Pump monitoring at the cutting edge

With demand for water and wastewater treatment on the rise, operators tasked with keeping it all flowing face numerous challenges. Industrial Internet of Things technologies, including edge computing, may provide the answer, as Stratus Technologies explains.

At the top of the priority list for most pumping systems is the need to increase efficiency and reliability. Reducing energy consumption is a critical focus for both municipal and commercial operations. This requirement is driving the continuing movement away from singlespeed pumps towards the adoption of variable-speed pumps that can satisfy flow requirements while using significantly less energy. However, while they offer attractive advantages, variable-speed pumps are more sensitive and require more monitoring than traditional single-speed pumps.

Further, as operators also face expanding regulations governing water quality and effluent safety, in some cases, continuous monitoring is required to ensure regulations are met and avoid costly fines.

ENTER THE INTELLIGENT EDGE

To meet these challenges, forward-looking water and wastewater system operators are turning to Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) technologies, including distributed sensors and edge computing systems that bring intelligence right to the pumps and controllers doing the work. Edge systems provide the computing necessary to perform sophisticated monitoring and control of sensitive pumping systems that need to run 24x7x365, often located in remote and unstaffed locations.

Gathering and analysing data from a host of sensors on critical pumping components in real-time, edge computing systems can perform a wide range of highvalue applications. If critical performance parameters, such as temperature or vibration, are found to be out of range by the edge system in that location, the pump could be automatically shut down to prevent damage, with the system sending a real-time alert back to the central control facility.

Even more valuable is the ability to continuously gather data on pump performance and perform analytics to proactively determine when periodic maintenance is required. This predictive maintenance analysis can significantly reduce unplanned downtime while extending the lifespan of costly pumps and components.

LIMITLESS POSSIBILITIES

Given the flexibility of edge computing platforms, the possibilities for optimising operations are endless. Chemical treatment of water or wastewater can be automated with edge systems that analyse the chemical makeup of water or effluent in real-time, minimising the need for human intervention while maintaining optimal quality.

Leak detection is another application where IIoT sensors and edge computing systems can play an invaluable role. Edge systems can continuously analyse flow data and pinpoint problem areas with unprecedented speed. In fact, edge computing has a role to play at source locations and distribution points throughout the infrastructure, wherever data can be gathered, analysed and acted upon to reduce energy use, minimise human interaction and maximise efficiency and uptime.

EVOLUTION, NOT REVOLUTION

In the real world of water and wastewater operations, realising the intelligent edge will be an evolutionary process. The plan is often to start small and build on success.

Users must clearly understand what they are trying to achieve – to understand how success will be defined. Then a limited pilot program with clear objectives is an excellent place to start. For example, an edge system might be deployed at a remote pumping station to collect sensor data over time and perform simple analytics on pump performance. Periodically, a technician could visit the site and connect to the edge system using a tablet or mobile phone and review pump performance – without the complexity or expense of sending the data up to the cloud for analysis.

When a user is ready to scale up their intelligent edge infrastructure, this pilot approach can be replicated at critical locations as budget realities permit. This enables users to localise computing without having to invest in a lot of costly infrastructure. Ultimately, this can evolve into a hybrid cloud approach where local edge systems perform real-time monitoring and control functions, sending data relevant to longer-term planning up to the cloud for more in-depth historical analysis.

MAKING THE CASE

The business case for IIoT and edge computing is already well established in process industries. In the oil and gas industry, edge systems are used to monitor far-flung pipeline pumping and compressor stations, identifying potential performance problems before they interrupt the flow of product or cause an environmental disaster.

For industries where the performance of pumps and other critical components impacts the bottom line, the decision to deploy IIoT sensors and intelligent edge systems is an easy case to make. For water and wastewater system operators, the case for an incremental approach to edge computing that targets crucial points of potential efficiency gains and/or component failure is just as strong.

www.stratus.com