Siemens Installs Online Condition Monitoring for NASA's Cooling Plants

Siemens recently completed the installation of an online condition monitoring solution to assess the status of critical assets at the NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center on the Edwards Air Force Base near Lancaster, California. The data-based subscription service provides expert analysis and actionable recommendations to support predictive maintenance.

NASA wanted to upgrade its monitoring capabilities to give maintenance managers greater visibility into the performance of assets such as fans, pumps, air handlers and cooling towers. The reliability of the cooling plants' chiller room and cooling systems are mission-critical for NASA.

In addition to upgrading the center's monitoring devices, NASA also sought to increase transparency of the system's performance data and gain insights for potential improvements in service/maintenance management and reduced operating costs.

Siemens installed a data-acquisition system to measure vibration and speed information for the selected critical assets. The measured data is transferred via a secure internet connection to the Siemens Expert Center, where data evaluation is performed through automated algorithms backed by data analysts. In case of any significant status change of an asset, automatic notifications are sent to NASA and an analyst for review.

The service offers updates through Web-based cockpits for PC or mobile devices, while the detailed analysis can identify developing failures in their early stages and reduce troubleshooting time. NASA anticipates a reduction in cost through better maintenance efficiency and higher asset reliability.

For more information, visit www.siemens.com.