A major issue for Canadian oil sands producers is the maintenance and health of the mobile mining equipment used to generate over 1 million barrels of synthetic crude per day. Downtime of equipment, for both scheduled and unscheduled maintenance, is a significant source of production loss. Production loss due to equipment downtime for all of the oil sands producers in the northern Alberta region is estimated to exceed $7.3 billion. But achieving increased equipment uptime while lowering maintenance costs and the risks to operational safety is a challenge.
Reducing Costs, Downtime, and Risk
Condition Based Maintenance (CBM) involves scheduling maintenance at the right time based on the measured condition of equipment. CBM reduces costs and downtime by eliminating unnecessary preventive maintenance. CBM also reduces risk by monitoring the health of equipment in real-time and alerting operators to problems before they lead to catastrophic failure. A successful CBM program requires accurate data on the condition of equipment combined with a reporting and analysis system that converts the data into information that helps operators make better maintenance decisions.
Condition Monitoring Solutions
Scanimetrics' Mote Wireless Equipment Monitoring System provides the key capabilities (data collection, reporting, and analysis) needed for a successful CBM program. The Mote wireless sensor module can acquire real-time strain, vibration, shock, and temperature data from plant and mobile mining equipment. The Mote is a rugged wireless data collection device that has been proven to function accurately even in the harshest conditions. Our powerful, easy-to-use software platform transforms sensor data into information that operators, maintenance personnel, and reliability engineers can use — such as the remaining useful life of equipment — to make better decisions. Scanimetrics also provides consulting services to develop end-to-end condition monitoring solutions for your unique needs and challenges.
Applications in the Oil Sands
- Crack Propagation Monitoring — Monitor cracks in haulers and shovels without the need for constant visual inspections.
- Wireless Strain Gauge Solutions — Measure strain and fatigue in critical equipment with our rugged wireless strain gauge technology.
- Bolt Tension Monitoring — Easily monitor bolt tightness on exciters and slurry shaker screens and other critical equipment.
