Alternative Methods of Machine Online Condition Monitoring; Recommendations for Rotating Machines in Petroleum and Chemical Industry

Rotating machines health assessment is an important aspect of machine operation. There are several online tests and techniques available to assess machine condition during service. Online condition monitoring and assessment helps to detect changes in machine operating condition at an early stage as well as determining the degree of degradation over time. Assessing machine condition can help estimate the risk of failure and the potential vulnerability to unexpected or unintended operating events. The objective is to promptly initiate corrective measures preventing costly shutdowns and production losses. The online monitoring is also helpful in being well prepared ahead of scheduled shutdown. In this paper, individual online tests and monitoring techniques are discussed on both synchronous and induction machines rated between 4.0 kV and up to 13.8 kV. The online monitoring techniques covered are; rotor flux monitoring, stator endwinding vibration monitoring, broken rotor bar detection, stator inter-turn fault detection and online partial discharge monitoring. A systematic approach based on years of experience and field studies is presented to provide a clear path for selecting appropriate tests and to choose an optimized and best possible online monitoring techniques that can be used in the Petroleum and Chemical Industry.