MetalSCAN
http://www.gastops.com
MetalSCAN
Oil Debris Online Monitoring
Gastops is a Canadian company specializing in the design, manufacture and support of advanced equipment sensing and analysis products, including on-line oil debris sensors, torque measurement sensors, turbine blade health sensors, and at-line oil analysis systems.
Gastops is a Canadian company specializing in the design, manufacture and support of advanced equipment sensing and analysis products, including on-line oil debris sensors, torque measurement sensors, turbine blade health sensors, and at-line oil analysis systems.
The two of its major products are:
- MetalSCAN is the proven industry-leading, reliable, advanced on-line condition monitor designed to detect and monitor metal particles generated from rotating equipment bearing or gear damage.
- FilterCHECK is a unique product that automatically flushes lube filters, quantifies the amount and size of metallic debris in the filter and provides an analysis of the debris metallurgy
- FilterCHECK is a unique product that automatically flushes lube filters, quantifies the amount and size of metallic debris in the filter and provides an analysis of the debris metallurgy
MetalSCAN System - Description
MetalSCAN is a real-time, oil debris monitoring system installed in fluid lines that detects 100% of the metallic particles that pass through it. The sensor provides early warning of bearing and gear damage, reducing the occurrences of unplanned outages. Combined with the Monitor Software, MetalSCAN counts, sizes, and classifies wear-metal particles in fluid lines, and trends their accumulation. MetalSCAN is widely used in a variety of industrial, marine and aerospace applications.
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MetalSCAN System - Major Components
The MetalSCAN system consists of the following major components:
- A non-intrusive through flow Sensor which is fitted to the fluid line to be monitored.
- A custom low noise Sensor Cable which connects the sensor to the electronics.
- A Control Unit which processes the raw signal from the sensor and extracts information about the size and type (ferromagnetic or non-ferromagnetic) of the metallic debris detected.
- A host monitoring system which displays the current counts data, trend data, computes equipment health indices and announces warning/alarm exceedances. This function can be performed by an existing monitoring system host or by a dedicated standalone PC.
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FilterCHECK System - Description and Features
As mechanical components begin to fail, they release metallic debris into their lubrication oil systems. Conventional methods of oil wetted component failure detection such as chip detectors or sampled oil analysis are often not able to reliably identify component damage and provide timely on-site decision support. In these cases the solution may lie in the lube system filter which is designed to capture debris in the system including debris released from internal component damage. Unlocking this captured information is achieved by analysing this debris with the goal to assessing the condition of equipment based upon pre-determined condition indices.
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MetalSCAN Introduction
GasTOPS’ research has shown a strong correlation between the level of damage to wear components such as rolling element bearings and mass of metal released from the wear component into the lube system. MetalSCAN monitors the accumulation of mass, and initially warns operators of any abnormal activity. Once certain thresholds have been attained, MetalSCAN triggers an alarm to indicate significant wear component damage. The output can also be programmed into the machinery controller for immediate reduction in machinery power or complete machine shutdown. The MetalSCAN system has been approved for use in Class 1, Division 2, Group D hazardous areas. All components are robust in nature and can operate in extremes of temperature and vibration.
BENEFITS
- Earliest reliable detection of component damage
- Monitor damage progression and estimate remaining life
- Avoid unplanned outages
- Avoid equipment secondary damage
- Monitor damage progression and estimate remaining life
- Avoid unplanned outages
- Avoid equipment secondary damage
FEATURES
- 100% Detection of Fe and NFe metal particles
- Easy to install
- Easy to interpret
- Rugged, solid-state with no moving parts
- Full function continuous built-in test (BIT)
- Proven reliability in harsh machinery environments
- Proven reliability in high temperature environments
- Proven reliability in hazardous environments
- Easy to install
- Easy to interpret
- Rugged, solid-state with no moving parts
- Full function continuous built-in test (BIT)
- Proven reliability in harsh machinery environments
- Proven reliability in high temperature environments
- Proven reliability in hazardous environments
INFORMATION PROVIDED BY MetalSCAN
- Number of particles and particle size;
- Total mass;
- Rate of particles;
- Comparison of health indices to pre-set limits;
- Warning and alarm signals;
- Graphical displays of current particle counts and mass values;
- Histogram plots of particle size distribution;
- MetalSCAN System machinery health indices.
- Total mass;
- Rate of particles;
- Comparison of health indices to pre-set limits;
- Warning and alarm signals;
- Graphical displays of current particle counts and mass values;
- Histogram plots of particle size distribution;
- MetalSCAN System machinery health indices.
MetalSCAN Components
At the heart of the system are the sensors that are in-line with the oil system. The sensor connects by an interface cable to a control unit mounted near the machinery being monitored. The machinery’s existing control system or stand-alone graphical display unit monitors the system via an industrial standard RS232 or RS422/485 serial interface. Machinery wear data and current system status are displayed as well as warnings and alarms that alert the operator of developing or imminent machine failure.
Warning and alarm limits are programmed into MetalSCAN, and vary depending on the machine component being monitored. When MetalSCAN detects abnormal amounts of metallic debris, a warning is issued to the machine operator. The alarm limit is set to correspond with the point at which time it is recommended that the machine be shut down for detailed inspection and servicing.
1) SENSOR
The MetalSCAN sensor is installed directly into the fluid line with no pressure drop. It is available in three sizes: 3/8”, 3/4” and 1-1/4” nominal line diameter. The sensing element consists of three internal coils. The two outside field coils are oppositely wound and are driven by an alternating current source so that their respective magnetic fields are opposed and cancel at the center point between the field coils. The centrally positioned sense coil measures the disturbances in the magnetic fields caused by metallic particles as they pass through the sensor. The magnitude of the disturbance measured as a voltage defines the size of the particle and the phase shift of the signal defines whether the particle is ferromagnetic or non-ferromagnetic.
2) ELECTRONIC CONTROL UNIT
The electronic control unit conditions the raw signal from the sensor and provides the graphical display unit with all information concerning the detected particulate. Once a particle has been detected, classified, and sized, this information is passed and recorded to electronic counters. The data is segregated into 16 size categories per type (ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic). The information is stored in a non-volatile memory that retains the data in the event of a power interruption. Polling is controlled by the monitoring system which in turn, time stamps the data for trend log presentation.
All modules incorporate built in test (BIT) features to monitor the operation of all the electronic circuits and sensors on a continuous basis. System error messages are detailed to allow rapid replacement of the faulty module.
The control unit is available as either a multi-sensor version with capacity for up to 6 sensors or as a single sensor version. The metal enclosure is a rugged and splash proof unit designed for mounting against a vertical bulkhead. The multisensor enclosure is 16” W x 14” H x 13” D and the single sensor enclosure, 10” W x 12” H x 5” D. The units are configurable for either 120/220 VAC (50/60 Hz) or 24 VDC power.
3) CABLE
The sensor and the electronic module are connected by a special low-noise cable. This cable - factory assembled in 12 and 20 ft lengths - and its connectors are essential to achieving the high level of sensitivity of the MetalSCAN System.
4) SOFTWARE
MetalSCAN Monitor is a PC software application that runs under Microsoft Windows designed to interface with one to thirty-one MetalSCAN systems and provide the user interface for tracking the health of the machine(s) being monitored. The software provides the capability to continuously record and display MetalSCAN data, to annunciate warnings and alarms when debris accumulation exceeds user-defined limits, and to interface to external data acquisition or monitoring systems.
MetalSCAN Monitor includes nine viewable display pages, which can be selected using the dedicated pushbutton controls located on the application toolbar. The three primary pages are the Status, Counts, and Trends pages.
FilterCHECK System
As mechanical components begin to fail, they release metallic debris into their lubricating oil systems. Conventional methods of debris detection such as magnetic chip detectors or sampled oil analysis are often not able to capture the debris and are too slow to provide reliable on site decision support. However, there is a solution…the lube system filter is designed to capture wear debris and by analysing this debris on-site, a quick and reliable indication of impending failure can be obtained.
FilterCHECK is a unique product that automatically flushes lube filters, quantifies the amount and size of the debris and provides an immediate elemental composition analysis. FilterCHECK is designed to military standards for use at all maintenance activity levels from the oil lab to deployed operating units. It is self-contained, requiring only standard wall power and a source of low-pressure compressed air to be fully operational. Results of the filter debris analysis can be obtained within minutes of filter removal, allowing for immediate operational decision support and enhanced mission availability.
Effective Repeatable Filter Washing
FilterCHECK is easy to use and virtually maintenance free. The operator simply places the filter in the wash housing and presses the Start button. FilterCHECK’s patented backwashing technique uses pulses of compressed air to dislodge wear metal particles from the filter element. A steady flow of washing fluid then carries away these particles for quantification, collection, and analysis. After passing through the filter under test, the wash fluid is finely filtered before being reused. Extensive testing by independent laboratories has demonstrated that FilterCHECK can reliably remove more than 95% of the particles contained in filters commonly used for aircraft lubrication systems.
Immediate Debris Quantification
The filter backwash drains through GasTOPS’ patented in-line full flow debris detection sensor which automatically counts and sizes both ferromagnetic and non-ferromagnetic wear particles. This is the same proven technology currently in use on numerous platforms including the F22 Raptor, F-135 Joint Strike Fighter and EuroFighter Typhoon. The FilterCHECK display provides an immediate indication of small, medium, and large particle counts as well as total particle mass.
On-Site Elemental Analysis
An automatic patch maker creates a debris sample and through the on-board Energy Dispersive X-Ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) system provides the elemental composition of the captured debris. When the filter wash cycle is completed, the accumulated particle count data and EDXRF elemental analysis can be downloaded via a serial communication link to a PC for data logging and trending.
A new standard for On-Site Condition Assessment using Filter Debris Analysis.
FilterCHECK sets a new standard for quick and efficient condition assessment of oil-wetted aircraft components. FilterCHECK is a versatile tool that can be used to corroborate on-line monitoring systems such as magnetic chip detectors or filter bypass indications, or to establish a condition based maintenance program based on periodic filter debris analysis. The marriage of EDXRF and GasTOPS’ patented full-flow debris detection technology offers a failure detection method with a proven track record in a wide range of machinery applications including aircraft, industrial and marine equipment.
