CMS Tongon · Online Condition Monitoring System
Online vibration monitoring system
Technical summary of the solution — Tongon Gold Mine (Barrick group), Côte d'Ivoire. Continuous vibration and thermal monitoring, 24/7, independent from the SCADA.
8 machines
Scope
60 channels
Phase 1
96 channels
Full fleet
SKF IMx-8
Platform
01 · Objective & scope
Detect the fault before the failure
An actionable diagnosis — fault location and nature — rather than a simple global alarm. The goal: move from reactive maintenance to maintenance planned on the actual condition of the machines.
| Machine | Qty | Power | Speed | Role in the circuit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ball Mills | 2 | 8 MW | 995 rpm | Most critical machines — longest lead time |
| Crushers (Jaw Crusher) | 2 | 200 kW | 990 rpm | Known bearings (NU 322-C3 / 6319-C3) |
| Cyclone Pumps (VSD) | 4 | 600 kW | 1490 rpm | Variable speed → order analysis |
02 · The chosen technology
Four levels, one measurement chain
Level 0
Sensors
IEPE 100 mV/g accelerometers on standard points, low-frequency 500 mV/g on the mills (slow rotation).
Class A PT100 probes · tachometer on the VSD pumps.
Level 1
Acquisition
SKF Multilog IMx-8 modules (8 channels + speed input), 24-bit, 100 kS/s, edge processing.
Store & forward: no data loss in the event of a network outage.
Level 2
OT network
OM3 multimode fiber optic — immune to VFD interference · dedicated VLAN isolated from process control.
SNMP-managed industrial switches.
Level 3
Server & software
Redundant RAID 1 rack server: analysis, alarms, historian, reporting, web access.
UPS · site NTP timestamping.
Standalone system, independent from the SCADA · secure remote access via VPN · architecture designed according to the IEC 62443 cybersecurity standard.
07 · Key takeaways
Three commitments
01
Sized machine by machine
Not a flat package: every sensor is justified by the bearing it monitors and the fault it detects. This is what guarantees the system will actually see faults.
02
Standalone & secure
Independent from the SCADA, remote access via VPN, designed according to IEC 62443. A proven solution built on the SKF Multilog IMx-8 platform.
03
Extensible without redesign
From the priority Phase 1 (60 channels) to the full fleet (96 channels) by simply adding modules and licenses — server and network unchanged.
Next step
Site visit to finalize the mill bearings, cable lengths and the final selection of the vendor (SKF / Emerson).