ABB has set up a dedicated lifecycle services team for users of medium- and high-voltage motors and generators in the UK. The aim is to offer best-practice advice and to optimise maintenance planning by moving from time-based to condition-based maintenance, thus extending machine lifetimes and minimising unplanned downtime, while ensuring that machines operate at peak performance.

“These machines are always critical to the running of a plant and customers need reassurance that these machines will never let them down,” says Peter Wright, manager of the motors and generators lifecycle services business.

Depending on the age of the installed machine, ABB will offer a series of inspection levels backed up by tools that it has developed specifically for monitoring motors and generators, typically larger than 1MW.

For example, a life expectancy analysis program (LEAP) helps to assess the condition of stator winding insulation. It provides information on the condition and expected life of the winding and allows maintenance plans to be drawn up, so that servicing can be performed during planned downtime rather than during costly emergencies.