EUROPEAN STEEL TECHNOLOGY AND APPLICATION DAYS 2017 - ESTAD 2017

For fast rotating equipment (bearings, pumps, motors, gears, etc) various condition monitoring techniques, predominantly vibration analysis, allow predictive maintenance practices to be applied. For slow rotating equipment (1 rpm) the situation is quite different. Our approach how to monitor such equipment is covered in the first part of the paper. Vibration monitoring is typically not possible, because there is not enough energy in the vibrations to be measured and analyzed, but shock pulse measurements allow for the first time to deliver accurate information about the condition of the equipment. The application of this technique for two examples of very slow rotating equipment is explained in detail. The first example is the ladle turret and the second is the BOF converter. The second new approach for maintenance assistance is the Acoustic Expert System from Primetals Technologies. Recording and analysis of sounds produced by the equipment lead to a wide field of applications for asset but also for process monitoring. This 24/7 acoustic monitoring system enables a new way in condition based maintenance. Applications at environmental plants, steelmaking facilities, casting & rolling and material handling show the universal usability of the described system. Using several example installations the method is described in detail. Achieved results are provided as well. An outlook about further applications concludes the paper.