Valmet launches new monitoring application to secure bearing lubrication

As various rotating machinery throughout the fibreline perform under extremely harsh and demanding environments, it is often difficult to manually retrieve oil samples. Maintaining an adequate surveillance of lubrication properties against harmful effects can prove very challenging.

“Valmet’s oil monitoring system provides constant remote lube oil condition monitoring visibility through its novel sensoring and data acquisition technology,” says Heikki Kettunen, Senior Manager, R&D, Rolls and Workshop Services, Valmet.

The damages in rotating equipment bearing are mostly related to insufficient bearing lubrication. Typical failure modes such as bearing vibration and elevated temperature are normally only observed when the failure has already progressed. With Valmet Oil Monitoring, upcoming failures can be foreseen through changes in lubrication oil quality. The solution enables corrective actions before the actual failure arises, reducing unplanned shutdowns and the need for subsequent repairs.

First application in pulp washing machinery

The Valmet Oil Monitoring application was first installed to follow roll bearings’ oil lubrication in a TwinRoll wash press in a European pulp mill. The application detected contamination in the bearing oil circulation unit. This observation was flagged, and the machine operators were able to react quickly with corresponding maintenance actions.

Valmet Oil Monitoring, together with the specific applications for chip feeders in continuous cooking and TwinRoll presses in pulp washing, form the offering of Valmet’s modular reliability monitoring platform. The platform is intended for fibre processing equipment and was introduced in 2022.

Valmet’s reliability monitoring applications are part of the Valmet Industrial Internet offering and provide powerful tools for fibre producers to secure equipment availability and improve process performance.