Valmet, a leading global developer and supplier of process technologies, automation and services for the pulp, paper and energy industries, had launched a new application, Valmet Oil Monitoring, to remotely monitor oil lubrication in fiber processing equipment.
As various rotating machinery throughout the fiberline perform under extremely harsh and demanding environments, it is often difficult to manually retrieve oil samples. Maintaining an adequate surveillance of lubrication properties against harmful effects can prove very challenging.
“Valmet’s oil monitoring system provides constant remote lube oil condition monitoring visibility through its novel sensing and data acquisition technology,” says Heikki Kettunen, senior manager, R&D, Rolls and Workshop Services, Valmet.
The damages in rotating equipment bearing are mostly related to insufficient bearing lubrication. Typical failure modes such as bearing vibration and elevated temperature are normally only observed when the failure has already progressed.
With Valmet Oil Monitoring, upcoming failures can be foreseen through changes in lubrication oil quality. The solution enables corrective actions before the actual failure arises, reducing unplanned shutdowns and the need for subsequent repairs.
First application in pulp washing machinery
The Valmet Oil Monitoring application was first installed to follow roll bearings’ oil lubrication in a TwinRoll wash press in a European pulp mill. The application detected contamination in the bearing oil circulation unit. This observation was flagged, and the machine operators were able to react quickly with corresponding maintenance actions.
Valmet Oil Monitoring, together with the specific applications for chip feeders in continuous cooking and TwinRoll presses in pulp washing, form the offering of Valmet’s modular reliability monitoring platform. The platform is intended for fiber processing equipment and was introduced in 2022.
Valmet’s reliability monitoring applications are part of the Valmet Industrial Internet offering and provide powerful tools for fiber producers to secure equipment availability and improve process performance.
