Diesel and gas engines, gensets

The failures that matter

Five components, in order of impact.

What we would model first. For every one: how it fails, what announces it, how early you can see it, and what it costs you. Sibilla builds the Blueprint on your data, with the same analysis engines used on our Blueprints in operation.

1. 1

   Injectors: wear, dripping

   Cost Safety/Env

   A worn or dripping injector sprays poorly. Combustion in that cylinder becomes uneven and the ECU compensates as long as it can.

   Signals

   Exhaust gas temperature per cylinder as deviation from the mean at equal load, rail pressure, ECU cylinder balancing corrections, specific fuel consumption, smoke.

   Typical warning time

   Weeks. (indicative)

   Teneuro

   Yes. Vibration and acoustics in the injection crank-angle window. Needs a phase reference and high-rate sampling.

2. 2

   Turbocharger: bearing wear, fouling

   Downtime Cost

   Fouling lowers turbocharger efficiency: less air at the same load and hotter exhaust. Worn bearings increase clearances and noise.

   Signals

   Boost pressure against load, turbo speed where available, temperatures before and after the turbine, charge air temperature, metals in oil analysis.

   Typical warning time

   Weeks to months for fouling; weeks for bearings. (indicative)

   Teneuro

   Yes. Synchronous and sub-synchronous components tied to turbo speed, and the audible whine.

3. 3

   Main and big-end bearings: wear, seizure

   Downtime Cost Safety/Env

   A thin oil film or degraded oil wears the bearing lining down to metal contact. Damage can end in seizure or a crankcase explosion.

   Signals

   Bearing temperatures where fitted, oil pressure and temperature, metals in oil analysis, oil mist detector.

   Typical warning time

   Weeks to months with oil analysis; days with temperatures. The oil mist detector gives minutes to hours: it protects, it does not predict. (indicative)

   Teneuro

   Partly. Only at an advanced stage: low-frequency impacts and more mechanical noise.

4. 4

   Valves, rings and liners: burnt valves, blow-by

   Downtime Cost Safety/Env

   A valve that does not seal loses compression and overheats. Worn rings and liners let combustion gas into the crankcase (blow-by).

   Signals

   Exhaust gas temperature per cylinder, crankcase pressure, oil consumption, compression pressure from tests.

   Typical warning time

   Weeks to months. (indicative)

   Teneuro

   Yes. Valve closing impacts show clearly in vibration and acoustics synchronised with crank angle.

5. 5

   HT/LT cooling: heat exchanger fouling, water pump failure

   Downtime

   Deposits reduce heat transfer in the exchangers. The water pump loses flow as its bearings or seal wear.

   Signals

   Temperature differences across the high- and low-temperature (HT/LT) circuits and heat exchangers at equal load, engine outlet temperature, water pressure, thermostatic valve opening.

   Typical warning time

   Months for fouling; weeks for the pump. (indicative)

   Teneuro

   Partly. Yes for the pump (bearing vibration, cavitation noise). No for fouling, which is thermal.

Our solutions on this asset

Before Plasmiam, our team designed and ran predictive maintenance for a major international utility: more than 1,000 power plants in 22 countries and over 40 GW of installed capacity, starting from hydro. That experience shaped Teneuro, designed, built and patented by Plasmiam to bring vibration monitoring to large fleets of small plants at a low cost per point.