ROBUST, ACCURATE, NON-CONTACTING VIBRATION MEASUREMENT SYSTEM

WHEN ROTATING MACHINERY DETERIORATES, VIBRTION PATTERSN CHANGE. WHEN BEARING FREQUENCIES APPEAR, THEN INCREASE IN AMPLITUDE, BEARING FAILURE LOOMS. THE SAME WITH VALVES; WHEN THEY LEAK, THEY VIBRATE. AS LEAKAGE INCREASES, THE VIBRATION PATTERN CHANGES. THERE ARE MANY OTHERS. THE KEY IS KNOWING WHERE AND HOW DEEPLY TO LOOK. THE KEY IN OLDER REACTOR PLANTS IS TO UNOBTRUSIVELY, ECONOMICALLY BACKFIT SENSOR TECHNOLOGIES WITHOUT CAUSING ININTENDED OUTAGES OR MAINTENANCE WORK. TODAY'S AVAILABLE TECHNOLOGY, COMPLEX ACCELEROMETER ARRAYS, ARE DIFFICULT TO JUSTIFY INSIDE HIGH RADIATION OR LOOSE SURFACE CONTAIMINATION AREAS. BUT NOW, EPOCH ENGINEERING, INC. (EEI) HAS MADE A BREAKTHROUGH WITH A LASER-BASED, NON-CONRACTING VIBRATION MEASUREMENT METHOD THAT CAN BE ROUTED INTO ANY DIFFICULT LOCATION BY FIBEROPTIC CABLING. THIS HIGHLY LINEAR AND REPEATABLE TECHNOLOGY DOESN'T REQUIRE CALIBRATION AND BEATS TODAY'S BEST PIEZOELECTRIC ACCELEROMETERS ON A SYSTEM BASIS. ONE CAMERA-LIKE DEVICE, ABLE TO BE TRAINED AND ELEVATED, POSITIONED INSIDE THE REACTOR COMPARTMENT, COULD INTERROGATE ANY LINE-OF-SIGHT TARGET. SEVERAL OF THESE COULD COVER AN ENTIRE INSTALLATION AND SERVE AS THE FUNDAMENTAL SENSING TECHNOLOGY FOR ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE OR NEURAL NETWORK-BASED SYSTEMS OF MACHINERY MONITORING.