PT2 – Click To Download PDF

CONDITION MONITORING INTEGRATION

(Process Strategy Beyond the 21st Century)
Albert K. Fletcher, CEO/PM Consultant, Dataman System Consultancy

Reliability-Centred Maintenance (RCM)

Reliability-Centred Maintenance focuses on the probability that equipment will operate without failure over a defined period under specified conditions. Key insights include:

  • The life of a component is meaningful only when associated with a survival probability.

  • RCM emphasizes rationalized scheduled maintenance to maintain optimal equipment reliability.

  • Maintenance goals: ensure each piece of equipment operates most reliably at the lowest cost.

  • Historically, predictive maintenance targeted high-cost components with significant failure consequences.

  • The paradigm is shifting with OEM monitoring systems now standard on most major mining equipment, enabling broader predictive maintenance adoption.

Condition Monitoring Strategy

Condition monitoring is based on the principle that most failures show warning signs before they occur (potential failure). It provides physical evidence that a functional failure is developing, allowing maintenance to intervene before full failure occurs.

Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM):

  • Monitors actual, current equipment condition

  • More effective and cost-efficient than fixed-interval replacements or overhauls

  • Improves equipment operation and maintenance without redesigning machinery

  • Redesign is only considered if improved operation and maintenance cannot enhance performance

Time-Based Overhaul Limitations:

  • Focuses on replacing components at set intervals, assuming “wear-out” with age

  • Ignores actual failure processes and consequences of failure

  • Often prioritizes production continuity over maintenance quality, causing hidden inefficiencies

  • RCM emphasizes the broader consequences of failure, linking reliability directly to profitability

Predictive Maintenance Technologies

Traditional predictive maintenance tools include:

  • Ultrasonic testing

  • Vibration analysis

  • Oil analysis

Limitations:

  • Inspections often require equipment shutdown, leading to high production losses

  • Planners must balance inspection cost with failure probability, mode, and consequences

  • Manual data collection is typically limited to scheduled maintenance events (Lewis, 2001)

On-Board Monitoring Systems:

  • Continuously monitor multiple vital parameters

  • Detect anomalies and alert operators via alarms, lights, or displays

  • Operators may ignore or respond to alerts; ignoring critical events can cause avoidable downtime and production losses

End of Part 2 – to be continued

Leave a Reply