From the current 'instruments' thread: "Bill - have you been hanging around machines with light rotors, fluid film bearings, and heavy cases too much?"

I have often teased Bill (good-naturedly, I hope) about living in a 'small world' of turbines, compressors, and pumps. Many folks (especially corporate employees) monitor a somewhat limited range of equipment types. Others work in a variety of plants. I am just curious as to what sort of equipment we look at.

Here's what I have going right now, with no two plants alike:

Steel mini-mill (melting, casting, rolling)
Peanut Butter
Food packaging (snack bags)
Wire
Rubber sheet goods
Chemical (trace element extraction & refining)
Lime
Wood Flooring
Large Convention Center & Sports Arena (HVAC)

Rusty,
If you add all your plants together you would have a papermill. Which just happens to be what I monitor.
Regards,
Charlie L.

CLav,
You're right about that..I also work at a papermill...but you left out the doughnuts.
We also have a lot of overhung fans and stock pumps.

Rusty, CLav and Jim,
This is going to be interesting. I have often wondered about the various machines being monitored by others.
Could you break out the types of machines better?

I monitor various machines in a Coke Manufacturing Plant, Power, Chiller and Wastewater Plants.

Equipment types are;
Rotary Lobe Blowers
Overhung Blowers
Center Mounted Centrifugal Blowers
Baghouse Fans
FD Fans-Old Style Center Mounted-Low Speed motor at one end and High Speed motor at the other.
ID Fans-Old Style Center Mounted-Low Speed motor at one end and High Speed motor at the other.
Boiler Feed Pumps
Centrifugal Pumps-Split Case and End Suction
Chillers
Hammer Mills
Occasionally Ball Mills
Rod Mills
Turbine Drives
Generators
Conveyor Belt Drives
Air Handlers
Cooling Tower Drives
Vertical Pumps
Centrifical Air Compressors
Rotary Screw Air Compressors

Regards,
Don

I am a central engineering guy, in a multinational oil company so I deal with refineries, chemical plants, LNG facilities, pipline compressor stations, production facilities, ships (tankers/FPSO's), off shore platforms, and believe it or not wind farms.

I deal with motors, gas turbines, steam turbines, centrifugal compressors, recip compressors, screw compressors, rotary lobe blowers, extruders, gears, pumps, and fans...oh and wind turbines.

Papermill - Board,Tissue,Converting

Slow speed to high speed equipment

Luv Peakvue, WVFM pk-pk trending, and vHFD Trending, and as some may never stoop to "I like my headphones" and CSI split input adapter.

Mike

Here is the list that I look at each month.
Sawmills:
Gang Saw
Sharp Chains
Debarkers
Cranes
Hydraulic Pumps
Centrifugal Pumps
Planers
Trimsaws
Hogs
Overhung Fans
Centerhung Fans
Rotary Screw Compressors
Cut-off Saws
Stackers
Sorters

Ice Cream Plant:
Recip Ammonia Compressors
Rotary Screw Ammonia Compressors
Rotary Screw Air Compressors

Packaging Plant (Canned Drink Containers):
Roll Stands
Print Line Equipment
Festoons
Servo Motors
Overhung Fans
Hydraulic Pumps

Shingle Plant:
Rotary Screw Compressors
Fabrication Lines
Centrifugal Pumps
Elevators
Conveyors
Overhung Fans
Dryers
Heaters
Agitators.

Whew, I am tired just thinking about it .

Hey folks
Oriented strand board plant
Hyd. units
Waste Hog
ID fans
FD fans
Over Fire fans
Lots of gearboxes (conveyors)
Baghouse fans
Blowers
Trim saws
Sander
High and Low pressure pumps
Did I mention fans
Compressors
Debarker
Thermal oil pumps
Waferizers (FLAKERS)
Some mobile equipment
This includes vibe, oil,balance and alignmment as well as ultrasonic and soon IR Whew!!
when you say it like that no wonder I have to put rocks in my pockets on windy days

I mostly analyze, balance, and instrument turbine generators. I have worked on small paper mill steam turbines and gas turbines, on large 800 MW twelve bearing machines, and many sizes and configurations in between. I also work with other equipment associated with power plants.

Michael Titone

Based in a fairly large electric motor repair facility, we get the opportunity to examine all types of equipment because we service nearly all industries. The most challenging, however, seems to be the trailing-cable draglines. These huge machines have constantly reversing variable speed motors and gearboxes powered by rigid shaft, motor-generator sets with as many as seven bearing pedestals on each MG set. The machines are used in surface coal mining all over the country.
It is interesting reading this thread about all the different machines you people get to work on.

quote:

From the current 'instruments' thread: "Bill - have you been hanging around machines with light rotors, fluid film bearings, and heavy cases too much?"

I have often teased Bill (good-naturedly, I hope) about living in a 'small world' of turbines, compressors, and pumps. Many folks (especially corporate employees) monitor a somewhat limited range of equipment types. Others work in a variety of plants. I am just curious as to what sort of equipment we look at.

If you have pumps, compressors, and turbines for critical equipment (I might add generators and large motors, too.), then one naturally has a complement of non-critical equipment like fans for cooling, air compressors, smaller field compressors, small pumps everywhere, etc. These other pieces of equipment support the critical equipment and operations.

As for bearings, some turbines use anti-friction bearings. Some turbines even use foil bearings. We also have magnetic bearings on compressors and expanders, as well as use them on test to excite shafts to measure damping.

We have a stake in wind turbine manufacturing, and our power side owns and operates these beasts.

Just being a cooperate guy, means my equipment can be located from the tropics to the artic, even deserts, on shore or off shore. One offshore facility I rode in a bus to during the winter across an ice road. Some equipment will be located on the bottom of the sea, but I don’t plan to visit this equipment directly. Did I mention mixed flow pumps?

It is probably the small regional consultant, who is limited in their horizon.

I think I've seen people on the board from large mining outfits and many diverse industries. Many of these coorporate guys and gals will have some very interesting applications, perhaps unimaginable to the small regional/local consultant.

Believe it or not, there is a whole world outside of Arkansas .

Note: I didn't see turbines, generators, large critical compressors on your lists, Rusty. Don't they count?

quote:

Note: I didn't see turbines, generators, large critical compressors on your lists, Rusty. Don't they count?

Bill, I really wasn't trying to provoke you... Duncan's comment just got me to thinking about the variety of equipment that we all monitor.

Of course the items you mention "count"... I just don't happen to work with that type equipment. Yes, I am a "small regional consultant" and I stay in Arkansas, not because I have to, but because I want to. I average about 4 nights a month away from home, the farthest I travel is 200 miles, I work with only 9 customers, and I have more work than I can do.

I hope that folks realize you don't have to go all over the world and only work on large, critical equipment to make a living in this business. That's sort of the image that we often get of a successful vibration consultant, but lots of guys on this board wouldn't fit that image.

As far as "critical" goes, a 140 rpm water-cooled casting drum, a 100 hp peanut butter mill, or a three-head belt sander are all just as "critical" to my clients as Bill's turbines, compressors, and mixed-flow pumps are to his.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: rustythevibeguy,

I started in a motor shop as a machinist.
So now that I work for myself....
I work in.. on... or around doing testing, alignment, balancing......

ships.
FD Blowers
IG Fans
Pumps
Generators
crane motors

Papermill.
Rolls
Pulpers
Pumps
Gear Drives
Dryers
Steam Turbines
Rotary Compressors
Gas Compressors
FD Fans
Scrubber Fans
Press Drives

Co-Gen Plants
Boiler FD Fans
Pumps
Motors
Vertical Cooling Fans
Compressors

Semi-Conductor
HVAC Equipment
Process Pumps
Scrubber Fans
Exhaust Fans

Cement
Crushers
Conveyor Drives
Raw Mill Drives
Cooler Fans
Kiln ID Fans
Compressors
Seperators

There's more
Lumber (not to many left in Calif)
Waste Water..... Most are fun to be in but not everyday

Coal mining and processing equipment: fans, hoist, longwalls, shearers, drag conveyors, belt conveyors, feeders, crushers, pumps, decanters, rotary breakers, and stuff that vibrate on purpose.

quote:

And I wouldn't even consider trading my paycheck for Bill's.

Wow, that came from the planet Zargon, but you may have a valid point. It is probably cheaper to live in Arkansas.

Hello,

We monitor a Brewery. Utilities, Packaging, and Brewing. Lots of pumps,gearboxes,motors and compressors. We are taking data on around 900 assets in our plant.