John Crane UK Ltd has introduced an advanced new method of wirelessly monitoring the condition of rotating equipment and associated machinery in difficult or hazardous environments. Building on John Crane’s experience in remote monitoring technologies, the new DART 1 wireless monitoring system provides operators with the accurate and reliable information they require to make informed decisions about plant and machinery conditions. The ATEX Zone 1 certified DART 1 system can be used in numerous hazardous area applications. Machinery located inside platform legs can be monitored round–the-clock without the need for personnel to enter the area themselves; while critical equipment mounted inside enclosures can be assessed without the need for access, or for safety systems to be overridden. Even normally inaccessible equipment such as fin fans, pedestal cranes or unmanned installations can be monitored easily and reliably. The DART 1 system combines a series of battery-powered sensor nodes and a gateway facility with proprietary John Crane software. Each sensor node is a wireless data acquisition and processing system which can be configured to take detailed measurements, at user-defined intervals, on the performance of the equipment being monitored. The sensors then carry out significant onboard signal processing which reduces the amount of data that needs to be sent back to the gateway unit over the wireless link. This enables each DART 1 sensor node to operate for up to 8 years between battery changes. The wireless method of operation reduces both the cost and time required for installation and multiple sensor nodes can transmit data back to one gateway unit. They can also act as wireless routers which allow data to be ‘multi-hop’ transmitted, wirelessly, over larger distances than would otherwise be possible. The DART 1 system can be accessed remotely and securely via the internet, allowing the condition of machinery to be monitored from any location in the world using just a standard computer. The system is virtually maintenance-free, can be configured to provide data for third-party systems and set to turn off automatically and ensure radio silence when required. “The strength of DART 1 is the combination of flexibility, reliability and safety that it provides,” comments Colin Ure, General Manager, John Crane UK. “It is ideal for routine monitoring and for short-term data capture or performance testing exercises on critical machines. It can also be used in root cause analysis projects, or situations where round-the-clock surveillance is required after routine logging has failed to pinpoint an intermittent fault.” For more details please contact John Crane on +44 (0)161 886 5993, or visit www.johncrane.co.uk
