This article will define a business case for achieving significant rotating equipment maintenance and energy cost reduction at industrial and municipal facilities.
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Introduced in August 2008, the Retroflo RPC_2000 Pump Control System was designed to control pump stations as a whole, rather than just the individual components within them. Through continuous dynamic monitoring of the characteristics through a range of wet well levels and pump speeds, the system uses the full range of pumping data available to optimize performance. It can be retrofitted to existing stations or installed in new stations.
Why is "run to fail" a common operational strategy at water/wastewater organizations? Explore this phenomenon and other results from a maintenance methodology survey.
When the City of Delaware, Ohio, expanded its wastewater treatment plant, it looked to increase more than just capacity. It also wanted to increase its efficiency and automation capabilities to benefit the plant's operators and taxpayers.
Today's electricians are often found working in applications outside the realm of what is traditionally considered "electrical." Through new programs sponsored by the IBEW-JATC training schools and others, the skill sets of the electrical union workforce have broadened to include automation and controls.
A variable frequency drive (VFD) can be a valuable asset in reducing the life cycle costs in certain types of pumping applications. The traditional method of motor control in pumping applications is a low cost mechanical starter, which is essentially a large switch with a built-in motor protection device known as a thermal overload relay. A conscious decision to reduce upfront costs by using a mechanical starter may result in higher energy consumption, excessive component wear and poor power quality.
Understanding technology capabilities and application requirements is important when selecting a wireless technology for an application. The reasons to choose wireless include reduced installation costs, installation and deployment flexibility and the ability to address new applications. Before selecting wireless, first ensure the bandwidth available with wireless meets the application requirements.
The next generation solution for variable speed pumping applications are variable frequency drives (VFDs) with integrated advanced pumping software that solves various control applications without the need for a PLC or separate controller.
A dangerous misconception exists regarding the "Arc Rating" of infrared (IR) windows or viewing panes. Many reliability and maintenance professionals are under the impression that an IR window will protect them in the event of an arc blast. Others believe that installing IR windows will turn non-arc-rated switchgear or electrical equipment into "arc-rated" cabinets. Neither is true. Both misconceptions need to be corrected because they present safety concerns.
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This article will define a business case for achieving significant rotating equipment maintenance and energy cost reduction at industrial and municipal facilities.
An automated monitor provides a live, continuous picture of exactly what is happening inside a turbine for protection, prediction, performance monitoring, and integration of the data with process control.
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.
Wireless technology is enabling INEOS Köln GmbH (Cologne, Germany) to detect blocked filters in polyethylene pellet transportation tubes that can lead to production downtime at its plant in Cologne. INEOS produces polyethylene, which is used for a broad range of products including pipes, packages, films and coating. Polyethylene pellets ready for customer use are transferred to the plant's silo store through pneumatic conveying systems. Pellets are entrained in streams of air and effectively "blown" from one location to another. The incoming air is filtered to prevent any pollution of the final product.
Active Front End (AFE) drives use two power sections. An active rectifier is used to minimize the amount of harmonic distortion reflected to the power grid by drawing nearly sinusoidal current from the power grid. Standard 6-pulse rectifiers used in most drives create harmonics (e.g.5th, 7th, etc.) that can generate anywhere from 30 to 100 percent current distortion. The active rectifier used in the AFE drive creates cancelling harmonics that effectively eliminate those that would be created in a standard 6-pulse drive.
A sewage lift pump that pumps millions of gallons per day simply can't go down. To prevent this from happening, this pair of electricians went about testing some new electrical systems for those pumps with a new insulation multimeter.
Low-cost additions help bottle maker manage compressed air use and energy costs on a shoestring.
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.
Third in a series. Advances in wireless technologies can help address many common failure modes in mid- to low-level criticality assets and eliminate wiring costs for a range of asset types.
Even though control technology has become an integral part of many pumping systems, over half of our readers have not expressed much interest in pump controls. I think I know why - today's controls are simply not as intuitively understandable as they once were. Who wants to read about the advantages of PID control without a basic understanding of P, I, and D itself?
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In this multi-part series, we will investigate several aspects of centrifugal pump efficiency.
First of Five Parts
Since the original publication of this draft standard in the January 2008 issue of Pumps & Systems, I have received feedback, encouragement, numerous questions and criticism. The draft listed three basic levels of repair.
The McGraw-Hill scientific dictionary [5] states that a volute is "a spiral casing for a centrifugal pump... designed so that speed will be converted to pressure."
