Bucyrus announced that its PMC-D/V AFC and plow drive control system has been upgraded to provide vibration monitoring (VM) to protect underground mining equipment. Called VibraGuard, this system allows trained personnel to predict machine component wear, avoid unplanned downtime, and set alarms to warn the operator if monitored machine components run the risk of damage. According to Bucyrus, customers are demanding online Condition Monitoring (CM) for their longwall equipment, so PMC-D functionality has been extended to fulfill that requirement. A DSP (Digital Signal Processor) module plugged into the controller’s I/O board converts incoming acceleration data into spectrum data, which is then transferred to a PC running special VibraGuard visualization software which evaluates and visualizes the data. MineSafe software was developed jointly with DMT, a German engineering consulting company. Bucyrus said the VM capability is another element in a package of Bucyrus VSoftware  monitoring and analysis features that will be bolstered by additional Condition Monitoring (CM) tools in the future, such as online oil sampling and generic CM using existing sensors such as those for temperature, pressure or power.
www.bucyrus.com

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