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U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Condition monitoring of machinery using motor current signature analysis

Conference ·
OSTI ID:5685301
Motor current signature analysis (MCSA) is a powerful monitoring tool for motor-driven equipment that provides a nonintrusive means for detecting changes in process conditions or the presence of mechanical abnormalities. It was recently developed at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) as a means for determining the effects of service wear on motor-operated valves used in nuclear power plant safety systems. MCSA is based on the recognition that an electric motor (ac or dc) driving a mechanical load acts as an efficient and permanently available transducer, sensing both large and small, long-term and rapid, mechanical load variation and converting them into variations in the induced current generated in the motor windings. The motor current signature, which is carried by the motor power cables, can be extracted at a convenient location and processed as needed to obtain time- and frequency-domain (spectral) characteristics which provide equipment condition indicators for trending over time. MCSA technology (patent applied for) has already been applied successfully to motor-operated valves, vacuum pumps, water pumps, air blowers and air conditioning systems, and examples of such application will be presented. The applicability of MCSA to a broader range of equipment monitoring and production line testing is also discussed. 1 ref., 8 figs.
Research Organization:
Oak Ridge National Lab., TN (USA)
DOE Contract Number:
AC05-84OR21400
OSTI ID:
5685301
Report Number(s):
CONF-8909127-2; ON: DE89012335
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English