vibration monitoring for cooling tower fans

Cooling Tower Fans Vibration Monitoring for Cooling Tower Fan Motors--------stiweb

Machinery Applications Include: Cooling Tower, Cooling Tower Fans, Cooling Towers with Jackshaft, Cooling Tower Gearbox, Condition Monitoring, Vibration Monitoring, Protection System, VMS

Cooling Towers are made up of a Motor, Gearbox, Fan and connecting Jackshaft. The Gearbox translates the motors 1500/1800 RPM to a lower RPM for the Fan. Fan Speed varies from less than 100 RPM to a few hundred RPM depending on diameter. Rolling Element Bearings are standard and should be monitored using properly placed Industrial Accelerometers. Care must be taken to waterproof all Accelerometer connectors by flooding with Silicone Grease. For Monitoring Systems the LF (Low Frequency) option should be selected for the low speed gearbox shaft.

Only “X” or Horizontal Accelerometers marked in Red are recommended for Full Time Vibration Monitoring (Protection) System. Walk Around Data Collector or PdM Programs usually require “X” Horizontal (Red), “Y” Vertical (Green) and “Z” Axial (Yellow) Sensors for analysis. When economic decisions must be made to reduce sensor count due to the size or criticality of the Motor Driven Pump “X” or horizontal sensors should be installed first as they are closer to the load zone of the bearing and in direction of freedom of movement.