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MainTrain Fort McMurray delivers complete PdM-technology primer |
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Written by REM Staff
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The first day of MainTrain Fort McMurray kicked off at the local
Quality Hotel Sept. 15, bringing to Alberta and the oil sands the first
event of its kind.
As Canada's largest physical asset and maintenance management industry
association, the Plant Engineering and Maintenance Association of
Canada's (PEMAC) Fort McMurray chapter had an active hand in selecting
and shaping the content for this year's event to ensure it met the
unique needs of local industry.
Following opening remarks by Suncor Energy's Jim Dardis (who is also
vice-president of PEMAC's Fort McMurray chapter) and moderator John
Lambert, from Benchmark Maintenance Services Inc., conference attendees
were treated to a full day of technical training seminars, which
focused primarily on predictive maintenance tools like thermography,
oil analysis programs, ultrasound , motor current analysis and laser
alignment systems. The theme of achieving a return on investment (ROI)
was prevalent throughout, as well as showing how each technology works
together in comprehensive condition monitoring programs.
FLIR's Greg Bork opened up the day's seminars by teaching the attendees
about the latest innovations in predictive and thermography. This
session taught the audience how to get the most out of the
leading-edge technology, not only in reducing equipment downtime but
also addressing the energy-cost savings - without ripping a machine
apart.
"What we are doing in terms of of infrared technology and what FLIR has
been doing for years is focusing in on non-destructive, non-contact
testing," Bork said, "keeping the process going and finding out the
problem in real time."
Kevin Eaton in the hydraulics business unit with Bosch Rexroth Canada
addressed how the monitor the condition of hydraulic equipment through
oil analysis. A successful oil-analysis program is more than purchasing
a sample bottle, filling it with oil and sending it to a laboratory for
analysis: it is one of the best ROI predictive maintenance practices
available when executed in an accurate, timely and consistent manner.
"Every machine is different," he explained. Trending a piece of
equipment's condition over time and figuring out when a potential
failure may occur can help avoid downtime and maximize the equipment
usefulness.
After lunch, UE Systems' Blake Canham spoke about the latest
innovations in ultrasonic testing and tools. It’s all about improving
equipment uptime, maximizing asset management performance and reducing
costs.
Randy Keener with SKF espoused the virtues of motor current analysis,
talking about various online and offline testing techniques. "The
question isn't if a motor will fail, the question is when it will
fail," he said. "Nothing runs forever. It all fails eventually, and our
goal is to figure it out before it happens so we don't have unplanned
events."
Moderator John Lambert then spoke about machinery installation and
achieving (and correcting) alignment. The machinery installation
process is a critical process for all maintenance departments - and
even if you contract out the work, there should be in-house knowledge
that a machine has been installed to a correct specification or
tolerance. Unfortunately, this is not always done, and the result is
premature failure. He provided information on how to save money by
doing the job right, and provided examples of incorrectly installed
machines.
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