At the Hannover Messe, Schaeffler used reference projects to present intelligent solution packages for monitoring and lubricating units. One customer is the drinking water supplier Perlenbach, which supplies around 50,000 inhabitants in seven communities in the northern Eifel region with fresh drinking water every day. In order to guarantee trouble-free and reliable operation, it would have to staff and monitor its systems around the clock. This is because bearing defects in the centrifugal pumps could lead to a breakdown and thus jeopardize the water supply. Perlenbach therefore decided to introduce permanent monitoring and lubrication of the units and found a competent partner in Schaeffler to implement predictive maintenance.

In conjunction with the Concept8 lubricator, the pre-configured SmartQB condition monitoring system ensures trouble-free operation. The standalone complete solution detects irregularities in electric motors, pumps, fans and their bearings. Whether bearing damage, imbalance, friction, temperature increase or change in the vibration pattern - the SmartQB identifies the possible causes of faults and then issues a plain text message. By integrating the system, which was developed jointly with Mitsubishi Electric, into the control station visualization, maintenance personnel are informed of impending damage at an early stage and can initiate maintenance measures and any spare parts procurement immediately.

As a preconfigured plug-and-play system, the SmartQB requires no prior knowledge of condition monitoring. (Pictures: Schaeffler)

A major advantage of the solution is that the SmartQB is a preconfigured plug-and-play system and therefore very easy to put into operation. "Conventional machine monitoring systems are expensive and complicated. The SmartQB, on the other hand, is so simple that our staff did not need any specific knowledge in the field of vibration diagnostics. We were able to get started immediately," reports

Joachim Dankwardt, deputy head of the water extraction/treatment department at the Perlenbach water supply association. The electricians on site were able to connect the SmartQB directly to the control system and the emergency telephone dialer.

The last failure of a pump at Perlenbach was caused by overlubrication of a bearing. Schaeffler counteracts this problem with its Concept8 lubricator. It precisely supplies up to eight lubrication points with the right amount of grease. Insufficient lubrication or overlubrication and the resulting damage can be avoided. In the Nord-eifel, the power supply to the lubricator is coupled to the pump. This means that lubrication only takes place when the pump in question is actually running. With this complete solution consisting of condition monitoring and on-demand relubrication, Schaeffler enables maintenance work to be planned at an early stage. Customers can thus sustainably optimize their maintenance processes and increase the availability and productivity of their systems. am