TECH OnlineSystemAutomatedDiagnostics

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The newest independent, modular, networked

online diagnostic systems can now be remotely

monitored, maintained and controlled. This tech-

nological revolution is based on simplicity, robust-

ness, connectivity and diagnostic intelligence.Th

Diagnostics:Evolution in the

Revolution

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More efficiency through automation. Greater

productivity from centralizing or outsourc-ing technical expertise. These evolutions ofglobal market demand have launched a technologi-cal revolution in online monitoring.

Where online systems were once relegated tomonitoring only critical plant assets because they

were expensive to purchase and even more expensiveto install, innovative new system technology nowallows plants to automate diagnostic functions andmonitor remote installations.

Historical Barriers to OnlineMonitoring

Once upon a time, high sensor and cable instal-lation costs made online monitoring systems an

unattractive alternative to portable systems, or lim-ited their use to only the most critical of plant assets.Back then, traditional online systems consisted of acentral processor to which all of the sensors wereconnected. This meant laying a great deal ofcabling, often in conduit, to get the signals to thecentral processor. The cable installation costs wouldoften dwarf the actual hardware and software costsrequired for the online system.

But sensor prices have dropped considerablythe past few years, and design innovations greatlylowered both system and installation costs. Thenewest modular designs, using Ethernet or WirelessEthernet (IEEE 802.11 WiFi), make installationeasy and inexpensive.

Wireless Sensors vs. WirelessSystems

Two competing models share the common aimof reducing cabling costs or removing cables entirely.

Wireless sensors contain small transmitters thatrelay data back to a central processor, often througha wireless access point. The benefit of these sensorsis that there really are no wires. They easily movefrom machine to machine if necessary.

There are many drawbacks, however. The sen-sor costs are high and the user is limited to choosingthe sensor that has a transmitter, not necessarily thebest sensor for his application. But the greatest lim-itation is that these sensors are configured to collectand transmit data on a schedule, not based on whatthe machine is doing. Though this saves battery life,it creates a significant technical limitation of thedevices themselves for applications involving vari-able-speed or load machines.

In these applications, the benefit of an onlinesystem is that it checks the machine state beforetesting to ensure repeatable test conditions fortrending, as well as identifying whether the operat-ing state itself has changed. Without repeatable testconditions, vibration monitoring is not very useful.

Wireless systems assume there will be multiplesensors per machine and multiple machines to bemonitored within a relatively small area. In thiscase, it makes sense to use off-the-shelf, inexpensivesensors (including non-vibration related sensors)that are right for the application, and cable themshort distances to a processor located on or near themachines of interest.

The processor then sends diagnostic resultsand/or data wirelessly (802.11 WiFi) or via Ethernetto a central server or to individual workstations.Multiple processors are installed plant-wide, close tothe machines they are monitoring, then integratedon a higher level at a server or control center.

Diagnostics vs. Data and AlarmsNow that system and installation costs are soaffordable, the next question is what is the systemused for?

Many older online systems use simple overallalarms to determine increases in vibration, butbecause many operators already know that certainincreases do not necessarily indicate mechanicalproblems, these alarms are often ignored.

If these alarms are not ignored, operatorsface the challenge of deciding what to do next to

Alan Friedman, DLI Engineering Corporation

Sept05PUMPS&SYSp32-35 8/22/05 11:56 PM Page 32


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determine what, if any, problemexists with the machine. Thisoften requires more technologi-cal knowledge and time than iscurrently available onsite.

Some older online systemssimply send heaps of data to a

central site for analysis, as if theywere just replacing portable sys-tems. But what does one do withmultiple machine tests per day

when hundreds of machines arebeing monitored? Who analyzesthis data? How does this manualapproach to data analysis im-prove efficiency?

The newest patented onlinetechnology is unique because itcontains an industry-proven and

widely-used automated diagnos-tic system loaded right on it. Thispatented concept independently

monitors the machines and sendsdata to a central site only if thereis a change of status and/or on apredetermined time basis. Thisdiagnostic system includes over4,500 individual rules, detectsover 650 specific mechanicalfaults, and applies to most com-mon machines such as pumps,

motors, blowers, com-pressors, and generators.

Independent studiesfind these patented diag-nostic capabilities to be96 percent accurate indetermining specific ma-

chine faults and theirseverities. Reports includespecific faults, with corre-sponding severities, plusan overall repair recom-mendation.*

Remote Monitoring& Control

Effectively monitoring criti-cal pumps in remote pipeline sta-tions is very challenging. To per-form high-quality machine con-dition assessments, vibration andother data must be sampled at

very high rates. This largeamount of data cannot be easilytransported to central monitor-ing facilities.

A key design feature of thenewest online system is itspatented proactive nature. Itcontinuously assesses machinecondition locally, but alerts

PUMPS & SYSTEMS www.pump-zone.com SEPTEMBER 2005 33

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SpriteMod2 SpriteWavesLarge

The DLI Watchman Sprite-MAX is

a new modular online diagnostic sys-

tem using multiple processors,

installed near ma-chines, to send

diagnostics and/or data to a central

server or to individual workstations

through Ethernet or Wireless

Ethernet. Its Real Time Data server

presents live data in spreadsheets forfurther manipulation. SpriteMAX

interfaces with most existing dis-

tributed control systems through OLE

for Process Control.



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specific individuals of a ma-chines health problem only

when a repair recommendation ismade. This means complex datais now processed and reduced toactionable information at thepump itself.

This information, includingconcise fault diagnostics andseverity, is sent to monitoringcenters in near real-time. Rawdata becomes available periodi-

cally, on demand and mostimportantly when a machinesstatus changes. If a problem isdetected, it is quickly confirmedso machinists can be deployed

with proper parts to repair theproblem before a catastrophic

failure occurs.This new online system itselfis also remotely managed andmaintained. As new softwarecomponents become available,

they are automatically download-ed and installed with no userintervention. Engineers can trou-bleshoot a remote installation,update machine baseline data ortest configurations easily throughthe Internet.

InterfaceResults produced by new

online system technology can beincorporated into a wide array ofuser interfaces, depending on thesite requirements. As a genericout-of-the-box-solution, the newtechnology produces XML-based

web pages containing machinestatus and fault information thatare viewed on work stations inthe plant and beyond.

A real-time data server pre-sents live data in Excel spread-

sheets that can be further manip-ulated by efficiency, power anddifferential calculations. For-matted spreadsheets may includeplant and machine schematicsand cells that change color basedupon diagnostic-fault severity orcalculated alarms.

New online system technol-ogy interfaces with most existingdistributed control systemsthrough OLE for process con-trol, meaning machine status andfault diagnostics are easily addedto existing displays.

Join the RevolutionNew online system technol-

ogy offers a unique solution toever-increasing demands for effi-ciency, automation, remote mon-itoring and consolidation oftechnical expertise. Greatly re-duced system and installationcosts, local intelligence, modulardesign and web-based connectiv-ity are revolutionizing the condi-tion-monitoring world with newsystems that are affordable andaccessible to facilities that wouldnever have considered them inthe past. P&S

Alan Friedman is a senior engi-neer at DLI Engineering Corporation,

253 Winslow Way West, BainbridgeIsland, WA 98110, 206-842-7656,Fax: 206-842-7667, www.DLIengi-neering.com, [email protected].

SEPTEMBER 2005 www.pump-zone.com PUMPS & SYSTEMS34

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