The sensor technology is said to offer plant operators potential savings on maintenance and repair, and will also help engineers utilise the Internet of Things, Services and People (IoTSP) for millions of motors. The IoTSP is ABB’s concept for enabling its customers to take advantage of the opportunities of digitalisation.
The smart sensor provides information on operating and condition parameters such as vibration, temperature or overload and calculates power consumption. The data is analysed by a software program and provided to the plant operator in the form of graphics for maintenance planning, thereby enabling downtime reductions of up to 70%. At the same time, the lifetime of the motors can be extended by up to 30% and energy consumption reduced by as much as 10%. ABB says that the investment in this condition monitoring system will pays for itself in less than a year.
Furthermore, the sensors can be retrofitted on already operating low-voltage motors in minutes.
The sensor is not electrically connected to the motor, so unauthorised parties cannot access the motor. The smart sensors wirelessly transmit the data via encryption protocols to a secure server where they are analysed using special algorithms and stored on the cloud in encrypted form.
