Lights, camera, action

Mechanical looseness in equipment is pervasive and oftentimes undetected for too long. In many instances, looseness is not properly identified as the root cause of high vibration. Using cameras and new technology, pump operators can now quickly understand what is happening to their equipment, but more importantly, how to fix it.

Technology that allows users to enhance and measure motion with the use of video is taking the pump industry by storm. Designed and developed by Jeff Hay, Founder and CEO at RDI Technologies, it is changing the way users see machinery and maintenance, moving industrial vibration to the visual spectrum. A former research scientist at the University of Louisville where he developed new optical sensing technologies his initial application of the technology he invented was in the field of astronomy. Realizing the potential, he decided to form RDI Technologies to bring camera-based vibration and motion monitoring to the market. “In its simplest form the technology delivers the ability to see movement not visible with the naked eye,” he said during a recent webinar. “Seeing where the movement allows one to be able to understand how the machine is behaving, what is happening to your equipment and most importantly, how you can then fix it.” With his background in astronomy, Hay has for years been using cameras to learn something about objects at a distance. “Whether it is a star light-year away or a motor and pump a few feet away the concept is the same. It is about the ability to see the movement that exists even though it is not visible.”

Using a car engine as an example, he said popping the hood would allow one to hear the engine running and even to feel the vibration if touched. “One cannot see the movement but using this technology one can see the movement that is taking place. The same for a glass that is hit with a fork. You will hear the sound, but you would need this technology to see the movement when the glass vibrates at 780 hertz.” According to Hay, what motion amplification does is turn the camera into a displacement sensor. “It measures the displacement across the entire field. Once we have done that we can then increase the levels of that displacement and show what is truly moving.”

Moving pumps

Applying the motion amplification to a pump system Hay showed how the machine was moving even though this was not visible when just looking at it. “Traditionally if you realize there is a lot of movement in the pump or something is loose, one would put a sensor on it and get a reading to determine what is going on and to try and establish the cause before setting out to fix it. Considering that some 20 different things could be responsible for the vibration or that you only realized the pump was vibrating when you came across the looseness this could take a while.”

Motion amplification, however, allows for an immediate pinpointing of the problem. “With the power of the camera, the looseness can be identified within a matter of seconds.”

Furthermore, by drawing virtual sensors on the equipment the technology also allows one to measure vibration. “With this, we can track the motion and the path that it is taking. The technology is not just limited to visualizing the movement but measuring the vibrations. Any point in the image is fair game and we can make measurements in absolute values of displacement for example it is moving so many millimeters or inches per second.”

Numerous benefits

Launched in 2016 the technology has steadily been gaining ground as the value and benefit is being realized, said Hay. “It is not necessarily replacing any of the current tools being used in the operation to measure vibration, but it is taking it up a notch. Using a standard HD camera, which is pretty modest by today’s standards for cameras, there would be over two