OISD-124

(Rev.1)

FOR RESTRICTED
CIRCULATION

No.

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE
PRACTICES

OISD RECOMMENDED PRACTICES-124

First Edition, March 1990
Revision 1, August, 1999

Oil Industry Safety Directorate

Government of India
Ministry of Petroleum & Natural Gas

1
 OISD RP-124
First Edition, March, 1990
Revision 1, August, 1999

FOR RESTRICTED
CIRCULATION

No.

PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE
PRACTICES

Prepared by
COMMITTEE ON
INSPECTION OF ROTARY EQUIPMENT

OIL INDUSTRY SAFETY DIRECTORATE

2ND FLOOR, “KAILASH”
26, KASTURBA GANDHI MARG
NEW DELHI-110 001

2
 NOTE

OISD publications are prepared for use in the oil and

gas industry under Ministry of Petroleum and Chemicals. These
are the property of Ministry of Petroleum and Chemicals and
shall not be reproduced or copied and loaned or exhibited to
others without written consent from OISD.

Through every effort has been made to assure the

accuracy and reliability of the data contained in these
documents, OISD hereby expressly disclaims any liability or
responsibility for loss or damage resulting from their use.

These documents are intended only to supplement and

not to replace the prevailing statutory requirements.

Note 1 in superscript indicates the modification/

changes/addition based on the amendments approved
in the 17th Safety Council meeting held in July, 1999.

3
 FOREWARD

The oil industry in India is 100 years old. As such a

variety of practices have been in vogue because of
collaboration/association with different foreign companies and
governments. Standardisation in design philosophies and
operating and maintenance practices at a national level were
hardly in existence. This, coupled with feed back from some
serious accidents that occurred in the recent past in India and
abroad, emphasised the need of the industry to review the
existing state of art in designing, operating and maintaining oil
and gas installations.

With this in view, the then Ministry of Petroleum &

Natural Gas in 1986, constituted a State Council assisted by Oil
Industry Safety Directorate (OISD) staffed from within the
industry, in formulating and implementing a series of self-
regulatory measures aimed at removing obsolescence,
standardising and upgrading the existing standards to ensure
safer operations. Accordingly, OISD constituted a number of
Functional Committees of experts nominated from the industry
to draw up standards and guidelines on various subjects.

The present document on "Predictive Maintenance

Practices" was prepared by Functional Committee on Inspection of
Rotary Equipment.

This document is based on the accumulated knowledge

and experience of Industry members various manuals, national
and international codes of practices. This document is meant to
be used as a supplement and not as a replacement for existing
codes, standards and manufacturers' recommendations. It is
hoped that provision of this document if implemented objectively
may go a long way to improve safety and reduce accident in the
oil and gas industry. Suggestions for amendments, if any, to this
document should be addressed to:

The Coordinator, Committee on "Inspection of Rotary Equipment",

Oil Industry Safety Directorate (OISD), 2nd Floor, “Kailash”, 26,
Kasturba Gandhi Marg, New Delhi-110001.

This document in no way supersedes the statutory

regulations of CCE, Factory Inspectorate, or any other statutory
body which shall be followed as applicable.

4
 COMMITTEE ON

INSPECTION OF ROTARY EQUIPMENT

List of Members

____________________________________________________________
Name Designation & Status
Organisation
____________________________________________________________

1. Sh.K.Gopalakrishnan Sr. Maint. MGR-CRL Leader

2. Sh. B.P.Sinha Chief Project Member

MGR-MRL

3. Sh. Chotey Lal Chief Engineer-ONGC Member

4. Sh. R.C.Chaudhary Office Engg. Member

MGR-BPCL

5. Sh. K.M. Bansal Chief Maint. Member

MGR-IOC

6. Sh. Ehsanuddin Director-OISD Member

7. Sh. R.M.N. Marar Joint Director-OISD Member

Coordinator

__________________________________________________________________
In addition to the above, several other experts from industry contributed, in the
preparation, review and finalisation of this document.

5
 PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE PRACTICES
CONTENTS

SECTION
1.0 Introduction
2.0 Scope
3.0 Vibration
3.1 Vibration parameters
3.2 Criteria for Measurement
3.3 Filter out and filter in
4.0 Vibration measurement and severity standards
4.1 Vibration measurement
4.2 Vibration recording
4.3 Vibration severity standards
5.0 Vibration analysis
5.1 Data acquisition
5.2 Data interpretation
6.0 Shock pulse measurement
6.1 General
6.2 Unit and pick-up points
6.3 Terminology
7.0 Frequency of vibration & shock pulse
measurement
7.1 Classification
7.2 Frequency of measurement
8.0 References

6
 PREDICTIVE MAINTENANCE PRACTICES

7
1.0 INTRODUCTION
The Rotary equipment plays a vital
role in hydrocarbon processing industry.

Timely inspection and maintenance

of Rotary equipment will go a long way in
ensuring safer operations of the installations
in Oil Industry.

2.0 SCOPE

This document covers the

recommended practices and procedures for
carrying out predictive maintenance of
rotating machinery. Predictive maintenance
covers monitoring of vibration and shock
pulse measurement levels, comparing them
with standard values and analyzing the
readings taken to find out the real cause of
machinery problem. b) PERIOD: The time required for
completing one cycle of vibration is
3.0 VIBRATION called the period of vibration.
c) CPM (CYCLES PER MINUTE): The
Vibration is the motion of a machine number of cycles repeated in a given
or machine part back and forth, from the interval of time normally minute
position of rest. The cause of vibration must (because the rotating speed is
be a force which is changing in either its expressed in RPM), is the frequency of
direction or amount. It is the force which vibration, which is expressed in the
causes vibration and the resulting abbreviated form as CPM.
characteristics will be determined by the d) VIBRATION DISPLACEMENT:
manner in which the forces are generated. Displacement at any instant of the cycle
Hence each vibration has its own typical is the distance traveled by the vibrating
characteristics. part from one extreme limit of travel to
the other extreme limit of travel and is
3.1 VIBRATION PARAMETERS selected for measurement which is
referred to as the 'peak to peak' value of
Referring to figure 1 where the movement of displacement. It is expressed in microns
weight is plotted against time, various in metric units and in mils. in British
parameters can be defined as: Units.
e) VELOCITY: The velocity of the vibrating
a) CYCLE: The motion of the weight part is constantly changing as
from its neutral position to the top limit displacement changes. The peak value,
of travel back through the neutral which represents the most severe
position to the bottom limit of travel condition during a cycle, is selected for
and its return represents one cycle of vibration measurement. It is expressed
motion. in mm/sec. and inch./sec. in Metric
units and British units respectively.
Hertz (Hz) is a unit of measurement f) ACCELERATION: Acceleration is
for vibration frequency. One Hz is another important characteristic of
equal to one full vibration cycle of vibration and peak value is measured
which is normally expressed in 'g's.
oscillation per second. Note 1
g) PHASE: Phase is another important
characteristic of vibration which is
defined as the position of vibrating part
at a given instant with reference to a
fixed point or another vibrating part.

3.2 CRITERIA FOR MEASUREMENT

1
 frequencies, i.e. the machinery does not
The displacement, velocity and vibrate at a single frequency but vibrate at
acceleration of vibration are referred to as many frequencies. (The frequency is
the Amplitude of vibration. Displacement, decided by the troubles causing vibration).
velocity and acceleration of vibration are
directly related. Vibration velocity is directly The total amplitude of vibration
proportional to the displacement and the measured is the vector sum of vibrations at
frequency as shown in Equation 1 and different frequencies. This is termed as the
Vibration acceleration is directly proportional ‘Filter out' amplitude.
to the displacement and frequency squared
as shown in Equation 2. When the vibration is complex, we
will have to analyse the vibration to know the
V Peak =52.30D (F/1000) x 10 -3 ....(1) amplitude at different frequencies of interest.
g peak =5.6 D (F/1000) 2 x 10 - 4 ....(2) For this purpose, vibration analysers are
V peak = Vibration velocity in mm/s peak made use of. With this, by tuning the filter,
g peak = Vibration analysis peak vibration amplitude at different frequencies
D= “Peak to peak" displacement in can be measured. This is termed as ‘Filter
microns in' amplitude.
F = Frequency in CPM
4.0 VIBRATION MEASUREMENT AND
The forces, which cause vibration, SEVERITY STANDARDS
are generated through the rotating motion of
the machine parts and these forces change 4.1 VIBRATION MEASUREMENT
in amount and direction and the rotating part
changes its position with respect to rest of Electronic instruments for measuring
the machine. Hence the frequency of the machinery vibration are generally classified
vibration produced would be related to the as meters, monitors and analysers.
rotating speed of the part which has the
trouble. Because of this, it is essential to a) A vibration meter is a portable device
know the vibration frequency for analysis. and used for periodic vibration checks
on machinery to determine the overall
Vibration severity is a function of both the machine vibration level.
distance the vibrating part moves from its b) A vibration monitor is similar in function
position of rest (peak displacement) and the to a vibration meter, but is permanently
number of times the vibrating part moves installed to provide continuous
about its position of rest in unit time monitoring of equipment vibrations.Note 1
(frequency). Since vibration velocity is a
c) A vibration analyser includes a tunable
function of the displacement and frequency,
filter for separating the individual
unfiltered vibration velocity should be
frequencies of complex vibration. This
recognised as a direct measure of vibration
can measure and record all vibration
severity.
amplitudes at different frequencies.
Vibration acceleration is directly
4.2 VIBRATION RECORDING
related to the force causing vibration in the
machine. Since vibration acceleration is a
Suggestive formats for recording
function of the displacement and frequency
vibration measurements are given in Table
squared, a very small displacement at very
1.1 and 1.2. Table 1.1 should be used for
high frequency may be due to a large
vibration recording and Table 1.2 should be
vibrating force present in the machine.
used for vibration analysis purposes.
Hence, vibration acceleration measurements
are recommended for vibration frequencies
4.3 VIBRATION SEVERITY STANDARDS
above 60,000 CPM.
The aim of vibration measurement is
3.3 FILTER OUT AND FILTER IN
to find out an acceptable limit for safe
operation of a given machine.
The vibration of a machine may not
always generate harmonic motion as the
For centrifugal pumps, centrifugal
weight suspended from the spring does.
compressors and steam turbines acceptable
The machinery vibration is mostly complex,
vibration values are as given in Table 1.3
consisting of components at many

2
 c) Since many machine troubles have
5.0 VIBRATION ANALYSIS similar characteristics and several
troubles may be present in a machine
The purpose of vibration analysis is simultaneously, it becomes necessary to
to identify the specific machinery problem. choose between several possibilities.
For this purpose, the initial reading taken
during the commissioning of the equipment The vibration and noise identification
should be taken as the most ideal base line chart given in Table 1.6 gives a
data". After that, whenever overall comprehensive listing of most of the
machinery vibration has revealed a common problems encountered and provide
significant increase in “base line data", a relative probability rating number which
vibration analysis should be carried out to provides an indication of which trouble is the
pin-point the machinery problem. The most likely set of circumstances. If the
vibration analysis procedure is divided into analysis does not give an indication of the
two steps: problem, signature analysis should be
carried out.
a) Data acquisition
b) Data interpretation 6.0 SHOCK PULSE MEASUREMENT
(SPM)
5.1 DATA ACQUISITION 6.1 GENERAL

Vibration data can be obtained for Shock pulse measurement is based

analysis by applying the techniques given on monitoring the mechanical impacts
below: caused by bearing damage and operating
condition problems.
a) Amplitude vs frequency
b) Amplitude vs time 6.2 UNIT AND PICK-UP POINTS
c) Amplitude vs frequency vs time
d) Time wave form The sensitivity of the SPM method is
e) Orbits such that the shock pulses generated by a
f) Amplitude vs phase vs rpm typical antifriction bearing increase upto
g) Phase analysis 1000 times from when the bearing is in good
h) Mode shape interpretation. condition to the condition when the same is
about to fail. For covering this large range,
5.2 DATA INTERPRETATION a logarithmic scale is used and the shock
pulse values are expressed in decibels (db).
Once the data mentioned in 5.1 are
obtained, the next step is to interpret the Shock pulses are generated mainly
data thus obtained for identifying the in the load zone of the bearing and spread
machinery problem. This is done by spherically from the point of impact through
comparing the reading with the characteristic the bearing, its housing and adjacent
vibration due to typical machinery troubles. machine parts. The shock pulses are
dempened when they pass an interface or
a) The chart given in Table 1.4 lists the are forced from their straight path.
vibration frequencies normally
encountered in terms of rpm and the 6.3 TERMINOLOGY
possible cause of vibration. Referring to
the chart, we can identify the part Following are the terminology
causing trouble. associated with shock pulse measurement.
i) Initial Shock Value (dbl)
b) The vibration identification chart given in Even a newly installed and properly
Table 1.5 lists most common cause of lubricated bearing generates shock pulses.
vibration together with its relation to the
amplitude, frequency and position of
phase reference mark under strobe light.

3
4
5
6
7
 This is known as Initial Shock Value (dbl).
This value is primarily dependent on the
rotating speed and the bore dia as shown in
Table 1.7

ii) Shock Value

The absolute strength of the shock

pulses emanating from the bearing is known
as Shock Value (dbsv)

iii) Normalised Shock Value

The increase of shock value (dbsv)

above initial shock value (dbl) is defined as
Normalised Shock Value (dbn). The
normalised measuring scale is used for
measuring shock pulse value in the shock
pulse meter. The normalised measuring
scale starts from dbl and shows only that
part of shock value which is directly related
to the condition of the bearing being
monitored.

iv) Carpet Value

Surface roughs will cause rapid

sequence of minor shock pulses which
together constitute the shock carpet of the
bearing. The magnitude of the shock
carpet on the normalised measuring scale is
expressed by the Carpet Value (dbc). This
value helps to analyse the cause of reduced
or bad operating condition.

v) Maximum Value

Any damage in the bearing will

cause single shock pulses with higher
magnitudes at random intervals. The
highest shock pulse value measured on a
bearing is called its Maximum Value (dbm).
This determines the operating condition of
bearing.

8
 TABLE 1.4
VIBRATION FREQUENCIES AND LIKELY CAUSES
Frequency Most Likely Other Possible Causes and
in terms causes Remarks
of RPM
____________________________________________________________________________
1xRPM Unbalance 1. Eccentric Journals, Gear or Pulleys
2. Misalignment or Bent shaft if high axial
vibration 3. Bad belts if RPM of belt
4. Resonance
5. Reciprocating
forces 6 Electrical problems
____________________________________________________________________________
2 x RPM Mechanical 1. Misalignment-if high axial vibration
looseness 2. Reciprocating forces
3. Resonance
4. Bad belts if 2x RPM of belts
_____________________________________________________________________________
3 x RPM Misalignment Usually a combination of misalignment and excessive
axial clearances (looseness)
_____________________________________________________________________________
Less than Oil Whirl 1. Bad drive belts
1 X RPM (less than 2. Background vibration
half RPM) 3. Sub-harmonic resonance
4. "Beat" vibration
____________________________________________________________________________
Synchronous Electrical Common electrical problems include rotor bars,
(A.C. line problems eccentric rotor, unbalanced phases in poly-phase
frequency) systems, unequal air gap
_____________________________________________________________________________

2 x Synch. Torque Rare as a problem unless resonancce is excited.

frequency Pulses
____________________________________________________________________________
Many times Bad gears, Aero- Gear teeth times RPM of bad gear, number of fan
RPM(Harmo- dynamic forces/ blades times RPM, No. of impeller times RPM, may
nically mechanical loose occur at 2,3,4 and sometimes higher harmonics if

related ness, reciprocating severe looseness

frequency) forces
_____________________________________________________________________________
High fre- Bad anti-friction 1. Bearing vibration may be unsteady-amplitude and
quency (not bearings frequency.
harmonically 2. Cavitation, recirculation and flow turbulence cause
related) random, high frequency vibration
3. Improper lubrication of journal bearings
(friction excited vibration)
4. Rubbing
___________________________________________________________________________

18
19
20
21
22
vi) Instrument and Evaluation Chart i) An introduction to Machinery Analysis and
Monitoring
The basic measuring equipment ii) BS 4675 : Part I : 1976 (ISO2372) -
consists of the shock pulse transducer with Mechanical Vibration in rotating and
the probe which picks up the shock pulses reciprocating machinery
and the shock pulse meter which measures iii) API 610 : Centrifugal pump for general
the magnitude. Once the readings are taken refinery service
and tabulated as shown in Table 1.8., the iv) API 611 : General purpose steam turbine for
intensity can be checked from the shock refinery service
pulse diagram given in Figure 2.0 v) API 612 : Special purpose steam turbines for
refinery service
7.0 FREQUENCY OF VIBRATION AND vi) API 617 : Centrifugal compressor for general
SHOCK PULSE MEASUREMENT refinery service
7.1 CLASSIFICATION vii) Condition monitoring of roller bearings with
shock pulse meter
The entire equipment in oil industry viii) IRD Mechanalysis Advanced Training Manual
should be classified into three categories: ix) Predictive maintenance Manual of Indian Oil
Corporation
i) Critical x) Sawyer’s turbomachinery Handbook
ii) Semi-critical xi) Instruction Manual of Hard bearing balancing
iii) Non-critical machine
xii) Turbomachinery Handbook published by
The equipment that can cause unit Hydrocarbon Processing
shutdown and the failure of which will lead to
release of hydrocarbons should be classified
as Critical equipment. Mostly these
equipment will not be having any spare
equipment. The equipment that can cause
only production loss should be classified as
Semi-critical equipment. Rest of the
equipment should be classified as Non-
critical.
7.2 FREQUENCY OF MEASUREMENT

The following frequency of vibration

monitoring should be adhered to in order of
criticality of equipment:
Critical equipment: Once in a week
Semi critical equipment : Once in two weeks
Other Equipment : Once in a month

The frequency of measuring shock pulse

value depends on the magnitude of maximum
shock value. The frequency recommended by
manufacturer should be followed as given below :

dbm Frequency
0-20 1-3 months
20-35 1-2 months
35-65 Daily

8.0 REFERENCES

The following codes, standards, and publications

have either been referred to or used in the
preparation of this document and the same shall
be read in conjunction with this document:

23
24