Genset Vibration Monitoring System

Genset & Rotating Machinery Vibration Level Testing

ITM’s Genset systems typically consist of a real time controller enclosed in a stainless steel enclosure and 4 triaxial accelerometers. In one such use case, we used a National Instruments (NI) CompactDAQ Ethernet chassis (cDAQ-9189) with 8 dynamic signal acquisition (DSA) input modules, NI 9234 and NI 9229, to condition, synchronize and digitize the acceleration and voltage signals. The NI 9234 module was connected to accelerometers for collecting accurate high-speed vibration measurements. The NI 9229 module was connected to a magnetic pickup sensor to determine the rotational speed of the generator. We chose the NI 9229 module because it combined a high resolution with a wide voltage range, and was able to be synchronized with the NI 9234 module. We chose the NI cDAQ-9189 Ethernet chassis with Ethernet connectivity because the test cells had an existing Ethernet network. We used our configuration based data acquisition and analysis iTestSystem software, which was built using NI LabVIEW system design software, to acquire and view the vibration data generated by NI cDAQ hardware. We also created a custom plug-in for iTestSystem that generated vibration reports and animated vibration modes.