PT 104: Cooling Towers and Process Cooler Fans

Cooling towers are a critical component in many power generation and chemical plants, and other process facilities. Catastrophic equipment failure can result in safety hazards, lowered production, and expensive repairs. Vibration monitoring of cooling tower fans, gear boxes, shafts, and motors provides early warning of machine degradation and impending disaster.

In the past, vibration monitoring was a technical challenge due to slow rotational speeds, a variety of support structures, and wet corrosive environments. Mechanical ball/spring vibration cutoff switches were traditionally used to shut down machinery when vibration levels became excessive. These switches have proven unreliable and in many instances allowed extensive machinery damage before motors were disabled. Furthermore, switches did not allow for advance warning of problems. Walk around data collection systems have also been found ineffective at measuring fan and gearbox degradation. Today, cooling towers use permanently installed sensors to effectively and safely prevent catastrophic cooling tower failure without unscheduled downtime.