Hello everyone.

If I want to add new vibration sensor, what could be the possible factors that must be considered, especially the sensor placement, wiring, programming, etc.

Also, I would like to know how to display new vibration on MARK IV.

I am hoping for some suggestion from markvguy, CSA or others who have knowledge or experience of it. Thanks a lot.

 

Okay; you have a gas turbine with a Mark IV control system. And you want to "add" vibration monitoring equipment, especially on the No. 2 bearing. Is your turbine a Frame 3, a Frame 5, a Frame 7, or a Frame 9? There are five-bearing Frame 3s, and two bearing Frame 5s, and three bearing Frame 9s. We also don't know how many sensors are already installed on the No. 2 Bearing. If it's a Frame 9, the existing sensor isn't even mounted on the bearing cap, but on the drain piping. So, the type of turbine makes a lot of difference.

Adding sensors to Mark IVs is problematic. Some of the newest Mark IVs can accept new inputs and can be configured to scale the inputs. But, that presumes one has the Master Password and is knowledgeable in configuring Mark IV panels, and the Mark IV is of the proper vintage. This is not something which can be documented on a public forum such as this; one would need to have the knowledge and be on site to implement the changes if they were possible.

I'm not sure how the Mark IV displays on a "proper" panel would be configured to display the added sensors, either, but it's presume if the panel could accommodate the inputs and scaling, the displays would automatically display the information.

As for sensors and mounting, talk with the various vendors. The Mark IV is only capable of accommodating "seismic", or velocity, type pick-ups. So if you want to add some other kind of pick-up, you'd be out of luck. There are many manufacturers of vibration monitoring equipment and sensors and they will be only too happy to help with choosing a proper sensor. You need to take into account temperatures which will be experienced in the "No. 2 bearing" area of your turbine, as well as the mounting requirements. If you're just mounting in the bearing cap, you can probably drill and tap a couple of shallow holes in the cap with no problems. But you should examine the area(s) where you want to mount the extra sensor(s) and see if there is possibly a space for adding another sensor, or perhaps you could machine a new bracket to accommodate the extra sensor. Again, a lot of vendors could also help with this as they want to sell sensors and usually have brackets and ideas. But you need to tell them about the maximum expected temperatures and any explosive atmospheres/hazardous locations.