Reliability and minimum breakdown of passenger moving equipment is crucial to the successful operations at Heathrow and this deal secures Artesis as BAAs leading supplier of condition monitoring solutions.
Following successful testing and evaluation trials at Heathrows Terminal 1, the MCM devices have been installed on the most critical escalators and passenger conveyors in the first phase of the project, providing predictive maintenance and crucially preventing downtime of the equipment.
‘It is one of our key objectives to improve the reliability of all of our equipment at Heathrow to ensure that our passengers move through the terminal buildings easily, quickly and comfortably without delay’ said Barry Auty, project manager at BAA. ‘We have set up a dedicated taskforce whose remit is to implement maintenance technologies and information processes. They evaluated several technologies to diagnose faults on airport equipment including escalators and conveyors and the Artesis MCM system proved to be the most cost effective, simple to use and efficient solution that met our stringent requirements’
Modified to be accommodated in tight, restricted space under escalator systems, the compact MCM units are extremely easy to install. Incorporating intelligent GPRS modem technology provides wireless communications back to the maintenance management nerve centre where engineers can monitor and be alerted to potential faults in the machinery, allowing them to make a judgement on when best to perform corrective maintenance.
‘We are pleased that we are able to offer BAA an effective condition monitoring system that ensures the continuous running of the passenger transit equipment throughout operational hours’ said Andy Bates, director at Artesis. ‘The wireless capabilities of our next generation system are key criteria for this project as the available space for condition monitoring equipment on a standard escalator is extremely restricted and can only be achieved with remote access and monitoring’
As well as highly efficient predictive maintenance, the additional benefits gained from the installation of the MCM at Heathrow includes the ability to identify real-time information on passenger load-flow and the monitoring of energy consumption of the machines, which has already identified significant opportunities for reducing energy use and green-house gas emissions.
MCM is the next generation monitoring solution for critical motor driven equipment. The system uses unique mathematical modelling to capture diagnostic information within the motor currents and detect faults in machinery. An intelligent signal processor automatically ‘learns’ the fingerprint of the machine and continuously monitors and compares new measurements against the established norm to indicate and diagnose any electrical problems. If a fault is detected the system provides a diagnosis of mechanical and electrical problems and indicates the severity of the fault. This significantly reduces any possible downtime and drives down maintenance costs by highlighting potential failures and providing diagnostics in advance to avoid secondary equipment damage.
About Artesis
Artesis is a leading supplier of intelligent predictive maintenance solutions and has been offering its reliable and efficient range of products since 1999. Its technology has helped many customers around the world increase productivity and reduce maintenance costs. The Artesis team combines extensive experience in advanced product development with the successful application of advanced technology to the requirements of operations and maintenance professionals.
Artesis manufactures a range of intelligent condition monitoring products including the Motor Condition Monitor (MCM), and Plant Condition Monitor (PCM) instruments, and the MCMSCADA software package. These products are used for plant monitoring, predictive maintenance, and process optimization across multiple industries including the chemical and petrochemical, metal processing, power generation, pulp and paper, water, utilities, cement, food and beverage, automotive, textile, and maritime sectors. Artesis has a robust intellectual property portfolio of issued and pending patents internationally.
More online at http://www.artesis.com
