Vibration monitoring system helps keep Mersey Tunnel running.
Monitran has supplied Mersey Tunnels with a multichannel vibration monitoring system for measuring the vibration levels of the fan ventilation system in the tunnels acting as a preventative maintenance aid by providing them with data to plan when service and repair work can be carried out.
The Kingsway Tunnel has two 2.2 kilometres long tubes which connect Liverpool to Wallesey, providing an important traffic route for both commuter and heavy goods vehicles. The latest tunnel is now 30 years old and with its four changeable direction lanes, links Liverpool with the Wirral giving fast access to the M53 motorway and the Freight Ferry Terminal to Ireland.
In the tunnel are eight sets of ventilation systems with both extract and blow, four of the sets being on standby. The level of carbon monoxide and smoke density are both monitored manually and at excessive levels the operator can then bring the set of four ventilation fans into action.
The fan systems have both bearings and Radicon gearboxes which need to be monitored for vibration levels. When these levels become excessive, maintenance engineers can switch over to the four standby fans and move in to carry out service or repair work.
Because the fan systems are in robust casings, the components cannot be seen or accessed easily, which eliminates manual monitoring with a portable vibration meter. Mersey Tunnels overcame this by fitting a permanent Monitran vibration sensor at each point on the eight fan systems, giving continuous simultaneous vibration readings for the whole tunnel. All of the sensor signals are cabled into the multichannel MTN 6000 vibration monitoring system housed in an industrial enclosure, which provides sensor excitation, signal conditioning, level indication and pre-set alarm level triggering via relay units.
Alan Kirkham, the engineer at Mersey Tunnels responsible for fan system operation chose Monitran because " They gave us good quality products at the right price and they have proved to be extremely reliable in this important vibration monitoring application".
This is just one of the many varied applications of Monitran vibration monitoring equipment acting as economic and reliable products in the important task of protecting the rotating parts of all types of vitally important industrial machinery.
