Condition-based monitoring for business continuity in data centres

Challenge

Data centres rely on uninterrupted power supply to guarantee business continuity. Low Voltage (LV) switchboards are critical assets in this context, yet their degradation processes are often invisible until a failure occurs. Traditional maintenance strategies and periodic inspections are not sufficient to detect early signs of ageing or abnormal behaviour, especially in sensitive environments where intrusive monitoring is not an option. 

Applied expertise 

For a client based in Europe, RINA developed and implemented a Condition-Based Monitoring (CBM) system specifically designed for LV switchboards operating in data centre environments. 

The solution combined advanced acoustic, vibration and temperature monitoring with real-time data analysis, enabling early detection of abnormal asset behaviour. Online sensors continuously collected data, even in sensitive environments, and feed it into our cloud-based platform.  

Our solution enabled the client to: 

• Continuously monitor vibration and temperature trends of LV switchboards.
• Evaluate the residual lifetime of critical assets.
• Receive real-time alerts when predefined thresholds were exceeded.

Impact 

The Condition-Based Monitoring solution delivered measurable benefits in terms of reliability, safety and operational efficiency. 

By providing real-time asset health visibility, the system: 

• Enabled predictive and condition-based maintenance, reducing unplanned outages. 
• Allowed preventive and corrective actions to be scheduled at the optimal time. 
• Increased the time between maintenance activities. 
• Minimized the risk of unexpected failures. 
• Improved overall equipment reliability and availability,
• Enhanced workers’ safety through early fault detection.

Thanks to advanced algorithms based on historical and real-time data, the client can now make data-driven maintenance decisions, protecting critical infrastructure and ensuring continuous, reliable data centre operations.