Emerson has updated its turbomachinery protection and asset health monitoring software to give operators and maintenance teams a more detailed view of machinery during complex operations such as start-ups and shutdowns.
The automation company said the latest versions of its AMS 6500 ATG online protection system and AMS Machine Works asset health monitoring software will allow continuous, unlimited data streaming between the two systems.
The change is aimed at addressing a limitation in conventional turbomachinery monitoring, where high-quality data can be captured for only relatively short periods. Start-ups and shutdowns, however, can take hours or even days, making longer data histories useful for understanding how equipment behaves throughout the process.
The updated AMS 6500 ATG version 5.0 can stream machine data continuously into AMS Machine Works version 2.4, allowing analysts to examine trends over longer periods and compare data from the protection system with information from other sources.
The additional data can help operators identify changes in machine behaviour and understand events such as when rotating equipment reaches its natural frequency, which can be important when determining appropriate control speeds.
“With continuous data streaming from the AMS 6500 ATG to AMS Machine Works, operators, maintenance personnel and analysts all have the inputs they need for enhanced insight into safe operations and long-term asset health,” said Ben Swisher, Vice President and General Manager of reliability solutions at Emerson.
The software can also link trends to alarms, giving operators a way to correlate changes in machine condition with specific events. Live data provides an additional view of equipment while it is operating.
Emerson has also added a programmable, web-based dashboard to the AMS 6500 ATG. The dashboard can support up to five pages, each containing as many as 25 widgets for functions including trend displays, alarm values and live measurements.
The system can also display machine components alongside individual data points, helping operators relate measurements to specific equipment and assess asset condition from a single interface.
Connectivity has also been updated to reduce reliance on Modbus, while Emerson said the latest software includes further cybersecurity improvements.
