Condition Monitoring Matures

The condition-monitoring footprint continues to grow. Temperature, oil/fluid and vibration analysis are presently the most used condition-monitoring technologies according to an online survey conducted in March by Plant Services magazine. Thermal imaging, power monitoring, ultrasound and current signature analysis follow closely behind.

The barriers to implementing new condition-monitoring technologies are wide-ranging — from the lack of funds or manpower to the inability to quantify or communicate benefits — it’s widely accepted that proactive monitoring and managing critical assets increases availability, reliability and plant performance.

Recent innovations in condition-monitoring technologies address the key barriers to implementation by minimizing the upfront investment, simplifying installation and use, improving speed and accuracy, supporting diverse technologies, and streaming complex analytics.

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