Background
This case study highlights the successful detection of faults in a Reactor Agitator using the Eastway Safeguard® System at a global biopharmaceutical client’s facility in Singapore. The Eastway Safeguard® System was installed to provide continuous monitoring, ensuring that potential issues were detected and addressed promptly. Through close collaboration with the client’s condition monitoring and maintenance teams, Eastway issued reports in a timely manner, allowing the client to implement corrective actions before a failure occurred. This proactive approach resulted in significant cost savings and avoided unplanned downtime.
Figure 1. Equipment Layout.
Case description
In July 2024, the Eastway Safeguard® System detected a gradual increase in acceleration (g’ RMS) and velocity (mm/s RMS) values with abnormal noise at the motor and gearbox of the Reactor, see Figure 2. Alert notifications were sent to key personnel and the Eastway team for further investigation.
Figure 2. Reactor Gearbox Acceleration Trend from 01 July 2024 to 25 July 2024.
Analysis
After analysing the machine details, including the motor’s running speed and the number of teeth on the gears, the gear meshing frequencies (GMF1 and GMF2) were calculated as follows in table 1.
Table 1. Machine details, calculated frequencies and Gb internal gears.
Investigations of the trends and FFT spectrums for the reactor gearbox and motor showed increasing gear meshing frequencies and abnormal noise from the gearbox, indicating issues with the gears and bearings. Additionally, 2xLF frequencies suggested potential electrical problems in the motor. Refer to Figures 3 and 4 for detailed spectrums. Furthermore, Figure 5 below shows the velocity spectrum, where the Gear Meshing Frequency (GMF) is prominently highlighted as a dominant peak.
Figure 3. Gearbox FFT acceleration (g’ RMS) spectrum comparison from May 2024 (front, blue trend) to July 2024 (rear, brown trend).
Figure 4. Motor FFT acceleration (g’ RMS) spectrum comparison from May 2024 (front, blue trend) to July 2024 (rear, grey trend).
Figure 5. Reactor Gearbox Velocity FFT.
Recommended action
Based on this analysis and the noise observed in the reactor unit, it was recommended to inspect the gearbox for gear wear and bearing issues, and to check the motor for electrical problems during the next available downtime.
Action Taken
As recommended by Eastway, the maintenance team in Singapore inspected and replaced the motor and gearbox of the Reactor during the scheduled downtime in August 2024, resulting in a significant decrease in vibration values, as well as a reduction in the amplitude of the 2xLF peak and GMFs, as shown in Figure 6 and 7.
Figure 6. Motor acceleration (g’ RMS) trend from 12 July 2024 to 12 August 2024.
Figure 7. Gearbox Acceleration (g’ RMS) FFT spectrum comparison on 30 July 2024 (before actions) and 09 August 2024 (post-replacement).
Results
By the proactive approach and identification of anomaly in the Reactor Agitator, the Eastway Safeguard® System facilitated timely intervention and allowed to carry out necessary planning and spares arrangement. As a result, in addition to identifying problems and dramatically reducing unplanned downtime, this detection also significantly reduced the man-hours and avoided the additional cost.
Table 1 highlights the importance of online monitoring. In this case, early detection of motor and gearbox defects by the Eastway Safeguard® System allows for timely corrective action.
Table 2. Estimated cost savings
