Integrated condition monitors can prevent damage to machinery

London- Rockwell Automation has launched an integrated condition-monitoring system which can enable manufacturers to monitor and protect machinery

The Allen-Bradley Dynamix 1444 Series monitors system are designed to allow manufacturers to leverage Rockwell’s integrated architecture system – rather than an isolated condition-monitoring device – to assess current equipment health and predict potential issues.

Integration of machinery health into control architectures using a standard Ethernet TCP/IP EtherNet/IP network brings unprecedented flexibility to machine instrumentation design and operational efficiency on the manufacturing floor.

“Industrial producers need a device that performs the full scope of protection and condition monitoring, and the Dynamix 1444 monitor does that while improving the ease of use and cost of such monitoring,” said Pat Carle, product manager, Rockwell Automation. “The monitors can serve a broad range of applications because they are massively configurable.”

Primarily used as a machinery protection system for rotating and reciprocating equipment, Dynamix 1444 monitors supervise critical operating parameters in real time. They also provide operations and maintenance personnel with the information to assess current equipment health and perform predictive-maintenance planning.

To protect equipment, Rockwell said the device measures and monitors a machine’s critical dynamic and position parameters, and assures appropriate actions are performed with the precision, reliability and performance required by industry and regulatory standards.

For general condition monitoring, Dynamix 1444 monitors offer unprecedented signal processing and measurement capabilities allowing users the tools necessary to detect and identify the faults and status across all classes of industrial machinery.

Information can also be sent to plant-wide and enterprise-wide databases for storage and trending. Armed with this information, engineers can take appropriate maintenance action, such as replacing worn-out components before they fail, and protecting production processes and equipment while reducing maintenance costs.

The co-ordination between condition monitoring and the control system allows manufacturers to leverage existing investments in visualization and information solutions to improve machine builder and end user productivity, and lower total cost of ownership.

The new monitors are rated for minus 25 to 70 C and 18 to 32 volt power. They are designed for use in hazardous environments and rated to marine standards for shock and vibration.