Vimodrone, November 2019 – Keeping tabs on the “health” of a rotary vane compressor, is now possible from thousands of kilometres away, thanks to the latest evolution in Mattei Group technology, marking yet another step forward for the compressed air sector.
The Vimodrone based company has recently launched an oil-monitoring system for its compressors that keeps a constant watch on the quality and temperature of the oil, supporting good operations and a longer life of the compressor. The cornerstone is the control system developed by Mattei of the sensor itself, which acquires the data on the quality of the lubricant and passes it into the cloud: thereby from Italy it is possible to process the data and provide suggestions for interventions at plants located anywhere on the planet.
“The need to install an oil sensor comes from the fact that in heavy applications, or particularly dirty environments, the oil is exposed to interactions with external agents and can become contaminated”, explains Stefano Murgia, Technical Director – Mattei Group. “Contaminated oil could compromise machine operations or even the machine itself. But now thanks to the new sensor and control system, direct screening of the state of the oil, allows for the coordination of preventative maintenance interventions. In the event of anomalies, it is possible to interrupt the operation of the machine, or simply just replace the oil, preventing more serious damage such as failure of the compressor”.
In rotary vane compressors, in addition to lubrication, the oil performs the important function of controlling the operating temperature as well as guaranteeing the high volumetric efficiency of the machine. “The new sensor can communicate directly with Mattei control systems, if present. Alternatively we have prepared customised kits, that can also be retrofitted on third-party machines, made of a sensor and a control system that transmits data via the cloud allowing you to monitor the machine remotely, as it is constantly monitoring the aging of the lubricant”.
The oil quality sensor is available as an option on all Mattei compressors and is ideally suited for installation on larger machines, especially within the food and beverage sector, where excellent air quality is required, free of any impurities. The biogas and natural gas compression sector is also challenging and Mattei has studied specific lubricants which react in the best way to the high concentration of sulfuric acid; a highly aggressive agent that could favour the premature breakdown of the oil. “To have the maximum effectiveness, we recommend the use of the highest quality oils, certified by Mattei, because they help to reduce operating periods with end-of-life lubricant, increasing the quality of the maintenance cycle and maintaining the excellent energy efficiency of a Mattei compressor”.
Mattei will continue the path of research, development and innovation to improve the quality of its products, always with an eye on improving energy efficiency. The introduction of an oil quality sensor with integrated SIM card allowing it to interact with the machine control panel is an absolute first for the compressed air sector.
