Like many industrial sectors, the food and drink processing industry makes use of a wide range of rotating machinery. Keeping processing lines operational is a vital task for maintenance engineers, which can be greatly assisted by using vibration monitoring of critical equipment to highlight changes in performance and help predict the timing of failures. Equipment suitable for monitoring includes gearboxes, motors, pumps, compressors, fans, mixers and conveyor systems.
Sensors need to be able to be hygienically sealed to operate in sterile environments and withstand wash-down of equipment. Monitran’s standard accelerometers and velocity transducers are sealed for life with an IP rating of IP67, making them immune to high pressure water jets or occasional immersion for very short periods. They are also resistant to water, high humidity, oil, grease and most industrial chemicals.
General purpose sensors suitable for monitoring equipment in the food production industry include the 1185 series velocity transducers. These have an industry standard two wire 4-20 mA DC output, which can be directly connected to PLC, DSC and other industrial controllers.