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PlantEngineering.com

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR More than a dozen solution categories Analytics, AI, edge take prizes

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input #15 at www.plantengineering.com/information

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Reliable & low noise Extremely low starting current and less cogging reduces mechanical stress, increases reliability and produces ultraquiet operation. Power density Higher ratings per frame size than traditional motor designs Reduces cost and saves valuable space

479-646-4711 baldor.abb.com input #16 at www.plantengineering.com/information

Protect your people and plant for less! with low-cost safety mats, edges and bumpers. Safety Edges SENTIR Safety Contact Edges are pressure-sensitive sensors that ensure safety at the edges of crushing or shearing points which are prone to accidents. Install near automatic gates, machines, handling equipment or moving elements in order to protect individuals from bodily harm or machinery from damage. 25 x 45mm, 25 x 30mm, and 15 x 25mm Profiles Starting at $22.00 (15 x 25mm - 2-foot length) • Available in 2-ft, 5-ft, 20-ft and 82-ft lengths • Sections can be easily daisy chained • Requires aluminum mounting rail (included with some models)

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Starting at $69.00 (4-inch length) • Available in lengths from 4-in to 4-ft • Sections can be easily daisy chained • Preassembled, includes mounting rail and end caps

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SENTIR diamond plate safety mats provide a wide horizontal detection area for personnel. Polyurethane safety mats with an aluminum diamond plate surface are ideal for applications where greater durability is desired.

Safety bumpers are typically used to detect presence of heavy machinery in applications involving moving equipment or vehicles. These vibration-resistant bumpers provide reliable detection in harsh conditions. • Can wire in 2-wire or 4-wire circuits

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input #1 at www.plantengineering.com/information

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input #2 at www.plantengineering.com/information

Honey, I’m home! Tired of working nights and weekends on motion control projects? It’s time to contact an automation specialist at SEW-EURODRIVE for help. We provide a complete package from start to finish, including project planning, software, components, commissioning, troubleshooting, and worldwide support. Let our specialists be an extension of your team.

seweurodrive.com | 864-439-7537 input #3 at www.plantengineering.com/information

MAY 2020

SOLUTIONS 25 | Self-service analytics supplier wins 2019 product of the year grand prize High-tech solutions seamlessly mix with those addressing plant engineering basics

29 | Five steps to improve your electrical safety program OSHA recommends ways to make your electrical safety program better

36 | Adopt prevention through design for electrical safety

Editor’s Insight 5 | The state of uncertainty persists

INSIGHTS 7 | Swagelok shares its best practices for essential manufacturing operations

Company ran table-top exercise in recent years to gauge impact of possible pandemic; key documents used to define concepts and actions taken

11 | Your questions answered: Maintenance technology and the industrial skills gap

Apply best practices to maintenance operations despite shortages in talented industrial personnel

16 | Survey indicates arc flash incidents remain common Survey says safety training per employee nears $1K per annum

Leaders and managers need to implement a proactive prevention through design (PtD) program and track near misses to mitigate electrical safety hazards and protect workers in their plant

39 | Optimization of a plant cooling system design

Size a feed water pump; consider heat-exchanger options; determine cooling system power and energy use

44 | Compressed air audit optimizes efficiency

A compressed air system evaluation can provide owners and facilities engineers with the direction they need to ensure their plant is operating efficiently and reliably

50 | Basic leak detection with acoustic imaging

Consider reaching beyond ultrasonic leak detection to find pesky compressed air leaks

INNOVATIONS

INSIDE: IIoT FOR ENGINEERS

53 | New Products for Engineers

Is the Purdue model still relevant?

PLANT ENGINEERING (ISSN 0032-082X, Vol. 74, No. 4, GST #123397457) is published 10x per year, monthly except in January and July, by CFE Media, LLC, 3010 Highland Parkway, Suite #325, Downers Grove, IL 60515. Jim Langhenry, Group Publisher /Co-Founder; Steve Rourke CEO/COO/Co-Founder. PLANT ENGINEERING copyright 2019 by CFE Media, LLC. All rights reserved. PLANT ENGINEERING is a registered trademark of CFE Media, LLC used under license. Periodicals postage paid at Downers Grove, IL 60515 and additional mailing offices. Circulation records are maintained at CFE Media, LLC, 3010 Highland Parkway, Suite #325, Downers Grove, IL 60515. E-mail: pe@omeda.com. Postmaster: send address changes to PLANT ENGINEERING, PO Box 348, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. Publications Mail Agreement No. 40685520. Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to: PO Box PO Box 348, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. Email: pe@omeda.com. Rates for non-qualified subscriptions, including all issues: USA, $165/yr; Canada/Mexico, $200/yr (includes 7% GST, GST#123397457); International air delivery $350/yr. Except for special issues where price changes are indicated, single copies are available for $30 US, $35 foreign. Please address all subscription mail to PLANT ENGINEERING, PO Box 348, Lincolnshire, IL 60069. Printed in the USA. CFE Media, LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage caused by errors or omissions in the material contained herein, regardless of whether such errors result from negligence, accident or any other cause whatsoever.

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PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

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Whether you’re in need of assistance for a scheduled plant shutdown, or routine CSA (Customer Service Agreement) maintenance, we’ve got you covered. We offer standby, emergency and prime power maintenance programs with monthly, quarterly, or annual service options. Or we can build a completely customized plan to meet your budgetary and application needs. Our main goal is keeping our customers up and running. Over the years, we have set the standard for power systems service, thanks to our outstanding field service capabilities, expertise, labor-saving equipment, and computerized diagnostic tooling.

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© 2020 Caterpillar. All Rights Reserved. CAT, CATERPILLAR, LET’S DO THE WORK, their respective logos, “Caterpillar Yellow”, the “Power Edge” and Cat “Modern Hex” trade dress as well as corporate and product identity used herein, are trademarks of Caterpillar and may not be used without permission. www.cat.com / www.caterpillar.com

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CONTENT SPECIALISTS/EDITORIAL KEVIN PARKER, Editor KParker@CFEMedia.com JACK SMITH, Managing Editor JSmith@CFEMedia.com AMANDA PELLICCIONE, Director of Research 860-432-4767, APelliccione@CFEMedia.com KATIE SPAIN NAREL, Art Director KSpain@CFEMedia.com SUSIE BAK, Production Coordinator SBak@CFEMedia.com

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD H. LANDIS “LANNY” FLOYD, IEEE Life Fellow H.Landis.Floyd@gmail.com JOHN GLENSKI, President, Automation Plus jglenski@processplus.com SHON ISENHOUR, Partner, Eruditio LLC sisenhour@EruditioLLC.com DR. SHI-WAN LIN, CEO and co-founder, Thingswise, LLC Industrial Internet Consortium (IIC) board member shiwanlin@thingswise.com JOHN MALINOWSKI, Senior manager of industry affairs (retired), Baldor Electric Company DAVID SKELTON, Vice president and general manager Phoenix Contact Development and Manufacturing dskelton@phoenixcontact.com BILLY RAY TAYLOR, Director of commercial and off-highway manufacturing The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Billytaylor@goodyear.com LARRY TURNER, President and CEO, Hannover Fairs USA lturner@hfusa.com MARK WATSON, Senior director, manufacturing technology, IHS Markit Mark.watson@ihsmarkit.com

CFE MEDIA CONTRIBUTOR GUIDELINES OVERVIEW

Content For Engineers. That’s what CFE Media stands for, and what CFE Media is all about—engineers sharing with their peers. We welcome content submissions for all interested parties in engineering. We will use those materials online, on our Website, in print and in newsletters to keep engineers informed about the products, solutions, and industry trends. * www.plantengineering.com/contribute explains how to submit press releases, products, images and graphics, bylined feature articles, case studies, white papers, and other media. * Content should focus on helping engineers solve problems. Articles that are commercial in nature or that are critical of other products or organizations will be rejected. (Technology discussions and comparative tables may be accepted if non-promotional and if contributor corroborates information with sources cited.) * If the content meets criteria noted in guidelines, expect to see it first on our websites. Content for our enewsletters comes from content already available on our Websites. All content for print also will be online. All content that appears in our print magazines will appear as space permits, and we will indicate in print if more content from that article is available online. * Deadlines for feature articles intended for the print magazines are at least two months in advance of the publication date. Again, it is best to discuss all feature articles with the content manager prior to submission.

Learn more at: www.plantengineering.com/contribute

INSIGHTS

By Kevin Parker, Editor

The state of uncertainty persists The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics admits it today cannot precisely quantify the effects of the pandemic on the U.S. job market for March of this year, let alone the impacts of what’s happened since then. What we do know is that, like many others, the auto industry closed production facilities in March and sent workers home to help stop the spread of coronavirus, which causes COVID-19. Companies in other industries and all world geographies did the same. Now, as of May 5th, the auto industry is nervous anxious, like the others, to get back to work. The South Korean automaker, Kia, has restarted limited volume production at its manufacturing facility in Georgia, according to the RoadShow from CNet website. Hyundai restarted production May 4 at its Alabama-based plant. Daimler, the automaker overseeing the Mercedes-Benz brand, started ramping up production of its plant in Alabama on April 27. In Europe plants started coming back online April 30 with numerous safety protocols in place. Daimler was one of the first major European automakers to shutter operations.

What we don’t know

Except for a few contrarians that have subsequently paid the price, the immediate global response to the virus was to bring everything to a screeching halt in a kind of global gut check. We’ve now entered an intermediate stage, characterized by continuing chronic uncertainty. In the absence of knowledge, people feel compelled to get back out there. Yet no one knows how we, or the virus will react. That’s because the analytic models, as Dr. Fauci has said, are only as good as their inputs. Garbage in equals garbage out. All the analytics in the www.plantengineering.com

world won’t help when you don’t have the data. “The shutdowns haven’t impac ted our current workloads, but it’s certainly impaired our ability to visit customers. S ome of our engineers have had customer hardware shipped to their homes, because embedded systems can be hands-on,” said Ed Kuzemchak, CTO and co-founder of Software Design Solutions, headquartered in the Pittsburgh area. “Many of our clients are part of essential industries, such as oil & gas or transportation. Their operations have changed, and things have slowed down. On the other hand, in many places we were so close to “lights out” manufacturing, shouldn’t we start to think of it as a viable alternative, at least as a means to achieving needed distancing?” Kuzemchak said.

International allegory

This editor was once asked to attend a week’s worth of marketing meetings at the Swedish software company he was working with. Participants were Scandinavian, British, and U.S. citizens. Painting with a broad stroke it went as follows: The Scandinavians said, “We are going to sit here and map out this process in the most complete detail possible so that we will all be in complete agreement before we’re done.” The Brits said: “It’s all ballocks. The only reason you can keep the lights on is because we cover for you. Decide anything you want. In two weeks it’ll be back to where it was and we’ll be the only ones that know what works. The Americans said: “Just make a decision. If it turns out to be a bad decision, we’ll just stop and make another decision to fix it.” I ain’t going to lie, it’s that propensity to make quick decisions that worries me. PE PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

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Lead with integrity. Insist on independent electrical testing. Ensure safety and reliability by engaging third-party electrical testing contractors.

LEARN MORE AT

NETAWORLD.ORG input #5 at www.plantengineering.com/information

INSIGHTS COVID-19

By Kevin Parker

Swagelok shares its best practices for essential manufacturing operations Company ran table-top exercise in recent years to gauge impact of possible pandemic; key documents used to define concepts and actions taken

ore than 200 manufacturers attended a Zoom call briefing from Swagelok Co., the maker of fluid system components, that outlined with considerable clarity the steps the company is taking to continue operations as an essential manufacturer amidst the Coronavirus crisis. The briefing, which took place on April 8th, was hosted by MAGNET (Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network), a consultancy that supports manufacturers in northeast Ohio. Swagelok Co. is an approximately $2 billion privately held developer of fluid system products headquartered in Solon, Ohio. Its manufacturing operations include about 5,500 employees at 20 manufacturing facilities in the U.S., Isle of Man and China. The company’s products and services are sold through a network of authorized sales and service centers in 70 countries. Swagelok is an essential business as defined by the Department of Homeland Security’s cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency (CSIA). Steps taken by Swagelok to continue operations include: • Enforcement of social distancing measures • Associate self-check prior to entering sites • Enhanced hygiene protocols in production and operations areas based on Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines • Mandatory remote work for all office associates and, as feasible, support associates, to a total of about 800 associates • Quarantining of associates reporting potential or confirmed exposure to someone with the virus • Staggered shifts to reduce population overlap • A structured approach to communications within the management team and with its employee associates, customers and supply chain. Throughout the presentation, Swagelok managers described a highly deliberative approach that relies on an abundance of caution, key documents and individual responsibility.

www.plantengineering.com

Swagelok’s preparations for the possibility of a pandemic began some time ago as part of the activities of its long-standing strategic risk committee. “Several years ago, we did a table-top exercise for the eventuality of a pandemic that served as a good tool for guiding our initial actions,” said Ward Dumm, vice president of operations. Having a Swagelok facility in China helped the corporate management team to better understand some of the profound implications of the virus’ spread. Realization of what was coming led to the formation of a crisis response team that included three sub-teams, for 1) associate impact, 2) business continuity for customers and the supply chain and 3) communications, both internal and external. Its most immediate actions, which Dumm described as values-based, included associate wellbeing and safety and taking needed actions regarding customers and the supply chain. Daily executive management meetings and leadership communications, and bi-weekly communications with all associates drive the process.

Associate impact

The sub-team on associate impact included representatives from human resources, operations and communications. “The guidelines we’ve enacted are based on recommendations from WHO [The World Health Organization], the CDC and medical experts. In cases where medical experts wouldn’t hazard an opinion, we exercised an abundance of caution,” said Hannah Delis, director of global human resources. At first, work-at-home was optional for employees able to do so but was subsequently deemed mandatory. The IT and communications department addressed the technical challenges involved. Associates working at production sites were issued a letter that verified their role as part of a critical manufacturing enterprise, available in the event they were questioned by authorities, which has happened in at least several instances. PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

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INSIGHTS COVID-19

“Several years ago, Swagelok ran a table-top exercise for the eventuality of a pandemic that served as a good tool for guiding its initial actions in response to the spread of Covid-19,” said Ward Dumm, vice president of operations, Swagelok.

Entering facility premises is governed by a selfcheck process, defined by a key document. In brief, the process verifies the individual is: • Not under quarantine at that moment • Not experienced COVID-19 symptoms in the last 72 hours and more than seven days have passed since the onset of any symptoms (the 7/3 rule for symptomatic associates) including fever, cough, respiratory illness or difficulty breathing • Not waiting for COVID-19 test results or been in contact with someone waiting for results • Not had close contact with or cared for someone diagnosed with COVID-19 • Not engaged in Level 2 or Level 3 travel, as defined by the CDC • Not returning to work without a release to return to work from a medical provider.

On the plant floor

Once in the facility, achieving social distancing required cessation of all large group meetings. Limits were placed on the number of people allowed to congregate in common areas. And shifts were staggered by one half hour to avoid congestion and allow for area cleaning, according to Wayne Ostrosky, director of operations, fittings group. “Work cells were separated from each other, or where that wasn’t possible, plexiglass barriers between work cells were installed,” said Ostrosky.

• May 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

“Managers' desks were moved. All interior doors were propped open. And in rest areas only one chair is permitted per table.” The CDC defines close contact as being within six feet for a prolonged period, i.e., for one-half hour, or subject to exposure to another person’s excretions. “It’s not our culture to distance ourselves from each other so we’ve put tape on the floors, we’ve posted signage and we have bi-weekly communications with all associates to emphasize and remind ourselves of the need to comply with these steps,” said Dumm. “Just demonstrating what six feet of separation looks like is important.” The cleaning protocols used within the facilities for suspected or confirmed cases of contamination are based on CDC guidelines. CAD drawings were used to define the areas to be cleaned. In some cases, where work had been performed by two associates working in tandem, the less optimal alternative of having it performed by a single person was adopted. Rather than a collective heaveho, heavy lifts are accomplished using machines whenever possible. Where collaboration among shop-floor associates is essential, video cameras and other technology is being used so that details of work being performed can be shared.

Document and communicate

It is important to have documents that define the terms used in policies and the protocols that outline procedures, said Delis. Documents that Swagelok shared with other manufacturers on the call included close contact guidelines and how to maintain the six-foot guideline, good hygiene practices and cleaning protocols by security level, return-to-work policy and hardship paid time off policy. One factor influencing company policies and their execution is how difficult it is for anyone to see a doctor now, Delis said. At Swagelok’s China facility, the government required that those entering the facility have their temperature taken. At its Ohio and Pennsylvania facilities, this step was investigated per Gov. Mike DeWine’s requirement, which was subsequently amended. Swagelok instead implemented the associate self-check, which involves temperature monitoring prior to start of shift and a more comprehensive checklist, based on medical recommendations. Swagelok will provide masks for all employees, but their use will be optional. The company is providing guidelines on the proper use of homemade masks but will not allow scarves due to potential entanglement issues. PE www.plantengineering.com

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input #6 at www.plantengineering.com/information

COVID-19 UPDATE

At Spiroflow, we have adapted our process amid the COVID-19 crisis, but we will not stop working for you. As a critical infrastructure supplier, Spiroflow will remain open and continue to manufacture hygienic equipment essential for your operations, now more than ever. We're in this together, even if it's six feet apart. - Jeff Dudas, Spiroflow CEO Scan to view a video of the AMC

www.spiroﬂow.com/knows

input #7 at www.plantengineering.com/information

(704-766-8065)

INSIGHTS SKILLS & SERVICES

By CFE Media editorial staff

Your questions answered: Maintenance technology and the industrial skills gap Apply best practices to maintenance operations despite shortages in talented industrial personnel

n April 2nd, Plant Engineering hosted a webinar, sponsored by Advanced Technology Services (ATS), that focused on the results of a recent survey of manufacturing executives and operations personnel regarding issues and challenges, trends and likely future developments for the manufacturing maintenance function. The survey results represent a snapshot of efforts devoted to achieving best practices in maintenance operations. Key survey findings included the following: • Seventy-six percent of manufacturing facilities follow a preventive maintenance strategy; 60% use a run-to-failure method and 52% have a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS).

Jim Freaner, senior director, Advanced Technology Services

• The leading cause of unscheduled downtime within respondents’ facilities remains aging equipment (34%), followed by mechanical failure (20%) and operator error (11%). The prospect of increased reliability and productivity — and therefore profitability — remains an incentive to optimize maintenance operations. Adoption and implementation of new and emerging strategies, including digital technology tools, while challenging, continues to move forward. To review the survey results in full or access the archived version of the webinar, please visit www.plantengineering. com. The webinar presenters, Jim Freaner, senior director, and Jeff Kosiorek, vice president, both from Advanced Technology Services, answered a series of questions related to technology, the skills gap evi-

www.plantengineering.com

dent in today’s industrial marketplace and importance of training. A healthy selection of those questions and the presenter’s answers follow. Q. How can manufacturers compensate for an aging workforce and what are some ways to transfer knowledge from an older generation to the younger generation? Jim Freaner: There are several things we are doing and have seen other manufacturing organizations do in this regard: 1. Start hiring inexperienced people with good aptitude who are willing to learn. Many companies still use tests as part of their hiring criteria, which is fine if you only want experienced people who don’t need training. Organizations need to get comfortable hiring people who need some development. 2. We find that a mentorship program can work very well. Senior technicians who are either close to retirement or have retired can be great mentors for new employees. You need to spend some time putting the program together and be selective about choosing mentors, but this can be a good way to transfer knowledge, reinforce good work habits and impart sound organizational values. 3. Use technology to leverage the experience and skills resident across your entire organization. We, and maintenance and repair leaders, need to be creative in addressing these problems. Enlist support from human resources and information technology folks or anybody willing to help. 4. In addition, we transition some of our most experienced, veteran technicians into instructor roles, which greatly extends their working career, as it is less demanding physically, has a more appealing schedule and pace and makes them proud to be mentoring and coaching younger and less experienced technicians. Now, 90% of our instructors PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

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INSIGHTS SKILLS & SERVICES

are former ATS technicians and 100% are former skilled tradesmen. Q. My plant seems to have a reactive approach to training. We cover topics with the technicians only after some gap in our readiness has been exposed. How can we make training more predictive? Jeff Kosiorek, vice president, Advanced Technology Services

Jeff Kosiorek: Technical training is essential to a skilled, efficient workforce. An investment in maintenance training is an investment that pays valuable returns in higher output. The consequences of inadequate training can have a material effect on a plant’s bottom line, with 70% — 80% of equipment shutdowns across industries caused by human error as a direct result of rushed, incomplete or nonexistent training. The training gap is real, with 60% of manufacturing facilities recognizing that their companies do not make an adequate investment in employee training, mainly due to cost pressures and turnover rates among employees. At ATS we proactively assess our technicians within 90 days of hire with a statistically validated and EEO compliant technical assessment. This assessment rates our technicians in 57 different technical subjects. The techs are then rated based on five technician levels. From that a career path is created for each technician based on their current role as well as their desired career destination. From a safety training perspective, we are committed to an injury-free workplace through our “Live Safety 24/7” culture — mitigating maintenance and production risks. Q. How do you feel industry and more specifically the maintenance function will be influenced by the introduction of machine learning technology into software applications? (Note: machine learning allows computer programs to adapt to new data based on pattern recognition and advanced statistical methods.) JF: Technology advocates are saying that machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence will create the next industrial revolution. Other, more pragmatic folks believe adoption of technology is going to be a long, protracted evolution due to challenges related to IT security and people in the workplace being resistant to adoption.

• May 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

I believe the advent of AI and machine learning will be good for manufacturing and the economy in general. AI and machine learning will, like other technologies, have applications that grow significantly and help industry become more flexible and nimbler. But, much like when the first industrial robots came onto the scene, I don’t see this rapidly transforming all our factories and having them run “lights out” in the very near future. AI for maintenance applications has a way to go yet. First, if you have a robust CMMS with good data there are some really great software analytics packages which can help identify trends. If you have the budget (and good data) I would consider one of these packages while you wait for the AI solutions available in the market to mature a bit. Technology has created a lot of jobs in our economy in the last 20 years and I believe this will continue. It’s something we need to stay current with because, as for other technologies, the rate of change is increasing, and we will see more advances in the next five years that we have seen in the previous five years. Traditional roles seen in manufacturing today will change and some functions may be combined as technology simplifies work and helps to reduce redundant/ low value tasks. Q. You discussed employee training to improve retention. What other recommendations do you have to improve retention of skilled maintenance personnel? JK: That’s a broad question! Let me start by saying that compensation is important, but I don’t believe simply increasing wages will solve this problem entirely. Sure, wages and benefits need to be competitive, but simply paying more than the company across the street won’t “fix” retention. In my experience people generally don’t leave companies, they leave poor leaders and organizations with poor cultures. People want to be respected and they want a work environment where they are valued and where they see value in their work. Skilled technicians are no different. Our leadership team has spent time working to improve emotional intelligence among our business and site leaders. We have also spent time reinforcing our organization’s culture. I spoke during the webinar that the ATS culture is built on four foundational pillars – Live Safety, Value Employees, Engage Customers, and Drive Results – on which every employee works to build upon through ownership of their personal well-being and professional development. I believe company culture directly impacts retention more than most other things you can do. Work to build a culture www.plantengineering.com

of transparency, mutual respect and trust and you will go a long way toward retaining your top talent. In summary, 1) treat people with trust and respect 2) engage people in developing solutions 3) communicate, communicate, communicate. I believe the Covid-19 crisis will bring good leaders to the top. Leadership is key in managing a crisis. Good leaders will rise to the challenge. Given the magnitude of the impact of COVID-19 I don’t believe any organization’s leadership or culture will remain unchanged. Q. We have a very well-known CMMS in our facility that has been in place for some time. We struggle every year to get funding to approved to make improvements/upgrades. Do you have any suggestions for other things we can do to improve with a very limited technology budget? JF: We see this in plants using CMMS packages deployed many years ago. We occasionally see some in use that are no longer supported or updated by the developer. There are also companies that have done a stellar job of developing, launching and fully utilizing their EAM/CMMS systems. However, most systems we see are under-utilized for all kinds of reasons. For example, if spare parts and materials are maintained and managed in a separate system this can limit how effectively teams can use CMMS. Using CMMS data (including bill of materials) and maintenance planning to prepare material kits for jobs can significantly improve performance. Also, having technicians provide input to those kits to add items that may be missing will help improve planning accuracy and technician utilization. Maintenance job plans should not be static. We regularly see big gaps in work execution management. This can create gaps in how maintenance jobs get done and impact quality of work, especially regarding precision maintenance tasks. Having these job plans detailed and standard work clearly identified (and illustrated if possible) can really help. Most older CMMS systems do have these capabilities. I would evaluate how fully you are using the current system and find ways to take full advantage of the current capabilities. I’d do this while also working to frame a business case that supports an upgrade or replacement. Q. What is your opinion regarding integrated predictive maintenance? JK: Few breakdowns happen without warning. The challenge is spotting the signs early enough to plan and schedule repairs! Predictive maintenance services (PdM) provide that insight and should be a part of www.plantengineering.com

any maintenance strategy. The technology available today provides ample options to reduce the cost and complexity of implementing a PdM program. Predictive maintenance technologies include thermography testing, vibration and oil analysis, and ultrasonic leak detection. Before there’s any obvious sign of impending failure, replacement parts can be put on order and the work can be scheduled for a time that minimizes production losses. A predictive maintenance program can supplement a preventive maintenance program. However, industrial machine predictive maintenance represents a more advanced approach with several differences from preventive maintenance. Most importantly, preventive maintenance occurs on a set schedule — whether or not issues with equipment are present. Although there are learning and personnel curves involved in implementing a predictive maintenance plan, the efficiencies of a more targeted, more effective maintenance practice prove themselves worthy of the investment. A predictive maintenance program reduces unplanned production downtime by allowing better maintenance scheduling. It improves equipment safety and product quality through early identification of changes in operating conditions. Capacity increases when less time is spent on reactive maintenance and costs go down because there’s less need for overtime and rush orders. PdM can also help improve safety by reducing the technician’s exposure to hazardous tasks. Safety can be an easily overlooked application for PdM technology. Q. What are the most critical types of data looked at for indications of good machinery health and what technologies are you using the acquire it? JF: This is very dependent on the plant or process supported and the physical environment. The first consideration would be use of remote sensing technology to limit exposure to hazardous areas, whether defined by heat, cold, loud noise, elevated heights or some other parameter. I would then look at critical assets and monitor common or highly critical failure modes based on your specific assets and environment. In some applications vibration analysis can provide indications of premature wear or alignment issues. There are also options to help measure/monitor current draw on motors that can also be an indicator of problems before a catastrophic failure. The advancements being made with high speed image capture can be very revealing in identifying vibration and other dynamic forces applied to equipment during normal operations. PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

•

INSIGHTS SKILLS & SERVICES

Temperature sensors have various applications and varying technologies available. With the variety of options on the market my suggestion would be to implement the simplest, easiest and lowest cost to begin demonstrating the value of the technology. Increase this investment in technology as your team becomes better able to manage the complexities of more advanced systems. Q. How do you support your customers remotely? What system do you use? JK: During this unpredictable time in our economy, it is important to provide our customers with a rapid response and remote maintenance support. This is powered by three key areas. First is our maintenance forum that allows remote connectivity to a network of ATS subject matter experts. This modern and integrated approach to leveraging talent allows us to rapidly solve problems and deploy repeatable and reliable solutions. Second, our subject matter expert network rapidly connects customers to an expert who has proven competencies to troubleshoot and repair most manufacturing applications. Networked collaboration, coordinated through our technology center, provides a platform for

webcasts

effective troubleshooting, decreased downtime, reactive labor and increased productivity. Third, our proprietary technician hub acts as a troubleshooting search engine and is at the fingertips of our remote support technicians. By giving them the ability to search our database of digital equipment prints, OEM manuals and equipment specific best practices, it provides real-time access to critical asset documentation on the factory floor and remote collaboration. ATS also specializes in industrial parts repair and availability. From electronic and mechanical part repairs to root cause analysis, our industrial services are focused on providing optimal efficiency through best practices in asset productivity and uptime. Through ATS’ strategic channel partners and leveraged supply chain network we have the breadth and depth to deliver any part needed to get a customer’s equipment up and running fast. This includes expedited electronic and mechanical parts repair for over 1,000 OEM brands at our state-of-the-art, ISO 9001 and ISO 17025 accredited facilities. Our skilled repair technicians have the experience and technical knowledge to perform every repair with the highest quality and turnaround, all at a significant cost savings. PE

Plant Engineering’s webcasts cover the latest engineering topics that affect your industry and operations. Join the expert panelists and attend our webcasts at your desktop or mobile device of your choice. Discover the latest on topics like:

• Arc flash

• Compressed air

• Electrical safety

• Power distribution

• Plant safety

• Energy management

• Maintenance

• Asset management

• IIoT

• Safety management

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INSIGHTS INDUSTRY RESEARCH

By Jack Smith and Amanda Pelliccione

Survey indicates arc flash incidents remain common Survey says safety training per employee nears $1K per annum

hat stands out in the 2020 Plant Engineering electrical safety survey is nine in 10 facilities have an electrical safety program that heightens the overall awareness of potential electrical hazards and selfdiscipline on the plant floor. Results of these programs indicate electrical safety awareness has an impact, as 97% of respondents believe their employees feel safe on the job, and 80% said employees feel respected by management. Also, 80% of respondents have observed an increase in productivity over time due to implemented electrical safety programs. When it comes to where electrical safety programs excel, 75% of respondents say their facilities do well at placing emphasis on personal protective equipment (PPE). However, the surprise is the gap between this and the next response: Emphasis on electrical safety training at 53% — a 22% difference. Another surprise is only 42% of respondents said their facility’s electrical safety programs excel at placing emphasis on arc flash.

Enforcing electrical safety

According to survey respondents, the top seven methods plants use to enforce electrical safety are job safety analysis (79%); regular safety meetings (72%); safety audits (68%); discipline, suspension or termination (67%); management leadership (63%); safety committee (63%); and peer-to-peer (57%). Although the largest number of respondents (35%) said electrical safety meetings are held only as needed and at undefined intervals, those who contribute advice or input at these meetings are no surprise. The top five players include electrical department management/supervision (60%), electricians (58%), engineering (57%), safety executives/managers (56%) and maintenance (55%).

Electrical incidents

In the 6 months prior to this survey, 66% of respondents had zero OSHA recordable electrical incidents

• May 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

in their facilities. In the same timeframe, 69% of respondents had zero OSHA recordable electrical incidents resulting in lost time. When asked about arc flash, 58% of respondents say their facility has never experienced an arc flash incident. However, an alarming 31% say their facility has experienced one or more arc flash incidents. Results of these incidents include lost time (38%), no injury (30%), death (11%) and permanent disability (9%). Equipment or properties damaged by arc flash incidents include switchgear (43%), wire and cabling (43%), motor control centers (36%) and parts of the facility (9%).

Study highlights

Highlights of the 2020 Plant Engineering electrical safety study include the following: • Respondents have worked in plant- or engineeringrelated positions for an average of 27 years. • Safety meetings are the primary method of informing electrical workers and management about electrical-safety-related issues or incidents. • Respondents are located throughout the U.S., and especially in the, east north central, south Atlantic and Pacific regions. • 68% of respondents are responsible for maintaining, implementing or managing electrical safety standards. • 63% of respondents are impacted by electrical safety standards in their day-to-day work operations. • The annual cost of electrical safety training per employee is $845. • The average annual budget for electrical safety training and equipment is $33,910. www.plantengineering.com

• 42% of respondents made no change to the budget for electrical safety training and equipment from 2018 to 2019; only 23% increased budgets.

• Not enough time for training is the primary challenge to electrical safety, according to 66% of respondents.

• 93% of respondents indicate the company pays for a worker's electrical safety equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE).

• 48% of respondents say their companies excel at placing emphasis on PPE. PE

Electrical Safety Program Features Awareness of potential electrical hazards and self-discipline

90% 84%

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

80%

Procedures to be used before work is started

75%

Risk assessment procedure

72%

Accident prevention

71%

Principles upon which the program is based

70%

Job briefing prior to start of work

64%

Condition of maintenance of electrical equipment/systems

52%

Controls by which the program is measured and monitored

41%

Electrical safety audits performed at 3-year intervals Other

Well-managed Electrical Safety Program Features Excellent Awareness of potential electrical hazards and self-discipline

Acceptable

Good

45%

43%

46%

Risk assessment procedure

45%

34%

Accident prevention

44%

38%

Principles upon which the program is based

41%

Condition of maintenance of electrical equipment/systems Controls by which the program is measured and monitored Electrical safety audits performed at 3-year intervals

www.plantengineering.com

46% 37% 43% 45%

15%

35%

Procedures to be used before work is started

Job briefing prior to start of work

11%

31%

56%

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

12%

17% 16% 14%

43% 37%

13% 15%

45%

14%

38% 32%

PLANT ENGINEERING

18%

May 2020

•

INSIGHTS INDUSTRY RESEARCH

Commitment to Electrical Safety Fairly committed

Very committed

67%

Electrical workers/electricians

26%

Operations management

57%

31%

Senior management

57%

30%

53%

Line supervisors

28%

44%

Line workers

31%

Where Electrical Safety Programs are Excelling 75%

Emphasis on personal protection equipment (PPE)

53%

Emphasis on electrical safety training

49%

Behavior-based safety

42%

Emphasis on arc flash

36%

Emphasis on shock hazard

28%

Peer-to-peer training on the plant floor

21%

Amount of automated safety systems

Challenges to Managing Electrical Safety Serious challenge

Not enough time for training

10%

25%

Availability of funds

27%

Employees don’t see it as a priority

Availability of resources, solutions

Not enough support from management

Workers’ union plant safety cooperation

Somewhat of a challenge

Moderate challenge

• May 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

31% 21%

17%

30%

16%

31%

14% 12%

18% 11%

www.plantengineering.com

Actions Items for Improving Electrical Safety 56%

Increase safety training/awareness

38%

Identify arc flash hazards

37%

Identify shock hazards

31%

Encourage more peer-to-peer interaction Increase frequency of safety meetings

25%

Re-evaluate records for incidents/near-misses

25%

Encouraging workers to attend safety seminars/webinars

20%

Introduce or increase frequency of safety audits

20% 16%

Implement a computer monitored safety system

14%

Introduce a third-party safety expert/consultant Introduce/enhance an incentive-based program

11%

Other

4% 16%

No plan to change current safety culture

Methods Used to Enforce Electrical Safety 79%

Job Safety Analysis

72%

Regular safety meetings

68%

Safety audits

67%

Discipline, suspensions, termination Mangement leadership

63%

Safety committee

63% 57%

Peer-to-peer

34%

Incentive based programs

27%

Web-based safety meetings (e.g. toolbox talks) All of the above Other Don’t know

www.plantengineering.com

10% 13% 2%

PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

•

INSIGHTS INDUSTRY RESEARCH

Safety Meeting Contributors 60%

Electrical department management/supervision

58%

Electricians

57%

Engineering

56%

Safety executives/managers Maintenance

55% 35%

Work group leaders Outside consultants/experts

25%

Peer groups

23% 18%

Union representatives Other Don’t know

4% 2%

Electrical Safety Strategies & Technologies in Use Lockout/tagout (LOTO)

84%

Personal protective equipment (PPE)

84% 67%

Job Safety Analysis

54%

Internal audits

44%

Embedded safety controls

33%

Outside training consultants

30%

External audits

26%

Incentives

24%

Web-based safety meetings (e.g. toolbox talks) Insurance audits Association events Other

• May 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

21% 13% 3%

www.plantengineering.com

Annual Budget for Electrical Safety Training & Equipment Don’t know

40%

Less than $10,000

More than $100,000

22%

7% $75,001 to $100,000

5% $50,001 ro $75,000

$10,000 to $20,000

$20,001 to $50,000

12%

11%

Electrical Safety Training Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

Job-related Safety Don’t know

0 hours

Don’t know

40+ hours

First-aid/ Personal Safety 0 hours

0 hours

Don’t know

40+ hours

11%

40+ hours

7% 21-40 hours

20%

www.plantengineering.com

1-20 hours

62%

21-40 hours

11%

1-20 hours

72%

21-40 hours

PLANT ENGINEERING

1-20 hours

71%

May 2020

•

INSIGHTS INDUSTRY RESEARCH

Measuring Safety Success 81%

Accident reports, near miss events

53%

Lost time injury frequency rates

50%

Safety audit results

49%

Fewer OSHA recordables/time-lost accidents

32%

Employee surveys

27%

Lower insurance premiums

23%

Lower workers compensation costs Lower employee turnover

13%

Other

Don’t know

OSHA Recordable Electrical Incidents in the Past 6 Months Total OSHA Recordable Electrical Incidents Don’t know

Don’t know

13%

16%

6 or more — 2% 0

3 to 5 — 6%

66%

2 — 5%

OSHA Recordable Electrical Incidents Resulting in Lost Time

6 or more — 1% 3 to 5 — 2% 2 — 6%

69%

1 — 6% 1 — 8%

• May 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

www.plantengineering.com

Arc Flash Incidents Don’t know

11%

My facility has never experienced an arc flash incident

58% My facility has experienced one or more arc flash incidents

31%

Informing Staff About Electrical Safety Issues & Incidents 80%

Safety meetings

54%

Email Postings of safety-related statistics/ information (incl. online)

41% 38%

Computer-based reporting system, auto-alert

33%

Word of mouth

32%

Shift change meeting

26%

Phone call Newsletters Other

www.plantengineering.com

16% 2%

PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

•

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input #9 at www.plantengineering.com/information

SOLUTIONS PRODUCT OF THE YEAR By Kevin Parker

Self-service analytics supplier wins 2019 product of the year grand prize High-tech solutions seamlessly mix with those addressing plant engineering basics

rendMiner, a Software AG company, received the grand prize in the Plant Engineering Product of the Year awards competition for its TrendMiner 2019 R.3 analytics software. As is well known, analytics is the discovery, interpretation and communication of meaningful patterns in data. It is the first time a high-tech software solution incorporating machine learning and other aspects of artificial intelligence has been recognized by Plant Engineering readers voting for the product of the year. “The focus today is on enabling fact-based decision making. This is the democratization of analysis. It is no longer the exclusive working area of the data scientist. Instead, everyone is more data driven and uses insights from data in combination with deep process expertise,” said Joan van de Watering, general manager, TrendMiner.

Gold medal winner for asset management Maintenance technicians in the oil & gas, petrochemical and chemical processing industries will now be able to use the unique PRUFTECHNIK single-laser technology and ruggedized tablet with touchscreen to perform laser shaft alignment. sensALIGN single-laser technology offers a superior measurement principle that ensures best measurement accuracy and repeatability in any situation. With a single-laser alignment system, measurement setup is faster, and a machine pre-alignment is not necessary, saving hours of work. No matter the distance or length of the spacer shaft, the measurement accuracy remains consistent. Even over short distances, where accuracy may become a problem in double laser systems, the dual detectors inside the single sensor ensure high accuracy. vertiSWEEP enables the measurement of vertical machines with only one shaft rotation, and the cardan shaft rotating-arm bracket makes cardan shaft alignment a breeze since measurement can be performed without removal of the cardans shaft. Also available is the Soft Foot Wizard and the Move simulator, allowing the operator to simulate shim values and horizontal corrections before starting to move the machine. www.plantengineering.com

The 2019 release of TrendMiner allows process manufacturing enterprises to build analytics-driven production cockpits. The production cockpit analyzes live production process, compares progress to historical production runs, and displays diagnostics, quality status and predictions for production operators or management through individually designed dashboards. It also streamlines the flow of information between shifts and from shift teams to engineers and can provide live production views and historical analysis from the most remote factory to expertise located anywhere in the world, giving them the power to make informed decisions rapidly. This capability should be of interest to companies in the chemicals, oil & gas, water & wastewater, utilities, pharmaceuticals, food processing and metals & mining sectors. “It shows that self-service analytics have arrived and are accepted by industry as a new way of working. Early adopters have generated value and their success convinced others to look at how they themselves use data and recognize the consumption gap that’s existed,” said Fredérick Motte, customer success manager, TrendMiner. Seeq, another provider of process manufacturing analytics software, also was recognized by Plant Engineering readers for its self-service analytics solution. A further indication of the growing importance and acceptance of machine learning and artificial intelligence as a production technology was that the PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

•

SOLUTIONS PRODUCT OF THE YEAR

gold winner in the process automation category was an artificial intelligence module from Siemens. The Simatic S7-1500 neural processing unit (NPU) allows simple and profitable combination of AI algorithms and PLC logic. This means, for example, that for a pick-and-place application, a robot can be trained to discover and use the best grasping points.

services and solutions. CFE Media sister publication Control Engineering has a similar awards program, and the Plant Engineering Top Plant award is also presented at the event. Postponed because of the Coronavirus restrictions, CFE Media is hoping to host a similar event in the Fall. Please refer to the chart following to see all the 39 award winners in all 13 product categories. For now, we’d simply point out that the focus on emergent technologies extended beyond those entries already cited.

Other highlights

In total, the awards program identified three winners across each of 13 categories for a total of 39 gold, silver and bronze award winners. In the past many of the winners of the Plant Engineering Product of the Year awards would have attended the CFE Media & Technology Engineering Awards in Manufacturing event in April in Chicago. The event brings together representatives from a wide range of companies focused on furnishing the manufacturing industries with innovative products,

Food Safe bearings designed for aggressive cleaning ABB has launched Dodge Food Safe mounted ball bearings, designed to withstand caustic, high-pressure cleaning and sanitation processes. The new bearings are the first industrial bearings to achieve the IP69 water protection rating without the use of an end cover, making them ideal for use in the food and beverage industry, where equipment must be aggressively cleaned. They are the only bearings to carry a warranty against failure due to water ingress. Consumers and stringent health regulations increasingly challenge food manufacturers to guarantee higher food safety and hygiene standards. However, harsh chemicals and high-pressure sprays used in clean-in-place (CIP) procedures can quickly deteriorate product reliability. ABB’s Food Safe bearings are resilient against these cleaning agents. The bearings’ 100% stainless steel insert design combined with a revolutionary top coat, offers superior protection against corrosion. The smooth housing without a grease fitting minimizes contamination harbor points and is easy to clean. The bearing is sealed and lubricated for life to minimize maintenance costs. To prevent grease wash-out, the leading cause for bearing failure in washdown environments, the Food Safe bearing is equipped with industryleading lubrication protection.

•

May 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

The most important application of analytics in industrial environments, and certainly for readers of Plant Engineering magazine, is for predictive maintenance. IIoT devices, including sensor technology, are a big part of it. For the category of asset management, Plant Engineering readers recognized Grace Engineering Products’ release of a line of smart devices for monitoring asset health. The battery-powered Grace Sense vibration and temperature node can be deployed onto any rotating equipment to predict anomalies before they turn into catastrophic failure. Because vibration detection mimics the kind of intuitive insight that an experienced operator in production environments brings to bear, its importance as a sensing medium has grown. Stratus Technologies, in the category of automation and controls, was recognized for its ztC Edge, a zerotouch, reliable, secure, highly automated computing platform, specifically designed for industrial edge environments. Stratus says that ztC Edge, purposebuilt for operational technology (OT), is easy to set up, configure and manage. With built-in virtualization and availability layer, automated data protection and application recovery, the platform reduces dependence on IT for virtualized computing at the edge. Its self-protecting and self-monitoring features help reduce unplanned downtime and ensure the continuous availability of business-critical industrial applications. In our introduction, we’ve been able to highlight only a few of the award winners. All of them, however, are worthy of your attention. To examine them in detail, feel free to visit CFE Media’s Products for Engineers Database. PE www.plantengineering.com

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input #10 at www.plantengineering.com/information

Winner 2019

SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL SAFETY

By H. Landis “Lanny” Floyd, PE, CSP, CESCP

Five steps to improve your electrical safety program OSHA recommends ways to make your electrical safety program better

rawing from U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, Electrical Safety Foundation International (ESFI) has updated occupational electrical injury and fatality statistics to include 2018 performance. The ESFI report shows that the trend in electrical fatalities has been essentially flat for the past 10 years, although the trend in nonfatal lost-time injuries continues downward. In 2018, there were 160 fatalities from exposure to electrical energy, an 18% increase over 2017 and the highest number of fatalities since 2011. There was a record low of nonfatal lost-time electrical injuries in 2018: 1,560, a 29% decrease over 2017. The phenomena of a flat trend in fatal injuries at the same time as a continuing downward trend in nonfatal injuries is Figure 1: The publication Recommended not unique to electrical Practices for Safety and Health injuries and fatalities. Programs is the centerpiece of the It is a general characupdated OSHA resources. All images teristic of all hazards courtesy: OSHA in the workplace that have a credible potential to cause long term disabling or fatal injuries. The disconnect between the trends in fatal and nonfatal injuries has had the attention of safety management experts for nearly two decades. While the long-term trend in occupational injuries and fatalities in the U.S. has been downward, other countries have demonstrated progress significantly better than the U.S. A recent study shows the occupational fatality rate in the U.S. is nearly four times higher than www.plantengineering.com

that in the United Kingdom. In response to the flattened trend in occupational fatalities, federal agencies at the forefront in workplace safety have taken steps to enable employers and workers to identify gaps better and improve the effectiveness of workplace safety programs. In 2006, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health launched the Prevention through Design (PtD)national initiative to emphasize engineering design opportunities in facilities, equipment, tools and processes to complement safe work practices and personal protective equipment in reducing the risk of injury. More recently, in 2016, OSHA created and continues to add resources to support its efforts in promoting recommended practices for safety and health programs.

Electrical safety program implications

Employers should benchmark their electrical safety programs against the core elements of effective safety management outlined in industry standards such as ANSI Z10 and ISO 45001. Widely considered one of the most prominent standards regarding workplace electrical safety in the United States, NFPA 70E: Standard for Electrical Safety in the Workplace provides safe work practices and other administrative controls aimed at reducing the risk of exposure to hazardous electrical energy. The standard acknowledges that safe work practices and administrative controls comprise a part of an electrical safety program and reference safety management standards as resources to aid employers in addressing the essential elements of an effective electrical safety program not addressed in NFPA 70E. Effective application of safety management systems standards typically requires having safety professionals competent in the standards. Many small businesses do not have the resources to have this competency in-house, and the task of understanding and implementing safety management systems standards can be overwhelming. To aid small companies and other organizations lacking the resources needed to implement safety management systems PLANT ENGINEERING

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SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL SAFETY

standards, OSHA has published guidelines to assist employers in core elements of safety management proven essential for effective and robust safety programs (see Figure 1). These core elements are interrelated and are best viewed as part of an integrated system. Actions taken under one core element will likely affect actions needed under one or more other elements. A library of resources, summarized in Figure 2, was developed speFigure 2: The cially for use by small organizations. For electrical OSHA website safety, this means any organization can now have dedicated easy access to resources to address the gaps in an to helping electrical safety program not included in NFPA 70E. employers One of the resources is the OSHA Crosswalk of Volunderstand and untary Standards and Guidelines, which shows how implement core the core elements in OSHA Recommended Practices elements of for Safety and Health Programs are aligned with effective safety safety management systems standards and leading management. organizations in occupational safety. Figure 3 shows only a portion of the Crosswalk, showing how the core element Management Leadership is aligned with voluntary standards and guidelines. Five key steps to improve your electrical safety program, based on the OSHA recommendations, are discussed in this article. 1. Enable management leadership. Management provides the leadership, vision and resources needed to implement an effective electrical safety program. Top management should demonstrate its commitment to continuous improvement in electrical safety, communicate that commitment to workers and set program expectations and responsibilities. Managers at all levels should make electrical safety a core organizational value, establish safety and health goals and objectives, provide adequate resources and support for the program and set a good example by demonstrating a commitment to eliminating hazards, reducing risks, protecting workers and continuously improving workplace electrical safety. Some examples of visible leadership include establishing a written policy describing the organization’s commitment to electrical safety, communicate the pol-

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icy to all workers and stakeholders, including contractors, suppliers, visitors, providing the resources needed to implement the electrical safety and program, integrating electrical safety into planning and budgeting processes and aligning budgets with program needs. 2. Empower worker participation. Workers should be involved in all aspects of the program — including setting goals, identifying and reporting hazards, investigating incidents and tracking progress. By encouraging workers to participate in the program, management signals that it values their input into electrical safety decisions. Workers are often best positioned to identify electrical safety concerns and program shortcomings, such as emerging workplace hazards, unsafe conditions, close calls/near misses and actual incidents. By encouraging reporting and following up promptly on all reports, employers can address issues before someone gets hurt. Including worker input at every step of program design and implementation improves the ability to identify the presence and causes of workplace hazards, creates a sense of program ownership among workers, enhances their understanding of how the program works and helps sustain the program over time. Opportunities to engage workers span all aspects of the program, including setting goals, identifying and reporting hazards, identifying safe work practices, developing safety procedures, participating in incident investigations, training electrical and non-electrical workers, leading safety audits and program evaluation. Workers must feel that their input is welcome, and their voices will be heard. Differences in language, education or skill levels in the workplace must be considered. We live in an electrical world, and all workers have some exposure to electrical hazards. For office workers, exposure may be limited to appliances, cords, outlets and power strips. For construction laborers, exposure includes extension cords, power tools and overhead and underground powerlines. Overhead lines are a concern as unintentional contact with mobile equipment, scaffolds, ladders and conducive materials is a leading cause of fatality for construction workers. A key question to ask: Is our electrical safety program applied to workers whose job expectations include working on or near energized circuits and equipment, or is it applied to all workers who may have exposure to electrical hazards? The electrical safety program should include all workers, with details of the program tailored to hazards and risk in specific work environments. 3. Build competency. A common root cause of workplace electrical injuries is the failure to identify or recognize hazards that are present, or that could have www.plantengineering.com

been anticipated. Unrecognized hazards or underestimation of risk can lead to unintentional acceptance of risk. A critical element of any effective electrical safety program is a proactive, ongoing process to identify and assess such hazards. Hazards can be introduced over time as work areas, and processes change, equipment or tools are damaged, cords become worn, maintenance is neglected or housekeeping practices decline. Setting aside time to inspect the workplace for electrical hazards regularly can help identify shortcomings so that they can be addressed before an incident occurs. For each hazard exposure identified, you should determine the severity and likelihood of incidents that could result and use this information to prioritize corrective actions. Some hazards, such as damaged cords or missing covers, should be fixed as they are found. Fixing hazards on the spot emphasizes the importance of electrical safety and takes advantage of a safety leadership opportunity. You should include all areas and activities in these inspections, such as storage and warehousing, facility and equipment maintenance, purchasing and office functions and the activities of onsite contractors, subcontractors, temporary employees and visitors. Checklists that highlight things to look for are helpful. Checklists can be developed for major categories such as work environment, equipment operation, equipment maintenance, work practices and work organization. Workplace electrical incidents, including injuries, close calls/near misses, and equipment failures can provide a clear indication of where hazards exist. By thoroughly investigating incidents and reports, hazards that are likely to cause future harm are identified. The purpose of an investigation must always be to identify the root and contributing causes to identify every opportunity to prevent future occurrences. www.plantengineering.com

Figure 3: OSHA’s “Crosswalk to Voluntary Standards” helps navigate a variety of standards, guidelines and models available to help establish or improve an electrical safety program. This is an excerpt showing how the management leadership element of the OSHA Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs is aligned with corresponding elements in ANSI Z10 Occupational Health And Safety Management Systems, National Safety Council Journey to Safety Excellence and ISO 45001 Occupational Health And Safety Management Systems.

Having a plan and procedure for conducting incident investigations can enable investigations to begin immediately when an incident occurs. The investigation plan should cover who should be involved, what skills need to available, and what training members of the investigation team need. Where hazards are identified, controls should be selected according to a hierarchy that uses engineering solutions first, followed by safe work practices and other administrative controls and finally, personal protective equipment (PPE). Employers should select the controls that are the most feasible, effective, and permanent. New technologies may have the potential to be more protective, more reliable or less costly. Whenever possible, select equipment, machinery and materials that are inherently safer based on PtD principles. Apply PtD when making your facility, equipment or product design decisions. For more information, see the link to the NIOSH PtD initiative. It is crucial to ensure that selected controls are implemented, interim protection is provided, progress is tracked and the effectiveness of controls is verified. Evaluate control measures to determine if they are effective or need to be modified. Involve workers in the evaluation of the controls. If controls are not adequate, identify, select and implement further PLANT ENGINEERING

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SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL SAFETY

Figure 4: Templates for self-auditing the core elements of safety management are available on the OSHA website supporting Recommendations for Safety and Health Programs. This is an excerpt from the self-auditing template for the management leadership element. The Action and Guidance text in this figure is modified to focus on electrical safety.

control measures that provide adequate protection. For example, after establishing an electrically safe work condition, hazardous energy may still exist at the boundary of the safe working zone, such as on the line side of isolation devices, in adjacent compartments of motor control centers or switchgear, behind shutters in drawout circuit breaker cells and behind doors and covers that could be opened. Risk control planning should take into consideration how miscommunications, distractions or misunderstandings could lead to failure of the implemented controls to prevent exposure or injury. By asking, “How could this control fail?” additional engineering or administrative controls may be warranted to control the remaining risk. It is usually the case that no single method fully protects workers, requiring a combination of controls or multiple layers of protection is almost always appropriate. 4. Assess education and training needs. Education and training are essential tools for informing workers and managers about electrical hazards and

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controls, and for understanding the electrical safety program so that everyone can contribute to its development and implementation. Managers, supervisors and workers need to understand the program’s structure, plans and procedures. Having this knowledge ensures that everyone can fully participate in developing, implementing and improving the program. Additional training may be needed depending on the roles assigned in the program. For example, employers, managers and supervisors may need specific training to ensure they can fulfill their roles in providing leadership, direction and resources for the electrical safety program. Workers assigned specific roles in the program (e.g., incident investigation team members) may need the training to ensure their full participation in those functions. Employers, managers and supervisors are responsible for workers’ safety, yet sometimes have little training on safety-related concepts and techniques such as risk assessment, the hierarchy of controls and PtD. They might benefit from specific training on these, and other topics will allow them to fulfill their leadership roles in the program better. Worker training should be tailored to the specific hazards and risks associated with their job responsibilities. Office workers with exposure to cord-powered office equipment should have training appropriate for this risk. Workers using mobile equipment or handling long conductive materials need training on identifywww.plantengineering.com

ing and avoiding overhead powerlines. Electricians whose job expectations include working near energized equipment and components need hazard identification and risk control training specific for their exposure to hazardous energy. Additional training may be needed when a change in facilities, equipment, processes, materials or work organization could increase hazards, and whenever a worker is assigned a new task. A formal process may be needed for determining the training needs of workers responsible for developing, implementing and maintaining the program. Promoting awareness of home electrical safety is a way to engage everyone in the organization in thinking about electrical safety. Management, supervision and workers can apply home electrical safety tips in their personal lives. Topics can include ground fault circuit interrupters (GFCIs) and arc fault circuit interrupters (AFCIs), extension cords, electrically powered tools and appliances and overhead and underground utility powerlines. Home electrical safety education can provide a sound base for understanding and value for the electrical safety program at work. Electrical Safety Foundation International has an extensive library of home electrical safety awareness materials that can be downloaded at no cost. 5. Think continual improvement. Once an electrical safety program is established, it should be evaluated initially to verify it is being implemented as intended. After that, employers should periodically, and at least annually, step back and assess what is working and what is not, and whether the program is on track to achieve its goals. Whenever these assessments identify opportunities to improve the program, employers, managers and supervisors — in coordination with workers — should make adjustments and monitor how well the program performs as a result. Sharing the results of monitoring and evaluation within the workplace, and celebrating successes, will help drive further improvement. The first step in monitoring is to define indicators that will help track performance and progress. Both lagging and leading indicators should be used. Lagging indicators track worker exposures and injuries that have already occurred. Leading indicators track how well various aspects of the program have been implemented and reflect steps taken to prevent incidents and injuries before they occur. Electrical injuries comprise less than 0.2%, or less than 1 in 500, of all nonfatal occupational injuries. The relative infrequency of electrical injuries can create an illusion of having an effective electrical safety program. A rare serious electrical injury or fatality may www.plantengineering.com

be incorrectly viewed as a random event. Incidents and injuries that are low in frequency also can mean that a company or organization does not have enough internal data to be statistically meaningful. Due to the inherent low-frequency occurrence of electrical injuries, an individual or company may not recognize the potential for a fatal (high consequence) injury. The lack of, or a low number of, electrical injuries is not a valid indicator of the quality of the electrical safety program. Factors that may be better indicators of electrical safety program quality are leading indicators such as: • Frequency and quality of electrical safety training for electrical workers, nonelectrical workers, line supervision, management and support personnel such as safety professionals, contractor administrators and training staff • Frequency of field audits that examine the implementation of the organization’s electrical safety program • Quality and frequency of management system audits focused on preventing exposure to electrical hazards • Attention to inherently safer design in hardware selection and electrical system design in capital projects • Discipline in maintaining maintenance programs for equipment and systems critical to electrical safety. Initially and at least annually, management should evaluate the program to ensure it is operating as intended, is effective in controlling identified hazards and is making progress toward established electrical safety goals and objectives. The scope and frequency of program evaluations will vary depending on changes in your organization, OSHA regulations, industry standards and the scope, complexity and maturity of your electrical safety program. The evaluation should take into consideration whether changes in equipment, facilities, materials, key personnel or work practices trigger the need for changes in the program.

One size does not fit all

OSHA Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs should be tailored to the electrical safety program for your workplace. The core elements for successful safety management are common across all hazards and the recommended practices and supporting resources can be applied to any safety and health hazard in the workplace. By inserting “electrical safety program” wherever “safety and health program” appears in the tools and resources, you will see opportunities to improve visibility, support, PLANT ENGINEERING

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SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL SAFETY

engagement and robustness of your electrical safety program. Experimentation, evaluation and program modification are part of the process. You also may experience setbacks from time to time. What is important is you learn from setbacks, remain committed to finding out what works best for you and continue to seek leading edge methods. Electrical injuries occur in all types of workplace settings, from manufacturing sites to hospitals and health care facilities, to offices, to construction and to service industries. The preventive approaches described in the OSHA recommended practices work equally well across all sectors of the economy, for all different kinds of hazards, in Resources referenced in both mobile and fixed work environments; and this article for small, medium-sized OSHA Recommended Practices for Safety and large organizations. and Health Programs Small employers may www.osha.gov/shpguidelines/ find that they can best NIOSH Prevention through Design accomplish the actions www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/ptd/default.html outlined in these recommended practices using Electrical Safety Foundation International informal communicawww.esfi.org/

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tions and procedures. Larger employers, who have more complex work processes, may require a more formal and detailed program. They also may wish to integrate their electrical safety program with other programs they are using to manage assets, production, quality control and environmental protection or sustainability. You can use the self-evaluation tools found on the OSHA Recommended Practices for Safety and Health Programs website to track your progress and assess how fully you have implemented each action item. Figure 4 is an example of one of the continual improvement tools available on the OSHA Recommended Practices website. PE H. Landis “Lanny” Floyd, PE, CSP, CESCP, Life Fellow IEEE, is a member of Plant Engineering’s Editorial Advisory Board. He is an adjunct professor in the Advanced Safety and Engineering Management graduate engineering program at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. In that position, he teaches Electrical Systems Safety, Introduction to Prevention through Design and Systems Safety and Engineering Ethics and Acceptable Risk. He retired from DuPont in 2014 after a 45-year career devoted to prevention of electrical injuries and fatalities.

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SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL SAFETY By Marty Kronz

Adopt prevention through design for electrical safety Leaders and managers need to implement a proactive prevention through design (PtD) program and track near misses to mitigate electrical safety hazards and protect workers in their plant

odern manufacturing facilities need a comprehensive approach to its electrical safety program policies and practices. Creating a safe workplace requires rigorous enforcement of electrical safety standards and strict adherence to guidelines with close monitoring of industry best practices. Performing work without turning off power and verifying that a de-energized condition exists is a leading cause of electrical injuries. The Electrical Safety Foundation International statistics show that there were 2,210 nonfatal electrical injuries in 2017, an increase of 35% over 2016. Workplace safety is always a top priority on the job and in the plant environment, but even with this focus and mindset, accidents happen. Typically, the response to electrical incidents and near misses is to propose more safety training, but training alone is not enough. It is crucial to incorporate design-first thinking to improve workplace electrical safety and accurately track near misses to see where opportunities for improvement exist. Leaders and managers need to implement a proactive prevention through design (PtD) program and track near misses to mitigate electrical safety hazards and protect workers in their plant.

The significance of PtD

As a principle, PtD is an achievable solution to improve worker health and safety, especially when it comes to electrical safety. Designing to reduce or eliminate hazards, before any electrical exposure happens in the workplace, should be a top priority for industry safety professionals and plant floor managers. PtD includes all efforts to prevent injuries by reducing exposure to hazards primarily through design efforts rather than administrative controls or personal protective equipment (PPE). It applies not only to products and equipment but also processes and procedures used on the plant floor.

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The PtD concept is firmly taking hold within the safety and plant engineering community. Efforts are being made to increase its adoption through inclusion in standards. Every manufacturing process has many inherent safety risks. It is essential to identify and minimize potential hazards from the beginning. With PtD, new technologies and products reduce human exposure to hazards to achieve higher safety levels, making electrical infrastructure safer for anyone entering the facility for the duration of its lifecycle. Product development by way of PtD also can simultaneously increase productivity, as it limits worker exposure to electrical hazards during routine maintenance and work activity while making the process faster and less complicated.

How PtD reduces workplace injuries

PtD begins with the process of identifying potential risks within a process or environment with the goal of eliminating that risk whenever possible. In cases where risk elimination is impossible or impractical, substitution (replacing the hazard) or engineering controls (isolating people from the hazard) is the most effective means to reduce workplace injuries (see Figure 1). Several PtD products have been developed to replace or isolate people from the risk, such as permanently mounted light curtains, data access ports, infrared (IR) windows for thermal Inspection and absence of voltage testers (AVTs). The process of de-energizing and verifying equipment in an electrically safe work condition before beginning work can help prevent electrical incidents. AVTs are the only permanently mounted testing devices specifically designed with this in mind by determining if a circuit part is de-energized before opening panels or removing covers to access and maintain electrical equipment. The AVT not only reduces the risk of exposure to electrical hazards but also simplifies the traditional, time-consuming, www.plantengineering.com

Figure 1: NIOSH defines five rungs of the Hierarchy of Controls: elimination, substitution, engineering controls, administrative controls and personal protective equipment. All images courtesy: Panduit

handheld equipment process to a reliable, single pushbutton action. AVTs help improve electrical safety by way of a PtD approach and are an ideal preventive option for plant floor maintenance and reliability professionals, their staff and safety professionals (see Figure 2). It is beneficial to examine whether absence of voltage testing can be optimized using PtD methodology because of how frequently it is done in the manufacturing workplace. Every safety and plant floor manager’s top priority is to provide a workplace free from serious safety and health hazards, as well as ensuring the workplace is in compliance with applicable standards, rules and regulations to maintain safety in their manufacturing facility. Safety managers today are challenging electrical infrastructure suppliers to create dependable methods of identifying and verifying de-energized electrical equipment.

Near miss reporting is an essential tool

According to IEEE, “a ‘near-miss’ is generally defined as an unplanned incident that did not, but had the potential to, result in an injury.” In an electrical safety environment, this would be an incident where a potentially life-threatening or fatal shock, arc flash, arc blast, electrical fire, etc., could have taken place. These misses are valuable information resources for plant and safety management. So why do so many near misses go unreported? One main reason is company culture. It is the responsibility of plant and safety managers to establish a welcoming safety culture on the plant floor. Some best practices include posting and explaining the definition of a near miss, reporting on not only incidents but near misses and communicating them as lessons learned and immediate and simple recording processes so near misses do not get lost in that day-to-day. What should companies do once an electrical near miss occurs and is reported? Companies with active safety cultures often have a “work-stop” meeting where the employees and managers discuss the near miss, why it happened and how it can be prevented in the future. When floor employees are trained in root cause analysis (RCA), these conversations often www.plantengineering.com

are l e d by the floor e mp l oy ees and are m ore pro ductive. This employee and manager team approach goes a long way in nurturing a positive safety culture. It also empowers the floor employees to be responsible for their safety, gives them the tools to report near misses and a sense of ownership in eliminating the hazard. These conversations should guide plant and safety managers to establish new safety processes and use them as an opportunity to apply and use PtD principles. But the safety mindset must not stop there — following up on near misses, regularly auditing equipment, job plans and procedures are essential to making sure a culture of safety “sticks” with the employees.

The importance moving forward

Worldwide, industry implementation of PtD and reporting near misses still has room for improvement. Adopting and nurturing an environment that promotes safety culture that encourages near miss reporting is a key to identifying PtD opportunities. Plant management’s role in the PtD process is obvious: Establish a motivational force to promote designing for safety and protect workers by implementing solutions that help reduce exposure to hazards throughout their facility. PtD methodology can be applied to existing tools, equipment and processes, but addressing safety early in the PLANT ENGINEERING

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SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL SAFETY

Figure 2: Example of an Absence of Voltage Tester.

design process is more economical and should be the first option explored. Safety pays when it comes to plants and factories. Electrical injuries account for one of the highest average workers’ compensation costs, with sources indicating the average direct cost of an electrical injury ranges from $50,000 to $80,000. The indirect loss can even exceed this by four times because of the ensuing property damage and repair and lost productivity. Approaching a total cost of $500,000, companies should think twice about how effective their safety program, procedures and tools are. Because of PtD and the adoption of near miss reporting, the safety culture is changing. New technology like AVTs will continue to play an important role in electrical hazard reduction strategies for plants worldwide. PE Marty Kronz is manager of prevention through design — OEM Business. He leads the Panduit OEM Business Development team, defining its strategy to meet sales and profitability goals. He joined Panduit in 1992 and has held a variety of engineering and product management roles with the company.

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SOLUTIONS

PUMPING SYSTEMS & HEAT EXCHANGERS By Doug Kolak

Optimization of a plant cooling system design Size a feed water pump; consider heat-exchanger options; determine cooling system power and energy use

T Figure 1: Process control diagram for the pumping system. All graphics courtesy: Mentor

o optimize a plant cooling system, let’s first look at using system simulation software to obtain accurate sizing of a feed water pump. Simulation software can reduce system oversizing and increase safety and efficiency. For analyzing a plant cooling system design, simulation software that is able to model thermal and fluid dynamics is needed. Then, simulation analyses will be used to integrate the chilled water side of the cooling system into the design, consider various heat-exchanger options and determine cooling system expected power and energy use, creating a baseline model and better understanding of lifecycle costs. Finally, using the baseline design, optimization software will be used to further refine the design to the most optimal arrangement for the plant cooling system.

Get started

Pumping systems ensure fluids reach their destination through often-complex flow distribution net-

works. However, for most industry sectors, pumping systems usually have the highest power consumption of any process system. Estimates run that operation and maintenance often make up more than 80% of lifetime pumping system costs. Initial pump sizing usually comes early in the design process. All data and final routing may not be available, but it’s possible to estimate based on initial layouts (see Figure 1). The model is composed of several heat sources: a diesel generator, ancillary equipment, scavenger oil cooler, lubrication oil cooler and engine jacket. A feed water pump also is part of this cooling loop. The entire loop interacts with a cooling loop that pumps seawater through a heat exchanger. System constraints include the following: • Limit of 80°C on temperature, anywhere in the system. • The seawater system was finalized so no changes could be made to the pumps or piping on that side, only to the heat exchanger through which it interacts. • Due to the layout and constraints, maximum pipe size was a 200-mm, schedule-40, nominal pipe size. Figure 2: Input data for pump and line sizing.

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PUMPING SYSTEMS & HEAT EXCHANGERS

Figure 3: System curve results.

With these constraints, what parameters could be changed? First was pipe size. To keep things simple, consider a schedule 40 stainless steel between 100- and 200-mm piping at 25 mm nominal increments, with 7-inch or 175-mm excluded due to lack of ready availability. Second, an initial estimate gave an expected flow rate of 0.0631 m3/s, which is about 1,000 gal/min. However, to ensure proper pump operation under different flow rates, a sweep from 0.0158 to 0.0788 m3/s, or about 250 to 1,250 gal/min should be considered. Finally, the heat exchanger was looked at. It’s a shell and-tube configuration with either two or four passes. Its length will be from 1 to 5 m. Asking a few questions can lead to the best solution. What is the overall system pressure drop? Which pump options fit the system? Finally, what is the power requirement of the selected pump?

Calculating system pressure drop

In this analysis, we focus on the cooling system’s closed-loop portion, excluding the seawater side. To determine losses in the system over a range of Figure 4: flow rates, the pump initially can be configured as a Pump and flow source and pressure sink. This allows forcing a system curves. flow rate on the system so that simulation software can calculate required upstream pressure based on

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the outlet pressure and system component accumulative losses. Certain fixed data is assumed constant from design to design. For the pipes, a roughness of 0.025 mm can be used. Piping lengths vary from five to 35 meters. For utilities, a loss coefficient of 0.2 can be used. Other data varies, including pipe diameter, volumetric flow rate, orifice diameter and flow area of the utilities. To accurately estimate system performance, let’s look at four different pipe inner diameters, corresponding to 100, 125, 150, and 200 mm schedule-40 pipe. Also considered were five different flow rates from 0.0158 to 0.0788 m3/s (see Figure 2).

Running virtual experiments

Here is where major software benefits apply. Running many scenarios is simple and fast. We create variable parameters and assign them to components in place of specific numbers. We can then configure the design of experiments to vary these values from run to run. Once the variables are configured, the software sets up the experiment. We determine how the variable parameter data is to change. For pipe diameter, discrete values are used, which allow entering specific numbers. This is helpful when there isn’t a distinct mathematical pattern to the entries such as for pipe schedules. For flow rate, we set a start- and end-value and select the number of values; in this case, five. The software then determines the values and creates the run matrix of a full factorial, in this case, 20 total, which runs in just under 15 seconds. From the experiments, results are exported directly to a spreadsheet for graphing of the four possible system curves. The 100-mm option resulted in far too high resistance, ruling that option out immediately. As for the 125-, 150-, and 200-mm options, the system curves look reasonable, so a decision will likely be based on weight and operating expense. From initial heat load calculations, we know the system should be run at around 0.63 m3/s. If a vertical line is drawn on the graph, we can see where that intersects with our system curve (Figure 3). Drawing a line horizontal to the y-axis determines what the required head rise from the pump will be. As an example, for the 125-mm option, it would be about 22.1 meters. This information helps narrow down the pump options to those that have a rated head and rated flow as close to these values as possible. Once the search is narrowed down to two pumps from the manufacturer, the head curves can be overlaid onto the graph. Given information from the pump manufacturer that at a speed of 2,500 RPM, the maximum efficiency was 77% at a flow rate of 0.63 m3/s for both pumps. The only difference was in the shape of the pump performance from the best efficiency point. www.plantengineering.com

The final step is to see where the pump curves interact with the system curves. This is where the pump will end up operating (Figure 4). Looking at the two pumps versus the 125-mm system, pump 100B intersected to the left of the desired flow rate. This meant the pump would not deliver the desired flow rate unless it ran at a higher speed than it is rated, something that would lower the efficiency, costing money. Although pump 101A didn’t intersect exactly at the desired flow rate, it was close and slightly to the right, so it could provide enough rate and some buffer. Selecting 101A, we can input the pump data for the manufacturer can be inputted and an analysis run to see how it operates in the model. The results shows the intersection point or operating point is at a slightly higher flow rate than the flow rate of 0.063 m3/s; but not by much, which meant the head rise is going to be slightly lower than the rate value. But again, not by much. This means that the efficiency is going to be slightly lower at 74.9% versus the stated 77%. Ultimately, the required power would be just over 8 kW. The first step to optimize the design of a new industrial cooling system for both cost and performance has been demonstrated. A traditional design process to build the thermo-fluid simulation model is perfectly valid for meeting engineering constraints. However, these solutions could still be cost-inefficient. Further analyses will refine our options.

Heat exchanger options

Let’s now look at how simulation analyses can be used to consider heat-exchanger options and determine expected power and energy use of the plant cooling system, working to model and optimize lifecycle costs. With the pump sized and the seawater circuit incorporated into the model, let’s look at heat exchanger data. The simulation software uses empirical data to define the heat exchanger. This includes thermal duty, used in the utilities, hot or cold stream temperature difference, or effectiveness or nascent number, specified as single values or as varying with flow rates. These are usually good options, if you have the test or manufacturer’s data. However, if that’s not an option, or for greater control defining the heat exchanger, the geometry can be specified. In this case, selection of heat exchangers can be based on the VDI heat atlas used in the power generation and process industries, as well as an advanced option, which caters more toward designing automotive heat exchangers. In this example, the geometry-based option from the VDI heat atlas is used. The first decision is the type of heat exchanger. To look at the difference between a two-pass and a fourpass, shell-and-tube, counter-flow heat exchanger, the www.plantengineering.com

tube inner diameter and thickness can be fixed and the tube length, number of tubes and shell diameter, which is a function of the number of tubes, can be varied. Five different tube lengths and five different values for the number of tubes can then be compared. This provides 25 experiments, which, as with sizing the pump, solves in about 30 seconds using the virtual experiments. This provides 25 runs for each heat exchanger option, or 50 total. Once complete, results are exported to Excel to graph as shown in Figure 5. Not surprisingly, as tube length for a given number of tubes increases, the calculated outlet temperature decreases, which is also the case if the number of tubes increases while length stays the same. Increasing tube length has a much greater effect on outlet temperature than increasing the number of tubes. For example, this time, we’ll start with 50 onemeter length tubes and increase the number of tubes to 100, then go from an outlet temperature of 105 to 82.5 °C. However, if 50 tubes are assumed but are postulated as two meters longer, outlet temperature falls to 64°C, a

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Figure 5: Effect of various lengths of tubes.

Figure 6: Temperatures were lower than for the two-pass design.

May 2020

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SOLUTIONS

PUMPING SYSTEMS & HEAT EXCHANGERS

Figure 7: Cost results with the baseline model.

19°C improvement. The effect decreases as the number of tubes increases and as tubes lengthen. When compared to the selection criteria, only four options are acceptable: 250 tubes at 4-meters long and 150, 200 and 250 tubes at five meters long. Now, let’s look at the four-pass design. The graph shows that the temperatures were lower than for the two-pass design (Figure 6), up to 40°C cooler for the one-meter long tube. The same trend in outlet temperature as with the two-pass heat exchanger occurs regarding the number of tubes and their lengths, culminating in four acceptable designs. The four-pass option provides significantly more options that meet the criteria: 14 in all. We’ll choose the four-pass, threemeter tube length with 200 tubes.

Power and energy use

Figure 8: Cost With pump and heat exchanger size in hand, we can comparisons for optimize the system based on cost, while still meetparallel pumps. ing the original requirements. For the model’s cost

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PLANT ENGINEERING

portion, an Excel spreadsheet linked to heat is used. The main impacts bearing on cooling system lifecycle costs are initial purchase cost; piping, pump and heat exchanger costs; maintenance costs for each over 25 years; and energy cost to run the plant as expected. Not included are projected downtime, environmental costs and decommissioning, though they could be included. Using these numbers, a baseline using the original model (Figure 7) is established. Cost is just over $382,000, along with other important notes in terms of temperature pressures and power. As mentioned, most of these costs are for electricity and maintenance. How might these costs be reduced? With a parametric study approach, combining the four input variables represented 980 unique simulations, and that’s with no direct connection to costing functions. Significant manual post-processing would determine the best option but there must be a better option.

Streamlining the process

Next, a design optimization tool can improve the initial simulation model and design analysis based on design goals and costing functions, resulting in a smaller study size, which saves time and optimizes the design. To do so requires streamlining the virtual productdevelopment process. Today, most companies begin building their virtual prototype simulations by connecting their CAD, CAE, and perhaps costing tools. Then they recreate product operational tests for the virtual prototypes. Once confident with the virtual prototype performance predictions, the design is improved by making modifications manually or with a design of experiments approach, as seen above. Finally, the resulting design may be assessed for robustness before releasing the product for production. Many manufacturers allocate most of their modeling and simulation resources to building and testing virtual prototypes. However, the greatest value from these tools comes from understanding and improving designs. How can this be improved? Validated or robust CAD and CAE models can be rebuilt easily with changes in design variables. Simulating one full design prototype using a variety of CAD or CAE tools can be automated, even with a costing model included. This can be as simple or complicated as needed to fully simulate the behavior of one design or one virtual prototype. Once the process is automated, after each task is defined the process is simulated in a high-performance computing environment so that many variations can be quickly explored. Some tasks may be assigned to Windows computers, others to Linux clusters and still others to external cloud resources. www.plantengineering.com

Modern direct search techniques can efficiently explore the full nonlinear design space and quickly discover better designs, with no need for surrogate models. Last, we examine the sensitivity, robustness and variable interactions of the best designs to gain insights and understand how performance will be affected by normal manufacturing tolerances. This is the state of the art and modern design exploration today. Even if software solutions offer hybrid strategies, they still contain predefined algorithms rather than adjusting to the problem at hand. What’s needed is a tool that knows all the strategies, holds all the parts, and can be tailored according to the design approach and criteria. The design exploration software framework used for this analysis is both hybrid and adaptive and eliminates the previously described issues with the traditional approach. For this case, the simulation model specified was created in the Excel spreadsheet along with the baseline conditions. The software then efficiently searched the design space to find an optimal solution with fewer simulations. Let’s look at some improved designs. For the initial design, three different things were optimized (Table 1). The pipe diameter went from 125 to 150 mm. The pump size was cut in half, and the heat exchanger size changed from three meters to one meter. The maximum temperature and pressure were still where needed, and pump power decreased significantly. This was caused by a decrease in the pressure rise required and in the flow rates, allowing a smaller pump to be used. Pump size reduction also reduced electricity use as well as required maintenance. The software indicated the piping install and purchase price would increase. However, even if upfront costs increase, in the long run, nearly $180,000 is saved. This a good optimization when considering the life of the design.

Using even more variables

However, was it safe to assume all the pipes must be the same size? Could some of the smaller paths that require less duty, and thus should require a lesser flow rate, be a different size? How would that affect the cost and selection of pumps? What if, instead of having six inches or 150 mms throughout the system, 150 and 100 mm or six and four inches were used, leaving the pump and heat exchanger the same size? The pump power could be maintained. The maximum temperature was still about the same. Pressure increased a bit, but negligibly. However, the savings was about $17,000, mainly because of the decrease in the pipe purchase and install (Figure 8). www.plantengineering.com

The software can also weight options for buying two pumps to run in parallel. That means twice the purchase cost, but it could be assumed that the install and maintenance would be only 1.5 times. With this option, we’ll split them in half because our concern is making sure flow rate stays the same and pressure is about the same, which is what we can do with a parallel configuration. Now instead of using a pump that requires almost 3 kW, we can use pumps that use less than 1 kW. The maximum temperature is a little bit higher, but the pressure is a little bit lower. This means that, although these pumps are split, the performance isn’t the same. This is justifiable if it’s in the same engineering acceptable range, because the savings would be about $30,000. Most of that savings comes from the electricity over the system’s life, as well as a little on pump maintenance.

Final words

This article demonstrates how to optimize a new industrial cooling system design for cost and performance. A traditional design process was used to build the thermofluid simulation model, necessary to meet engineering constraints. Although these solutions may be good, they could be more costly than they need to be. By combining the model with a design optimization tool to manipulate the model in conjunction with a cost calculation, optimal arrangements were discovered, and system design further refined. In this example, more than $225,000 was saved. Moreover, the time to perform this versus doing it in a parametric study is much less. Today’s modern design tools can be combined in new and interesting ways to produce better, more efficient products for today…and tomorrow. The system simulation software used was Siemens Simcenter Flomaster. Siemens HEEDS design exploration software was used to further refine the design. PE Doug Kolak is a business development manager for the Mechanical Analysis Division at Mentor, A Siemens Business.

Table 1: Optimized data.

Inital Optimization

Reduced Diameter

Pipe Diameter

150/150 mm combo

150/100 mm

Pump Size

0.0315 m3/s

HX Size

Total Cost

$203,899

$186,835

Pump Power

2.989 kW

2.971 kW

Max Temp

67.8° C

67.0° C

High Pressure

1.9 bar

2.1 bar PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

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SOLUTIONS AIR HANDLING SYSTEMS

By Blake Finch, PE, LEED AP and Luke Streit, PE

Compressed air audit optimizes efficiency A compressed air system evaluation can provide owners and facilities engineers with the direction they need to ensure their plant is operating efficiently and reliably

he requirements of an effective industrial compressed air system vary depending on facility size, air quality requirements, minimum demand pressure and other site-specific criteria. When operating or modifying these systems, facilities engineering staff have many different questions to consider, including: • Should I make low-cost, minimum-quality air in bulk, then filter/dry it to higher qualities only where necessary? • Am I staging multiple compressor systems in the most energy-efficient manner? • As demand increases in a facility, how do I know when my piping is no longer big enough? System evaluations can answer these questions and provide owners and operators with the direction they need to ensure their plant is operating efficiently and reliably. Because each application is different, however, the correct answer for one site might not be the right answer for another site.

Types of compressed air

Compressed air requirements fall into two main categories: air quality and air pressure. Higher-quality air requires better filtration and treatment, with both equipment costs and energy costs, as air must be pushed through these additional components. Higher-pressure air requires higher energy costs as the compressor must work harder to pressurize every cubic feet per minute of air. A typical evaluation might estimate the efficiency of the system in terms of kilowatts of power required per 100 cfm of air delivered. A major way to lower the kilowatts per 100 cfm is to lower the pressure drop in the system. System pressure is determined by the required pressure at

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the most critical process. The minimum pressure required at a piece of equipment is typically outside of your control; it is simply a process requirement. The compressors must generate air at that critical pressure plus whatever pressure losses must be overcome between the compressor outlet and that process. Lowering the pressure drop allows you to lower the compressor discharge pressure. If you have several pounds per square inch of pressure drop in your piping system due to undersized piping, you are wasting energy. Or, if you are pushing air through unnecessary filtration and other components, you may be forced to set your discharge pressure unnecessarily high. Lowering the compressor discharge pressure by 10 psi will save approximately 5% in energy consumption. Piping pressure loss evaluation is straightforward; pressure drop can be measured from point A to point B, which allows you to determine if the drop is excessive and how much it could be lowered by increasing the pipe size. A contractor can provide a price for upsizing that section of piping; the piping replacement will either be worth the cost or it won’t, based on the expected return on performance. Determining how to minimize filtration losses is less straightforward. To do this, you need to know what air quality is required at the various processes in your facility. Many compressed air users in a factory, such as pneumatic tools and some forms of conveyance, do not have stringent air quality requirements. Other applications — such as instrument air, food processing or testing — require very high-quality air. Compressed air quality levels are defined by ISO 8573-1. This standard specifies purity classes of compressed air in three categories: particles, water and oil (see Table 1). Particulate classes can be achieved by filtration. Higher-quality filters typically have a higher pressure drop. To push the air through extra filtration, the www.plantengineering.com

Use compressed air? If so, take these steps discharge pressure of the compressor must increase, requiring higher energy cost per cfm. Oil classes also can be achieved by filtering out the oil that enters the compressed airstream in an oil-flooded compressor. Oil filters require added pressure, which uses additional energy. Oil-free compressors include oil in the machine, but it never contacts the compressed airstream. An oil-less compressor has no oil in the machine. In either case, because no oil enters the airstream, it does not need to be filtered to achieve the highest class. If oil content is a critical element in your facility, starting with a potentially more expensive compressor that doesn’t put oil into the airstream will save the energy costs of filtering it out later.

Handling water vapor

Water vapor is different from particulate or oil because it is not filtered out. It must be condensed out or absorbed from the airstream — this can be completed by a refrigerated air dryer or a desiccant air dryer. Refrigerated dryers remove moisture by cooling the compressed air below a certain dewpoint. As the air cools, the moisture condenses out. The amount of moisture removed is directly related to how cold the air can get. This highlights a practical limitation of refrigerated air dryers: they can only

THIS EVALUATION highlights the importance of monitoring compressed air usage, a task that facility engineers can initiate by asking department managers the following questions: • Does your department use compressed air? • How do you regulate your compressed air usage? • Are there any processes that are enabled via manual valves that could be left open? (A single ¾-inch ball valve left open will leak approximately 1,000 cfm of compressed air at 100 psi.) If you suspect your system has excessive leakage, walk through the facility when manufacturing processes are off and listen — compressed air leaks will make noise and major ones may be audible during a walkthrough. You can also use an ultrasonic leak detector to find the sources of the leaks.

achieve dewpoints approaching the freezing point of water, i.e., greater than 32°F. If a refrigerated dryer cooled below 32°F, the water vapor would condense to liquid, then freeze solid within the dryer and piping. To achieve ISO class 3 or better dewpoints, a desiccant dryer must be used. Desiccant is a substance that has a high affinity for water vapor. (Silica gel packets such as those found in a shoe box or packaged with electronics

TABLE 1: Compressed air contaminants and purity classes

Table 1: Compressed air quality levels are defined by ISO 8573-1:2010. Courtesy: IMEG www.plantengineering.com

PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

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SOLUTIONS AIR HANDLING SYSTEMS

Figure 1: Data gathered on the pressure drop throughout the facility in the manufacturing facility case study showed pressure swings in the system as the load changed, particularly during first-shift manufacturing hours. Courtesy: IMEG

maintain a level of dryness for the product as long as the packaging is closed, because new moisture is not being added to the product. In a compressed air system, however, a constant flow of humid air is flowing through the dryer. The desiccant will eventually become saturated with moisture to the point that it can no longer absorb water vapor from the incoming airstream. The desiccant must then be replaced or regenerated by a drying process. When evaluating a desiccant dryer, also consider that the regeneration of the desiccant can consume significant energy. Regeneration occurs by heating and/or purging air through the desiccant to dry it out. Consider the power consumption of an electrically heated dryer when evaluating the total system kilowatts per 100 cfm, as well as the source of “purge” air during regeneration. Most desiccant dryers use compressed air to purge the dryer and these purge losses can be a source of significant energy consumption. They do not affect the energy efficiency in terms of kilowatts per 100 cfm, like other components. Rather, they directly increase the total cfm of the system. Depending on the application, purge losses might cause the most significant energy consumption in a system. The correct design or remedy for a compressed air system cannot be determined without facilityspecific data — and having a predetermined solution in mind may blind you to other possibilities. An audit or evaluation of an existing system is the only comprehensive and reliable way to identify valuable energy-saving potential. The accompanying case studies exemplify the different ways a compressed air evaluation might unfold at different facilities.

Engine test cell facility

Figure 2: Data gathered on compressor power consumption at the facility in the manufacturing facility case study showed that compressor 1 was operating as a trim compressor — as intended — and that one or both fixed-speed compressors were operating as lead compressor(s) depending on load. Courtesy: IMEG

are an example of a solid desiccant.) The desiccant will absorb water vapor from the surrounding air (lowering the humidity) until the vapor pressure of the desiccant and the surrounding air are in equilibrium. In sealed packaging, a desiccant package can

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PLANT ENGINEERING

This example facility’s industrial compressed air system had an average weekday air consumption of 800 to 900 cfm with peak airflows up to 1,200 cfm. The main compressed air system included 225 horsepower of constant speed compressors and a 100-horsepower variable speed compressor. All compressors were oil-flooded rotary screw type. The air was dried by refrigerated dryers to a dewpoint of approximately 40°F. Filtration for oil and particulates was not consistently applied at outlets of all compressors, so overall air quality for particulates and oil was not accurately known. This site used compressed air in engine test cells, requiring high-quality compressed air meeting ISO class 2/2/1, which has less than 100 1- to 5-micron particles per square meter, a maximum dewpoint of -40°F and a maximum oil content of 0.01 milligrams www.plantengineering.com

per square meter. This high air quality requirement steered the direction of the analysis. Particulate and oil removal: Particulate and oil filters located at the discharge of compressors met the general air quality requirements for nontest cell applications. Additional point-of-use filters were installed at each test cell to further filter to the air quality required for particles and oil. Water removal: Water content for general applications was removed by the refrigerated air dryers near the compressors. This style of dryer could not provide the low dewpoint required (-40°F) for the test cells, so a desiccant dryer must be used to achieve ISO class 2 dewpoint of -40°F. Small, point-of-use desiccant dryers were installed at each test cell in line with the additional particle and oil filters. The desiccant for these remote dryers was regenerated by blowing a percentage of the compressed air through the desiccant and exhausting it out of the filter. A typical point-of-use desiccant dryer might purge 25% of its rated airflow to regenerate the desiccant. These point-of-use filters and driers were points of maintenance, high pressure drop and high purge air losses. This evaluation sought to determine if higher quality filtration and drying at the source of compressed air would be better than point-of-use filtration and dryers at the test cells. To do this, the greater of the following had to be determined: • The added cost of filtering and drying highquality air to the entire site, including processes which do not require high-quality air.

Figure 3: Shown is a compressed air header with pressure sensors. Courtesy: IMEG

• The potential savings of consolidating all the remote filters and dryers to a single source location. The plant compressors produced air at an estimated average of 18 kilowatts/100 cfm plus dryer power consumption of 0.7 kilowatts/100 cfm. The remote filters and dryers constituted an approximately 8 psi pressure drop. Removing them could allow for lower supply pressure and a savings up to 4% on the compressor-specific power. This equates to roughly 0.7 kilowatts/100 cfm. A more significant savings could be realized by targeting the purge losses associated with the desiccant dryers. This wouldn’t change the specific power in terms of kilowatts/100 cfm, rather, it would lower the power consumption by reducing the system cubic feet per minute. The dryers at the test cells purged approximately 25% of their nameplate rating. Because test cells were the major compressed air consumers on-site, www.plantengineering.com

the purge losses at each test cell constituted approximately 15% of the entire system’s compressed air usage. For this site, investing in new oil-free screw compressors with integrated heat-of-compression desiccant dryers provided significant benefits. The integrated desiccant dryers do not purge any air because they regenerate the desiccant using “free” heat of compression. Providing this air quality directly at the source meant providing better, higher-cost compressed air for applications such as pneumatic tools. But, providing oil free air at a low dewpoint directly from the central plant allowed for removal of all downstream oil filtration and the subsequent maintenance and pressure loss. PLANT ENGINEERING

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SOLUTIONS AIR HANDLING SYSTEMS

Figure 4: Comparing the power consumption data with compressed airflow data at the facility in the manufacturing facility example showed significant compressed air usage even outside of normal manufacturing hours. Courtesy: IMEG

The recommendations of this evaluation were implemented on-site and the specific power consumption of the compressed air plant dropped by approximately 2 kilowatts/100 cfm. Furthermore, the elimination of the purge losses resulted in an air consumption decrease of approximately 180 cfm. The total average energy consumption for the compressed air system dropped from approximately 170 kilowatts to less than 120 kilowatts, a savings of approximately 30%.

Manufacturing facility with many unknowns

In a second example, a more than 2-million-squarefoot manufacturing facility had an average airflow of approximately 2,500 cfm. The main compressed air system included two 250 horsepower constant-speed compressors and a 300-horsepower variable-speed compressor. All compressors were oil-flooded rotary screw type. The air was dried by refrigerated dryers to a dewpoint of approximately 40°F. The compressed air system provided air quality of ISO 8573-1 class 2 or 3 for particulate, class 4 or class 5 for moisture and class 2 for oil. This air quality was sufficient for the known users of compressed air on the site. An evaluation of the central system was conducted with the goals of identifying any general deficiencies, improving energy efficiency and validating the current compressor staging methodology. To answer the key questions of this evaluation, data loggers were used to collect information and gather trends over a two-week period. This included: • An existing turbine flow meter (which provided the total airflow of the system). • Temporary data loggers at each compressor to monitor and record power consumption at 30-second intervals. • Pressure monitors at three locations in the compressed air system throughout the build-

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PLANT ENGINEERING

ing. Pressure at these locations was recorded at intervals to match the power consumption data collected. This data allowed the engineering team to proceed with an analysis of the existing system to identify any deficiencies.

Evaluation of existing distribution system

As shown in the engine test cell facility, the compressor pressure setpoint should be based on maintaining minimum inlet pressure required at critical process. High pressure drop between source and critical process will require increasing the pressure setpoint, which costs energy. The pressure sensors installed in this facility allowed us to evaluate the pressure drop at remote areas of the factory. An example of data, measured in pounds per square inch, is shown in Figure 1. Location A was in the main compressed air header near the compressors. Locations B and C were in remote areas at opposite ends of the factory. The collected data showed a pressure loss in the piping system out to the ends of the factory, as expected — an approximate 1 psi drop to location B and an approximate 2 psi drop to the farther location C. The data showed pressure swings in the system as the load changed, particularly during first-shift manufacturing hours. Interestingly, the pressure drop to remote areas — i.e., the difference between A and B or A and C — did not vary greatly throughout the production day. The swings in pressure were relatively uniform across the entire system. This indicated that the primary consumer of compressed air causing the pressure fluctuations was near the main trunk line, thus impacting the pressure of the entire system, not simply a remote area. This also indicated that pressure losses in main piping to remote areas was not a limiting www.plantengineering.com

factor in capacity and increasing the main piping size would not significantly improve performance; less than a 1% efficiency gain was anticipated.

Compressor power consumption

Power consumption was monitored during the study of the three main air compressors. The original intent of this study was to ensure that the staging of compressors was operating as efficiently as possible. A sample of the data, measured in kilowatts, is shown in Figure 2. In this analysis, compressor 1 was variable speed and higher output than compressors 2 and 3, which were fixed speed. The data showed that compressor 1 was operating as a trim compressor — as intended — and that one or both fixed-speed compressors were operating as lead compressor(s) depending on load. The blue line shows the range of modulation of compressor 1. The flat line areas at the top of its range indicate where it could not keep up with demand. The pressure in the system header would have started to decrease during these times. Fittingly, this flat area precedes the enabling of the second fixed-speed compressor. Likewise, the flat line areas at the bottom range of modulation for the variable-speed compressor show where it could not turn down further. The system pressure would have risen to the point where compressor 2 turned off. Before going offline, there is also a short stop in the power consumption of compressor 2. This represents where a fixed speed compressor goes from “loaded” to “unloaded” operation. This unloaded operation period still consumes energy without producing compressed air. This highlights the value of a variable-speed compressor in the trim position rather than simply loading and unloading a fixed speed compressor. The data collected showed that the unloaded duration for compressor 2 before cycling off was short and that significant energy was not being wasted by inefficient cycling of fixed-speed compressors.

Is there any energy-saving potential?

Up to this point, the study had not shown many expected avenues for efficiency improvement. Distribution losses were reasonable, compressors were staging efficiently and no changes were needed to filtration or drying. An unexpected finding revealed that a minimum of two compressors were always running during the period monitored. Most compressed www.plantengineering.com

Figure 5: An air compressor controller display screen shows discharge pressure trend. Courtesy: IMEG

air usage should be tied to manufacturing processes; we expected to see a significant increase in compressed air consumption during first shift, marginal consumption during second shift, then minimal consumption during periods of no manufacturing activities. However, when we compared the power consumption data with compressed airflow data, it showed significant compressed air usage even outside of normal manufacturing hours (see Figure 4). We did not expect the airflow to drop to zero because there will always be some compressed air consumption due to leakage in the piping and some manufacturing processes may continue to use compressed air during overnight operation. But the data showed a level of compressed air consumption during off-shift hours that was much higher than should reasonably be attributed to leakage. Approximately 75% of the compressed air costs for the facility did not appear to be attributed to manufacturing processes. The engineering team then recommended finding where the compressed air was really going. If this facility could reduce the nonproduction related airflow by even 50%, it would save more than $100,000 annually in energy costs. Improving efficiency of compressed air systems may save you a small percentage of energy cost per cfm. However, eliminating unnecessary compressed air consumption saves 100% of the energy cost for the cubic feet per minute saved. PE Blake Finch is a project manager and mechanical engineer at IMEG Corp. Luke Streit is a project manager and mechanical engineer at IMEG Corp. PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

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SOLUTIONS COMPRESSED AIR By Ron Marshall

Basic leak detection with acoustic imaging Consider reaching beyond ultrasonic leak detection to find pesky compressed air leaks

or years, compressed air leaks have been among the first items to attack when looking for energy savings in a manufacturing plant. Through the years, the method of locating leakage has gone from using the human ear, to applying a soapy solution to pipes and hoses, to using sensitive electronic ultrasonic audio instruments to enable operators to find and record leaks. Recently, a method of detecting leaks has been developed called “acoustic imaging,” which uses audible and visual inputs and has the potential to lower industrial compressed air and process gas costs.

that using only the human ear has limitations in finding leakage, especially in very noisy industrial settings. Loud background noise and legitimate compressed air uses in typical industrial plants very quickly mask any audible sound emitted by leaks, making the hunt an almost impossible task, even during quiet times during evenings and weekends. Long ago, it was discovered that a flow of gas moving from one pressure to another emits sound in the ultrasonic frequency spectrum. Using electronic mixing circuits this ultrasonic signature can be brought down to a frequency range that humans can hear, but at the same time, general low freBackground: Ultrasonic leak detection quency industrial noise can be filtered out. This Ultrasonic leak detection has been around for many gives ultrasonic detector operators “superhuman” years. From the start, equipment suppliers realized hearing that allows gas leaks to be easily heard in noisy factory environments, even Figure 1: The Fluke acoustic imager uses an array of 64 from hundreds of feet away. directional microphones to overlay a leakage “heat map” onto The detection method for its video screen, making leakage identification very quick and ultrasonic guns is typically a easy. All images courtesy: Fluke “point and shoot,” method, where a directional audible pickup device is waved around until something is heard in a certain direction. The operator is then led on a search while following the sound, with the signal getting increasingly louder as the detector approaches the source. Sometimes, when near the leak, it is difficult to pinpoint the exact location due to various factors. At times, the leakage may be behind a protective barrier or in an inaccessible location. Other times, the leak might be among a complex network of piping and hoses, requiring the operator to attempt to feel for the leak within the many fittings, sometimes creating a safety risk. Reflections and

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PLANT ENGINEERING

www.plantengineering.com

interference from other ultrasonic emitting devices also can drown out the leak signal, making it difficult to exactly locate. Once the source of the sound is found, the leak is documented and recorded so the cost can be estimated, and a repair crew can find it again at a later time. This step usually involves measuring and recording a decibel reading at a fixed distance away from the leak, marking the location with a paper tag, then taking several photographs to describe the location for the future repair crew. Once a survey is done, a report is generated that estimates the leakage flow, calculates the theoretical cost of the leaks and displays the location description and pictures. This process is a tedious exercise where the operator juggles the detector, a camera, a notebook and a bundle of tags each time a leak is detected, often repeating the task hundreds of times per day if working in a large plant.

Enter acoustic imaging

A more efficient way of finding and recording leaks has recently been developed by Fluke Corp. A leak detector instrument, called the ii900 Sonic Industrial Imager, uses a video camera to provide a live image, and an array of 64 different directional microphones to create a “heat map” of ultrasonic emissions on top of the visual display (see Figure 1). This device brings new meaning to the old saying “a picture is worth a thousand words.” Having an image representing both visual and audible signatures emitted by a leak makes the detection exercise a much easier task. In using the Imager, the operator also “points and shoots,” but in this case the ultrasonic emission shows up as a live feed on the onboard video screen as a colored spot, making the location identification much quicker. As the operator gets closer to the leak, the location becomes easier to identify, even when shooting through protective screens or pointing at locations out of reach without a ladder. When shooting among other ultrasonic emitters, like a bench full of active compressed air powered grinders, the leak shows up as a consistent spot on the screen, with the tools being intermittent, so it is easy to differentiate. Reflections, which can cause time consuming “wild goose chases” with typical audible only detectors, are easy to separate www.plantengineering.com

Figure 2: Leakage in complex pneumatic circuitry can be quickly identified using the visual leak detector method.

from the leakage, moving the camera from sideto-side moves the location of a reflection, but not the image of an actual leak. In using the acoustic imager, the first-time operator is impressed at the speed at which leaks can be detected and positively identified. The built-in video camera makes it easy to record a close-up still picture or video of the leak, which is stored on the device memory for later download. The imager software has the capability of automatically measuring the sound level in decibels, and the distance to the leak by triangulation. Using this information, and entered in pressure information for the leak, an estimate of the leakage flow can be calculated for the final report. Once the leakage flow is known, using the estimated efficiency of the compressed air system, and the site power costs, the total cost of all the leaks captured can be calculated in a final automatically generated output, called a “LeakQ report.”

Other acoustic imaging uses

The use of the imager is not limited only to compressed air; other items within a plant generate ultrasonic signals. Ultrasonic detectors are commonly used to detect nitrogen, bulk gas, steam and vacuum leakage. In addition, pump cavitation, noisy bearings and electrical discharge corona also can be detected using ultrasonic PLANT ENGINEERING

May 2020

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SOLUTIONS COMPRESSED AIR

Figure 3: The acoustic imager allows the operator to remain safely behind this protective screen yet be able to identify and estimate the cost of the leak without shutting down the machine.

detectors. The ii900 has a tunable frequency range that can be used to better differentiate different types of emitters, depending on the sound signal characteristics. In evaluating an imager for the first time, we deployed the ii900 at a small 10 bay service shop as part of a compressed air efficiency survey. As a value-added service, the operator spent only 10 minutes locating 12 various compressed air leaks totaling about 10 cfm. This flow consumed about 35% of the average facility flow. At the customer’s power rate, the total cost of these easily repairable leaks was estimated at $1,000 per year. If the customer repairs the leaks, it will save this cost and qualify for an extra $1,500 utility grant to help with the purchase a new more efficient air compressor. This represents about $2,500 value in the first year through only 10 minutes of leak detector work, and roughly two hours of repair time. A second survey was done at a small fiberglass parts manufacturer during full production hours. This time, 51 compressed air leaks totaling about 50 cfm were identified in a one-hour survey. Two vacuum leaks were also identified. Total cost of these leaks is estimated at $6,300 annually. What became particularly striking is that a leak survey was previously done with a standard ultrasonic gun about a month earlier and repairs were made. About half of the leaks found during the acoustic

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PLANT ENGINEERING

imager survey had developed over a 30-day period or had been missed in the previous work w it h a s t an d ard detector gun. The survey found many quick connect couplers and rubber hose leaks, which are common problem areas in a plant of this type. Wh e n pre s e nt e d with the visual results, the plant managers immediately recognized the problem and started investigating solutions. A wholesale change of connector and hose type is being considered. Throughout the surveys, the high value of the acoustic imager output became obvious. Figure 2 shows leakage of one pressure regulator in a bank of regulators. A configuration like this makes for difficult work in identifying the source of the leak if done with a standard ultrasonic gun; use of the imager found the leak immediately. Figure 3 shows the identification of a leak in a pressure regulator behind a protective screen, something that would be difficult to do with a standard gun without shutting down the machine. Experience with the acoustic imagers shows it makes leak detection quicker and more efficient. Once found, leaks can be clearly identified and recorded, and easily differentiated from background noise, reflections and interference. Leaks in overhead piping and behind screened barriers can be identified without incurring any safety risks. And a basic final report can be conveniently generated online at the Fluke website. PE Ron Marshall is an auditor at Marshall Compressed Air Consulting based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. He has been involved in the compressed air energy efficiency field for 25 years. First working with a power utility supporting energy efficiency programs, and then in his own consulting company, he performs compressed air energy audits, including leakage detection, conducts awareness training and does compressed air related technical writing.

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