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Written by Santosh Kumar and Michael Rasche, Frost & Sullivan
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Electric drives are used in various applications in the oil and gas industry for varying motor speeds driving critical components, including pumps, fans and compressors. Both AC and DC drives are used, but AC units dominate most applications. This article explores some of the recent trends and issues in the European electric drives market.
Tags: Business of the Business , Instrumentation/Controls , January 2010 Issue , Oil and Gas
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Written by Karmjit S. Sidhu, American Sensor Technologies Inc.
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Wet Environments
Water chemical compatibility and electrical interference are two major challenges for control systems. Two major sources of fresh water can limit the performance of the control system.
Tags: Instrumentation/Controls , January 2010 Issue
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Written by Greg Betz, Emerson Process Management
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The Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD), a municipally owned utility, provides roughly four million residents in southeastern Michigan with an average of 710 million gallons of water per day. Its main wastewater treatment plant (WWTP)-among the largest single-site WWTPs in the United States-collects and treats residential, commercial and industrial wastewater for 76 municipal communities.
Tags: Instrumentation/Controls , January 2010 Issue , Water and Wastewater
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Written by David Kolstad, Pentair
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Lubricated machines require clean, dry oil to work properly. Recent studies have determined that as much as 80 percent of all failures and wear problems that hydraulic and lubricated equipment experience are due to oil contamination. The most damaging forms of contamination are particulates and moisture.
Tags: Instrumentation/Controls , January 2010 Issue , Maintenance Minders
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Written by Casey A. Connolly, Gulf Chemical & Metallurgical Corporation and Frank Mignano, SKF Reliability Systems
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Gulf Chemical & Metallurgical Corporation (Freeport, Texas), a subsidiary of the Eramet Group, is a recycler of spent petroleum catalysts and a leading producer of ferroalloys. The company applies hydrometallurgical and pyrometallurgical operations to recover molybdenum, vanadium, nickel and cobalt for reuse by major catalyst producers and steel manufacturers. Embarking on the road to improved equipment reliability represents a key aspect of a concerted strategic initiative for Gulf Chemical. The introduction of wireless technology and additional support has yielded successful outcomes for its facility.
Tags: December 2009 Issue , Instrumentation/Controls , Pump Industry Technology
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Written by Dawn Hines and Robin DeRousse, Hines Industries, Inc. and Jerzy Moszynski, MMS ANSIFLO Pum
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Pumps are sent to rebuilding and remanufacturing companies because buying new can be expensive and require long lead times. For instance, a 39 in diameter, 1,000 lb bronze impeller may cost $28,000 and take many weeks to deliver. In these cases, the impellers involved in an overhaul are often built back up to the required specifications and rebalanced.
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Written by Michael Smith, R & M Energy Systems
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Sensors and automation passively participate in our everyday lives to improve comfort, add safety and reliability, and increase the efficiency of needed products and services. As the use of sensors and automation has proliferated throughout various industry sectors, these products have become reliable, economical and easy to maintain and service.
Tags: December 2009 Issue , Instrumentation/Controls , Oil and Gas
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Written by Ian Watson, Jim Steiger and Dr. T. Ravisundar, HydroAire, Inc.
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An 1,800 MW power station in the Midwest experienced constant trouble with four of its four-stage boiler feed pumps, which were driven by steam turbines and operated at variable speed to meet the required plant load.
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Written by Alex Harvey, Control Techniques - Americas
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In the U.S. industrial sector, motor-driven systems consume 70 percent of all electricity. Motor-driven pumps account for more than 30 percent of that amount-more than any other application. Considering energy and maintenance represent more than 80 percent of total motor life cycle costs, a growing number of system designers, specifying engineers, maintenance professionals and end users are turning to variable speed motor control systems that can save up to 60 percent in energy costs as well as significantly reduce maintenance and equipment costs, improve process control and enhance system reliability.
Tags: December 2009 Issue , Energy Efficiency , Instrumentation/Controls , Variable Frequency Drives
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Written by Arhit Phuttipongsit, GE Energy's Bently Nevada Asset Condition Monitoring
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Beating occurs when two dynamic excitation sources (forces) are close together in frequency, and a pathway allows the two excitation forces to transfer to each other. The beating effect results because the frequencies are so close to each other that the waveforms alternately reinforce each other at some times and cancel each other at other times. When the vibration from each source adds constructively, the vibration increases. When the vibration adds destructively, the vibration decreases.
Tags: December 2009 Issue , Instrumentation/Controls , Machinery Health
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