ITT i-ALERT2 - Introduction

i-ALERT2 Application Guide 5 of 64
INTRODUCTION
This guide is designed to assist reliability practitioners in optimizing the performance of their rotating equipment assets
using modern condition monitoring technologies.
Traditional condition monitoring techniques and budget constraints force practitioners to make difficult choices as to which
pieces of equipment they can focus on while relegating many of the less critical assets to a suboptimal time based
maintenance regime or a “fix it when it breaks” mentality. Even in those plants that do perform periodic predictive
maintenance (PdM) inspections, the frequency or time between inspections is a month or more, sometimes up to a year.
Many failure mechanisms can develop and progress into catastrophic failure well before the next inspection, rendering the
PdM program ineffectual for “balance of plant” equipment.
Continuous monitoring of machinery health is an ideal solution to prevent unplanned downtime, but has historically come
with a big price tag that couldn’t be justified except on the most critical assets. Using the latest Micro-Electromechanical
Sensors (MEMS) and Bluetooth® wireless communications technologies ITT has created a tool to better fit the needs of
reliability practitioners. The i-ALERT2 Equipment Health Monitor is a low cost alternative that continuously trends key
machinery health parameters including overall vibration and temperature and allows users to access that trend data during
routine inspections. Leveraging new technology allows the i-ALERT2 condition monitor to offer improved utility and
reduced cost compared to a typical “walk-around” monthly vibration program.
Using the latest Micro-
Electromechanical Sensors (MEMS) and Bluetooth® wireless communications
technologies ITT has created a tool that better fits the needs of reliability practitioners.