Wireless sensors for predictive maintenance of rotating equipment in research reactors

In 2008–2009, the High Flux Isotope Reactor (HFIR) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) tested the potential of predictive or condition-based maintenance techniques to reduce maintenance costs, minimize the risk of catastrophic failures, and maximize system availability by attaching wireless-based sensors to selected rotating equipment at HFIR. Rotating equipment is an ideal “test case” for the viability of integrated, online predictive maintenance strategies because motors, bearings, and shafts are ubiquitous in nuclear power plants and because the maintenance methods typically performed on rotating equipment today (such as portable or handheld vibration data collection equipment) are highly labor-intensive. The HFIR project achieved all five of its objectives: (1) to identify rotating machinery of the types used in research reactors and determine their operational characteristics, degradation mechanisms, and failure modes, (2) to establish a predictive maintenance program for rotating equipment in research reactors, (3) to identify wireless sensors that are suitable for predictive maintenance of rotating machinery and test them in a laboratory setting, (4) to establish the requirements and procedures to be followed when implementing wireless sensors for predictive maintenance in research reactors, and (5) to develop a conceptual design for a predictive maintenance system for research reactors based on wireless sensors. The project demonstrated that wireless sensors offer an effective method for monitoring key process conditions continuously and remotely, thereby enhancing the safety, reliability, and efficiency of the aging research reactor fleet.