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Secure bearing lubrication in fiber-processing equipment

| By Mary Page Bailey and Gerald Ondrey

As various rotating machinery throughout fiber-processing operations experience extremely harsh and demanding environments, it is often difficult to manually retrieve oil samples. Maintaining an adequate surveillance of lubrication properties against harmful effects can prove very challenging. This company’s oil-monitoring system (photo) provides constant, remote condition-monitoring of lubrication-oil systems. Damages in rotating equipment bearings are often related to insufficient bearing lubrication. Typical failure modes, such as bearing vibration and elevated temperature, are normally only observed when the failure has already progressed. With this new oil-monitoring technology, upcoming failures can be predicted through changes in lubrication-oil quality. The device enables corrective actions before the actual failure arises, reducing unplanned shutdowns and the need for subsequent repairs. — Valmet Oyj, Espoo, Finland

www.valmet.com