PE_20_07_08

PlantEngineering.com

Four predictive tests to improve electrical maintenance Also in this issue: • 10 ways to protect VFD investment • Achieve multisite CMMS success • Track mechanical seal usage

and

Technology

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THE SECRET TO KEEPING ELECTRONICS COOL! A bad choice could cost you thousands!

DON’T DO THIS!

It is an OSHA violation that presents a shock hazard to personnel. The fan blows hot, humid, dirty air at the electronics.

BE AWARE OF CONDENSATION!

Refrigerant panel air conditioners cause condensation and moisture.

When condensation is present, electrical components can begin to erode, resulting in severe damage.

Look Familiar?

When hot weather causes the electronics inside a control cabinet to fail, there is a panic to get the machinery up and running again. The operator might choose to simply open the panel door and aim a fan at the circuit boards. In reality, the fan ends up blowing a lot of hot, humid, dirty air at the electronics and the cooling effect is minimal.

If the machinery starts functioning again, the likelihood of repeated failure is great since the environment is still hot (and threatens permanent damage to the circuit boards). Worse yet, that open panel door is an OSHA violation that presents a shock hazard to personnel.

The Real Solution!

Stop electronic downtime with an EXAIR Cabinet Cooler® System!

The complete line of low cost Cabinet Cooler Systems are in stock and can ship now. They mount in minutes through an ordinary electrical knockout and have no moving parts to wear out. Thermostat control to minimize compressed air use is available for all models. All Cabinet Coolers are UL Listed to US and Canadian safety standards.

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“It took us three days to get a replacement computer cabinet and we didn’t want to risk another heat failure. Fans weren’t an option on some of our other machines were a constant maintenance project of their own.

We purchased EXAIR’s Model 4330 NEMA 12 Cabinet Cooler System since it was easy to install and requires no maintenance.” Jeff Hauck, Lasercraft Inc. Cincinnati OH

input #2 at www.plantengineering.com/information

Type 316 Stainless Steel Cabinet Coolers For NEMA 4X applications with heat loads up to 5,600 Btu/hr.

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input #3 at www.plantengineering.com/information

SOLUTIONS

JULY/AUGUST 2020

9 | Tips on how to achieve multisite CMMS success 13 | How to improve electrical maintenance with predictive tests 16 | How to prepare data for analysis 20 | How to maximize your EAM or CMMS 22 | How to address digital transformation challenges 26 | How to isolate systems with block valves 28 | Top 10 ways to protect your VFD investment Cover image courtesy: Electrical Reliability Services Inc.

Editor’s Insight 5 | Rugged, real time and remote

INSIGHTS 7 | SaaS will revolutionize predictive maintenance in motor-driven systems

INNOVATIONS 44 | New Products for Engineers

30 | Develop a cable gland strategy for hazardous environments 32 | Non-destructive testing provider contributes to consortium for ventilator production

INSIDE: OIL & GAS ENGINEERING 6 | Modern electronic flow measurement with MQTT 9 | Flare stack monitoring made easy with edge-enabled video analytics 11 | Cloud solutions enable remote work productivity, without replacing SCADA

PLANT ENGINEERING (ISSN 0032-082X, Vol. 74, No. 6, GST #123397457) is published 10x per year, monthly except in January and July, by CFE Media and Technology, 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 and Technology, LLC. All rights reserved. PLANT ENGINEERING is a registered trademark of CFE Media and Technology, LLC used under license. Periodicals postage paid at Downers Grove, IL 60515 and additional mailing offices. Circulation records are maintained at CFE Media and Technology, 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 and Technology, LLC does not assume and hereby disclaims any liability to any person for any loss or damage and 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

July/August 2020

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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

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Technology

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INSIGHTS

By Kevin Parker, Editor

Rugged, real time and remote The smart phone is the best thing that ever happened to encourage computing mobility in industrial plants and field services.

This is true even though the idea of personnel using their personal devices for work is increasingly suspect and the tablet is a better form factor for power users. But the smart phone schooled us as to what the possibilities were.

Panasonic recently released its wellknown TOUGHBOOK as an Android operating device, the A3. This is indicative of how telecommunications and other consumer technologies are changing plant floors, where Microsoft operating systems were once dominant. At this point, Microsoft has announced its end of life for the Windows CE operating system.

In addition, TOUGHBOOK, equipped with a SIM card, is a telephone.

Streaming content on phones and other devices also has changed our expectations. Always-on connectivity is more and more considered a must. Keeping in touch with the 24-hour news cycle is one thing. In the industrial world, what tangibly improves productivity is real-time connectivity to the scores of functional devices and systems found in plants and facilities, often using standard industrial APIs, and the increasing availability of real-time data.

For the wealth of features and functions available, TOUGHBOOK users benefit from the product investment made possible by the device’s mass deployment in health care, defense and other industries.

Post-normal world

In the wake of continuing efforts to reopen the economy, remote operations management is a big story line for the production industries. For the first time millions of people worked from home that hadn’t done so before.

It went pretty well.

Again, industrial automation environments are a different matter, and www.plantengineering.com

changing data to information and knowledge is still complex. A recent blog from Craig Harclerode, an industry principal with OSIsoft, details some of the challenges. A lightly edited excerpt from the blog follows.

“Many industrial operators continue to face a disparate, tag-based ecosystem of operational data, which is limiting their ability to effectively pivot to remote operational support. Such companies often rely on spreadsheets and tag-based, custom applications and solutions supported by a plethora of IT developers or system integrators.

“To quickly pivot to effective remote workforce support, operators must move beyond disparate tags and adopt a standardized data model approach for managing their OT data. To empower your SMEs [subject matter experts] with insight-rich information that they can access remotely, you need data that is normalized and contextualized.

“The key to success is unifying disparate sources of real-time data and enriching that data with multilayered context from inside and outside of the control system. Without a data directory based on an enterprise asset hierarchy, the further away your SMEs are from their equipment, the less meaningful the data, which often follows local, plant-specific tag naming conventions. In short, there is a lack of context with tags.”

Models and twins

Harclerode’s piece goes on to say digital transformation requires combining asset data into a digital replica of physical assets, to act as an operational “chart of accounts” for sensor-based data.

If digital twins are defined as photorealistic models of facilities and equipment, then this is yet another industrial application that benefits from the big bucks invested in 3D by the computer games and film industry. Can industrial virtual realities be far behind? PE

PLANT ENGINEERING

July/August 2020

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5

Reduce and Distance Plant Personnel while Boosting Output and Preventing Contamination with automated, enclosed bulk equipment and systems from Flexicon

Automated, sealed BULK-OUT® Discharger-Conveyor Systems replace multiple workers dumping hand-held bags manually, while preventing contamination.

Enclosed Bulk Bag Weigh Batch Systems feed a central weigh hopper mechanically, and remove weighed batches pneumatically, requiring labor only to attach/detach bulk bags.

Bulk Bag Discharging Systems can loosen solidified material and meter it into liquid streams (shown), screeners, size reduction equipment and continuous blenders—automatically.

Dual SWING-DOWN® Bulk Bag Fillers fed by weigh hoppers fill up to 40 bags per hour with only one operator connecting empty bags and one forklift removing full bags.

Flexicon Bulk Bag Filling Lines automatically dispense pallets, fill bulk bags, and disconnect/accumulate filled bags, minimizing operator involvement.

TIP-TITE® Drum/Box Dumpers seal, tip and mate a discharge cone to a gasketed hopper lid, open a slide gate and feed downstream processes— automatically and dust-free.

Flexicon automated equipment and systems can move your bulk materials at higher capacities with fewer personnel, cutting costs while distancing operators from one another.

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input #5 at www.plantengineering.com/information

II-0670

USA sales@flexicon.com 1 888 FLEXICON

INSIGHTS

ROTATING EQUIPMENT MAINTENANCE

By Kevin Parker

SaaS will revolutionize predictive maintenance in motor-driven systems Report highlights relationships between component manufacturers, OEM machine builders and end users

A

The market for predictive maintenance includes smart sensors, gateways, software and other devices. Image courtesy: Interact Analysis

report from London-based Interact Analysis examines the predictive maintenance market, forecasting a boom in the sector, propelled by the emergence of smart sensors able to monitor crucial parts of a motor-driven system not covered by legacy maintenance devices and methods. Advanced smart sensors will allow delivery of viable cloud-based predictive maintenance service packages using a SaaS business model, the report says.

“Smart sensor technology coupled with IIoT capabilities give component manufacturers and OEM machine builders the scope to offer end users an anticipatory service package.

For most providers of predictive maintenance, the logical business model will be software as a service.

“A side benefit of SaaS is that it ties all technologies together under a single solution — thereby eliminating concerns regarding data ownership. Additionally, advancements in embedded machine learning will improve the ability for predictive maintenance to be installed in new or non-standard applications that are less well understood, further fuelling growth,” said Blake Griffin, lead analyst, predictive maintenance, Interact Analysis.

The report shows that the market for predictive maintenance in 2019 was $117.5 million, largely made up from legacy predictive maintenance products such as portable monitoring devices.

Many of these devices will maintain strong growth in the coming decade but will be used in tandem with new technologies such as smart sensors, the latter fuelling an expected boom in market value of predictive maintenance technology, up to almost $1 billion in 2024, the report says.

www.plantengineering.com

At a glance In its report on the predictive maintenance, Interact Analysis reported the following: • By 2024, the market for predictive maintenance in motor-driven systems is forecast to reach a valuation of $906.1 million.

• Enhanced demand for remote monitoring because of COVID-19 means there will be no slowdown in market growth.

• SaaS is likely to be the main business model for provision of predictive maintenance.

The significant fall in price of the capacitive-based microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) found in smart sensors will be one of the drivers of this market.

Smart sensors, which typically monitor sound, temperature and vibration, may not provide the depth of data offered by some legacy devices, the report states, but they have significant advantages. Whereas most legacy devices are attached to motors, Interact Analysis predicts that only 53% of smart sensors will be attached to motors by 2024.

The rest will be attached to other machine components which are also subject to the wear and tear of daily use.

This means that the application of predictive maintenance will be far more widespread in the factories of the future.

“Modern predictive maintenance technology is currently at the beginning of an exponential growth trajectory. Now is a more important time than ever for suppliers to understand key trends at play so they may work at carving out their share of this market — forecast to be worth nearly $1 billion by 2024,” said Adrian Lloyd, CEO of Interact Analysis.

Interact Analysis is an international provider of market research for the Intelligent Automation sector. To learn more, visit interactanalysis.com PE PLANT ENGINEERING

July/August 2020

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input #6 at www.plantengineering.com/information

SOLUTIONS

COMPUTERIZED MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (CMMS)

By Raymond Lattanzio

Tips on how to achieve multisite CMMS success How four companies accomplished multisite CMMS implementations, gaining a consolidated view of operations and standardized maintenance practices

O Figure 1: A criticality analysis will help identify the most valuable assets.

Courtesy: Inframark

ne of the most common reasons an organization with multiple plants and locations decides to implement a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) is to standardize asset management processes and workflows. Often, its facilities either do not have a CMMS, or the present one is inadequate and not a cloud-based solution. Or the plants are using an array of outdated, splintered systems.

If an organization plans to roll out a CMMS and deploy at multiple company sites, it must first confirm whether the system of choice can handle the requirements, including internet connectivity — both Ethernet for traditional desktop PCs and Wi-Fi for tablet-based use.

A few websites, such as Gartner Insights, rate enterprise asset management (EAM) software — generally, a CMMS designed for larger enterprise

www.plantengineering.com

customers — based on user reviews. A one-size-fitsall system will not be enough, so it is worth checking out. Case studies, such as those found on the eMaint CMMS website, are another excellent resource.

Of course, not all CMMS implementations are successful, whether it is two rollouts or dozens.

According to several reports, failures can be as high as 90%. Careful preparation, planning, scheduling and coordination are critical to any implementation.

Consider these seven examples of how four diverse organizations achieved multisite CMMS implementation success.

1. Make sure you have CMMS vendor support

Any progressive organization must consider the immediate need to embrace technology to compete in an increasingly data-driven world. Some web-based CMMS software is far more capable of enabling data imports from siloed sources and of integrating easily with technologically advanced tools such as wireless condition monitoring sensors. If your organization plans to accelerate its reliability journey, consider whether the CMMS vendor can move with you into the future.

You also should feel confident that you can count on your vendor for support before, during and after the rollout.

Being able to contact your provider easily and receiving an answer to a question or need quickly is essential. Once your organization begins to see and understand how a CMMS can enhance asset reliability, the more it will want to use and capitalize on its capabilities.

For example, a snack food manufacturer needed to gain a centralized, facility -wide view of maintenance operations at its nine locations. The organization PLANT ENGINEERING

July/August 2020

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SOLUTIONS

COMPUTERIZED MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (CMMS) chose a CMMS software company known for its stellar customer service and support.

“I think having the support and being able to have access to getting help from our CMMS vendor whenever is great. There are not a lot of systems that will let you make changes without mentioning, ‘Hey, you’ll need to pay for this. You’ll need to pay for that,’ kind of thing. And I know it’s not all about money, but it is nice to be able to say, ‘Hey, I need this done. Help me walk through it.’”

—Snack food manufacturer Since implementing the CMMS systemwide, the company has improved its asset reliability by adding remote monitoring sensors to several critical assets, including its compressors. Now, if a sensor picks up a change in condition outside of set parameters, a notification is automatically sent to the maintenance team, enabling team members to act on the data immediately and avoid potential failure.

2. Take the CMMS for a test run

Running a CMMS pilot program is one of the best ways to test a system. It allows a company to start small and determine if the software fits its needs.

A water/wastewater company wanted to implement a CMMS at more than 75 separate utility operations.

Figure 2: Map out a detailed Its services include the manimplementation process to ensure agement and maintenance of success. Courtesy: Inframark 30,000-plus assets on behalf of

municipal, industrial and commercial clients. Before a full-scale rollout of 46 separate eMaint systems, the organization chose to participate in a pilot to bolster success.

“We started with one system implementation, but the pilot consisted of three eMaint implementations serving different utilities. So, we hit hard on one, and then we moved into the second and third.

We were using a lot of diverse systems, depending on where we were. So, by being able to move to a common platform and with the visibility across all the systems, it really gives us the strength from the amount of information we can pull together.”

—Water and wastewater operations Once it decided to implement the CMMS systemwide, the company took a crucial step by performing a comprehensive assessment of its assets to identify which ones were the most critical (see Figure 1).

3. Understand what you will do with the CMMS data

One of the many benefits of having a CMMS is the ability to act on the collected and stored data.

Before implementation, an organization should know how the data will be managed, who will look at it and how it will be used. Define your metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs) from the start and establish a review process to keep continuous improvement efforts on track. Consider adding a consolidated account that houses all operational data in one place.

“We get reports out of the consolidated account that summarize where everyone’s work order backlog is. As part of our monthly review, we look for possible yellow flags, indicators that maybe there’s something wrong.

We can then get the right support functions in place before something becomes a problem.”

—Water/wastewater operations

4. Maintain standardization and CMMS data integrity

A Tier One automotive supplier wanted to achieve standardization at its 12 plants. The company provides parts to BMW, Nissan, Chrysler, Fiat, Ford and General Motors and has more than 40 operating divisions.

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PLANT ENGINEERING

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Figure 3: Whether an organization plans to implement a CMMS at three sites or 46 sites, choosing the right CMMS is vital regardless of how many sites an organization chooses to include.

Courtesy: Fluke Reliability

A multisite implementation takes time, hard work and diligence throughout the process and beyond. A CMMS’s ability to collect and store asset data is exceptional.

But, if the information is not reliable because of incorrect or missing entries, you will lose one of the chief benefits of a CMMS. Build in strict rules and processes to ensure data integrity.

“With the support of our CMMS provider, we have a better structure from my point of view and from an overview of the consolidated account. We gave everybody rules to follow so that plants look the same, everybody has the same capabilities and everybody has the same reports. We basically created a system that if they did not follow it, we would take control over it. It gave them a little bit more incentive to follow.”

—Automotive parts supplier An intuitive, straightforward CMMS encourages usage. If it’s difficult or cumbersome to complete a work order, maintenance personnel will avoid using it and not make the necessary entries. Choose a system that is easy to learn and use.

5.

Prepare, prepare, prepare

A water/wastewater company’s various contract operations used a maintenance management system, but each system was independent, which prevented the organization from obtaining systemwide visibility. The company’s aggressive goals, including 46 planned rollouts, made preparation critical.

Detailed organization, joint teamwork, the right CMMS and a relentless commitment to reliability helped the company move through the seven-phase implementation (see Figure 2).

“Part of the key to our success was that we had a very well-organized and coordinated implementation. A lot of effort went into planning the process and identifying roles, responsibilities and holding people accountable. And that is key to how we were able to accomplish the amount of work that we got done in the timeframe that we did.”

—Water/wastewater operations www.plantengineering.com

6. Conduct CMMS training sessions

A system is only powerful if employees are adequately trained to use it. Some companies forego training, which can impede the ability to realize the full value of the software. Other providers offer countless opportunities and options, such as inperson and web-based training, including boot camps, webinars and workshops.

A manufacturer that produces millions of square feet of corrugated cardboard each year needed a system that could help it manage the increased demand for its product due to the packaging needs of online shopping companies such as Amazon. With the CMMS in place, the organization is tracking and analyzing the collected and stored data to measure success.

“The first year I was here, after we put in the new CMMS, year-over-year, we increased production output by about 14%. The year after that we increased about 6% and this past year we increased 8%. That’s more than 20% in the last three years, and a good portion of that is because we have our maintenance a little bit more in control now.”

—Corrugated cardboard manufacturer The company chose to have in-person training and took advantage of the vendor’s CMMS sandbox, which enabled maintenance professionals to try out the system before going live.

“Having the trainer here, going through specifics, running it in the sandbox where they would not be intimidated or concerned with making mistakes was a turning point. It really helped our users."

—Corrugated cardboard manufacturer PLANT ENGINEERING

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COMPUTERIZED MAINTENANCE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS (CMMS)

7. Maximize the CMMS capabilities and build in accountability

A person or people who become an organization’s CMMS expert(s) and fully

understand its capacity will enhance optimization. Most successful companies assign an administrator to manage, coordinate and ensure the system is used effectively. The more it is maximized,

the quicker everyone will see a return on investment.

“We chose a system that’s easy to use. Once we started using the capabilities, we understood and exploited more of its functionality. The more we’ve used it, the more we’ve seen a return on investment.”

—Snack food manufacturer The company’s maintenance and repair (M&R) teams also create reports to identify weak performance trends, root out causes early and make repairs before equipment fails. The data also helps provide proof of concept and shows executives how the CMMS affects the organization’s output and bottom line positively.

“Once you start giving them information, they want more. They’re asking for increasingly more. We’ve piqued the corporate attention with a lot of things, so it’s getting additional traction.”

—Snack food manufacturer

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DUST & FUME PROBLEMS SOLVED

Whether an organization plans to implement a CMMS at three sites or 46 sites, choosing the right one is vital (see Figure 3). Once a system goes live, the job has just begun. Ultimately, if the CMMS is not used or its functionality and features aren’t maximized, it merely becomes a storage unit. To fully benefit from a CMMS, you must be able to depend on the vendor and your inhouse implementation team to ensure ongoing standardization and strategic data usage to support continuous improvement goals. PE Raymond Lattanzio is a senior implementation consultant at Fluke Corp. and a certified reliability leader. He has nearly a decade of experience with software, software as a service (SaaS), databases, implementation and project management. In various roles at Fluke, as well as Target Corp., he has focused on driving adoption and improving team performance and efficiency.

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SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE

By Leif Hoegberg

How to improve electrical maintenance with predictive tests How to use these four predictive tests to improve your electrical maintenance plan

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f you are responsible for managing your plant’s electrical power system and maintenance plan, there are four predictive maintenance tests that should be incorporated into an overall maintenance program. These tests can reduce the need for offline services, improve system performance, reduce the risk of system failure and help optimize budgeted expenditures.

These predictive maintenance tests can be performed while systems are online. They are non-destructive, non-invasive and examine electrical equipment under normal operating conditions. Ideally, you should coordinate these tests between planned outages so the resulting data can be used to inform and help prioritize offline service needs.

Predictive maintenance procedures

Four online predictive maintenance procedures for evaluating electrical system health are: 1. Visual inspection 2. Partial discharge testing 3. Infrared/thermographic survey 4. Insulating fluid sampling and analysis.

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be executed efficiently and cost effectively and provide significant benefits including: • Equipment can be evaluated under normal operating conditions • Collection of trending data for predictive assessments • Identify issues before significant problems occur • Identify equipment to be prioritized during maintenance outage • Provide data that allows for extending time between scheduled outages • Improve budget allocation toward most critical maintenance needs.

Additionally, predictive maintenance services can be performed more frequently than offline services and thereby reduce the risk of incidents and system related outages, improving employee and public safety, increasing peace of mind and preventing problems that could affect your plant’s reputation and operational credibility.

Online predictive maintenance

In combination, these four activities can identify variations in properties that indicate impending asset failure. If performed by a qualified testing agency, they can

Online predictive maintenance uses multiple types of technology depending on the equipment. An experienced field engineer or technician will know which technology to use and how to apply it when evaluating each asset (see Figure 1). Each technology provides a unique set of data that, when used in combination, provides a good understanding of the health of your overall system.

Figure 1: An experienced field engineer will know which technology to use and how to apply it when evaluating each asset. This engineer is performing predictive diagnostics. Image courtesy: Electrical Reliability Services Inc.

Visual inspections. Visual inspection is the examination of equipment without needing to open enclosures. A qualified technician is trained to recognize abnormal conditions indicating increased risk factors to safety or equipment reliability.

A standard visual inspection check list includes: • Cleanliness • Condition of paint • Equipment area clearances PLANT ENGINEERING

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SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL MAINTENANCE

• Condition of grounds • Cracked or contaminated insulators and bushings • Fluid levels/leaks • Fluid/winding temperature gauges • Gas pressure • Relay status and targets.

Figure 2: Partial discharge testing uses sensors to detect voltage stresses imposed by the system voltage on deteriorated insulation components.

Image courtesy: PMDT

Partial discharge (PD) testing. Partial discharge testing uses sensors to detect voltage stresses imposed by the system voltage on deteriorated insulation components (see Figure 2).

Deteriorated insulation generates signals with partial discharge characteristics. The PD sensors detect these small electrical signals or discharges that occur within or on the surface of the insulation of medium and high voltage electrical assets. Protracted partial discharge can erode solid insulation and eventually lead to breakdown and failure.

PD surveys can be performed on gaseous, liquid or solid insulating media. Survey results can be used to set priorities and manage maintenance schedules.

• Partial discharge surveys report on the magnitude, location and type of insulation degradation.

• PD test results identify assets needing additional attention and/or offline maintenance.

• Trending partial discharge data over time can assist asset managers with strategic decisions regarding the repair or replacement of assets.

There are many types of PD sensor technologies and the accuracy of PD detection can be improved through use of multiple PD detection and sensor types.

These technologies include various types of acoustic and electromagnetic sensors.

Ultrasonic microphones and directional UHF sensors. Ultrasonic microphones and directional UHF sensors can be used to assess the health of equipment housed in indoor metal enclosures such as medium voltage switchgear. The sensors will display signals of interest during the testing process that an experienced field engineer can recognize and use to identify the likely cause and location of the PD source so that issues can be addressed as needed.

Ultrasonic dish sensor. The ultrasonic dish scans for PD signals from various substation equipment such as bushings, insulators, switches, PTs and terminations.

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Acoustic contact sensor. The acoustic contact sensor can be used to detect PD within gas and liquid filled equipment.

Transient earth voltage (TEV) sensor. The TEV sensor measures voltages induced on metal enclosures as a result of electromagnetic signals generated by PD. Wireless HFCT transmitter. The wireless high frequency current transformer (HFCT) transmitter connects to a permanent or temporarily mounted terminal box and monitors a cable circuit. The sensors detect PD from the cable providing an early warning of cable deterioration. This sensor also can be used to detect signals on equipment grounding conductors.

Infrared testing. A thermographic survey is performed using an infrared scanner (camera) to identify conditions that could result in a fire or electrical failure. It can detect connections with elevated resistance (loose, dirty, corroded, etc.) caused by deterioration of electrical connections due to vibration, improper torque or corrosion. Elevated resistance generates abnormal heating that can be detected during a thermographic inspection. The survey also provides an opportunity for internal visual inspections of switchgear. Infrared reports provide high-resolution, color-digitized photographs and thermograms showing “hot spots,” a description of deficiency and recommendations for correction or repair.

Insulating fluid sampling and analysis. One of the most effective ways to determine the condition of a liquid-filled transformer is to obtain a fluid sample and perform a laboratory analysis.

Insulating fluid sampling allows the analysis of chemical properties, dissolved gases and identification of contaminants and debris, which offers clues to equipment condition and indicators of insulation breakdown or failing connections. These fluids provide a cooling medium to transfer heat from the coils to the radiators and into the air. They insulate the windings and reduce high voltage stresses. Over time, the fluids become contaminated due to heat, insulation deterioration, moisture, air (oxidation) and corrosion. An insulating fluid analysis report includes dielectric breakdown, moisture content, color, acidity, interfacial tension, specific gravity and fluid power factor.

Most failures of electrical equipment are the result of poor connections or failed insulation. By combining infrared scanning, which identifies poor connections and other overheating conditions with partial discharge that detects deteriorated insulation, you are minimizing the risk of in-service failures. Couple these benefits www.plantengineering.com

Simplified Motion Series

with transformer fluid analysis (one of your most expensive electrical assets) and the trained eyes of an experienced field engineer, and you will see a significant reduction in equipment failures and service interruptions.

Online testing and maintenance reporting

Following the execution of the online testing and maintenance services, a standardized report is generated with recommended follow-up actions. A quality report should: • Recommend corrective actions with priority • Identify findings that require immediate investigation/ repairs • Identify findings that require additional trending/monitoring • Identify findings that require additional diagnostics.

Final thoughts

Historically, many managers have used one or more conventional maintenance strategies including time-based maintenance and reliability-centered maintenance. Some simply opt for a run-to-failure approach. In today’s business environment of 24/7/365 operations, maintenance strategies are changing. This is causing a trend toward an “as-required” maintenance strategy made possible through advances in online testing and maintenance technologies. An “as-required” maintenance strategy performs maintenance based on indicators such as results from online surveys, operating environment, age and history of asset, service (loading) and criticality of equipment served. This is like a reliability-based maintenance strategy but includes consideration of online survey data.

The online testing and maintenance services described in this article are meant to compliment required offline testing and maintenance and should be part of a facility’s integrated life cycle management plan. While there are upfront costs associated with online testing and maintenance, the expense is often easily offset by cost savings from optimized offline testing and maintenance, as well as a reduction in emergency services. Most importantly, these services deliver the vital information a facility manager needs to prioritize assets needing attention and avoid wasting resources on equipment that remain in good, reliable condition. Decisions to extend outage schedules can be made without increasing risk of in-service failures, and budgets can be optimized. The data can also be of value in planning for asset replacements or future system upgrades. PE Leif Hoegberg is director of engineering and technical support for Electrical Reliability Services Inc. He has more than 30 years of electrical engineering, operations and field service experience. Hoegberg is a level IV, NETA certified technician, serves on the NETA International Electrical Testing Association’s Standards Review Council and is a member of IEEE, IAEI and NFPA. PLANT ENGINEERING

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The simplicity of pneumatics combined with the advantages of electric automation The Simplified Motion Series is ideal for movements between mechanical end positions with a reduced number of parameters.

• Operation without any software based on the plug and work principle • Easy and quick commissioning without a computer, software or other accessories • Connection via IO-Link for enhanced functionality including diagnostics • Simple control with 2 digital inputs for basic functions or enhanced control with IO-Link for additional functions

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input #8 at www.plantengineering.com/information

SOLUTIONS DATA ANALYTICS

By Michael Risse

How to prepare data for analysis The devil is in the details when it comes to analytics

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here is a well-reported and widely recognized explosion of time-series data creation and storage systems, including historians, open source and data-lake options, and cloud-based services. Due to these attractive storage options — along with lower prices for sensors and data collection — industrial organizations are awash in industrial internet of things (IIoT) implementations and big data. But what’s the most common complaint among these companies?

They are data rich and information poor, with so much data and so few insights.

One of the main challenges is the collected data isn’t ready for analysis and realization of benefits, its main purpose. Some estimates have more than 70% of the effort expended on analytics being used in simply moving data from a “raw to ready” state using data cleansing, or as the New York Times calls it “data janitor” work. This grinding monotony of collecting, organizing, cleansing and contextualizing data in the analytics process is thus a huge hurdle to creating value from raw data.

Data access

Two prerequisites must be satisfied to get data from “raw to ready” and fit for analysis: data access and employee expertise.

It’s wrong to assume that most employees have

ready access to data. In many organizations users are blocked from the data they require for analytics. This is because “data governance” — the rules and processes employees must follow to access data — is a focus of many IT departments as they attempt to address security, privacy and confidentiality issues.

At the same time, data access is a prerequisite for what comes next, which is the process of creating analytics-ready data for insights. In addition, a clear best practice for manufacturing organizations is to store process data in its native form without summarization or cleansing. This is because any assumption about how to manipulate the data prior to the time of analytics may be detrimental to the investigation.

Data should only be manipulated at “analytics time,” and then only by the subject matter expert (SME) leading the analytics effort. Pursing a path of data cleansing, summarizing or other changes to the source thus risks removing exactly the data and details that could prove important to the investigation. Access to data in its source form is therefore the first prerequisite.

Employee expertise

The second prerequisite is the expertise of SMEs, the process engineers and other employees with expertise in the data, assets and processes of the industrial plant or facility. These SMEs have been analyzing data for 30 years with spreadsheets, which was preceded by the use of slide rules, pen and paper.

Putting these employees and their expertise together with access to data Figure 1: The ability to define the time periods of interest within a signal based on any type of criteria is a critical component for working with time-series data. All images courtesy: Seeq

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is a critical step because only at ana lyt ics t ime can t he right decisions be made with respect to the subsequent data cleansing and contextualization steps. Without this expertise, the result of analytics is frequently a misadventure in spurious correlations or known relationships that are understood within the plant context, if not by those solely focused on the data science. In other words, an algorithm turned loose on big data will typically reveal thousands of potential problems, few of which are really challenges. For example, who really needs to know that no product is being produced when the main power supply to plant is off.

By enabling the front line of expertise in their organizations, manufacturers can realize a host of yield, availability, productivity and margin improvements from data analytics.

With access to the data, SMEs can ready data for analytics through integration and alignment of data from various sources, also called contextualization. Contextualization goes by many terms depending on the vendor and industr y — including data harmonization, blending, fusion, blending and augmentation — which all mean the same thing: the integration of data with intent to inform or integrate across unlike data types. The reason for this is there are no “handles” in a time-series signal, so SMEs have to (at analytics time) find a way to integrate “What am I measuring” (the sensor data) with “What am I doing” (what an asset or process is doing at the time) and even “What part of the data is important to me?”

Creating context

As an example of the challenges found when working with time-series data, consider a simple timeseries data set with sensor data recorded every second for a year to create 3.1 million data points, each in the form timestamp:value.

Most likely, the user doesn’t want all the signal data for their analysis; instead they only want to identify time periods of interest within the signal. For example, perhaps the user needs handles to periods of time within the data for analysis defined by: www.plantengineering.com

Figure 2: Time periods of interest may be referred to as “capsules” and are marked by colored bars at the top of the trending pane.

In this case, they denote areas that need to be addressed in a data-cleansing effort.

• Time period: by day, by shift, by Tuesdays, by weekdays versus weekends, and so forth • Asset state: on, off, warm up, shutdown, and so on • A calculation: time periods when the second derivative of moving average is negative • Data samples that are errors: lost signals, flyers, dropouts or other issues that require cleansing to improve analytics accuracy.

In other words, time periods of interest are when a defined condition is true, and the rest of the data can be ignored for the analysis. Time periods of interest may be selected to use as integration points with relational or discrete data types (see Figure 1).

Two comments on this example: First, even with a simple example of one year of data from one signal, it’s obvious there are an infinite number of ways the signal might be sliced or consumed for analytics purposes. Since there are so many possible options, choosing the time periods of interest should be done at “analytics time” when the user’s intent is clear and the relevant time segments can be identified.

In addition, this example is just one signal. Imagine production environments of 20,000 to 70,000 signals such as large chemical plants, oil refineries with 100,000 signals or enterprise roll-ups of sensor data that includes millions of signals.

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Figure 3: This table was created using Seeq and is easily accessible by SMEs and analysts.

Contextualization at analytics time and in the hands of the SME is what transforms time-series data from a squiggly line in a control chart into data objects of interest for analysis, and all of its forms should be included in its definition (see Figure 2).

Second, it is important to remember that any analysis of time-series data involves sampling of signal data with strict adherence to the challenges of interpolation and calculus, something that IT-data consolidation/aggregation efforts typically don’t address. Therefore, the use of manufacturing-specific solutions for contextualization are required. The ability to align signals with different sample rates from different data sources in different time zones spanning Daylight Saving Time or other changes is an absolute requirement prior to enabling definition of the relevant time periods.

Contextualization and the last mile

The final step of contextualization after identifying time periods of interest within time-series signals is to then further contextualize data from other sources to enable insights that span manufacturing and business outcomes. The types of questions organizations may ask — all of which require the use of multiple, unlike data sets — may include: • What is energy consumption when making Product Type 1 versus Product Type 2?

• What is the impact of temperature on product quality?

• Does power consumption change as batch completion time varies?

Data sources can include laboratory information systems, manufacturing execution systems,

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enterprise resource planning systems, external raw material pricing systems and others.

A case in point for contextualization within time-series data and then across other data sources is shown in the following example. The result is a table, which is easy to understand and manipulate, accessible to SMEs and any analyst using a business intelligence application such as Microsoft Power BI, Tableau or Spotfire (see Figure 3).

Looking forward

There is ever more attention and pressure on industrial organizations to perform digital transformation, along with the required information technology/operational technology (IT/OT) integration necessary to provide an integrated view across business and production data sets. Therefore, it is increasingly important for manufacturing organizations to recognize the importance of contextualization, regardless of the selected storage strategy for their time-series data.

SMEs must perform contextualization to make data ready for analytics. Only the SMEs have the expertise and understands the needs of their analysis, and they will thus know what they are looking for right at analytics time. This includes the ability to rapidly define, assemble and work with the time periods of interest within time-series data, including access to related data in manufacturing, business, lab and other systems.

Therefore, organizations that align the contextualization requirements of time-series analytics with their data strategy will have a higher chance of improving production outcomes through insights. PE Michael Risse is the chief marketing officer and vice president at Seeq Corp., a company building advanced analytics applications for engineers and analysts that accelerate insights into industrial process data. He was formerly a consultant with big data platform and application companies, and prior to that worked with Microsoft for 20 years. Risse is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison, and he lives in Seattle. www.plantengineering.com

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input #9 at www.plantengineering.com/information

SOLUTIONS EAM/CMMS

By Chris Tindell, CMRP

How to maximize your EAM or CMMS Tracking mechanical seals may be the best thing since sliced bread

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Figure 1: Mechanical seals are considered spare parts, but they have their own spare parts.

All images courtesy: SEPCO

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nnovation often entails disruptive change, we are told. Moreover, since people typically dislike change, innovation may be slow to materialize.

Take sliced bread, for instance. We all make jokes about something being the best thing since sliced bread, but people (and particularly bakers) originally disliked the idea of sliced bread. In the case of sliced bread, the detractors had a point. When the whole loaf of bread was sliced, it became stale. The makers of Wonder Bread were among the first to embrace the idea of sliced bread and assure consumers that its “wonder-cut” bread would not dry out.

Innovation requires changed goals and expectations — a changing of the rules — to move the needle. As ultimately was the case of sliced bread, people must buy into the idea.

The question is, will tracking mechanical seals in an enterprise asset management system (EAM), such as Maximo, or computerized maintenance management software (CMMS) system, such as eMaint, deliver innovation sufficient to go through the pain that sometimes accompanies change? What are the primary benefits?

As mechanical seals have become a primary method for sealing, the industrial process pump repair cycle often is driven by the lifespan of this component. Seals are treated as a replacement part or consumable item.

This is an error. Because they can be repaired and reinstalled, mechanical seals should be tracked as a rotating asset. Even though viewed as a spare part, seals themselves have spare parts (see Figure 1).

As a spare part, the seals are grouped together in a bin location by item number, and they are only tracked by inventory use. The seals are theoretically considered disposable, but seals actually are sent out for repair and received again as a new item at the rebuild cost. The rebuilt rotating item has a serial numb er and a rebuild history that is lost because of this item’s master classification.

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Figure 2: A screenshot of an added rotating asset in Maximo.

Why track mechanical seals?

Frequently, end users do not effectively and efficiently use their EAM or CMMS to track their mechanical seal processes and inventory — including purchase, storage, rebuild and replacement. This takes time and effort to set up, and often teams are reacting to problems and may not have time to do this. However, maintenance and reliability teams pay for and install mechanical seals without much idea of how they perform after installation. Mechanical seals often are impossible to track because they were being rebuilt and still treated as a consumable item. Teams usually have no history.

A mechanical seal behaves like a fuse that fails often because of an overload or some other issue in a pump system, not because something was wrong with the seal. Upon investigation, teams often find that the seal failure was a symptom of bigger process problems. If this rotating asset is not tracked, how does the plant team know: • The cause of the failure • Where the seal went after it failed • Whether the seal was repaired and reinstalled • Whether the repaired seal was installed in a different pump.

Mechanical seals should be tracked because they are repairable and have a history. Using an EAM or www.plantengineering.com

CMMS to manage and track mechanical seal practices helps teams: • Know these assets’ full histories • Identify and eliminate causes of failure • Schedule exactly when seals should be replaced based on actual hours of operation, not waiting for it to leak or fail.

Failed mechanical seals tell a story. Clues about the cause of the seal failure are evident during the seal’s rebuild process. Some manufacturers analyze the seal’s wear patterns and provide a report of these findings. However, this data is typically not captured at the asset level. Ultimately, identifying and addressing the underlying causes of the seal failure improves the system reliability and extends pump life. Tracking seal processes in the EAM or CMMS increases end users’ ability to identify and address chronic and premature seal failures.

How do you track mechanical seals?

The maintenance planner for a facility will oversee adding mechanical seals tracking to the maintenance system. In a CMMS or EAM, the seal should be entered as a rotating asset (see Figure 2). When this seal is removed for replacement or repair, this should be noted in the program so that where the seal goes can be tracked. Once the asset is added, any activities related to it can be recorded and tracked in the software.

If the seal is sent for repair or even analysis to determine failure, this information should be entered. The components of these rotating assets are important to know and note as well (see Figure 3). The seals may wear or fail in several areas (see Figure 4).

Failed seal faces may show different wear types including: • Corrosion • Erosion • Fatigue • Overload.

However, the elastomers (gaskets and O-rings) in the seal will tell the true story of why the seal failed: • Swollen: may indicate a chemical attack or different elastomer material should be selected • Nicks and cuts: may mean that there was an installation issue or burrs or damage to the shaft/sleeve • Hard or cracked: chemical attack or temperature issues; may need to upgrade to higher temperature materials • Extruded: may indicate clearance issues • Compression set: may mean the elastomer has too much pressure applied; it was over compressed. www.plantengineering.com

The manufacturer who repairs or rebuilds the seal should be able to analyze the wear and determine why the seal failed. Was the failure caused by: • Design: improper design or wrong seal material selection • Purchase: unrealistic delivery commitment, the wrong material, the wrong size • Storage: late deliveries, poor vendor selection, mismanagement of inventory • Installation: poor planning, incorrect installation procedures or insufficient technical skills • Operation: improper planning, poor operating procedures, incorrect environmental controls or operator error • Maintain: poor maintenance practices or poor management philosophies.

Figure 3: The many components of a mechanical seal.

The next time the team installs a new or rebuilt mechanical seal, take the time to add it to the EAM or CMMS. The information and history gained will be the building blocks of more successful seal deployment and may improve the entire pump system.

Author’s note: We mention some EAMs and CMMSs in this article. They are used by way of example and are not endorsed by SEPCO or its employees. PE Chris Tindell, CMRP, is a regional business manager for Sealing Equipment Products Co. Inc. (SEPCO).

SEPCO supports global distribution in more than 30 countries. Tindell is a maintenance and reliability professional with more than 20 years of experience in reliability consulting, training and troubleshooting equipment. He is an experienced vibration and lubrication analyst and maintains professional certifications in multiple engineering technology fields.

PLANT ENGINEERING

Figure 4: The many areas that can wear/fail in mechanical seals.

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SOLUTIONS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

By Jeff Householder

How to address digital transformation challenges Bottom-up efforts provide a better path to success than top-down edicts for digital transformation initiatives

D Figure 1: One aspect of digital transformation is knowledge transfer across the entire organization.

All images courtesy: Emerson

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igital transformation of manufacturing has been a leading topic of discussion within industry for decades. The reality is the push to advanced technology in manufacturing industries has been going on for a very long time, with the first programmable logic controller (PLC) introduced nearly 50 years ago, and the first distributed control system (DCS) following about five years later.

Back then, the idea of replacing pneumatic controls, relays and loop controllers with solid-state automation systems able to perform consistently and flawlessly was a major step forward, and it laid the foundation for many subsequent technologies.

Today, while industrial plants and facilities still make extensive use of traditional automation, most related technologies, including PLCs and DCS, have advanced substantially in terms of functionality and interoperability.

The plant floor now includes smart devices communicating over high-speed networks to deliver a wealth of data beyond process variables and status. For example, diagnostics data is available for instruments, as well as for the machines and process units they monitor. Using this and other new data sources, worker safety and plant availability have been dramatically improved, while plant efficiency has increased at an even higher rate.

Automation systems initially emphasized monitoring and control, but they also could track and maintain history.

This historical data was transformed into displays and reports, enabling a

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view into the plant not previously available. Ultimately, this information was made available to systems operating at enterprise levels, creating additional opportunities for operational improvements.

If digital transformation began in the 1970s and plants have incorporated many of the associated technologies, why are we still talking about it today?

Clearly, the advances we made in the process and discrete industries have produced unprecedented improvements. Manufacturing costs have been greatly reduced as yields have increased and as the labor content per unit has decreased. However, due to numerous challenges, our ability to apply all this data and information to fully use its power has not kept pace with the technologies now available in modern devices and systems.

Raw data into actionable information

Replacement of manual, pneumatic and relay control with intelligent automation systems is relatively straightforward. Documenting the necessary control functions and configuring/programming the automation elements typically is not complicated and results in substantial improvements.

But today, manufacturers need to derive higher degrees of benefit from the vast amount of collected data to unlock even greater value within operations.

This digital transformation will require improved strategies to make the best use of resources within the company — and may even necessitate tapping into the abilities of business partners. The opportunity to transform business is there, but it can be intimidating as key questions must first be answered, including: • Where do I start?

• How much will it cost?

• Can I build a business case?

• If I make the investment, can our company handle the change?

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These questions become even more challenging because digital transformation is different for every company. Enterprises each have a different starting point, vision and definition of success. Operations leaders must clearly communicate to their organization what they intend to derive from digital transformation (see Figure 1).

In other words, digital transformation leaders must create an organization where operations are integrated so key strategies can be deployed, lessons learned can be applied throughout the company and operations can be harmonized. A combination of investments in technology and people is typically required to reach these goals, as detailed in the following examples.

Bottom-up instead of top-down

This company has a traditional corporate structure, with centralized personnel overseeing many operating business units, each of which performs various functions, including manufacturing (see Figure 2).

This corporation views itself as a central authority in terms of running the business, establishing key strategies and creating a vision for the entire enterprise. It likely includes a central engineering and operations team providing guidance for business units to ensure work is performed globally and coherently. The corporation standardizes IT practices, so tools are applied consistently, and data is easily exchanged. It understands the need to be connected to the operating units to keep the entire enterprise in lockstep. The key to the effectiveness of the guidance issued by the corporate center is acceptance at the operating unit level (see Figure 3).

Without acceptance and buy-in from each business unit, even the best technical solutions won’t be fully implemented to yield maximum benefit.

The best way to address this issue is to link each site to headquarters so business unit decisions are made in concert with the corporate vision, and not by top down edict (see Figure 4).

An example of this concept in practice can be found within the Emerson Machine Automation manufacturing enterprise, with headquarters and manufacturing plant both based in Charlottesville, Va. Plant personnel progressively and continuously look for improvement opportunities. The www.plantengineering.com

actions they undertake do not depend on a corporate directive but are instead based on known needs for improving operations. Plant personnel constantly lean out operations by devising mechanical and software tools to improve productivity and reduce cost. This bottom-up approach ensures effectiveness because each proposed change is suggested by those closest to the problem, enabling rapid recognition followed by quick solution implementations.

Admittedly, execution of this strategy is simplified because there is only one site for high-volume manufacturing, and it is co-located with headquarters, but the basic concept is applicable to any company. The main challenge for businesses with multiple large manufacturing centers is ensuring that as new tools and practices are developed, they are documented and shared such that each site runs similar procedures.

When manufacturing is more distributed, challenges are created in terms of sharing innovation, which requires rapid coordination for deployment at other sites. Cooperation with corporate management also can be more difficult, but modern communication technologies can address many of these issues.

Put people first

One of Emerson Machine Automation’s customers runs a pulp and paper plant making multiple products including sandwich wrappers and cardboard, and they are betting big on the rapid adoption of

PLANT ENGINEERING

Figure 2: Many industrial companies employ a structure whereby operations at multiple sites are coordinated at a centralized corporate level.

Figure 3: Edicts issued at the corporate level won’t be effective without buyin from each business unit.

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SOLUTIONS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

implementing a full-blown industrial internet of things (IIoT) strategy by making more data available to the entire team.

This paper plant is no different from most, as most plants use little of the available data.

The 5% estimate called out in Figure 5 is quite conservative, as many estimate slightly more than 1% of the available data is actually used to improve operations.

Looking ahead

Figure 4: Instead of issuing edicts to business units, corporate personnel need to work closely with each site to ensure effective IIoT and digital transformation implementation.

paper straws. The plant has four different PLC platforms and three different DCS. They are planning on integrating their entire operation by creating a collaboration center, uniting their people first before they consolidate and upgrade their automation systems. The company has constructed a control room with six large-screen monitors where information is displayed from the seven automation systems. Plant operators now have access to a broader set of information, which they use to guide quicker and better decision making.

The company is developing its integration plans based on input and feedback from the operators. It is addressing its most pressing needs with a stepby-step digital integration and transformation process. This plant is a poster child for the process of using big data to improve industrial productivity and minimize unplanned downtime (see Figure 5).

The plant has the intelligent devices and platforms required to provide the foundational data needed to achieve top quartile performance, but it doesn’t have easy access to the data. For this company, installing a new control room is a great first step on the road to

These are two examples of the challenges facing companies today. Others arise as companies grow and expand IT systems, and as acquisitions introduce new IT and automation systems. The business environment, regulatory controls and laws change, requiring manufacturing to respond. But a truly connected enterprise will be adaptable and agile, allowing it to keep abreast of changes in the operating environment.

Superior digital transformation requires both technical and personnel improvement. Productivity gains from automation are frequently negatively impacted by lack of preparation of operational staff due to insufficient training or mismatched skill sets.

But even with these and other challenges, an overwhelming majority of companies believe intelligent implementation of an IIoT strategy is crucial to their continued success.

In the automation world, digital transformation is often viewed in terms of improving manufacturing efficiency. Historical information is digested to improve prediction, and analytics are added to improve understanding of current conditions and needed changes. A need also arises to increase the speed at which decisions are made, all with the intent of creating more efficient operations. Along with these challenges, as the world becomes more datadriven, automation systems must be integrated with IT infrastructure and policies.

Figure 5: Manufacturers are just beginning to effectively use existing big data to improve operations.

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Figure 6: The path to digital transformation begins by recognizing opportunities to use existing data more effectively.

While digital transformation as described above can be complicated, manufacturers still need to drive forward, or risk being left behind. While each company faces differLetterhead, Bills, envelopes... Simple and on ent challenges and may come up with different answers, white background - darker blue with PMS 877 for contrast white transformational business practices are onnecessary to compete globally. These practices will drive the innovation and speed required to help companies outpace their competitors.

The good news as you start on this journey is much of the = C90.M50.Y5.K40 PMS 7462 data already resides in your plant. HarnessingBLUE the information SILVERkey. = PMS877 or C47.M38.Y38.K2 and using it to transform the business is the Focused outcomes and approaches that support scalability enables measured investment and supportable business cases.

BLACK ONLY LOGO - FAX, ETC. The path to digital transformation is not an easy one, but success can be realized by taking one step at a time, starting with the most pressing problems (see Figure 6).

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SOLUTIONS HYDRAULICS

By Joe Bush

How to isolate systems with block valves Isolating industrial fluid systems is important; selecting the right valve configuration is critical to safe maintenance

S

afe industrial fluid system maintenance requires isolating any line in which work will be performed. Without proper isolation, fluid inside a line — which is often pressurized — could pose significant risks to technicians involved in changing a gauge or measurement device.

One of the most common and effective methods of achieving proper isolation is the use of block valves at proper locations in the system. Two block valves installed in sequence has become the standard for most systems to allow for the bleeding out of an energized segment in a fluid system. This design has proven to be one of the safest, most effective ways to reduce the pressure and flow to zero.

Typically, engineers use one of two approaches in designing a two-block valve system. The first approach is to add a third valve between the other two, which will vent or bleed off any pressure that might squeeze past the first block valve. Or, engineers can use a third valve to redirect any flow to a bypass loop that will eliminate the possibility of fluid flowing through the section of line under maintenance.

Figure 1: A typical doubleblock-andbleed (DBB) configuration enables fluid system isolation for simplified, safe maintenance.

All images courtesy: Swagelok

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Isolation configuration locations

No matter where a fluid system line is in a plant, it will eventually require some maintenance. Consequently, technicians must be able to isolate that line safely.

Among the locations that require a block valve are lines near any device or component that requires regular maintenance, such as a filter, valve or transmitter.

Any system, skid or line that could eventually need to be reconfigured, repaired or replaced — or any section of the main process pipe that may need to be serviced or maintained — could also require block valves.

In addition, any instrumentation line that branches off the process line (e.g., a grab sample station, sampling station or gauges for pressure, temperature or flow) could require block valves. Any sampling system for calibration fluids — particularly any sampling streams that may be switched on or off — will also require a block valve configuration.

Isolation configuration options

Having more than one block valve in any given line is critical to prevent leaks, which will cause pressure to increase in the line being maintained and create unsafe conditions. Typically, engineers will solve this challenge with one of two main configurations: a double-blockand-bleed (DBB) setup or a bypass loop.

To isolate a fluid system, a DBB setup is the most common configuration used (see Figure 1). It usually marks a transition from a process line to either an instrumentation line, when using a process interface valve, or to a line that leads to an instrument or device such as a transmitter. Engineers usually design the three-valve system as a single manifold unit or as three separate components.

In contrast, a bypass loop not only isolates the line under maintenance but also redirects the overall flow so the line can continue to function while maintenance is ongoing. In a bypass configuration, for example, a three-way valve might be used to modify the flow around the section of the line under maintenance (see www.plantengineering.com

Figure 2: A bypass loop used to isolate a fluid system line allows the process to continue functioning while performing maintenance.

Figure 2). As a result, technicians can change a filter without forcing unnecessary downtime. Bypass valves also eliminate the problem of hydraulic shock (also known as “water hammer”) that occurs when a valve is closed off suddenly.

Depressurize and isolate. Before performing any maintenance, technicians should first depressurize any fluid system. It is generally preferable to have two block valves in sequence when doing so, to keep pressure from building up in the section of the line under maintenance.

While a good valve should not leak across the seat, it occasionally does happen under certain conditions.

If the valve has not been properly maintained or if the wrong valve has been chosen for the task, leakage is possible. That is why having a second block valve is critical, in addition to a bleed or vent valve. In cases in which downtime is not possible, a bypass valve may be necessary.

Choosing the right block valve

Needle valves and ball valves are the two most common types of block valves. A third option is an integrated DBB configuration. Maintenance technicians must ensure the system specifications match the application at hand.

Needle valves. Although needle valves are not always used for shutoff purposes, they can be used in situations in which positive shutoff is necessary. In this capacity, needle valves shut down lines gradually, avoiding the hydraulic shock problem. It is critical to choose a needle valve specifically designed as a block valve — one with a rotating or soft-stem tip.

Otherwise, metal V-tips can score the metal and cause leakage.

which offers additional reliability.

The integrated DBB system contains fewer parts that can leak, takes up less space, weighs less and is easier to install than more traditional block valve components (see Figure 3).

Be careful not to use the wrong component in an isolation configuration accidentally. While ball and needle valves are constructed to deal with positive shutoff, regulators are not (even though they can often stop most of the flow). Do not use the regulator as a block valve — engineers should instead install a ball valve system somewhere upstream.

Final words

Engineers also should install a pressure indicator downstream from the second block valve in the isolation configuration because it will allow technicians to check on pressure at a glance and make sure the block valve configuration is working properly.

Properly isolating fluid system lines with block valves will not only improve uptime and plant profitability but also help plants maintain their fluid lines more safely. PE Joe Bush is product manager, valves for Swagelok.

Figure 3: An integral DBB valve features fewer potential leak points, reduced space and weight and simplified installation.

Ball valves. While ball valves can effectively shut off flow quickly and their handles helpfully indicate the direction of flow or shutoff, they also can generate hydraulic shock because they shut the flow off so rapidly. Water hammer can damage pressure indicators, flow meters or other upstream components.

To avoid hydraulic shock, engineers can install a bypass loop into the system. That way, when the ball valve closes, the flow has somewhere to go, which reduces the pressure spike that results from a ball valve shutting off the flow of liquid quickly.

Integral DBBs. One of the latest entries into the block valve market is an integrated DBB configuration, www.plantengineering.com

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SOLUTIONS MOTORS & DRIVES

By Jon Mosterd

Top 10 ways to protect your VFD investment Variable speed drives offer savings, if used properly

M Variable ac drives can save users money by providing better motor control to operate the system at lower speeds and unity power factor. Image courtesy: Danfoss Drives

anufacturers improve efficiency using variable speed drives for electrical motors. Compared to across the line starters or older dc drives, variable ac drives can save users money by providing better motor control to operate the system at lower speeds and unity power factor. Over time, the payback from these savings reduces operating costs and provides a return on investment. However, this is only possible by ensuring the lifecycle of these units are maximized and optimized.

Here are 10 ways to protect your investment in a variable frequency drive (VFD):

1. Know your application

Protecting VFD investment begins prior to the actual purchase. Factors such as performance, speed or torque control, fieldbus communications, or even inputs and outputs can often affect the model of unit you will need. Taking the time to first determine actual needs before the purchase can often differentiate between a successful project and one that keeps maintenance personnel up in the middle of the night.

2. Engineer the system properly

The VFD needs to be sized according to load and

ambient conditions to ensure that it can handle the torque required in all situations. Be sure to consult with the VFD manufacturer, which will have design resources available for support.

3. Evaluate at your environment

If it is contaminated with dust, conductive residue, debris, moisture, oil, high temperatures, or other potential disruptors, you may want to invest in a VFD that is rated NEMA 12 or NEMA 4 to protect it from these variables. Also consider temperature, altitude and humidity and compare them to the manufacturer’s specifications.

The electrical environment is also important and often overlooked; existing harmonics, stray voltages, imbalances or line spikes can cause adverse effects to your new installation. Filters, reactors and isolation transformers are other items that may be needed to ensure a properly operating environment.

4. Select the correct motor

Not all motors are created equal. Due to the nature of the pulse-width modulation (PWM) waveform that a VFD generates to produce a synthetic ac waveform, there are often high voltage spikes. VFD-rated motors are equipped with extra insulation and are designed to handle this. Be sure to consult with the motor manufacturer regarding speeds, duty cycle, isolated bearings, ground brushes and environment. A good motor manufacturer will work to verify you are purchasing the best product for the application.

5. Specify the correct fusing, cabling and filters

Before finalizing the installation, be sure to consult the installation manuals that come with the VFD. They provide valuable information regarding compliant fuses and cables sizes and types (such as VFD cable), as well as any external items you may need such as a load reactor to prevent things like reflective waves.

Further, use the correct wiring and wiring practices during the installation process. A VFD cannot maintain its NEMA 12 or NEMA 4 rating if wiring practices and components of the same rating are not used.

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6. Use trained and qualified profes-

sionals to install the equipment, especially in harsh environments

Manufacturers provide minimal standards for installation and often there are local electrical regulations which also need to be met. Further, a trained and qualified installer will be able to ensure that drives are mounted correctly, all wiring is bonded and grounded properly, the installation allows for proper airflow, and all covers and protective barriers have been reinstalled correctly.

7. Verify that those doing the start-

up and commissioning are well-versed in VFD operation

Knowing and understanding how to properly enter the motor data, use proportional-integral-derivative (PID), and establish field bus communications will help assure that you meet both budgets and deadlines during the installation.

8. Invest in training

Having a good working comprehension of variable ac drives will help you and maintenance staff to better understand what is considered normal and abnormal operation.

By identifying abnormalities early, you could prevent unexpected failures and downtime and be able to better help troubleshoot when the unexpected does occur.

9. Perform regular maintenance

Like most electrical equipment, VFD manufacturers prescribe recommended maintenance intervals which should be followed. This will allow you to plan shut-down times to clean and inspect your unit, identify potential problems and remove any items that may be preventing your equipment from properly dissipating heat. Also, it allows you to chart standard operating conditions and identify if things are starting to break down, such as your electrolytic capacitors.

left unused for more than a year, begin to deteriorate. This may cause the unused drive to spontaneously combust when finally installed. While it is important to have extra parts like fuses and control boards, as well as spare VFDs, on hand, it is just as important to regularly test and inspect them to ensure they are in good operating condition and ready for use.

It’s important to realize that anyone can purchase a VFD and install it; however, it is imperative that the installation process be followed precisely. By spending the necessary time up front, investing in the correct products for your application, and by conducting regular maintenance, you will reap the energy savings and operational efficiencies of a VFD for many years to come. PE Jon Mosterd is engineering manager, North America Center of Excellence, Danfoss Drives.

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SOLUTIONS ELECTRICAL EQUIPMENT

By Matt Ogden

Develop a cable gland strategy for hazardous environments Tips on how to get maximum benefit from cable glands

A

cable gland (often known in the U.S. as a cord grip, cable strain relief, cable connector or cable fitting) is a device designed to attach and secure the end of an electrical cable to the equipment. Cable glands are too often thought of as being commodity products, their importance undervalued by those who dismiss them as merely being bits of brass and rubber.

However, if decision-makers get their cable gland strategy wrong, the expensive equipment that glands are tasked with protecting, which is often worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, could fail. The fact is that an effective cable gland strategy helps firms to operate efficiently and safely. So, what do senior leadership teams need to consider?

Protection

If procurement teams select cable glands based on cost rather than listening to recommendations

from engineering departments, projects end up with wrong or ineffective glands. This increases the risk of water and dust getting into the equipment the glands are tasked with protecting, which can have a catastrophic effect.

Also, it is important not to over- or undertighten cable glands, for this can lead to cable damage. An over-tightened gland will compromise and stress a cable’s properties. This limits how well a gland offers ingress protection against dust and water penetration and presents an explosion risk. A gland that is under-tightened will also allow dust and water to damage equipment, in addition to being liable to loosening, creating an electric shock risk.

Thus, it is well worth investing in cable glands that have tightening guides integrated as standard.

When it comes to installing the gland, this gives the individual responsible a simple visual indicator to show it has been tightened correctly to the outer diameter of the cable being fitted.

Cable vulnerability

It is relatively easy for a cable to pull away if an incident happens with a gland. It is advisable to install a clamp or a cleat. Cable clamps should be installed within 300 mm of the end of a cable gland. This ensures that if any extreme pulling, twisting, or tightening of a cable occurs, the clamp provides the strainrelief required so that no extra damage develops.

As it stands, many installations are not adhering to this standard, perhaps due to space constraints onsite. There are, however, innovations available that should be considered as part of any cable gland strategy.

Cable glands are often seen as being commodities, but an effective cable gland strategy can keep operations efficient and safe. Photos courtesy: Hawke International

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www.plantengineering.com

In fact, Hawke International has developed a new space-efficient clamp that can be applied within 50 mm of the end of a cable gland.

Time is money. Business costs rise with every minute that an engineer is working onsite to install equipment. By choosing a gland that comes with a full training service, engineers will be quicker when installing it, saving money.

In addition to the costs incurred by lengthy installation times, it is also vital to consider the threat presented by poorly installed cable glands. Expensive equipment failures will happen because of negligent installation practices.

Given that over the lifespan of a product, maintenance is one of the biggest expenses, as much as possible must be done to offer protection to valuable equipment.

Inspection

gland requirements, contributing to major cost savings, stock flexibility and peace of mind.

Small part, big difference

In summary, hazardous environments present some of the most critical conditions to operate in. Every item of equipment — no matter how small — must successfully play its part. That includes cable glands, which are typically tasked with protecting extremely expensive pieces of equipment. By developing a good gland strategy, organizations operating in such areas can safeguard against damage, save money on installation costs, inspection and maintenance, and provide installers with the versatility and training to work efficiently. PE

Good inspection protocol ensures equipment is functioning efficiently. The implementation of regular and detailed inspections ensures that Matt Ogden is cable gland product specialany faults in equipment are spotted before they ist at Hawke International. have the chance to worsen and require money to fix.

To inspect a gland, equipment must be powered down. At this point, it is not doing its job and is therefore costing the business money. Decisionmakers should choose cable glands that are easy and quick to inspect, limiting the costly downtime that is otherwise incurred.

Installers of hazardous area equipment want versatile products.

Although standard cable glands are used more often than barrier glands, there are many situations where barrier glands are required. For instance, when a cable is less than 10 feet in length, what often happens is that a standard gland is specified and arrives onsite, only for installers to realize the installation requires a barrier gland. Any gland strategy needs to be mindful of this.

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SOLUTIONS NON-DESTRUCTIVE COVID TESTING

By Kevin Parker

Non-destructive testing provider contributes to consortium for ventilator production First marketed in 1957, Bird Mark 7 returns as open-source ventilator solution

W

hen the employees of Waygate Technologies, a Baker Hughes business, first heard about an opportunity to help reverseengineer an out-of-patent, proven life saver that is needed globally, immediately and in considerable quantities, they were eager to lend a hand.

Formerly known as GE Inspection Technologies, Waygate Technologies is expert in non-destructive technologies, including applications of industrial radiography and CT, industrial ultrasound, remote visual inspection and eddy current inspection.

The Bird Mark 7 ventilator was first introduced in 1957 by Dr. Forrest M. Bird, an American aviator, inventor and biomedical engineer. He is best known for having created some of the first reliable mass-produced mechanical ventilators for acute and chronic cardiopulmonary care.

These included the Mark 7, whose signature green casing was a feature of the 1960s hospital scene. It was considered a reliable, safe and effective application for patients with respiratory problems, i.e., those whose lungs needed help to stay inflated. It was manufactured well into the 1980s and can still be found in hospitals around the world.

Can-do spirit

The National Strategic Research Institute (NSRI), UC Davis and Livermore Instruments have partnered to rapidly redesign the Mark 7 to include simplified supply chain components and to mass produce a modern version that adds critical features.

David Fergenson, CEO of mass spectrometer manufacturer Livermore Instruments, Oakland, Calif., said the goal is to help meet global demand for ventilators through an open-source specification for production of the updated Mark 7.

“When we got into the Bird Mark 7, we realized it could be made on a massive scale in a way that the more modern ventilators just can’t. We need to respond to

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this opportunity and get this redesigned ventilator into the hands of our health care practitioners immediately.

We welcome colleagues to join us to make this happen," Fergenson said.

Through publicizing their project and its aims, Livermore Instruments was put in touch with 3D Systems, an innovator of 3D printing that provides digital manufacturing solutions worldwide.

Collaboration amidst crisis

“One of the biggest advantages of this ventilator is that it doesn’t require a power source. This is extremely valuable for COVID-19 response efforts in emerging territories. Health care professionals will be able to provide valuable care, even in areas where infrastructure may not be present,” said Scott Green, director of product management, software at 3D Systems.

3D Systems, Rock Hill, S.C., engineers, manufactures and sells 3D printers. Chuck Hull, the CTO and former president, invented stereolithography in 1986.

Stereolithography is a form of 3D printing technology used for creating models, prototypes, patterns and production parts in a layer-by-layer fashion using photochemical processes by which light causes chemical monomers and oligomers to cross-link together to form polymers.

The overarching need is to produce hundreds of thousands of these already FDA-approved devices, for use throughout the world, including in the U.S. where the Coronavirus caseload is overwhelming hospitals.

Design references for the Mark 7 existed, but, “from a manufacturing perspective, parts designed and built before the digital age may not be completely represented in the available source documentation,” 3D Systems’ Green said.

In other words, the trusted, working parts of Mark 7 machines still in circulation may not reflect the original design specifications. www.plantengineering.com

Manifold mystery

The exact form of the production-version manifold, a critical and complex part at the heart of the ventilator — was a mystery.

Livermore engineers could not see inside the die-cast aluminum part to verify and replicate its specifications and construction.

3D Systems had recently formed an association — signed a memorandum of understanding and developed working relationships — with Waygate Technologies, known for, among other things, developing equipment that produces high-quality computed tomography (CT) scans of industrial parts, such as the turbine blades in jet engines.

Tomography is a method for producing three-dimensional images of the internal structures of a solid object by observing and recording the differences in the effects on the passage of waves of energy impinging on those structures.

Within 48 hours of shipping the part to Waygate, Livermore Instruments had received modelling of the part, produced by 3D Systems engineers using the company’s Geomagic Design X software, from scans generated by Waygate Technologies’ phoenix v|tome|x m 3D metrology.

How that happened so swiftly is itself a story of engineering collaboration optimized to meet a pressing need in near-emergency conditions.

“We got a call from Scott [Green] on Friday a couple of weeks ago,” recalled Shana Telesz, performance leader for Waygate’s customer solutions centers. “He told us what Livermore needed.”

Telesz greenlighted the project immediately and waited to receive details of what was required, as well as an example of the part itself.

That Sunday, Telesz was discussing COVID work arrangements with one of her engineers, Brandon Miller, who had self-isolated to protect his team because his girlfriend, Lindsey Mueller, an ICU nurse pursuing a doctorate in nursing practice in adult acute care had volunteered to join the Coronavirus unit at her hospital in Cincinnati. Miller, now working from home, was ultra-eager “to be part of the solution” to COVID, said Telesz, who suggested he start by steering the response to 3D Systems.

Overnight Waygate received the complex central part of the ventilator from Livermore, and by www.plantengineering.com

Figure 1: The Bird Mark 7 ventilator is one of the first reliable mass-produced mechanical ventilators. Photo courtesy: Wood Library Museum of Anesthesiology

the time Telesz caught up with the project at the end of that day, scans had been sent to 3D Systems, after the data had been refined by Waygate’s Bill Hayes working the scanner, in collaboration with Miller contributing from home.

“The system our team used on this job,” said Telesz, “has one of the features unique to Waygate equipment, called scatter|correct.” This technology “detects and eliminates” the scatter radiation generated when scanning metal parts, which can blur the edges of the 3D image.

“The whole Waygate technology suite is ideal for producing clean, high-quality data on a challenging part,” said Green. He also praised the Waygate team for being “available, flexible and communicative.”

High resolution mesh model

The high-resolution mesh model — a method of representing 3D objects using polygonal shapes to define their planes, curves and edges — delivered

by Waygate Technologies was critical to the subsequent online publication by Livermore of an opensource engineering package in easy-to-read STP-File format suitable for manufacturing the Bird Mark 7. Manufacturers in different localities can apply the specifications to whatever methods they have to hand — the manifold, for example, could be die cast, sand cast or 3D printed.

Waygate will also contribute to testing parts for an updated design of the life-saving ventilator. Having published the open-source instructions for the latest in-use Mark 7, the consortium (which includes the U.S. National Strategic Research Institute in Nebraska, and UC Davis College of Engineering), coordinated by Livermore Instruments, is now working to rapidly streamline the ventilator design for contemporary mass production by minimizing the number of component parts and optimizing for those that are easiest to make or source. PE Kevin Parker is editor of Plant Engineering magazine.

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As the world around us becomes more and more automated, an understanding of electrical control systems becomes more and more vital. Because of this, the demand for training in industrial controls has grown exponentially over the years.

Luckily, AutomationDirect has decided to meet this growing demand head-on by offering absolutely FREE online PLC training – no purchase necessary!

This online video training course encompasses various levels of training from entry level programming to advanced PLC functions, and is available 24/7/365 so you can learn at your pace and at your convenience. Some of the general topics covered include: • • • • • •

Logic circuits Basic switches Sinking and sourcing PLC scan time I/O fundamentals PLC memory addressing

A wide variety of free training videos can be found at automationdirect.com.

Also available are over 200 training videos specifically covering AutomationDirect PLCs and include topics on how to use their rung editors, logic instructions, internal control relays, subroutines, communication, data view windows and many other functions.

• CLICK PLC Family Video Library (64 videos) • Do-more\BRX PLC Family Video Library (115 videos) • Productivity PLC Family Video Library (62 videos) This training is provided by AutomationDirect’s education and its training partner Interconnecting Automation who has been training automation professionals for more than 20 years.

Interconnecting Automation’s instructors pride themselves on providing a “no hype”, “no sales pitch” type of instruction and aim to thoroughly help others learn about PLC products so they are ready to use these products to their fullest potential.

To get unlimited access to the FREE online PLC training or to learn more about what is provided, we invite you to head on over to www.automationdirect.com/plc-training.

input #16 at www.plantengineering.com/information

C

amfil APC Offers Resources to Help

Manufacturing Plants Handle Dangerous Dusts and Improve Air Quality

Camfil Air Pollution Control (APC) Camfil APC has been training engineers on dust collection, combustible dust dangers, NFPA standards and other compliance issue for more than 20 years.

The company maintains a fleet of more than 60 mobile dust and fume collection systems. These trailer-mounted units are available on request for: • Training and education of engineers •

Informal training on basic principles of dust collector design, selection and operation.

Additional Camfil APC programs for plant engineers include: •

Educational white papers cover a wide range of subjects including combustible dust, welding fume control, mist collection, dust collector safety, EPA’s NESHAP Rule 6X, OSHA’s silica rule and Standard 199 testing.

•

An APC Video Center on the company website with customer case studies, product demonstrations and industry specific dust collection topics.

• Company experts regularly present webinars hosted by industry trade publications.

The trailer-mounted units are also used to demonstrate the dust collectors at professional meetings and “Learn over Lunch” onsite customer events.

For more information, go to camfilAPC.com. input #17 at www.plantengineering.com/information

M

oving bulk material?

Understand the fundamental differences between Flexicon Flexible Screw Conveyors, Tubular Cable Conveyors and Pneumatic Conveying Systems Flexible Screw Conveyors, Pneumatic Conveying Systems and Tubular Cable Conveyors from Flexicon offer unique attributes relative to individual requirements.

Several conveyors can move your bulk material, but only one is likely to offer the greatest efficiency, dependability and cost effectiveness for your requirement.

separation of blends and evacuate material from the tubing circuit, preventing waste and allowing rapid cleaning.

Flexible Screw Conveyors can move the greatest diversity of bulk materials, including those that pack, cake or smear, with no separation of blends. Economical to purchase and maintain, they convey at any angle over short to medium distances in low to medium capacities. The removable inner screw is the only moving part contacting material, and is driven above the point at which material exits the conveyor, eliminating contact with seals.

Dilute-Phase Pneumatic Conveying Systems with single or multiple inlets and outlets move bulk materials vertically and horizontally in low to high capacities over short to long distances using pressure or vacuum generated by a blower. Material enters the system through rotary airlock valves, pick-up adapters and wands (vacuum systems), and is separated from the airstream using filter receivers or cyclone separators.

Material exits the system through rotary airlock valves or fill/pass valves, or discharges directly into process vessels--with no residual.

Tubular Cable Conveyors gently slide fragile food and non-food products through smooth stainless steel tubing routed at any angle over short or long distances in low to high capacities using low-friction polymer discs attached to stainless steel cable.

While these generalizations may help narrow your conveyor choices, Flexicon recommends running your material in its test laboratories equipped with full-size conveying systems and upstream/downstream equipment to simulate your process.

These conveyors are available with single or multiple inlets and outlets, prevent the

input #18 at www.plantengineering.com/information

+1 888 353 9426 sales@flexicon.com www.flexicon.com

I

nformation on Industrial lubricants for your plant operations at… www.lubriplate.com... FREE

Log on to our website and find all the information you need about industrial lubricants. From mineral based greases and oils to the latest high grade synthetic fluids, the data is compiled in our Lubriplate Lubrication Data Book that you can download at no cost to you.

Also available in digital format are important specification and product information sheets on H1 Food Machinery Lubricants, Environmental Lubricants and more.

Complete data on drop points, cold tests, viscosity indexes, ISO grades, AGMA numbers, etc. is included. There is lubricant information available regarding compressor fluids, hydraulic fluids,

If you have a specific question you

bearing lubricants, power transmission

may also talk with a lubricant

fluids, specialty lubricants, high grade

representative at 1-800 733-4755 or

greases and more.

e-mail lubeXpert@lubriplate.com

LUBRIPLATE LUBRICANTS CO. Newark, NJ 07105 • Toledo, OH 43605

input #19 at www.plantengineering.com/information

3

Ways to Keep Your Engineers’ Skills Current While it is important to maintain the skills of all employees, nowhere is it more critical than engineering personnel. Engineers are typically responsible for the design, or implementation, of most productivity enhancements to equipment, production lines, or work flows.

As a result, in order to obtain the best results, your engineers need to be up-to-date on the latest innovations in the industry. Fortunately, keeping your engineers current on their skills is not a daunting effort, if you keep these simple suggestions in mind: 1. Encourage your engineers to belong to, and participate in engineering-related professional organizations. Many of these organizations offer training and development opportunities, as well as providing resource materials to members. In addition, these organizations provide networking opportunities for your employees to exchange best practices with others in their field. Lastly, train your engineers to be on the lookout for good talent when attending networking events, and you just may find yourself landing some great new talent for your company.

2. Develop a relationship with a university in your area that has an engineering school.

Most universities have ongoing development opportunities, and many are more than willing to develop customized training for your employees. This route provides great learning opportunities and like professional organizations, gives your engineers a good networking opportunity.

3. Collaborate with your key suppliers to find out the learning and development opportunities they provide, or will coordinate for you.

Well-established suppliers either have their own content or work closely with manufacturers to make training opportunities available for end users.

Remember, if you take care of your engineers, they will take care of you!

This article was written by Billy Hamilton, the Senior Vice President of Human Resources for Motion Industries. He has 29 years of experience in the field of human resources with companies such as Overhead Door Corporation and Lockheed Martin. He is passionate about talent management and data analytics.

For more information visit: MotionIndustries.com/plantengineering MotionInstituteOnline.com input #20 at www.plantengineering.com/information

W

ant to learn about engineering topics

pertaining to gearmotors?

We have the information at your fingertips!

Tired of looking up multiple sources for answers to common engineering questions about gear units or gearmotors? We have the solution.

SEW-EURODRIVE’s online Technical Notes can be a real life-saver when you need answers.

Technical Notes provide quick access to many engineering topics such as how to properly mount a torque arm, how to determine and design for inertia, or how to properly design your machine to use a hollow shaft gear unit.

Need answers on how the speed, mounting position, environment, and duty cycle can affect the thermal rating of a gear unit and how to protect against too much heat? That’s one of many in-depth documents you can find by visiting www.seweurodrive.com and clicking Technical Notes.

Whitepaper Our technical white paper, Maximizing Gearmotor Speed Range shows you how to operate VFDs above 60Hz to widen speed range, improve stability and reduce cost.

In this white paper, you’ll learn why it can be a good idea to operate gearmotors above 60Hz. Through a common example, we will show you how to select the proper gearmotor that will significantly enhance performance in the following ways: • Increase stability by reducing inertia mismatch • Widen the available speed range • Eliminate a costly ventilator fan at low speed • Eliminate motor overheating at low speed • Enable the use of a smaller motor Visit www.sewwhitepapers.com/vfd to download the PDF.

mktg@seweurodrive.com 864-439-7537 www.seweurodrive.com input #21 at www.plantengineering.com/information

AVO Training Institute is one of the most recognized and utilized electrical training providers worldwide.

AVO instructors have decades of combined years of electrical experience, and each one of them is hand-picked for their expertise AND teaching ability. Our instructors are articulate, organized, responsive to student needs, and passionate about the topics they teach.

Our curriculum is designed to facilitate student learning. Class sizes are small so our instructors can ensure students get exactly what they need. Our training centers are set up with substations, buried cable fields, switchgear, motor controls, relays, transformers and more. Every student is required to successfully perform each task under instructor evaluation in order to pass the class.

Each AVO Training Institute student has hands-on time with the equipment.

AVO courses are recognized by the International Electrical Testing Association (NETA) for Continuing Education Units – CEUs.

Visit www.avotraining.com for more information.

input #22 at www.plantengineering.com/information pe202008_eduEngHLF_avo.indd 1

7/20/2020 2:15:10 PM

Digi-Key Electronics offers a wide spectrum of automation and control products and solutions.

From robotics and safety to controls and relays, Digi-Key enables engineers to design easier and operators to work smarter. Digi-Key offers a wide variety of online resources to empower your success, including: • Design & Integration Services - Access a network of experienced system integrators to develop automation solutions from concept to commissioning, testing, and beyond • Interactive Product Selectors – Use the visual product selectors to navigate to the automation products you need • Blogs – Learn something new today!

• Articles & White Papers – Discover the latest technology news, product information, and supplier updates • 3D CAD Models, Datasheets, & Technical Manuals – Take your design to the next level pe202008_eduEngHLF_digikey.indd 1

sales@digikey.com • 1-800-344-4539 www.digikey.com

input #23 at www.plantengineering.com/information

7/10/2020 5:36:53 PM

Calling all system integrators...

Control Engineering and Plant Engineering’s annual

System Integrator of the Year Awards Entries are due September 4, 2020 Who should enter?

If you’re a system integrator with demonstrable industry success, Control Engineering and Plant Engineering urge you to enter the 2021 System Integrator of the Year competition.

Past System Integrator of the Year winners—Class of 2020, Class of 2019, and Class of 2018—are not eligible to enter the 2021 System Integrator of the Year program.

What’s in it for the winners?

The chosen System Integrator of the Year winners will receive worldwide recognition from Control Engineering and Plant Engineering. The winners also will be featured as the cover story of the Global System Integrator Report, distributed in December 2020.

How will the competition be judged?

Control Engineering and Plant Engineering’s panel of judges will conscientiously evaluate all entries. Three general criteria will be considered for the selection of the System Integrator of the Year: • Business skills • Technical competence • Customer satisfaction

Questions?

Contact Tom Magna System Integrator Marketing Consultant CFE Media tmagna@cfemedia.com

For more information on how to enter and proper criteria, visit: www.controleng.com/events-and-awards/system-integrator-of-the-year-program

INNOVATIONS Inline gearboxes

Bigfoot CMMS Bigfoot CMMS from Smartware Group Inc. has a modern vertical-scrolling interface that mimics maintenance operation workflows. The interface is adapted for mobile, tablet and larger desktop environments and gives users greater data access and management within a single screen. Consolidated tabs and fewer keystrokes provide easier access to maintenance requests, job planner, condition monitoring and key performance indicator (KPI) management. The current version includes e-mail notification templates and asset mapping. Budget management provides templates based on monthly, quarterly or annual allocations.

IronHorse inline gearboxes with cast-iron frames from AutomationDirect use helical gears to provide quiet startup and smooth operation. These gearboxes use C-face motor mounting interfaces. The universally interchangeable compact design ensures easy OEM replacement. Five gearbox frame sizes are available for NEMA motor frame sizes from 56C up to 254/6TC. Six gear ratios are available from 5:1 to 60:1 and the helical gearboxes are sized to handle motors from 1 to 20 HP. Heavy duty bearings are used on the output shaft and an interior channel guides oil to constantly lube the bearings. Double-lipped embedded oil seals prevent leakage.

AutomationDirect www.automationdirect.com Input #201 at www.plantengineering.com/information

Smartware Group Inc. www.bigfootcmms.com Input #200 at www.plantengineering.com/information

Compressed air filters Kaeser compressed air filters are available in flows from 20 to 500 scfm.

The line includes liquid separator, particulate, coalescing and oil vapor adsorbing filters to meet a wide range of air quality needs. Particulate and coalescing filters feature deep pleated filter elements wrapped in stainless steel cages for superior filtration and increased efficiency. Vapor filters use high efficiency carbon matting to prevent channeling, reduce pressure drop and prevent particles from escaping.

Kaeser Compressors https://us.kaeser.com/ Input #202 at www.plantengineering.com/information

44

• July/August 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

www.plantengineering.com

NEW PRODUCTS FOR ENGINEERS

Motion platform for robots The IRBT 2005 medium track motion platform for robot and transfer applications from ABB is compact with a symmetrical profile. Maximum integration ensures the protection of components in a small footprint. The platform consists of a standard 1-meter long module that allows the addition of numerous track and travel lengths for robots and transfer applications. The track’s modularity allows product evolution during its entire life span. Adaptable to various environments, the platform is available in two variants: standard uncovered and fully covered.

ABB https://global.abb/group/en Input #203 at www.plantengineering.com/information

Power metering devices

Disconnect switch The D-73 distribution-class, singlephase disconnect switch from Eaton provides a durable and dependable switch for line sectionalizing or isolating equipment. These switches are quality constructed to ensure stable, high current capability and mechanical integrity in the harshest environments.

Eaton www.eaton.com Input #204 at www.plantengineering.com/information

www.plantengineering.com

Siemens MD series high density power metering devices are networked electrical submetering instruments; a series of advanced BACnet and Modbus protocol electrical power sub meters. These meters are compatible with building management systems (BMS), being approved as a BACnet Testing Labs certified smart sensor (B-SS) device. The MD-12HD provides twelve current transformer (CT) inputs, equivalent to four 3-phase meters. The MD-48HD provides 48 CT inputs, equivalent to 16 3-phase meters.

The Siemens MD series high-density submetering platforms are optimized for use in equipment rooms, multi-family housing, data centers and other high metering load measurement areas.

Siemens https://new.siemens.com/us/en.html Input #205 at www.plantengineering.com/information

PLANT ENGINEERING

July/August 2020

•

45

MEDIA SHOWCASE FOR ENGINEERS NGINEER’S Your place for new products, literature, Apps, Videos, Case Studies and White Papers.

Easy to Use • Powerful Software Priced Right

The Ultimate Air & Gas Leak Detector

Full-featured CMMS

$30 For as low as

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• Also any Gas, Refrigerant or Vacuum • Rugged Design for Harsh Environments • Sealed to Resist Water, Oil, Dust, Chemicals • Professional’s Choice for Air Leak Surveys

(800) 922-4336 • mapcon.com

SuperiorSignal.com/PE

Input #100 #107 at plantengineering.hotims.com

Input #108 #100 at plantengineering.hotims.com

per Month!

Input #106 #100 at plantengineering.hotims.com

AccuTrak® VPX-WR

PRODUCTMART

www.mistcollectors.com

Input #110 at plantengineering.hotims.com

Go online to view all Plant Engineering eBooks!

www.mrshims.com

Tel: 1-800-645-4174

Belt/Sheave Laser Alignment System New Green laser delivers these important benefits: ● Reduces Vibration ● Eliminates downtime and productions ● At an affordable price ● Visible indoors and Outdoors ● Brightness great for long distances

Mr. Shims

your answer to better alignment for rotating machinery

1-800-72-SHIMS (1-800-727-4467)

OIL MIST & SMOKE IN YOUR SHOP?

Input #111 at plantengineering.hotims.com

Sponsor an eBook today! www.plantengineering.com/ebooks

46

•

July/August 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

www.plantengineering.com

EDUCATION for ENGINEERS August 12, 2020 11AM PT | 1PM CT | 2PM ET

Avoiding Profit Killers in Manufacturing Maintenance and Operations Attendees are eligible for a certificate of completion.

ONLINE COURSE: IIoT Series: Part 4: Machine Learning

SUMMER EDITION

Maintenance

One (1) certified professional development hour (PDH) available for all attendees.

Sponsored by

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Course runs until January 27, 2021 www.plantengineering.com/webcasts | www.plantengineering.com/research | www.plantengineering.com/ebooks | cfeedu.cfemedia.com

August 20, 2020 11AM PT | 1PM CT | 2PM ET

August 18, 2020 11AM PT | 1PM CT | 2PM ET

Learn how to leverage intelligent circuit protection Attendees are eligible for a certificate of completion.

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Sponsored by

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www.plantengineering.com

SUMMER EDITION

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PLANT ENGINEERING

July/August 2020

•

47

CONTACTS

Advertiser Contacts for plant engineers

Request more information about products and advertisers in this issue by using the http://plantengineering.hotims.com link and reader service number located near each. If you’re reading the digital edition, the link will be live. When you contact a company directly, please let them know you read about them in Plant Engineering.

Advertiser

Page

ABB Motors & Mechanical

C-4

Reader Service #

14

Web site

3010 Highland Parkway, Suite 325 Downers Grove, IL 60515 Ph. 630-571-4070, Fax 630-214-4504

CONTENT SPECIALISTS/EDITORIAL

www.new.abb.com/drives/digitalpowertrain-monitoring

AutomationDirect

C-2

1

www.automationdirect.com

Bosch Rexroth Corporation

19

9

www.boschrexroth-us.com/cytrobox

CALLING ALL SYSTEM INTEGRATORS… 43

PlantEngineering.com

www.controleng.com/SIYApplication

Camfil APC

12

7

www.camfilapc.com

Caterpillar - Northeast

4

4

www.necatdealers.com/standby http://cfeedu.cfemedia.com

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

PUBLICATION SERVICES

CFE Edu

34

Exair Corp

1

2

www.exair.com

STEVE ROURKE, Co-Founder SRourke@CFEMedia.com

Festo Corporation

15

8

www.festo.com

KATIE SPAIN NAREL, Art Director KSpain@CFEMedia.com

Flexicon Corp

6

5

www.flexicon.com

PAUL BROUCH, Director of Operations PBrouch@CFEMedia.com

Lubriplate Lubricants Co

8

6

www.lubriplate.com

COURTNEY MURPHY, Marketing and Events Manager CMurphy@CFEMedia.com

Rogers Machinery

31

12

www.knw-series.com

MCKENZIE BURNS, Marketing and Events Manager MBurns@CFEMedia.com

SEALRYT CORPORATION

25

10

www.SEALRYT.com

MICHAEL ROTZ, Print Production Manager 717-766-0211, Fax: 717-506-7238 mike.rotz@frycomm.com

SEW-EURODRIVE, Inc.

2

3

www.seweurodrive.com

MARIA BARTELL, Account Director, Infogroup Targeting Solutions 847-378-2275, maria.bartell@infogroup.com

Workbenchmarket

29

11

www.workbenchmarket.com

RICK ELLIS, Audience Management Director 303-246-1250, REllis@CFEMedia.com

Yaskawa America, Inc

C-3

13

www.yaskawa.com

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Please e-mail your opinions to KParker@CFEMedia.com

JIM LANGHENRY, Co-Founder & Publisher JLanghenry@CFEMedia.com

INFORMATION For a Media Kit or Editorial Calendar, e-mail Susie Bak at SBak@CFEMedia.com CUSTOMER SERVICE OR SUBSCRIPTION INQUIRIES (800) 217-7972 e-mail Plant Engineering at PE@omeda.com REPRINTS For custom reprints or electronic usage, contact: Shelby Pelton, Wright’s Media 281-419-5725 x138, cfemedia@wrightsmedia.com

PUBLICATION SALES Robert Levinger, Midwest RLevinger@CFETechnology.com 3010 Highland Parkway #325 Tel. 516-209-8587 Downers Grove, IL 60139 Karen Cira, Southeast 879 Autumn Rain Ln. Charlotte, NC 28209

KCira@CFEMedia.com Tel. 704-523-5466 Fax 630-214-4504

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DHoughton@CFEMedia.com Tel. 508-298-9021 Fax 630-214-4504 RGroth@CFEMedia.com Tel. 774-277-7266 Fax 508-590-0432

Stuart Smith, International stuart.smith@globalmediasales.co.uk SSM Global Media Ltd. Tel. +44 208 464 5577 Fax +44 208 464 5588

48

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July/August 2020

PLANT ENGINEERING

www.plantengineering.com

and

Technology

TM

Small Size.

Big Power.

GA500 AC Microdrives for Industrial Applications The Yaskawa GA500 combines industry leading power density with a small footprint to deliver big power in a small package.

The GA500 goes up to 40HP. No one else goes higher. It also optimizes panel space because of its zero clearance, side-by-side mounting.

drive

Want to learn how such a small drive can deliver so much power?

Call Yaskawa at 1-800-927-5292, or go to https://www.yaskawa.com/ga500 to learn more.

Yaskawa America, Inc. Drives & Motion Division

1-800-YASKAWA yaskawa.com

input #13 at www.plantengineering.com/information

For more info: https://www.yaskawa.com/ga500

— ABB Ability™ Digital Powertrain For efficient, safe and reliable operations

The ABB Ability™ Digital Powertrain connects drives, motors, pumps and bearings, taking uptime and productivity to new heights. The data insights gained from the powertrain enables customers to be better connected with their assets and make even better decisions to ensure safe, reliable and efficient operations.

Safety. Reliability. Efficiency.

new.abb.com/drives/digital-powertrain-monitoring input #14 at www.plantengineering.com/information