Condition monitoring systems and services for rotating machinery

What is a condition monitoring system?

A condition monitoring system, often shortened to a CM system, tracks the health of machinery while it operates, using measured data rather than fixed service intervals to determine when maintenance is needed. Instead of reacting to breakdowns or replacing parts that still have life in them, your maintenance team acts on the actual condition of each asset.

Faraday Predictive’s systems are built on Model-Based Voltage and Current (MBVI) technology, which uses the motor itself as the sensor. Because the monitoring equipment connects at the switchroom rather than on the machine, installation is straightforward, requires no production stoppage, and works even for assets that are inaccessible, submerged or in hazardous areas.

Condition monitoring is what makes Condition-Based Maintenance possible: acting on the real-time state of an asset, rather than a fixed service schedule.

The anatomy of a complete condition monitoring system

A complete condition monitoring system is more than a box of electronics. It combines four elements, and Faraday Predictive supplies all of them:

1. Data capture without sensors. Where conventional systems rely on accelerometers and thermal cameras fitted to each machine, our MBVI technology captures everything from the motor’s voltage and current at the switchgear. The motor is the sensor.
2. Analysis software. The system builds a model of how each machine should behave and automatically flags deviations, identifying not just that a fault exists but what it is and how fast it is developing.
3. A monitoring platform. Dashboards, trends and alerts, accessible remotely by your whole team, on site or off.
4. Expert service. Faraday Predictive engineers interpret the data, verify diagnoses and give prioritised, plain-English recommendations, so your team acts on conclusions, not raw signals.

This is why our customers treat condition monitoring as the foundation of their predictive maintenance programme: it converts machine data into maintenance decisions.

Condition monitoring techniques: how faults are found

Faraday Predictive takes a different route. Our electrical signature analysis (ESA), delivered through Model-Based Voltage and Current (MBVI) technology, reads mechanical and electrical fault signatures from the switchgear, using the motor itself as the sensor.

It catches the electrical faults other techniques largely miss, and picks up mechanical wear too, all without any equipment fitted to the machine. That makes it practical for submerged, hazardous and hard-to-reach assets, and continuous rather than periodic.

Remote condition monitoring, from anywhere

Remote monitoring systems remove the need to be on site to know how your machinery is performing. Faraday Predictive’s remote condition monitoring connects your assets to a secure online platform, so equipment health, alerts and trends are available to your team wherever they are, whether that is the control room, head office or a phone at 2am.

Because our equipment mounts in the switchroom and uses the motor itself as the sensor, remote monitoring can be extended to assets that other systems cannot reach: submerged pumps, machinery in hazardous areas, and equipment on unmanned or difficult-to-access sites.

Our remote monitoring solutions are particularly valuable for:

1. Unmanned and satellite sites. Water utility assets, pumping stations and remote installations can be monitored centrally without routine site visits.
2. Multi-site operations. One dashboard covering rotating machinery across every plant, with consistent alerting and reporting.
3. Hazardous and inaccessible equipment. Continuous insight into assets that are dangerous, disruptive or simply impractical to inspect manually.
4. Stretched maintenance teams. Automatic alerts mean engineers investigate machines that need attention, rather than walking routes past healthy ones.

When a developing fault is detected, the system flags it with a clear diagnosis, giving your team time to plan the repair rather than react to a failure.

Condition monitoring services across a range of sectors

Faraday Predictive systems are monitoring rotating machinery across the UK’s most demanding sectors, from offshore platforms to pharmaceutical cleanrooms. Because our equipment installs at the switchgear rather than on the machine, it suits environments where fitting sensors is difficult, disruptive or dangerous.

Explore how condition monitoring works in your sector:

Companies we work with

Motor condition monitoring with MBVI technology

Most condition monitoring equipment relies on sensors mounted on the machine, which makes coverage expensive and leaves gaps between inspection routes. Our approach to motor condition monitoring is different. MBVI analyses the voltage and current signals already flowing to the motor, building a model of how the machine should behave and flagging deviations that indicate faults such as:

• Bearing wear and lubrication problems
• Misalignment and imbalance
• Cavitation in pumps
• Rotor and stator faults
• Load and process-related issues in the driven equipment

Because the motor acts as the sensor, one system can cover large fleets of motor-driven assets at a practical cost, and monitoring continues 24/7 rather than only when a technician walks the route.

Condition monitoring as part of your maintenance strategy

Condition monitoring maintenance replaces guesswork with evidence. Rather than servicing equipment on a fixed calendar, or worse, waiting for it to fail, maintenance is triggered by the measured condition of the asset. The results our customers see include:

1. Fewer unplanned stoppages and emergency repairs
2. Lower maintenance spend, with work done only when it is needed
3. Longer asset life
4. Safer operations, with fewer interventions on live equipment
5. Reduced energy waste from machines running in poor condition