Page 27 - 2020 Interconnect Innovations eBook

There still exists, then, a need to economically monitor the condition of balance-of-plant machines. As a solution, wireless vibration sensors have been proposed for over a decade. Many commercial implementations have met with mixed results for a variety of reasons. However, TE Connectivity believes that technology and market forces have sufficiently converged to introduce such a wireless sensor. We see at least four drivers shaping this market space:
• Driver 1: Ever-increasing demand for data by plant operators at an economical price • Driver 2: Continued electrification has dramatically improved battery performance
• Driver 3: The rise of the IoT has improved digital radio performance
• Driver 4: Edge computing in IoT devices further enhances wireless communications
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» Given these market drivers, TE Connectivity introduced the 8911 wireless vibration sensor. This compact, LoRaWAN wireless accelerometer with edge computing technology is designed for vibration monitoring in applications such as predictive maintenance and condition monitoring systems.
Driver 1: Ever-Increasing Demand for Data by Plant Operators at an Economical Price
As the march towards digitization continues unabated, one lesson that becomes clear is that the demand for data is never satisfied. Supplying this data, however, must be done economically. Condition monitoring of plant assets is no different. Conventional installations require a shielded, multi-conductor cable to be connected to the sensor installed on the machine and run all the way back to a central machinery protection system. The total cable run length could be hundreds of feet long, and every sensor requires this. So, multiple sensors require thousands of feet of cable. Further, to meet National Electrical Code and local plant requirements, the first tens of feet of cable from the sensor at the machine are typically required to be installed in conduit. The remaining length back to the central station is often bundled in larger conduits or cable trays. All of this adds up to expensive labor and materials and is also not easily scalable.
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COMPACT, LoRaWANTM, WIRELESS ACCELEROMETER
WITH EDGE COMPUTING FUNCTIONALITY
TE’s 8911 wireless accelerometer sensor is designed for vibration monitoring in applications such as predictive maintanence and condition monitoring.
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