The sensor and metering technology – along with data analytics has made steady progress during recent decades. New, smarter devices and integrated systems are entering the market. Their ability to pick up, log, transmit and distribute data relevant for maintenance purposes is about to bring great efficiencies to plant operators.

Energy profiling speaks volumes about equipment condition

As systems evolve, both Maintenance Management Systems (MMS) and energy Management Systems (EMS) develop new capabilities and therefore create opportunities for integration. The energy, environmental or other data gathered by the EMS can be used to gain insight into the status of equipment or operational system.

The exchange of data and implementation of analytics between the two systems allows for condition-based monitoring and editing of energy profiles for each component. This new approach utilises measurements on the actual equipment in combination with measurement of energy and process performance, measured by other devices, to trigger equipment maintenance requests. Modern energy metering and analysing equipment can monitor a wide range of parameters. An energy analyser monitoring a production machine can use its built-in inputs and outputs to integrate data regarding the production level or other energy vectors (steam, natural gas, etc.) involved.

A good example is found within HVAC systems. Traditionally, air filters and other replaceable parts are replaced on a time-based cycle – filters may get changed every 3 months or so, needed or not. Instead, an energy Management System could be configured to monitor the energy profile of the machine, providing a custom KPI that activates a change alert toward the maintenance team when required.

The replacement of the wearable part can even become an automatically generated work order.

Good Vibrations or Not?

MEMS technology (Micro-electro-mechanical) systems already surrounds us. Most of us carry a smartphone, wear a smartwatch /wristband for health monitoring, or drive a car equipped with an airbag containing a MEMS accelerometer. Now this miniature technology, already in widespread use in automotive and consumer applications, is spreading onto factory floors as well.

Vibration sensing as such is not a new thing in factories. It has always been one of the main methods of condition monitoring in industrial equipment. So far, vibration sensors have typically been piezo-electric-based modules or devices that are limited to frequencies of up to a few kHz. The newer accelerometer technology, based on a micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS), is capable of tracking vibrations in industrial equipment at much higher frequencies. This is very beneficial, because, for example, a bearing about to go bad will initially vibrate at a high frequency. Only as it gets close to failure, will the frequency drop until it finally burns out altogether, possibly damaging the rotor it is supposed to be holding.

Getting an early warning of a looming equipment failure in, say, an electrical motor, may save a lot of money. It can cost ten times more to repair equipment if you wait until it fails. Utilising today’s chip-based accelerometer sensor technology that is becoming more affordable than before, vibration monitoring may provide up to three times greater return-on-investment, when compared with other analysis techniques, such as infrared thermography or ultrasonic analysis.

Beyond Preventive Maintenance (PM) to Predictive Maintenance (PdM)

Driven by the introduction of this new generation of smarter sensors and analysers – coupled with advanced data analytics, the availability of highly accurate and meaningful data about the status and condition of plant equipment is a reality. Cloud technologies enable monitoring regardless of location. Hence, the industry is seeing a trend of going beyond preventive maintenance, to predictive maintenance [PdM]. According to some estimates, PdM practices can lower the cost of repairs by more than 25 percent, if detected early.

Utilities and manufacturers are looking for all the help they can get to improve production and equipment availability. The new data-intensive and smart sensors and systems are addressing identifiable needs within the industrial sector and, thus, providing tangible value, as they help in reducing maintenance costs by providing timely maintenance advise for plant operators.