Industrial Machinery Vibrations: What are the Main Causes?

Vibration is the oscillation/ back-and-forth movement of machines such as motors, driven devices, gears, and shafts among other industrial equipment. It is used to indicate sign or trouble in machines. When you analyze vibrations correctly, it becomes easy to assess the health of your machinery.

The Main Causes of Industrial Machinery Vibrations

Machinery vibrations can be caused by a single or a combination of factors. Here, it is also important to note that the vibration can also be as a result of auxiliary devices, not just the main equipment. Whether you have light-duty machinery or heavy-duty industrial system such as mining systems as demonstrated here, you need to understand the causes of vibrations and fix them. Here are the leading causes:

• Imbalance: If your machinery has a heavy spot in its rotating component, it is likely to have vibrations because of imbalanced weight. This imbalance is a major cause of trouble and can further result in defects or need for regular maintenance. Also, you need to appreciate that imbalance becomes severe with increasing speed.
• Misalignment: If the driving or driven shafts of your equipment are poorly aligned, they are likely to cause major vibrations. A good example is when the axes of a pump and motor are not properly aligned. In most cases, misalignment can happen during assembly or overtime because of components shifting or incorrect assembly. Some of the main types of misalignments include parallel, axial and radial misalignment.
• Wear: With continued use of your machinery, components such as gears, drives and bearings get worn out. Take the example of a roller bearing. With continued use, the bearing can get resulting in vibrations when rolling on the damaged part. Also, a chipper gear or worn drive belt can also generate vibrations in industrial machinery.
• Looseness: If vibrations in your machinery go unnoticed, the vibrating part can result in the looseness of attached components such as mounts. But the looseness can also be caused by other factors such as poor assembly and not necessarily vibrations. But no matter the cause, the looseness is likely to intensify the damage from present vibrations. This can be accelerated tearing of bearings and equipment fatigue.

Impacts of Vibrations

If your system has vibrations and they are not addressed well, there is a danger of accelerated tearing and wearing. The machinery is also likely to become noisy and degrade your industrial working conditions. Finally, vibrations have been associated with high power consumption and even knock down the machinery in extreme cases.

To note the vibrations in your machinery, it is important to maintain the equipment in top condition. You should also run regular vibration analysis and fix the faulty components. If you want more value from your machinery, get rid of vibrations.

Practical Ways of Improving Industrial Boilers’ Efficiency

Today, one of the commonly used industrial equipment is the boiler. They are used in the food industry, paper industry, metal smelting, heating engineering and building material niches for activities such as heating, cleaning, cooling humidification and cleaning. To increase the efficiency of your industrial boilers and cut related power costs, here are some practical methods to consider.

Regularly Maintain Your Boiler and Its System

One of the main causes of boiler inefficiencies is lack of maintenance. After using your industrial boiler for some time, different components such as sensors, piping network, and other components are bound to wear down. These have been demonstrated to be important causes of inefficiencies. To improve the efficiency of your boiler, you should consider following the manufacturer’s guidelines. This will ensure that every component of the boiler operates smoothly and as anticipated. As demonstrated here, you should also ensure to have the right staff to monitor your facility to detect any problem easily.

Consider Reusing the Heat

Heat loss from boilers is another common cause of inefficiency. When the heat generated by from burning fuel or electricity is not used optimally, it gets lost. To reduce this loss, you can opt to reuse the heat. For example, you can consider using a blowdown heat recovery unit, or an economizer. When applied properly, an economizer can boost your system’s efficiency by about 8%.

When looking for an economizer, make sure to look for the model that matches your boiler system. You should also factor things such as fuel type and operating condition.

Enhancing the Boiler Feed System

To enhance the efficiency of the system, it is worth noting that you have to go beyond the boiler. One of the most important systems is the feed system. By improving the feed system, you will also be able to enhance the overall boiler’s output. For example, exchangers can be used for preheating water to reduce the work of your boiler.

Another important enhancement is installing variable speed controls on the feed pumps. This implies that the system’s motor will never run beyond the required speed.

Reduce Excess Air

In order to complete combustion, boilers require excess air. While it is true that this is necessary, the available excess air can result in varying the efficiencies of the boilers. But again, you must avoid limiting the air too much because it can cause the development of soot. To provide just the right amount of air in your boiler system, you should consider using automated combustion control systems that intelligently monitor the required quantities.

To enhance the efficiency of your industrial facility, it is prudent to ensure that everything is operating well. You should, especially focus on the boiler and use the above strategies to increase its efficiency.

Industrial Lighting: What Options Do You Have?

In most industrial facilities, the primary goal is creating the best working environment for high production. One thing you must get right is the lighting. Good lighting makes it easy to work in narrow aisles, tunnels, underground mine routes, and large spaces. If you get it wrong on lighting, your operations are likely to grind into a halt. Here are the main options for industrial lighting.

Indoor Fixtures

These are the commonest types of lighting for most industrial and commercial facilities. The lamps are designed to provide or light in extended areas such as loading bays, workstations, workshops, parking lines, and bays. Often, the lamps are installed high in the ceiling to illuminate larger areas with little disturbances. To increase the efficiency of the lamps, it is advisable to consider the models that can withstand harsh working conditions like high temperatures.

Explosion Proof Lighting

In industrial facilities such as steel and mining lines as demonstrated here, some of the components are highly explosive. For example, most coal mining facilities have combustible dust that can easily ignite and result in explosions. Therefore, the lighting options in these facilities must be carefully designed to reduce the danger of fire. The best options are explosion-proof lighting fixtures that operate at low temperatures and are dustproof. If your industry deals with combustible materials such as petroleum, gas, or flammable chemicals, you have to use explosion-proof lighting.

Lighting for Hazardous Locations

Does your industrial facility deal with hazardous materials such as nuclear chemicals or flammable dusts like in coal mining facilities; you need failure-free lighting solutions. Like the explosion-proof lighting, the lighting fixtures should be able to operate at low temperatures and reduce the danger of causing reactions or explosions. Besides, they should also be long-lasting to minimize the costs and risks associated with regular replacements.

Environmental Considerations

As you look for various lighting systems for your facility, it is also crucial to factor the need to go green. Here, the aim is going for the lighting system that will use less energy and promote a green economy.  One of the top options is using LED lamps because they release high-quality at low temperature, are longer lasting, and can be used on a wide range of operations.

When you set off looking for the right industrial lighting system, it is prudent to only go for the best fixtures. Extra care should be taken if your facility deals with highly flammable or hazardous materials. To get it right, consider working with a lighting expert.

Industrial Product Design: The Three Most Important Components

Are you planning to start an industrial unit or you already have one and think it can do better? If you take a closer look at the top brands in the market, the success in their product design is based o three key elements; studying the market, making the product intuitive, and flexibility. Therefore, how do these product design pillars work?

Studying the Market when Crafting your Product

When entrepreneurs think of getting into the market, most of them often make the mistake of designing the products they think clients need. However, the best method should be asking clients what they want. For example, if you design cars, you cannot simply craft any car and release it into the market.

To know what the target clients want, consider running a comprehensive market study on the target audience to establish the products it wants and how it wants it. If you are joining a new market, make sure to send your researchers months or years before venturing there. The study will tell you what the target audience prefers to inform your product design.

Make the Product as Intuitive as Possible

When you venture into a new market, one thing that you must appreciate is that there are other businesses that are already in operation. Therefore, you should make your products more intuitive by factoring the clients’ input. How do you achieve this? There are three ways:

• Involve the client in the product design: Think of it this way; instead of simply reading what competitors are selling and trying to craft a better item, consider asking clients what they want and draw them to the design process. This implies they will own the product and will be waiting for the product to hit the market and buy.
• Strengthen your brand: Every time that people see an Apple logo, it is very easy to associate it with the computing giant because it is a strong brand. You should also work towards strengthening your brand so that your target can easily associate with it.

Make your Operations as Flexible as Possible

One thing you need to appreciate is that no market is static. Rather, your target clients’ needs will change, and you have to adjust your system to meet their new demands promptly. Therefore, your eyes should never get off the target market to ensure you are first in identifying the shifting trends and reflecting them in your product design. This has been made simpler by social media because you can easily integrate the target audience into your community to understand their needs.

Understanding Industrial Motors

Do you want to start an industrial facility? Whether in food processing, beer production, or machining type of industry, one common thing is that you will need industrial motors. They are the industrial workhorses that drive conveyors, move lifts, printing pressed and elevators. Therefore, even if you will still have a technician to deal with motors, it is prudent to understand how motors work. Here is everything that you need to know.

The Basics: Electricity, Magnetism, Movement

Most electric motors operate through the interaction of electric current, magnetic fields, and wire windings that force rotation of an output shaft. To demonstrate how electric motors work, we will look at the two main types of motors: AC motors and DC motors.

• AC Motors: AC motors, like the name suggests, are driven by alternating current and are designed with two main parts. One is the outer stator with multiple coils of wires. When current is run through these wires, the stator generates a magnetic field. The second part of an AC motor is the inner rotor that is connected to the output shaft. The rotor produces the second rotating magnetic field. Note that the rotor magnetic field can be generated by a permanent magnet or electromagnetic coils. In most heavy duty industrial systems such as mining operations, AC motors are the most preferred option.
• DC motors: A DC motor follows the same principle applied in the AC models. The motor has windings on the stator and armature on the outside. The windings are carefully done on soft iron. Then, the motor also features a communicator that is connected to the output shafts. Most DC motors are used in small apparatus such as toys and tools. But you can also get stronger AC motors

The Mai Types of Motors

Once you understand how the main types of motors work, go ahead and check individual models and select the ideal option. The main types of motors include:

• DC brushed motors: These are some of the simplest and commonest types of motors found in most appliances, automobiles, and toys.
• Brushless motors: These motors use permanent magnets in their rotors.
• Vibrating motors: These are used in applications that require vibrations such as game controllers and cell phones.
• Servo motors: These motors are common in appliances such as robotics and RC toys.

Understanding how industrial motors work is crucial for both entrepreneurs and technicians to ensure they are maintained in top conditions. Further, this helps to increase their efficiency, reduce maintenance costs, and cut related downtime.

Three Crucial Questions to Ask When Selecting Industrial Motors

When you set off looking for an industrial motor, you MUST get it right. You need to understand key aspects of motors including their types, the nature of application, mechanical and environmental issues. To help you select the ideal motor, here are three main questions that you should ask and get succinct answers.

Does your Application Require Constant Speed?

If your industrial application requires constant speed, you should go for the motor that operates with little or no acceleration/ deceleration ramps. This application is applied using special across-the-line on/off type of control. Both AC motors and DC motors are okay for constant speed operations. In the case of DC motors, they provide optimum torque at zero speed, and further have a very large installed base. Unlike the DC motors, AC designs are preferred for constant speed operations in heavy industrial operations such as mining, because of high power factor. Some of the applications that require constant speed operations and motors include conveyors, lifts and sewing machines.

What are the Motor’s Current and Voltage Ratings?

A motor is powered by electric current. If it is too much, there is a risk of damaging the motor system. To select the right motor, you need to establish both the stall and operating current. The stall current is the current needed by the motor when operating at stall speeds. However, the operating current is what the motor draws for typical torque. To increase efficiency, the motors should also have effective heat sinks.

Voltage in the motor is used for helping to keep the current flowing only in one direction. The higher the voltage in a motor, the higher the torque it generates. The voltage rating on motors reflects the most efficient voltage when the motor is running. But you should avoid using excess voltage because it can damage the coils.

What is the Right Velocity?

Velocity or speed in motors is given in terms of rotation per minute (RPM). The rule of the thumb when it comes to RPM is that motors operate more efficiently when running at highest speeds. However, this is not needed when you are using gears to amplify or reduce torque. Therefore, if you want to use gears, it is important to factor torque and speed. Consider working with an expert when using gears.

If your industrial operation requires the use of motors, you need to understand your application. Besides, getting answers to the above questions, it is also crucial to factor durability and ease of maintenance. Do not just but any motor, only select the best.

The Best Solutions to Industrial Machinery Vibrations

If you have an industrial facility, its efficiency can get compromised by a number of factors, including poor installation and maintenance. But one of the most outstanding is the industrial vibrations. These are back-and-forth movements generated when running devices and equipment or devices such as motors, bearings and driveshafts. Although some level of vibration is okay, massive vibrations can be a cause of trouble such as accelerated wear & tear and degradation of the working environment. But the good thing is that you can address the problem, especially when detected early enough. Here are some tested and proven solutions.

Run Regular Maintenance of Your Machinery

The first line of defence against vibrations is ensuring that your industrial facility is properly maintained. Regular checks will easily detect vibrations and other issues so that they are addressed before turning into serious issues. For those in heavy industrial operations such as mining as shown here, it is important to include vibration analysis of different types of equipment. This can be used to indicate the health of the machinery and note hidden issues.

Using Anti Vibration Pads

These pads are used to help put machinery or equipment at the right level and absorbing the ensuing vibrations. They include anti-vibration rubberized pads such as rubber cork pads, ribbed pads, and waffle pads. The pads are used for mounting equipment such as pumps, fan coil units, and air handling units.

The anti-vibration pads are designed using high neoprene that good water resistance and durability qualities. They are also preferred because they do not need any maintenance and their maintenance is minimal.

Spring Hangers

Spring hangers, like anti-vibration pads, are vibration isolation equipment. However, these are mainly used for suspended applications or machinery such as pipes, fan coil units and fans. The hangers absorb vibrations using heavy duty steel springs and rubberized cups. To get maximum vibration isolation using the spring hangers, it is important to ensure that the hangers are installed properly.

Wire Isolators

Unlike anti-vibration pads and spring hangers that are only used with ground-based or hanged equipment, wire isolators are multipurpose. They are designed using heavy steel cables carefully fitted through retaining bar. The cables are also corrugated to optimize durability and efficiency in shock absorption. Wire isolators are mainly used with equipment such as shipping containers, HVAC equipment, motor generators, and medical equipment.

When not addressed properly and on time, machinery vibrations can become a major undoing for your industrial operations. Therefore, go ahead and select the preferred method of vibration solution to enhance the health of your system.

Human Resources Development: What is the Right Time for Staff Training?

In any industrial facility, success is dependent on the skills of available staff. Although you might have selected the most qualified workers, you need to keep regularly train them to build new skills. This brings about one important question; “What is the right time for HR development?”

Benefits of HR Development

Before looking at the best time for HR development, it is important to start by thinking about the associated benefits. The most notable benefit of HR development is the increased productivity of both individual staff and the entire organization. Other benefits include:

• Higher retention rates.
• Easy development of a positive culture.
• Improved staff confidence.
• A stronger brand.

When the Performance is Below Par

For most industrial organizations, poor performance is used as the primary indicator that staff need some training. As a manager or entrepreneur, it is important to follow the performance of individual staff, department and entire organization. If your organization is failing to meet pre-set targets, it means that your staff might require additional training. Note that when looking at the causes of poor performance, it is also important to evaluate the performance of the machinery.

When Your Industrial Facility is Performing Optimally

Although many people only consider the need for additional training when their organizations are underperforming, it is not enough. When your organization is performing very well, you should consider training your staff. After reaching the top, one thing you must appreciate is that other competitors are learning your strategies and will do anything to outdo you. Therefore, you need HR development to set new goals and adopt better strategies to remain at the top.

When You are Introducing new Technologies

In industrial operations, you cannot rely on a single technology. Instead, you have to progressively look for new technologies to simplify production and enhance operation efficiency. In the mining industry, as highlighted here, operators are always working on new technologies to extract minerals and enhance their products. In such cases, it is important to train your staff about the new technology and its application for better results.

When Running Change

Are you planning changes in your industrial facility? The first step should be staff training. This will help the workers to understand the changes so that they can become part of its drivers as opposed to obstacles. When training workers for change, it is important to highlight benefits they will get from such changes.

HR development is the best method of instilling new skills to your facility. Therefore, it should not be looked at as an expense that can be done away with. Instead, you .should use it to strengthen your brand and position the enterprise for success.

Common Causes of Early Machine Failure

In industrial systems, devices/facilities such as motors, conveyors and boilers are very expensive. The cost goes even higher when you include installation charges. Therefore, entrepreneurs and managers do everything possible to increase productivity and value of industrial machinery. To achieve these goals, it is important to understand the common causes of early machine failure and how to prevent them. In this post, we are going to outline four main causes of early machine failure.

Fatigue

Fatigue in machinery comes from subsurface cracking that can be caused by a number of factors including races, rollers and pitch lines of gear teeth. Dislocations migrate along slip planes eventually resulting to cracks.

In most cases, fatigue starts from incipient cracking and extends to interconnected cracks. Finally, it becomes a spall when the cracks intersect the surface allowing small chunks to get carried by lubricants. If the bearings or rotating part continues rolling, larger chunks will be removed, resulting in total damage.

Abrasion

Abrasion wearing is a form of three-body cutting that result from contamination of lubricating agent with materials such as dust. When dust particles that are harder than steel are deposited into the nipping point of two moving parts, they cut visible grooves on the surfaces. The lubricant reduces friction which results in enhancing the efficiency of the cutting process.

To reduce abrasion effect, it is important to ensure that the moving parts of your machinery are kept as clean as possible. Also, you should change the lubricant regularly to remove contaminants.

Corrosion

Corrosion is a chemical reaction of metallic materials that results in the formation of oxide layers on the surface. The oxide layer formed on the surface is soft and will rub away easily, resulting in the exposure of the underlying metal. This implies that your machinery will continue becoming weaker as corrosion eats different sections. In sensitive industrial facilities such as mining as noted here, corrosion is avoided as much as possible to keep the products pure. Other industries where corrosion is undesirable or not tolerated include chemical and food handling.

Deposition

Deposition, unlike other failure modes like abrasion, involves material placement as opposed to removal. Although it is not a wearing method, the foreign materials deposited on your machinery can result in blocking or damaging plugs. Materials deposited on machinery are transported by fluid or gas and builds up on the machinery over time. For example, the edges of impellers and fans easily accumulate particle and fibrous debris that ultimately result in early failure.

If you have an industrial facility with different machinery, it is important to check regularly and maintain them in top conditions all the time. This will reduce wearing and increase the lifespan of the machinery.

Selecting the Best Industrial Lubrication Systems

For your industrial machinery such as conveyors and gears to run effectively, they need to be properly lubricated. Good lubrication comprises of two main things: the right lubricant, and the correct method of application. If any of the two fails, the risk of equipment failure increases. In this post, we are going to describe the main types of lubrication systems that you can adopt in your system.

Manual Lubrication System

This involves the manual application of greases to the moving parts. The tech uses a grease gun to apply grease to the joint and moving parts for easy movement. Today, the process has been made easier with the radio-frequency identification (RFID) technology that helps to identify the lub points easily. The main advantage of this method is that the tech can inspect different parts of the machinery when applying lubricant.

Automated Lubrication System

Although the manual model is considered beneficial because the technician is able to interact more with the machinery, it is laborious. The automated lubrication system was designed to address the challenges of the manual model. The model helps to increase efficiency, reduce lub contamination, and avoid hazards associated with manual application. In the automated category, you can opt for the single-line volumetric or single-line point systems.

Dual Line Systems Lubrication System

If you have a heavy industrial operation such as a mining unit as captured here, the most recommended for pressurized lubricant application method is the dual-line model. The systems are designed to guarantee flexibility and reliability. The name comes from the fact that the system uses two distribution lines. Besides, the systems allow users to expand or reduce the lub points easily.

Single Line Progressive Lubricant System

The single-line progressive system uses as uses a hydraulic pump to push lubricant to the targeted parts. The system is designed with three dispensing components that feature hydraulic spool that feeds a specific amount of lub (grease) with every stroke. The volume of the grease pushed in every stroke is dependent on the length and diameter of the piston. Notably, this is adjustable.

The main advantage of the single-line progressive system is that it can be used alone or together with other systems like the manual lines. Besides, it is also highly flexible because it can be used to apply either grease or oil. But it is important to appreciate that the lubrication system is larger and its maintenance is also relatively higher.

Whether your machinery is new or has been in use for some time, using the right lubrication system will help to reduce wearing down and increase operational efficiency.