Condition monitoring of power plants through the Internet

Condition monitoring is an important aspect of the maintenance program for rotating machines. The vibration signature is usually analyzed to perform diagnostics of the health of the machine. The data acquisition and analysis were cumbersome in the analog era and dedicated instruments were required and the diagnostics was usually a laboratory‐based exercise and time consuming. With the advent of high‐speed microprocessors, the practice has completely changed. A modern continuous condition monitoring and diagnostics system is first described. With the recent advances in Internet‐based technologies, the condition monitoring procedures are poised for a quantum jump in the way the machines can be maintaned continuously on‐line at remote locations or checked through the Web for any faults. A specific example of the design of an Applet towards this goal is described in this paper.