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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It required only a couple notes of the haunting soundtrack to signal an imminent shark attack in the movie Jaws. As the theme began to swell, it became obvious that someone was going to “get it.” It would be nice to have a sixth sense that allowed us to hear "warning" music in daily situations. Condition monitoring systems provide a means of sensing when sharks are skulking toward your critical machines.
Balancing is essential for minimizing vibration, increasing bearing life and minimizing downtime and repair costs. Follow the guidelines from these standards to balance centrifugal pumps properly.
Data and life cycle management technology helps refineries maintain equipment and reduce the total cost of ownership.
Comparing the vibration performance of identical or like machines can be used to detect defects and judge their severity.
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.
Last month we reviewed the pump selection criteria for a closed loop circulation system (Vp-Vf). This month we will take a look at a similar application that adds some elevation to the equation.
Starting can have a significant effect on the life of the winding insulation of an AC motor. For this reason, motor manufacturers often limit the number of starts per hour and may also require a minimum run time and off time between starts. There are two events that occur during across the line starting that can reduce insulation life.
This article explores the use of condition monitoring at the UPM-Kymmene's Wisaforest pulp and paper mill in Finland. Production capacity is 800,000 air dried tons per annum (ADt/a) of pulp and 180,000 ADt/a of kraft and sack papers.
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.
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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.
Back in the old days, level control had little or nothing to do with saving energy. In fact, it was often a necessary evil. Today, that is no longer true - the VFD offers the potential for power savings in lift station applications that range from a few hundred gallons per minute to those that have to move thousands of gallons each minute.
Effective and secure cellular communications for remote data acquisition
The residents of Orlando and nearby communities are more likely to see lightning strike than have their toilets run dry. Extensive high-tech upgrades at Orlando's three advanced wastewater treatment plants, including new automation and control systems, have helped city staff process more sewage and gray water effectively and reliably.
Packaged pump systems are gaining popularity due to their space saving design, simplified installation, single source responsibility and advanced control options with communication ability.
Use of disposable components in product downstream processing and final fill operations is increasing as technology improves for performing these steps in a single-use mode. There is a high demand for systems that support single-use purification, formulation and filling operations.
In recent years, adjustable frequency AC drives have become increasingly popular as they provide an efficient, direct method of controlling the speed of the most rugged and reliable of prime movers, the squirrel cage motor. They provide a spectrum of benefits for a broad range of applications.
Choosing the right differential pressure flow meter for an application can be challenging. This article outlines the considerations and trade-offs in selecting the optimal technology.
To achieve a sustainable future, the green movement demands increased energy efficiency and conservation. Here is a look at how these changes will impact the water industry and its use of pumps and controls.
Many items must be considered when designing pump station control systems with power requirements, level control method and control panel location often among the most important.
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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."
