SKF’s latest condition monitoring technologies are demonstrated live on a vibrating screen operating at the show

SKF used CONEXPO-CON/AGG 2017, a major exhibition for the international construction and aggregates industries, to demonstrate its latest condition monitoring technologies. Taking center stage was the SKF Multilog IMx machine health monitoring system, with the Multilog IMx-8 – an eight-channel version of this highly popular platform and SKF’s most compact, easy-to-use machine health tool to date - making its USA debut.

At this year’s event, SKF also partnered with vibrating screen manufacturer, Deister Machine Co Inc. by having an SKF Multilog IMx-16S 16-channel condition monitoring system operating on a vibrating screen located at the Deister booth.

The vibrating screen operated in the booth and the IMx will provide remotely accessible machine health data in real time throughout the show at both the Deister and SKF booths.

SKF demonstrated the power of the IMx platform by monitoring an entire vibrating screen, including the bearings supporting its rotating shafts, which were monitored by SKF Copperhead vibration and temperature sensors. These sensors are also able to monitor other screen health factors such as the cloth tensioner for looseness. A loose cloth can reduce the operating efficiency of the screen.

Copperhead vibration sensor mounted on each corner of the vibrating screen, enabling real-time monitoring of the screens operational orbit or motion. Changes in the orbit at a corner could indicate a broken support spring at that position, a change in the way the material (aggregates, ore) is fed into the screen, or a blockage of the material leading to a drop in machine efficiency.

Keith Meyers, Global Industry Manager, Mining at SKF says: "Monitoring machinery in this way can detect faults before they cause permanent damage. Certainly secondary damage can also be avoided, reducing maintenance costs and allowing better planning for maintenance, which ultimately reduces downtime.

The IMx platform goes one stage further by making the machine condition data available via an Internet connection to a remote monitoring site where expert analysis of machine health can be made."