(194c) Equipment Protection & Performance Monitoring Using System 1® and Bently Performance(Tm) Se(Tm) Software

Monitoring systems have evolved from standing a nickel on its edge on top of the machine bearing cover or holding a screwdriver to one's temple, to high-speed simultaneous multi-channel data collection from permanently installed reliable vibration transducers and collaboration with process data from a myriad of sensors. Data from a host of platforms through a cornucopia of transmission protocols are displayed real time on CRT displays, LCD displays or even high definition plasma display screens and deposited into ever increasing Gbytes of digital storage. Data processing overload by an ever-decreasing number of plant engineers is being addressed by an increasing number of willing vendors and contractors all with the conceptual idea to relieve the overloaded remaining end users. Today, plant personnel need a strategy to assimilate the data into useful information. At the heart of any effective asset management strategy - often a combination of condition-based, interval-based, and other approaches particular to the needs and economics of each asset - is a common thread. Information. Managing assets requires not just data, but information. GE Energy's System 1® optimization and diagnostic software is an integrated, module, and scalable platform specifically designed to collect and manage asset-related data and convert that data to information using powerful embedded and fully customizable Decision Support? capabilities. Nameplate data, baseline data, real-time condition data, process data, lessons learned, and any other relevant data and information regardless of where it originates or the type of asset to which it pertains. Additionally, Bently PERFORMANCE? System Extender? (SE?) software extends the functionality of System 1 software to include online thermodynamic performance monitoring of machinery. This platform was an upgrade from a previously installed Bently Nevada? system at Dupont Sabine River Works plant in Orange, TX, on several compressor trains in its ethylene unit. The system was chosen to evaluate the overall performance condition of the units.