By Peter Tavner
Condition monitoring of engineering plant has increased in importance as
engineering processes are automated and manpower is reduced. However,
electrical machinery receives attention only at infrequent intervals
when plant is shut down and the application of protective relays to
machines has also reduced operator surveillance. A first edition of
Condition Monitoring of Electrical Machines, written by Tavner and
Penman, was published in 1987. The economics of industry have now
changed, as a result of the privatisation and deregulation of the energy
industry, placing emphasis on the importance of reliable operation of
plant, throughout the whole life cycle, regardless of first cost. The
availability of advanced electronics and software in powerful
instrumentation, computers, and digital signal processors (DSP) has
simplified our ability to instrument and analyse machinery. As a result
condition monitoring is now being applied to a wider range of systems,
from fault-tolerant drives of a few hundred watts in the aerospace
industry, to machinery of a few hundred megawatts in major capital
plant. In this new book the original authors have been joined by Ran, an
expert in power electronics and control, and Sedding, an expert in the
monitoring of electrical insulation systems. Together the authors have
revised and expanded the earlier book, merging their own experience with
that of machine analysts to bring it up to date. The book is aimed at
professional engineers in the energy, process engineering and
manufacturing industries, plus research workers and students.