Case Study | Real-World Record of Intelligent Troubleshooting for Bearing Wear in High-Temperature Cement Fan Systems

As the core lifeline of a cement production line, the kiln‑tail high‑temperature fan poses a serious risk: if its motor bearings overheat and seize, it can quickly lead to shaft seizure and a complete shutdown, with production losses running into millions. Recently, Zhongyun Technology’s intelligent operations‑and‑maintenance platform, leveraging 24/7 real‑time monitoring and AI‑based vibration diagnostics, accurately detected an imminent bearing degradation fault, enabling the plant to promptly shut down for maintenance and avert a major equipment failure. Today, we’ll walk you through this real‑world maintenance case from the cement industry.

I. The alarm blared! The fan’s steady-state operation collapsed in an instant.

The high-temperature fan plays a critical role in treating exhaust gases at the kiln tail; the equipment operates continuously at full load around the clock, making bearing wear and rubbing among the most common and potentially catastrophic failures. On the morning of June 17, 2026, the platform’s 24/7 online monitoring system detected an abrupt anomaly: at the motor drive‑end measurement point. Vibration acceleration surged to over 70 m/s². , the vibration velocity exceeded 50 mm/s, and the equipment temperature simultaneously surged to 65°C. With all three key performance indicators surpassing their safety thresholds, the system immediately issued a notification. Critical Alert , simultaneously flag fault locations, anomaly timestamps, and out-of‑range values, and promptly notify the plant’s operations and maintenance manager.

Traditional manual inspections rely solely on listening for abnormal noises and measuring temperatures, making it difficult to detect transient vibration anomalies—often resulting in faults being identified only after they have become obvious. In contrast, the intelligent platform captures multi‑dimensional parameters—including vibration, temperature, and current—at millisecond resolution, leaving even the slightest equipment degradation fully exposed.

II. Data Decoding: Precisely Identifying the Root Cause of Bearing Rubbing

Upon receiving the alarm, the Zhongyun Technology diagnostics team immediately retrieved the equipment’s historical trend curves and compared data changes before and after the fault occurred: The equipment had operated steadily over a long period with no prior warning signs; following the alarm, the vibration waveform exhibited pronounced asymmetry, and the spectrum revealed numerous high-order harmonics at rotational frequencies—hallmark characteristics of bearing‑pad rubbing damage. By cross‑analyzing multi‑dimensional data, the platform generated a precise diagnostic conclusion: Severe rubbing and wear have occurred on the motor bearing bushings; an emergency shutdown and disassembly for inspection are recommended. , thereby eliminating the time costs associated with manual troubleshooting by operations personnel.

III. Concrete evidence from disassembly! Bearing‑shell wear and spalling are fully consistent with the diagnostic findings.

Upon receiving the platform‑fault alert, the company promptly scheduled an emergency shutdown that same day. Following the shutdown, on‑site maintenance personnel conducted a thorough inspection and clearly detected abnormal metallic friction noises emanating from the motor area. Subsequent disassembly and examination confirmed the platform’s diagnosis: extensive wear on the motor shaft cross‑section and the bearing liner sides, with localized metal spalling; the bearing lubrication clearance had failed. If operation had continued, there would have been a very high likelihood of bearing seizure and shaft jamming, forcing the entire cement production line to shut down.

The maintenance team immediately launched emergency repair work, scraping and lapping the damaged bearing shells to restore them, and precisely adjusting the clearance between the rotor shaft and the bearing shells. All overhaul procedures were completed on the same day.

IV. Maintenance Verification: Vibration levels plummeted by 90%, and the equipment has returned to stable operating conditions.

At noon on June 18, the high‑temperature fan was completed with maintenance and returned to service. The platform continued to monitor equipment operating data: vibration acceleration at the motor drive‑end horizontal measurement point remained stable at 4–6 m/s², while vibration velocity dropped to around 1 mm/s. Both key vibration metrics have declined by more than 90% compared with their peak values during the fault, and temperature and current have remained steady throughout, with no fluctuations. The equipment has fully resumed normal, healthy operation.

From the initial alert and intelligent diagnostics to emergency shutdown and maintenance, and finally to retesting and verification of production resumption, the entire response process took only two days, fully establishing… Early Warning - Diagnosis - Response - Verification A closed-loop operations and maintenance system minimizes downtime, safeguarding enterprise production efficiency.

V. Case Review: Realizing the Three Core Values of Intelligent Operations and Maintenance on a Cement Production Line

1. Capture transient degradation in real time to seize the golden window for emergency repairs.

Traditional inspection cycles are lengthy, making it impossible to detect sudden equipment failures. In contrast, the platform provides round-the-clock, real-time monitoring; when parameters exceed set thresholds, alerts are immediately triggered, buying critical time for emergency shutdowns and proactive maintenance and preventing faults from escalating.

2. Precise AI-driven data traceability, eliminating the need for blind disassembly and inspection.

Leveraging multi-source data analytics based on vibration spectra, temperature, and current, the system directly identifies faulty components and fault types, providing clear on-site maintenance guidance, reducing unnecessary disassembly and spare‑part waste, and significantly lowering labor and material costs for repairs.

3. End-to-end closed-loop operations and maintenance, significantly reducing downtime-related losses.

The entire fault‑resolution process is completed within two days, preventing a full‑line shutdown caused by bearing seizure and averting multiple economic losses—such as production stoppages, output reductions, and order delays—thereby ensuring continuous, stable operation of the cement production line.

In the cement industry, amid high-temperature, high-dust, and continuous production environments, the risk of failures in critical rotating equipment—such as fans, gear reducers, and motors—remains persistently high. The passive, repair‑only approach that relies on manual inspections can no longer meet the demands of modern manufacturing.

Zhongyun Technology continues to deepen its expertise in intelligent predictive maintenance for heavy industries such as cement, metallurgy, and chemicals. Centered on high-precision sensor data acquisition and an AI‑powered fault diagnosis platform, the company helps industrial enterprises transition from reactive emergency repairs to proactive early‑warning‑based equipment management, leveraging data to ensure equipment safety and optimize production line efficiency.

Going forward, we will continue to share practical case studies on early warning of common equipment faults—such as fans, mills, and air compressors—at cement plants. Stay tuned!