ems december 2010

In This Months Issue 4-7 8-15 17-19

LEAN RELIABILITY

LATEST INDUSTRY NEWS & PRODUCTS

WHY DO ENGINEERS DISLIKE POTENTIOMETERS?

20

ADVICE ON BUYING AN INFRARED CAMERA

22

Fluke Introduces True-rms Detachable Jaw AC/DC Clamp Meter

23-27

COMPRESSED AIR/COMPRESSORS

Contacts Publisher Michael Dominguez

Publisher

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NSK BEARING SOLUTIONS

Michael Dominguez

Email: Editorial editors/contributing: Jon Barret, michael@engineeringmaintenance.info Christer Idhammar, Alan France

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East Hull pumping station pumps given a new lease of life

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LEAN RELIABILITY

A Maintenance Weight Loss Program A Maintenance Management Article by Michael Lippig The Conundrum Conceptually, losing weight is a matter of eating less and exercising more. However, most attempts usually fail and we often gain weight. Similarly, healthy maintenance practices are very basic. Yet again, most organizations fail to apply them successfully.

Success or failure with a weight loss plan has many elements in common with the application of sound maintenance principles and may help us avoid some common traps and failures. This maintenance management article will hopefully provide some guidance.

Maintenance Management and Weight Loss Most of us want to lose weight several times in a lifetime. The usual pattern is either to reduce caloric intake (eat less) or increase our overall metabolic level (exercise more) or a combination of both. We further wow to stick to our plan (discipline). Together these principles represent the weight loss concept; eat less, exercise more, and be disciplined about it! Just as simple as the concept for weight loss is the concept of good maintenance. We must prevent maintenance from occurring (exercise). We must identify problems early (eat less) and we must plan our work and work our plan (be disciplined). Yet, so many plants struggle with adhering to sound, simple maintenance practices.

Why We Fail The statistics are cruel; 95% of weight loss effort based on dieting alone, fail within 3-5 years. While I can’t produce statistics for maintenance management, common sense tells me that they would be fairly similar.

Among the most common causes cited for failure are: Reliance on only one measure.

Making temporary changes but failing to address the long term behavior that produced the present condition.

Overcomplicating the plan to change.

Failure to recognize or correct a resource

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engineeringmaintenance.info November/December 2010

balance or attitude of which the current state is the outcome.

Over reliance on technology or a silver bullet.

Trying to do it on your own.

Even after scrutinizing this list closely, it would be hard to find an item that did not apply to both maintenance improvement and weight loss success. While there are hundreds of ways to go about improvement, there are several important junctions and turns you should not miss on the road to sound maintenance and weight loss practices. Let’s look at them in turn.

Recognize the Need First and foremost we must recognize collectively as an organization that we are over weight. It time to acknowledge that our trouser are not shrinking slightly in every wash. Denial is the first obstacle to overcome. Too many times have I wondered over the PM actions prompting crafts people to do on-the-run-inspections of belts and couplings better guarded and inaccessible than Fort Knox. Yet the same plant’s management and craftspeople indignantly defend their preventive maintenance program as “very good” or “better than most others’”. Such attitudes and misconceptions often run very deep and many of these plants are hard to persuade to change their ways, even after you tell them that preventive maintenance has an ROI of 100 - 1000%, or that an effective planner can be as productive as five craftspeople. In such situations, I feel like I’m standing on a busy street corner in New York City trying

vigorously to give away perfectly good $100 bills, without success.

Create Vision, Mission, and Goals This weight problem may be absolutely clear in your mind, but make sure that you have significant support within management and frontline layers of the organization before your continue. It is too hard to slug it alone.

Try to be the sparkplug instead of the piston! Many organizations have success with taking key people in management AND the front line on discovery visits to other organizations. After the organization has acknowledged the need and completed a self examination, you are part of the way toward the second step, quantify your gap and establish a vision, a future state that you will always want to reach for.

Most of us could not imagine a weight loss program without a scale to know when have reached our goal. Yet, many plants and plant managers embark on maintenance improvement without having defined good maintenance. This goes to the core of the matter. If we do not know how to define good maintenance, how will we know when we reach it?

Another big challenge with the mission, vision and the goals is making them all as public as possible; to include and involve many stakeholders. It is so much easier to quietly renege on your plan to yourself, than in front of your friends, family, or colleagues.

Communicate with and involve and people around you. Then, if your co-workers see you popping those chocolate bars and sodas all day, they are much more likely

LEAN RELIABILITY to put a lock on the fridge and help you succeed. Broad involvement will likely also provide a reality check for your planning.

Identify Key Success Proxies At this juncture, you have a mission, a crew that is inspired, aware and wants to go places. The next thing to do is to identify success proxies. Proxy means the power or authority to act for another, which is exactly what success proxies will do. They are the processes, procedures or actions that drive the result the organization strives for. For people following the famous Atkins diet, no sugar and staying away from carbohydrate rich foods like pasta, rice, and bread are success proxies. Maintenance success proxies are qualified best practices such as precision alignment and dynamic balancing for all rotating elements, filtering lubricants, conducting root cause problem elimination, and plan all work before it’s scheduled.

When you identify success proxies for craftspeople, you soon see that some relate to documentation and management other to execution and follow up, thus engaging all layers of the organization in meaningful activities that all directly act for another; the global success measures for the organization. These measures typically

describe output, quality and cost. Think of proxy drivers as value added activities on steroids.

An excellent way of identifying these success proxies is to have a detailed best practices audit done in your organization. There are many organizations providing such services to industry. The outcome of such an assessment will be a comprehensive mapping of best practices organized by process, craft skills, organizational area or similar. Sometimes, but not always, it will also identify associated metrics for each practice. Basing your improvement plan on a detailed best practice map, yields other benefits too.

First, your plan will be relevant and close to the people who must make the changes, craftspeople, operators and supervisors.

Second, you are specifying what needs to be done, yet leaving room for the frontline to use their trade skills to decide how best accomplish it. Third, by comparing best practices with actual practices, you automatically identify and correct the long term reason you are where you are. Finally, you are also making your improvements on a broad base, thus ensuring better resilience against failure, allowing all people to

contribute their strengths while recognizing the good practices already in place.

Some people ague that you can map your processes internally instead of hiring and external consultant. They are right, you can! A couple of words of caution though! It takes a lot of persistence and time to identify, define and benchmark best practices. If you benchmark your maintenance function alone or as a small group, arm yourself with lots of time, initiative and pray that your superiors have the vision and patience to see you through.

Ask yourself, if you were trying to lose weight, would you start by re-writing the nutritional or exercise guide? Of course I’m biased toward using an outside professional.

What you need is a comprehensive audit providing a richly detailed, honest comparison of where you are and where you could be. Time and time again, we have seen internal audits scoring themselves twice as high as the independent outsider would. Fig 1 demonstrates a partial such document for part of the process of planning and scheduling. The right hand

Below: Figure 1

Best Practises

Actual Plant Practices

III. Backlog Backlog Documentation 12. Documented definitions and backlog work process flow are available and well disseminated.

III. Backlog Score 50 Backlog Documentation 12 Backlog management processes are not documented well. Nor are they widely available or understood by maintenance craftspeople or managers.

Backlog Execution 13. Work order backlog is reviewed jointly by operations and maintenance throughout the plant.

14. Backlog is categorized by area, skills, hold codes, daily/weekly and shutdown/ outage.

15. Backlog is reviewed weekly by Operations and Maintenance: - By skills/crafts or as appropriate to the organization - By age 16. Work orders statuses (in backlogs) are updated automatically when parts arrive for “awaiting parts” status work orders.

Backlog Execution 13. The plant does review the backlog jointly in all areas.

14. The CMMS system have many sorting capabilities, but few areas use the management tools available in CMMS to sort the backlog.

15. The backlog is reviewed weekly by operations and maintenance. The backlog is not always sorted by age and the correct priority but the plant does a good job of reviewing work orders. Many work orders in the backlog are unplanned, which prevents thorough review.

16. Though the CMMS does have this capability, it is not used. engineeringmaintenance.info November/December 2010

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www.hazeng.com

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LEAN RELIABILITY side shows where you are, the left where you could be. Please contact me if you need a more detailed sample and description of this document.

Best Practices Actual Plant Practices III. BacklogBacklog Documentation12.

Documented definitions and backlog work process flow are available and well disseminated. III. Backlog Score 50Backlog Documentation12 Backlog management processes are not documented well. Nor are they widely available or understood by maintenance craftspeople or managers.

Backlog Execution13. Work order backlog is reviewed jointly by operations and maintenance throughout the plant. 14.

Backlog is categorized by area, skills, hold codes, daily/weekly and shutdown/ outage. 15. Backlog is reviewed weekly by Operations and Maintenance:o By skills/ crafts or as appropriate to the organizationo By age16. Work orders statuses (in backlogs) are updated automatically when parts arrive for “awaiting parts” status work orders. Backlog Execution13 The plant does review the backlog jointly in all areas.14 The CMMS system have many sorting capabilities, but few areas use the management tools available in CMMS to

Below: Figure 2

sort the backlog.15 The backlog is reviewed weekly by operations and maintenance.

The backlog is not always sorted by age and the correct priority but the plant does a good job of reviewing work orders. Many work orders in the backlog are unplanned, which prevents thorough review.16 Though the CMMS does have this capability, it is not used.

Figure 1. Extract from best practices document showing, planning and scheduling, backlog documentation and execution. The left hand shows best practice, the right, actual plant practice.

Measure Success Proxies Metrics By definition, if you focus on doing the right things, weight loss and the good maintenance results will follow, else, they were not the right things. It then follows logically, that you use metrics based on the success proxies to track performance.

The percent completion of established pm rounds, percent of rotating equipment aligned and balanced to specs feel more relevant and close to a journeyman, than does the Overall Equipment Efficiency (OEE). Likewise, the net amount of carbs and calories you have consumed and burnt, feel like a more relevant day to day measure to the dieter, than does the ultimate and distant goal of X pounds of weight loss. For

Market

Production

Technical Database

Plan & Schedule

Early Detection Prevention

Improve Do

the Atkins dieter, the performance measure is to have a maximum of 20 quality carbs per day. In the plant, your challenge is to build a hierarchy of relevant indicators reflecting the work that drives your organization toward success.

The discipline of sales management has long used the concepts of success proxies and their associated metrics to create sales forecasts and measure progress. The breakdown can look as follows: Say on average it takes 10 cold calls to make a sale worth $8,000 on average 8 weeks after the call. Therefore, to sell $100,000 in a month, we need to make 130 canvass calls 8 week before we can close 13 sales of $8,000 each.

Below is a simple example of a model focusing the organization on the right processes instead of the end result. It contains all the essential elements of maintenance and illustrates how they interact. The focus must be on the success proxies, things you can affect hour by hour of your day. When you do these things right, the record productions will be there, over and over again. Figure 2, Productivity improvement circle showing the essential elements of maintenance and their interaction with each other. This process represents a success proxy.

Conclusion After putting the appropriate success proxies and select associated metrics in your plan, do schedule several reviews to be able to fine tune your plan and re-distribute resources as needed. Also, make sure that you plan for the long term. Our weight gain and the current status of our plant developed over a long time, so the solution must also be one for the long term. If you think of this as a “project”, you set yourself up for failure, for by definition, a project has a defined end. What you need above everything is long term sustainable change, a process, a new way of living. I hope the advice and information shared in this article will to some small measure help you, whether you are seeking to improve you maintenance, or reduce your weight.

For further information please contact: IDCON, INC Raleigh NC, USA

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engineeringmaintenance.info November/December 2010

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Marchwood Power turns to SETA for new technician Southampton-based apprenticeship provider SETA is celebrating after Marchwood Power Limited turned to them for the first time for a new trainee technician.

Ryan Doran is part of the new in-take of apprentices at SETA – Southampton Engineering Training Association - and is employed by the firm running the new £380m natural gas combined cycle power plant on the Marchwood Industrial Estate, near Southampton.

The 18-year-old from Alton is training to be an Electrical/Control and Instrumentation Technician at the plant. He will spend his first year at SETA working towards an NVQ 2 and starting his BTEC Engineering before going on site next year, where he will do an NVQ 3 on the job.

Marchwood Power Limited uses the latest technology to ensure maximum energy efficiency and minimal impact on the environment and is one of the most efficient

generators of electricity in the UK. David Hamlyn, training manager at Marchwood Power, said: “We are excited about this new relationship with SETA. We often need skilled staff and the grounding they get at SETA stands an apprentice in good stead for working on our site.”

Richard Heighington, Chief Executive of SETA, said: “We are delighted that

Marchwood Power has recognised the quality of the apprenticeship programmes we have here and become the latest big employer in the south to turn to us for their new engineering recruits.”

More information: www.seta-training.co.uk

EXPANDING MIDDLE EAST CAPABILITIES DEMONSTRATED AT ADIPEC 2010 JOHN CRANE – STAND NO: 6170 The proven and integrated solutions that John Crane provides to the Middle East’s oil, gas and petrochemical industries will be the focus of the company’s stand at ADIPEC 2010 in Abu Dhabi.

Central to those solutions is John Crane’s extensive product portfolio. This includes a complete selection of engineered products for rotating equipment applications, ranging from turbomachinery sealing solutions through to power transmission couplings, wet seal and system solutions, advanced bearing technologies and specialised filtration systems.

Supporting these products are John Crane unparalleled customer service abilities and its global support network of over 230 facilities in more than 50 countries. The Middle East is especially well supported,

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with existing facilities in Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Jubail and Dammam. John Crane’s main Saudi Arabian Service Centre in Dammam has recently completed a major expansion and upgrading project, while the company’s presence in Yanbu has been established with the creation of a new Service Centre facility. The Service Centres in Qatar and Kuwait both now offer an expanded range of services, while John Crane has also recently established a Middle East Turbomachinery Group tasked with providing dedicated turbomachinery expertise to customers across the region.

For more details please contact John Crane on: +44 (0)161 886 5993, or visit: www.johncrane.co.uk

INDUSTRY NEWS

New RCD test for supercharged PAT tester The Seaward Group, market leading manufacturer of portable appliance testers, has upgraded and enhanced the range of test functions performed by its Supernova dual voltage PAT tester for workplace electrical safety testing applications.

The new Supernova Elite advanced tester is now capable of testing RCD trip times alongside its existing flash/hi pot test and dual voltage testing capabilities.

The unique range of tests incorporated in this comprehensive test instrument means that all electrical safety tests can be carried out quickly and effectively on the complete range of workplace electrical equipment and appliances.

The inclusion of the RCD test is in keeping with the latest IEE Code that when extension leads or multiway adaptors are fitted with an RCD, the operation of the RCD should be checked using a test instrument to determine that the trip time is within specified limits.

The new Supernova Elite meets this requirement and allows the RCD test function to operate without tripping any RCDs in the mains supply.

The tester’s internal memory can store 5000 PAT results including details of location‚ user‚ test status and test date. A superfast download facility enables test records to be transferred easily to complementary PC results databases and asset management software systems.

Enhanced connectivity also gives the ability to use a bar code scanner and a printer concurrently and product bar code labels can be generated directly via a thermal printer. This facility also enables the automatic print out of results immediately after a test has been completed.

The Supernova Elite retains the ergonomic design, integral QWERTY keyboard and main test features of the original instrument.

These include a flash test capability, dual voltage appliance testing‚ accurate earth bond and leakage measurements when multiple earth paths exist and multiple 250V/500V insulation testing.

Further details: www.seaward.co.uk

ABB helps Uskmouth harness the power of data with integrated recording Swapping paper chart recorders for SM3000 videographic recorders from ABB promises to optimise operations and boost efficiency at Uskmouth Power Station in Newport, South Wales.

The 12 new recorders collect and store data on important parameters such as temperature, vibration and expansion in the power station’s three turbines. The intention is to link the recorders’ output into Uskmouth’s distributed control system. By passing this information to Scottish and Southern Energy’s (SSE’s) central storage facility, SSE will be able to use the information to monitor future operating trends.

This will enable the company to spot the tell-tale signs of potential turbine problems early so that engineers can optimise turbine operations and carry out preventive maintenance.

The installation of the recorders as standalone units is complete and integration work is now underway. A third-party software conversion tool is being used to translate the information from the SM3000 units, which communicate using Modbus, and the distributed control system server, which uses OPC. “Once the work is complete it should make everything a lot easier,” says control and instrument team leader John Phillips.

“The stored data will be used for diagnostics and will automatically generate historical records. We’ve previously had to download all this information manually into a historian application.”

All of the SM3000 units have 36 channels, enabling data to be recorded from analogue, digital and Modbus inputs. This data can be viewed in a variety of formats, with strip and circular chart, bargraph and process views all included as standard.

The SM3000’s 8MB on board solid state Flash memory can store 2.8 million samples of data, which can be archived to solid state SmartMedia and Compact Flash memory cards (16Mb-128Mb) and easily transferred to a PC. Protection against mechanical failure is guaranteed by the absence of any moving parts, whilst the use of Flash memory technology means the SM3000 does not rely on batteries to preserve stored data during a power failure.

“Updating the site from the previously installed paper chart recorders to modern videographic recorders means that SSE now has immediate access to a much wider range of operational data,” says ABB engineer Paul McLaughlin. “The SM3000 also has a 12.1 inch backlit colour display, which allows the data across all the measured parameters

to be clearly viewed, either individually or collectively on a single screen.”

As with all ABB SM series videographic recorders, the SM3000 is simple to configure and operate. All commands and information are presented in a familiar Windows™ based environment, enabling operators to get up and running quickly. Configuration can be conducted whilst the unit is on-line, via the SM3000’s key pad, or off-line using a standard PC. Uskmouth Power Station is a coal-fired power station at the mouth of the River Usk. SSE bought the 363MW station from Welsh Power Group in 2009. Uskmouth is one of the cleanest coal-fired stations in Europe, having undergone a major refurbishment in 2000 that included the installation of flue-gas desulphurisation equipment.

For more information: Chris Ashby Email: moreinstrumentation@gb.abb.com Tel: 0870 600 6122

engineeringmaintenance.info November/December 2010

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Industrial Endoscopes & Cameras ideal for inspection & maintenance VJ Articulating Video Endoscope The VJ Articulating Endoscope all-in-one system that combines an articulating video borescope with an on-board imaging system. Jpeg images and video can be captured with the click of a button.

• 6.9mm External Diameter • 1.5m or 3.0m working shaft lengths • Focal distance 15mm to infinity

Ridgid Micro Explorer Inspection Camera The new RIDGID MicroExplorer Inspection Camera takes the RIDGID product to the next level. The clever technology onboard allows automatic self-levelling.

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INDUSTRY NEWS

Instant heating system delivers limitless, energy efficient hot water for Fox’s biscuits Fox’s Biscuits in Preston will never run out of hot water again, following the installation of an EasiHeat™ Engineered System from Spirax Sarco.

The factory decided to upgrade its hot water generation since the existing system of two, 1000-litre calorifiers couldn’t keep up with demand from the site’s cleaning operations, especially at weekends.

“Although we are often producing at the weekend we don’t usually have every line running, so that’s when we wash absolutely everything,” says Central Services Charge Hand Graham Walker. “The problem with calorifiers is that if you take out 500 litres you have to put 500 litres of cold water in and start heating that up again. It wasn’t very efficient and we couldn’t meet demand, causing delays in cleaning, and increasing our operating costs.”

The EasiHeat system uses a steamto-hot water plate heat exchanger to provide domestic hot water on demand.

The compact system was supplied skidmounted and ready to connect to the site’s utilities. This approach is typically much more energy efficient than systems relying on stored hot water because it eliminates a significant proportion of heat losses. “Cost savings are definitely there, although I’m not in a position to say exactly how much we’ve saved,” says Mr. Walker.

Usually, the installation of EasiHeats enables an organisation to eliminate hot water storage entirely, but in the case of the Fox’s factory the site’s operating schedule means that the two calorifiers can still be used as buffers. “We might have people cleaning until five or six o’clock on a Saturday, but having the buffer vessels means we can turn off the boilers at three o’clock if we’ve finished producing, which further improves energy efficiency,” says Mr. Walker.

The hot water system is set up so that the EasiHeat feeds the factory’s taps directly on demand and can also maintain the

Boiler manufacturer relies on resilient safety interlocks Leading domestic and industrial boiler manufacturer Ideal Heating has upgraded safety procedures at its Hull site with the introduction of interlocking systems from Castell (www.castell.com). The heating specialist has installed safety switches and access interlocks on ten machines in its foundry blowing area.

The blowing area turns out sand-based moulds for casting heat exchangers used in the company’s boilers. Waste sand from the production process tended to clog up the previous safety system, but Castell’s heavyduty KSE20 multi-key electrical switches and AI access interlocks have been unaffected by the demanding environment.

“We had a problem with the old system,” admitted Jason Waltham, senior maintenance technician, “and thanks to Castell’s robust products we have addressed it. Their customer service has also been first class.”

Ideal Heating produces a range of domestic and commercial boilers for distribution in the UK and Eire. Improvement projects, like the installation of Castell’s

safety interlocks, have had a positive impact and contributed to the goal of an accidentfree culture. The company’s lost time frequency, reportable injury and accident severity rates currently stand at an all-time low.

temperature in the buffer vessels when it would otherwise be idle.

“Everything’s worked fine since the new set-up was installed,” he adds.

The skid-mounted design of EasiHeat Engineered System uses 1.2m3 of space to deliver up to 1,800 kW of heating power.

Installation is quick because the complete package only needs to be hooked up to the site’s services and commissioned, saving the time and costs involved in building conventional heating systems on site.

Furthermore, the whole package is factory tested and guaranteed to work as specified, eliminating the risk of compatibility problems between components.

When maintenance of a mould-making machine is required, the operative removes the primary key from the electrical switch.

This action changes the status of the electrical supply to the machine to a safe condition and enables the release of two secondary keys. These keys are then used to unlock the interlocks on the machine’s access doors. The guards can only be opened when the electrical supply has been switched to a safe condition.

engineeringmaintenance.info November/December 2010

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INDUSTRY NEWS

STATUS LAUNCHES FIRST COMPLETE MINATURE TEMPERATURE TRANSMITTER Leading instrumentation manufacturers Status Instruments has launched the ingenious HTR integrated head temperature transmitter - the first complete transmitter that fits into the miniature MAA connection head. Due to space constraints, the head is usually only used with a connection block, requiring the transmitter to be mounted some distance away from the sensor.

Status has pioneered miniature electronic design for its transmitters, without sacrificing the functionality of larger standard devices that would normally require more spacious KNE type heads. The HTR, which can be used with RTD, slide-wire and resistance inputs, is expected to find application in energy management, HVAC and machine building. The standard product has over 30 resistance sensors to choose from, including Pt100, Pt500, Pt1000, Ni100 and Ni1000.

Designed to meet the needs of both industrial and HVAC applications, the 3 wire

Of the criteria that may influence the choice of a communications network today factors such as speed, ease of integration, open communications, vendor support, etc. can be taken for granted with most major protocols. The same cannot be said, however, for availability; the ability to keep the network running with the minimum of interruptions under the faults and events typical of real-world manufacturing operations is critical. Maximising availability is critical for anyone looking to boost productivity to world class levels.

This is where CC-Link network technology from CLPA offers real benefits, with a range of technical features that are designed to keep the network functioning even under a range of fault conditions that might usually cause a fieldbus to cease operation. With features such as high noise immunity, ‘floating master’ capability, hot-swap capability and station bypass, CC-Link is unique in offering genuine ‘non-stop’ functionality.

Modern manufacturing environments can

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voltage output version can be programmed to output any value between 0 and 10 VDC. For example, the product can be configured to accept Pt1000 sensors and provide a 0 to 10 VDC output direct from the head – ideal for HVAC applications.

The HTR has a number of clever features.

To optimise the use of the built-in memory, application specific sensor linearization

correction data is loaded into the transmitter during user configuration, rather than being permanently stored in the unit. This means the design uses a microprocessor with a smaller memory and therefore contributes to a lower cost product. Indeed, the list price of the integrated head and transmitter is less than many competitors charge just for the transmitter!

Configuration is carried out quickly and easily via PC or laptop, using Status’ new USB configurator. Configuration can be saved as a file for future use and additionally the user can read live process data when connected to a PC. The HTR is part of Status’ extensive range of temperature transmitters, rack mount signal conditioners, panel meters and loop isolators.

For more information contact: Status Instruments Ltd Tel: +44 (0)1684 296818 www.status.co.uk

be characterised by high levels of electrical noise, and this can be a real problem for fieldbus systems, often requiring the use of optical fibres to achieve noise immunity. CCLink of course offers such a fibre option, but the networking technology is also designed to reject a high degree of electrical noise even with standard twisted pair cabling.

This gives outstanding noise immunity at the lowest installed cost.

Another cause of loss of production can be the principal controller of the network going offline, due to loss of power, technical fault, etc. With CC-Link’s ‘floating master’ capability, an alternative controller on the network can immediately take over operation to maintain production with no interruptions.

Network availability is also increased through CC-Link’s hot-swap capability and station bypass. The hot-swap functions and related technical features mean that stations can be removed from and returned to the network as required without causing any malfunctions. This dramatically simplifies maintenance or testing of stations with no risk of interrupting operation. Station bypass is a feature that makes future expansion of the network just as simple, by allowing network designs to include future stations without the need to actually implement them, instead bypassing them until they are

actually added to the network.

The ‘Non-Stop” principle extends to development, installation and maintenance of the network as well. Since configuration is parameter based and requires no configuration files, CC-Link does not require users to learn any complex software tools, so there is no programming effort and a minimal learning curve. This helps to significantly shorten development time, getting networks up and running more quickly. Standard networks are built around simple twisted pair twisted cables or familiar CAT-5/fibre based Ethernet, making installation quick and simple for anyone, rather than requiring an IT network management specialist. Finally, because problems such as station errors, broken cables or disconnected cables are easily identified using the diagnostics tools, maintenance is a much simpler process, enabling network problems to be rectified much more quickly.

For More Information: Visit: www.clpa-europe.com, plus the email: john.browett@clpa-europe.com”

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09Feb-10Feb2011 Zurich, Switzerland easyFairs MAINTENANCE Schweiz-National Exhibition for Industrial Maintenance and Facility Management

12Apr-14Apr2011 Rotterdam, Netherlands IM - INDUSTRIAL MAINTENANCEInternational Trade Fair and Congress for Industrial Maintenance and Renovation

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engineeringmaintenance.info November/December 2010

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SHOW GUIDE 2011

THERMAL ENERGY INTERNATIONAL UNVEILS A LARGER RANGE OF FLU-ACE速 SYSTEMS AT MAINTEC Thermal Energy International is unveiling a modified range of FLU-ACE速 systems on stand D5 at Maintec 2011. Providing heat recovery and emission control in one package, the broader range of FLU-ACE速 sizes are aimed at processing companies and institutions with both CHP waste heat boilers as well as traditional industrial boiler systems, wishing to take advantage of the substantial economic and environmental savings provided by recovering large amounts of lost heat and energy from the boiler exhaust. A model of FLU-ACE速 will be displayed on the stand, enabling visitors to obtain a greater knowledge of the system and how it works.

Thermal Energy International Inc., 1 John Street, Bristol, BS1 2HR Tel: 0117 917 7010 Fax: 0117 917 7011 Website: www.gemtrap.com

Technical Training Solutions Electrical Renewable Energy Mechanical Fluid power

Pneumatics Motor drives Instrumentation Operator training

Providing Practical Engineering Skills Training For Industry Contact us for your copy of our latest brochure

T: 01634 731470 E: tech.training@zen.co.uk

www.technicaltrainingsolutions.co.uk 14

engineeringmaintenance.info November/December 2010

PLCs City & Guilds 17th Edition IEE wiring regulations

Australia is one of the most rapidly expanding LNG provinces in the world.

Perth, its capital, is the logical venue for Global Gas 2011.

The event brings together strategic players addressing the challenges of global trading and providing the best technical solutions for natural gas in all its forms, E&P, pipelines, LNG processes, projects, infrastructure and shipping.

Two Western Australian Ministers - The Hon Peter Collier, Minister for Energy and The Hon Norman Moore, Minister for Mines and Petroleum - will deliver keynote addresses at the inaugural Global Gas Trading & Technology 2011 conference and exhibition (19-21 September 2011,Perth, Western Australia).

With its theme ‘Impact and Effects of the Emerging Markets on Global Gas and its Established Players’ the conference provides a comprehensive programme including scene-setting Ministerial and industry keynote addresses, industry experts expounding on current trends, technical innovations, future market developments and delivering topical and leading-edge papers.

The associated exhibition offers companies a prime opportunity to provide and promote their depth of expertise to the global gas industry. Features include designated pavilions for Health & Safety, Environmental Solutions, and Instrumentation and Automation, providing specialist SMEs with a focused exhibitor point. Networking opportunities abound throughout the three day event. www.globalgas.info

Potentiometers

Why Do Engineers Dislike Potentiometers?

Potentiometers have been around for a long time and are still, by far, the most commonly used position sensor. So why does every design engineer seem to be looking for a non-contact alternative?

Mark Howard of Zettlex Ltd examines this phenomenon and explains the pros and cons of potentiometers.

Potentiometers – still the most common choice There are more potentiometers sold than any other form of position sensor. They are simple, inexpensive, widely available and compact. Laser trimmed potentiometers offer high accuracy measurement and, unlike their more complex, non-contact counterparts, there are practically no issues of long term component obsolescence. In terms of value for money, potentiometers – usually referred to as ‘pots’ – are an excellent choice for many applications and this is likely to remain the case for the foreseeable future.

So why is it that every design engineer seems to be looking for a non-contact alternative?

Certainly, over the past 20 years, there has been a massive swing towards non-contact position sensing. This has increased to such an extent that when potentiometers are nowadays proposed as part a technical solution, there is a good chance of raised eyebrows, sucking of teeth and pointed questions about reliability and lifetime. So what’s caused this? Is this some mild form

of mass hysteria among engineers or is the swing to non-contact position sensing really justified?

Potentiometers – where they work well Clearly, there are many applications where potentiometers will work perfectly well and offer trouble free operation over long periods. The very desk on which this article was written carries a vintage radio from the 1970s, whose volume is elegantly and smoothly controlled with a good old potentiometer behind the Bakelite fascia.

But now consider a potentiometer measuring a linear displacement once every 5 minutes or so – the kind of typical application and duty cycle for a piece of factory automation such as an actuator or valve. A good quality potentiometer might typically be rated for 500,000 cycles.

At 500,000 cycles this potentiometer should be good for 5 years even with constant use 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Potentiometers – where they might let you down It appears that all potentiometers have been classed as unreliable because of a relatively small number, but seemingly notorious, failures in harsh environments. Now ‘harsh environments’ come in all sorts but there seems to be three particular aspects that cause problems for pots – vibration, foreign matter and extreme climates.

Potentiometers are vulnerable in applications with any significant vibration.

Let us consider the previous application more closely but in a vibrating environment such as a road vehicle, heavy plant or aircraft system.

When we look closely at the displacement we can see that there are frequent ‘micro displacements’ caused by the vibration. At this microscopic level, the potentiometer’s conductive track cannot differentiate between a full cycle and a vibration induced ‘micro cycle’. Furthermore, because the potentiometer’s wiper is at the same point for most of the time, the same part of the track is subject to most of the wear. Just like a pot hole (pun intended) in a road, a microscopic wear point on a potentiometer’s tracks grows quickly – resulting in a discontinuity or ‘flat spot’ with no electrical response. Operation is severely, usually terminally, effected. Whereas 500,000 cycles previously equated to a lifetime of 5 years, in this example even at a modest vibration cycle of 1Hz, the lifetime reduces to less than 10 days!

Ingress of foreign matter can also be a source of accelerated failure. Again, at a microscopic level the potentiometer’s wiper should normally ride over the conductive track’s molecular surface. When it’s just the track and the wiper this works well.

Introduce even tiny particulates between track and wiper and the effect is the same as an abrasive – rapidly accelerating the wear of the conductive track surface.

Wind blown desert sand is notoriously

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Potentiometers solutions are the less costly alternative in harsh environments. Similarly, the sophistication required to show that product sales prices can be maintained when noncontact solutions are used, rather than a potentiometer, is usually beyond most hardnosed industrial companies.

Just as importantly, there is the knockon engineering caused by replacing potentiometers with a non-contact alternative. Non-contact devices tend to produce a digital electrical output, whereas potentiometers produce a simple analogue output. Changing from analogue to digital will require the host electrical system to be re-engineered, re-tested and re-qualified.

Similarly, potentiometers are compact and so the space previously occupied by a potentiometer will usually be too small or not quite the right shape for its non-contact alternative. Such a change may require a complete mechanical redesign and hence re-testing and re-qualification.

New Generation Inductive

abrasive and problematic. Unfortunately, the application of a lubricant can bring the law of unintended consequences into play, since the lubricant can act as an attractant or binder to the particulates and so accelerate still further the rate of wear.

Extreme environments per se, are not a root cause of failure for potentiometers but rather the generation of tiny micro climates in the immediate vicinity of the wiper and tracks.

For example, humid air, when cooled, may result in condensation on the wiper and ultimately corrosion or, as with some lubricants, the condensation attracts and retains foreign particles.

Market Perception In summary, there are some applications where potentiometers will work well and there are others – notably in harsh environments – where potentiometers can prove unreliable. The unfortunate consequence of these high profile, harsh environment failures is that they have overshadowed the more benign applications where potentiometer operation has been reliable. This has led to a more widespread

perception by engineers and technical buyers that potentiometers are the cheap, low quality option for position measurement.

This widespread perception can put equipment manufacturers on the back foot when they are selling equipment that relies on potentiometers – since they are often forced to defend or justify the reliability and quality of their product. Consequently, many equipment builders are looking to replace potentiometers with non-contact solutions for marketing, rather than strictly technical, reasons. The unfortunate reality is that partially ill-founded market perception as a driving force for change is just as real and just as brutal as any technical reason.

Why isn’t everyone changing to noncontact?

The reason that not everyone is changing to non-contact is that it’s not straightforward.

Firstly, there is the issue of cost. Most of industry still works from simplistic bill of material costings and these will always favour pots over non-contact. It takes a more sophisticated cost analysis to include breakdowns, warranty, spares, maintenance and service costs, to show that non-contact

Where potentiometers are being swapped for a non-contact alternative, a common replacement is one of the new generation inductive sensors. These new sensors work in a similar way to traditional resolvers or linear transformers but are just as compact as a potentiometer. Rather than a traditional inductive sensor’s wire spools, these new generation devices use printed, laminar windings to generate the inductive fields.

These sensors can also generate a high accuracy voltage or current analogue output to mimic a potentiometer and hence avoid re-engineering the host control system. They are well suited to harsh environments with operating temperatures between –55 deg C to +230 deg C and can be encapsulated for long term submersion or operation in explosive environments. Since they are lightweight and non-contact, vibration and shock have negligible effect.

For more information on Zettlex’s new generation of inductive position sensors, please telephone Zettlex UK Ltd on: 01223 874 444 or visit the website at: www.zettlex.com or email info@zettlex.com .

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IR/THERMAL IMAGING

BUYING AN INFRARED CAMERA? … the questions you should ask Like most things in life, the best choice of infrared camera is the product of thorough homework. Infrared technology is now both accessible and affordable and the camera market is extensive.

However along with this wealth of choice are several potential pitfalls so what should you be looking out for?

Accurate, repeatable results You should always make sure that the infrared camera meets the minimum industry standard of ±2% or 2.2°C, whichever is greater. If the spec of the model you are considering can’t perform at this level, look for another camera. Why is this important?

Quite simply, accurate measurement equals efficient fault finding.

When it comes to repeatability, one of the key requirements is to tune your camera to the application by inputting emissivity or reflected temperature values. So be certain that your chosen model will allow you to perform this important task.

Image quality You can judge the quality of images from an infrared camera in the same way as you do those from a digital camera; basically the more pixels, the better the resolution and the sharper the infrared image.

There is a caveat here however. If an infrared camera boasts 640 x 480 pixels resolution check that this refers to detector resolution and not just the resolution of the LCD display. The display resolution is irrelevant if the detector is inferior.

Chargeable battery You don’t want your infrared camera to ‘die’ in the field – it wastes time, reduces

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inspection efficiency and at worst exposes you and your colleagues to the risk of an undetected fault. So always buy a model that has a field-replaceable battery and make sure the kit comes with a charger (preferably an in-car type) and the option of a spare battery. Choosing lithium ion technology is also the best bet as it provides longer battery life.

JPEG output Choose an infrared camera that is capable of outputting an image in standard JPEG format complete with embedded measurement data. Not only does this keep all the image data together, it makes it easy to email the information to a colleague or customer or import it into any Microsoft Word document such as a report.

Comfort and ease of use If you plan to use your camera frequently or for extended period, choose a lightweight, ergonomic model that won’t cause you back or arm strain. The positioning of buttons and keypad should also be considered with regard to ease of use. Some cameras have features such as a touch screen keypad or sketch-with-stylus and although they may add a little to the cost they can make a huge practical difference.

Some infrared cameras require multiple steps or complex menu navigation to do simple tasks. Always take the proposed camera for a ‘test drive’. Take an image, download it to your PC and create a basic report.

Upgrade path Most cameras come with free software to help you analyse your images and create reports. Many users soon find however

their needs become more sophisticated in line with their growing experience.

So when you buy a camera make sure there is an upgrade path. Even ask for a demonstration of the capability level above the one you are considering.

Also look out for infrared cameras that allow you to upgrade the firmware to increase pixel counts and infrared resolution as well as features and functionality. Find a company with which you can grow.

Temperature range This is basic but vital – be sure the temperature range of your proposed camera is compatible with the targets you will be viewing.

Adequate fusion There’s a lot of buzz about fusion capabilities with infrared cameras but the advice is to be certain that what you choose is advanced and flexible enough to meet your needs. There’s no value in choosing simple picture-in-picture functionality when what you really want to do is customise your fusion to the exact target. … and finally Last but by no means least buy your camera from a manufacturer with strong post-sales technical support and certified training. Go for one whose training arm is ISO 9001 registered and has a good number of ASNT Level II and BINDT Category 3 certified thermographers on its staff.

Visit: www.engineeringmaintenance.info for thousands of related articles

TEST & MEASURMENTS

Fluke Introduces True-rms Detachable Jaw AC/DC Clamp Meter Fluke, the global leader in portable electronic test and measurement technology, has introduced a detachable jaw true-rms AC/DC Clamp Meter.

With a recommended price of £180, the new, rugged Fluke 365 Clamp Meter features a large, easy-to-read, backlit display, and is perfect for jobs where access to wires is difficult. The thin, small jaw is detachable with a flexible lead, which makes gaining access to wires and viewing the display easier than ever.

The true-rms Fluke 365 AC/DC Clamp Meter measures up to 200A AC/DC with the detachable jaw, and provides voltage measurement up to 600V AC/DC. State of the art signal processing enables its use in noisy electrical environments while providing stable readings. The compact design of the Fluke 365 fits the hand and can be used while wearing protective equipment. It automatically sets the correct measurement range thus avoiding the need to change switch positions while taking a measurement. The detachable jaw makes accessing of wires and reading of the display easier, while a built-in flashlight/torch allows for illumination and easy identification of the correct wires for measurement.

The Fluke 365 complements Fluke’s latest family of true-rms clamp meters, designed to meet the unique requirements of users testing and maintaining electrical systems, industrial equipment and controls, and

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commercial and industrial HVAC equipment.

This family includes the Fluke 381, which features a wireless, detachable display, and the Fluke 373/4/5/6 with different ranges up to 2500A AC and 1000A DC. iFlex™ flexible current probes extend the measurement capabilities of the Fluke 374/5/6 and the 381 while providing the ultimate measurement flexibility.

The Fluke 365 comes with a soft carrying case, Fluke TL75 test leads and a 3 year warranty. It conforms to CAT III 600V safety standards.

For more information about all Fluke products, visit: www.fluke.co.uk

COMPRESSORS

Extend Compressor Service Intervals Batoyle Freedom Group has recently developed Typhon SYN100 – a superior performance fully synthetic piston compressor lubricant. Typhon SYN100 provides the user with an energy efficient compressor lubricant solution which can extend lubricant oil change periods and thereby extend maintenance intervals.

As a fully synthetic, poly alpha olefin based compressor lubricant, Typhon SYN100 offers outstanding benefits compared to its conventional mineral oil based counterparts.

Enhanced thermal stability and oxidation resistance maintains compressor cleanliness

and provides superior lubrication. Along with an exceptional resistance to carbon and deposit formation it is possible to dramatically reduce maintenance intervals when using Typhon SYN100.

possible when using Typhon SYN100 due to excellent corrosion and thermal stability. This offers the potential for significantly extending the oil drain periods when compared to more conventional lubricants.

Longer oil change intervals are also made

Compressor life can additionally be extended when using Typhon SYN100.

Wear and tear can be dramatically reduced, even under the most arduous operating conditions, thanks to an Ashless technology which provides superior anti-wear performance.

As a fully synthetic lubricant Typhon SYN100 provides the user with a low energy consumption solution. Extended drain capability and low energy consumption can also significantly reduce downtime and maintenance costs.

Typhon SYN100 is part of Batoyle’s comprehensive range of high performance compressor lubricants available in a number of ISO viscosities from 32 through to 150.

For more information visit: www.batoyle.co.uk or contact the Industrial Division direct on: +44 (0) 1484 461999.

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COMPRESSORS

Atlas Copco’s CustomDesign

Atlas Copco Compressors has made major investment in its UK CustomDesign engineering facility based in Hemel Hempstead, Hertfordshire.

As one of the strategically located CustomDesign engineering centres, the UK workshop now plays a major role in the supply of bespoke solutions across the globe. The end products are modular ‘plug and play’ packaged solutions, custom built and shipped with all components, such as compressors, air treatment, dryers, filters, air receivers and control systems, on a single base frame for integration with land based or offshore process installations.

Each project is unique and examples of bespoke projects include: a skid-mounted assembly of compressor, blowers and booster for a hydrocracker plant in Russia; a containerised multiple compressor installation operating in the desert environment of the Gulf; a compressor and dryer package for a methanol plant in Trinidad; and a compressor, dryer, pumps and cooler installation on the northern Pacific shore, where ambient temperatures vary from -40 to +40 degrees Celsius.

The 800m2 workshop area operates two ten tonne overhead cranes and one five

tonne unit with a dedicated sunken load bay for road transportation of packaged assemblies. The installation includes a cooling water supply and a permanently installed 1,000 kVA generator to provide power for workshop testing at 50 or 60Hz. It is important for the oil and gas industries to have all equipment- testing carried out within the workshop before shipping.

On-site commissioning time is, therefore, minimised for the customer.

On completion of a custom-engineering project the skid mounted packages are transported to UK sites or to overseas operations, normally via Tilbury the closest sea port.

The exception to the rule has been the Pluto project for the production of LNG (Liquefied Natural Gas) in Western Australia.

The compressor packaged unit was too large to be completed and shipped from the workshop so was actually assembled by the Atlas Copco engineering team on the dockside in Hull from where it was transported 12,000 miles to the customer’s site.

The experience and skill base of Atlas Copco Compressors’ CustomDesign engineering workshop covers a wide variety of specialist areas, in particular equipment that is designed specifically for operation in classified hazardous electrical environments.

It also offers expertise in marine installations, in PLC control systems, and operation in extreme hot or cold, dust laden or corrosive environments. It has experience of refinery service applications, as well as that of land-based or offshore operations involving process air, instrument air, starting air, emergency backup air supplies, gas purification and on-site nitrogen generation.

With considerable experience in

developing bespoke compressed air solutions, a UK team of over 30 people is involved in designing compressed air systems – with the project management, procurement, assembly, test inspection and subcontracting procedures supported by well established quality control and documentation processes.

In order to maintain the necessary high level of engineering skills required, the CustomDesign division operates a graduate engineer training scheme. University leaver, Samuel Roberts, who joined Atlas Copco Compressors in October 2009, has completed his training and is now able to take his place on the team. According to CustomDesign UK manager, Paul Frost: “It is important to introduce more youth into the team in order to secure continuity of the way we do things and develop inhouse experience for the long-term benefit of the company and the satisfaction of its customers.”

Essential to each project is that the equipment package can be maintained by Atlas Copco personnel as part of a local service operation. The global aftermarket service employs 3,600 field service engineers in 160 countries. Electronic archiving of all design and production documents as well as parts and user manuals means that the local service operation has ready access to all relevant data throughout the life of the installation.

Total customer focus is the key to successful outcomes for Atlas Copco Compressors’ CustomDesign operation. As Paul Frost says, “We treat each customer’s project as unique because that’s what it is. By entering into partnerships with our customers, we try to meet the challenge fully, ask the right questions and devise the best solution.”

For product or sales enquiries please contact: 0800 181085.

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COMPRESSORS

Process safety without a bad aftertaste In the daily use, there is usually considerable insecurity about the constant, reliable quality of process “oil-free” compressed air. For good reasons too, even oil-free compressors are not a 100% guarantee. In addition, the treatment downstream of the compressor is not always able to reduce the residual oil content in the system to the required degree. Finally, continuous monitoring is extremely difficult. Most companies using “oil free” compressed air have no idea how contaminant free it really is. In terms of process safety they “fly blind” This applies, above all, to highly-sensitive applications where compressed air with a far lower residual oil content than specified for ISO 8573 - class 1 for technically oil-free compressed air is required, for example in medical technology, pharmaceutics, surface technology or in food processing.

A general difficulty can develop into a real problem: the continuous monitoring and measurement of the – hopefully – extremely low residual oil content in the compressed air. After all, we are talking about values in the order of 0.003 mg oil introduction or less in one cubic metre of compressed air.

However, let’s first look at the “normal case”: the production of technically oilfree compressed air in accordance with ISO 8573-1 in class 1. This standard defines the oil content, including the oil vapour, of max. 0.01 mg/m³ compressed

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air. This corresponds to approximately four hundredths of what is contained in atmospheric air. This amount is already so small that it can only be guaranteed with multi stage downstream treatment. What happens in the event that this cannot reliably be achieved?

In German production and processing plants alone, damage running into millions of euros occurs annually as a result of contaminated compressed air. Subsequent to expansion of the compressed air during the application, the oil fractions in it settle for example on surfaces and cause an oil film which, in turn, affects the adhesion of paints or complicates bonds. In most cases, the problem focuses on residual aerosols and oil vapours. These may, amongst others, impair sensitive tool parts at the point of consumption, wash out basic lubrications on components or contaminate end products.

In many cases, oil mists also contain harmful nitrosamines. The fact that already a fraction of 0.3 mg oil per m³ in breathing air is perceived as an odour is at least unpleasant.

Oil-free does not necessarily mean oil-free Even downstream of dry-running screw and piston compressors, in which the real compression process takes place without oil as a lubricant, sealant and coolant, clean compressed air in the sense of absolutely

oil-free compressed air cannot be expected.

The danger lies in the “raw material” – the induced air.

With the intake air, a multitude of hydrocarbons enter the compression process, in particular when the air is taken directly from the environment and not from an especially protected compressor room. Solvents such as acetone, aromatic hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene or xylene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons such as naphthalene, contaminate the compressed air. In addition, there are fuel residues in the ambient air, namely hydrocarbons such as gas oils, petrol or kerosene. It also contains all components of normal ambient air in a compressed form: dusts, dirt particles, particulate matter, moisture, germs etc.

To aggravate the situation, some contaminants even affect each other, thus forming further risk factors. For example, water forms an emulsion when combined with oil, and dust can aggregate with oil or water and form larger dirt particles.

In this respect, one has to keep in mind that compression to an operating pressure of 8 bar (g), for example, means nine times the concentration of the ambient air components.

Even when placing one’s oil-free compressor in an area that has been carefully shielded against environmental effects and provided with filtered ambient air, one is not at all on the safe side. Oil vapours can also reach the outside through the compressor-internal gearbox-casing ventilation. In large compressors, this is in fact an almost continuously occurring effect.

This means that even the best “oil-free” compressor in the ideal location needs support. In most plants, this is implemented by means of drying equipment with simultaneous oil separation and by oil separation filters – often employed as a combination.

Numerous hardly calculable influence factors However, such components downstream of a compressor are not always in a position to limit the residual oil content in the system to the range required for demanding applications because the factors exerting an influence on filtration and adsorption in a compressed-air plant are too extensive.

This starts with the hydrocarbon molecules, which are modified by shearing and heat input in the compressor. The aerosol state downstream of a screw compressor, for example, is smaller than downstream of a piston compressor.

Other influential factors are the operation mode of the plant, the frequency control,

COMPRESSORS

cooling and the design of the oil separators.

A continuous up and down during the compressor operation leads to an enormous stress on the oil separator while frequencycontrolled compressors cause a varying oil introduction that is significantly higher in the lower speed range than during full-load operation.

What about filtration? High-quality activated-carbon filters serve perfectly in compressed-air processing but they also require the plant operator’s attention. For these filters, regular maintenance and replacement in time are vital requirements for safe and reliable operation. This is not always easy because the influences impacting the filters often escape the plant operator’s control. The flow rate, the temperature and the moisture, for example, have considerable effects on the adsorption capacity of the filters.

Not enough time for an emergency shutdown In the event that - no matter which of the problem factors mentioned is involved – an increased oil introduction into the compressed air takes place, the operator rarely has the time to react to the oil penetration with the disconnection of the plant.

Even after a pre-alarm, he has only a few minutes to prevent the worst case: the emergence of oil-containing compressed air at the points of consumption.

According to example calculations of the German compressed-air specialist BEKO Technologies GmbH, this occurs in less than five minutes in a compressed-air plant which is operated with a flow rate of seven metres per second and which has a pipework length of 2,000 metres. The extremely cost-

intensive consequences are contaminated products, machine and process failures, production stoppages or even health problems for the employees.

Until recently, no really reliable technical solution was available for the processing of constantly oil-free compressed air, not to mention the possibility of continuous residual oil content monitoring via measurement and control.

Conditions which have radically changed, with the introduction of an innovative solution for compressed-air processing: the catalysis method.

Catalysis breaks with the tradition of compressed-air processing BEKOKAT, the catalytic converter developed

by BEKO Technologies, overcomes all weak points of the previous technologies and offers compressed-air purity which, with a residual oil content of a barely measurable 0.003 milligrams per cubic metre of compressed air, exceeds the requirements of ISO 8573-1 for technically oil-free compressed air of class 1 by far.

Combined with the METPOINT OCV measuring system for the detection of hydrocarbon vapours, which is also offered

by BEKO, BEKOKAT represents a dual strategy for highest process safety during the processing of oil-free compressed air.

The BEKOKAT method opens the way to absolutely oil-free compressed air via a completely different technological approach than previous solutions: via catalysis.

This method realises the total oxidation of hydrocarbons – meaning in a concentrated, comprehensive process step subsequent to compression. The complete removal of oil from compressed air thus takes place in only one single plant component.

This component functions independently of the ambient conditions, the oil input concentration and the relative humidity of the compressed air.

What remains are clean air and clear water BEKOKAT tackles the lubricants and oils in the compressed air supplied by the compressor. Subsequent to the compression stage, these exist in the form of gas, vapour or aerosol. Through the employment of the BEKOKAT, such air components are fully converted into carbon dioxide and water. Even the condensate accumulating during the cooling-down of the compressed air is absolutely oil-free thanks to the catalysis method, and can also flow directly into the sewerage system without being processed.

Currently, no other system is capable of implementing this total oxidisation and the absolutely residue-free mode of operation.

In the BEKOKAT, granular material serves as the catalytic converter, which is heated up to an operating temperature of approx.

150 °C by means of heating elements. In the catalytic converter, the oil molecules are broken down until only one carbon atom remains. In the final catalysis phase, the oil molecules are oxidised down to H2O and CO2.

It is essential that the hydrocarbon chains, i.e. the oil molecules, can be “cracked” at any point. They are continuously broken down until only carbon dioxide and hydrogen remain. Therefore, the hydrocarbon chains from oil-free and oillubricated compressors varying in length pose no problem at all to BEKOKAT. It is not always well known that activatedcarbon filters are not able to adsorb polar compounds such as alkenes, alcohols, glycols or ketones. In contrast, the BEKOKAT system also does a good job as far as these substances are concerned and completely removes them from the compressed air. This is generally independently of the inlet conditions.

Further on in the process, the purified compressed air is cooled down in a heat exchanger to approx. 10 to 15 °C above the inlet temperature and is available for the respective application.

The long service life of the special granular material of the BEKOKAT is also extremely advantageous as far as profitability is concerned: it only needs to be replaced after a good 20,000 operating hours. In contrast, the life of an activated carbon filter is already depleted after approximately 500 operating hours, even under perfect operating conditions.

Advances into new purity dimensions With the BEKOKAT method, it is for the first time possible to constantly achieve oil-free compressed air with a barely measurable maximum residual-oil content of 0.003 milligrams per cubic metre of compressed air, meaning a quality which is required in the extremely demanding fields of medicine and pharmaceutics, of food processing and packaging and of surface technology.

In these fields however, there was until now not only a lack of absolutely safe processing but also, above all, a lack of an uninterrupted, continuous measurement and monitoring of the oil-free compressed air.

This was a problem, because according to the golden rule in process assurance, it is a fact that “Only what can be measured can be managed”.

It is of course possible to determine the residual oil content in compressed air via multiple regular laboratory investigations,

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COMPRESSORS

but in most cases the respective results are only available after several days or weeks.

This is far too late to react quickly and in an effective manner to any quality problems caused by oil-contaminated compressed air – as is substantiated by the previous calculation example of BEKO: less than five minutes for an emergency shut-down subsequent to an “oil accident” in the system.

Here, one should not follow the “ostrich method” for lack of monitoring possibilities: hiding one’s head in the sand according to the principle that everything is OK as long as no failures can be ascertained in the product or in the process.…

In particular in highly-sensitive applications, this is of course intolerable – and with the establishment of stricter international quality assurance methods, this also becomes more and more risky with regards to legal aspects.

The end of the loss of control Therefore, a technology allowing stationary online measurement and monitoring of the vaporous residual oil content of the compressed air - without requiring any timeconsuming laboratory investigations - was eagerly awaited by the market.

The compressed-air specialist BEKO Technologies was also successful in making a big step forward in matters of process safety: with a measuring system for the detection of hydrocarbon vapours.

METPOINT OCV – which is the name of the innovative product – monitors the residual oil amount in the compressed-air flow online down to the range of a thousandth milligram per cubic metre. Even extreme limit values of 0.001 mg/m³ residual oil content can be continuously monitored online during running operation.

This system has been certified by TÜV Nord in accordance with the requirements of ISO 8573-1, classes 1 - 4. This makes

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it the first online system for the detection of the oil vapour content in compressed air worldwide that can boast a certificate from an independent accredited institution.

As METPOINT OCV is able to continuously monitor the residual oil content of the compressed air, complicated samplings and time-consuming laboratory evaluations are no longer required.

The new system functions far more efficiently: the partial volume flow taken from the flowing compressed air is supplied via a rising main to a separate sensor unit, in which the hydrocarbon vapour content is measured by means of a PID (photoionisation detector). Dimensioning of this sampling and the measuring section correspond – as mentioned above - to the stipulations of ISO 8573.

The electrical signal resulting from the PID measurement is amplified and electronically evaluated. Subsequently, the results are indicated on a touch-screen display and simultaneously stored in the internal memory.

With a capacity of two gigabytes, the memory is able to record up to ten years of detected values.

The acquired data can be used for both the documentation of the compressedair quality and the identification of contamination sources.

In the event that the recorded oil-vapour values in the monitored compressed air exceed the tolerance limits, the system will automatically trigger an alarm. In this way, inadmissible concentrations of residual oil are detected and indicated in time to prevent a large number of possible problems, such as contamination of pipework and products, damage to machines and plants, or high costs for rejects or repair.

Able to network and easy to maintain In addition, the new measurement technology is future-proof thanks to its distinct ability to network. It allows an absolutely smooth and effective IT connection of the devices and thus the integration into the existing IT infrastructure of the plant operator. The maintenance concept of METPOINT OCV also points the way to the future. If a bypass is available, it can be serviced and calibrated on location without requiring the pressure in the system to be reduced or even the plant to be completely closed down.

The documentation in the event of maintenance or calibration measures is via an “electric signature” of the person in charge.

To sum up: the dual strategy ensures highest process safety With the catalytic total oxidation of hydrocarbons according to the BEKOKAT method and with the continuous online oil vapour monitoring with the METPOINT OCV measuring system, the quality in compressed-air processing reaches a level which, until now, was thought to be unachievable. As individually acting systems, these two innovations already perform in an exemplary manner. When combined, they become a dual strategy implementing a maximum of process safety and quality assurance.

The times of the “flying blind” in production and in the uninterrupted monitoring of oil-free compressed air can therefore be consigned to history.

For More Information: BEKO Technologies Ltd Tel: +44 (0) 1527 575778 www.bekotechnologies.com

BEARINGS

NSK BEARING SOLUTIONS FOR PETROCHEMICAL APPLICATIONS REDUCE COSTS BY IMPROVING MEAN TIME BETWEEN FAILURES (MTBF).

NSK’s series of bearings for Petrochemical applications is designed to reduce operating costs, by increasing mean time between failures (MTBF) on critical equipment such as centrifugal pumps, air-compressors, gas compressors, blowers and ventilators.

The bearing solutions provided by NSK for Petrochemical applications effectively address the demanding and hostile environments where pumps and compressors are used, and are routinely exposed to heat, chemicals, oils and gases, including refrigerants and ammonia gas. They include the EM/EW cylindrical roller and HPS™ series of angular contact bearings. These bearings are designed to provide support for the helical rotors used in gas and air compressors, offering higher levels of heat tolerance, chemical stability and increased load carrying capacity.

In both types of bearings, substantial improvements in load capacity have been achieved. Basic dynamic load rating has been improved on the cylindrical roller bearings by as much as 30%, and on the HPS angular contact bearings by a maximum of 20% - when compared to conventional bearing types. The result is substantial improvements in fatigue life for both types of bearings, enabling users to benefit from longer trouble-free operation and extended intervals between overhauls.

Substantial performance improvements are also provided on centrifugal pumps with NSK’s HR series of high-capacity deep-groove ball bearings. The HR series features a special internal design, allowing for larger rolling elements than standard deep-groove ball bearings; at the same time retaining standard external dimensions to ISO standards. This new design enables the HR bearings to deliver increased dynamic load ratings, by 7 % to 19 % (depending on size), resulting in a 22% to 68 % increase in ISO life.

As a result, the HR series can significantly improve the operating life of pumps, mini-

mising costly downtime without involving the pump operator in any costly changes to standard bearing dimensions.

Also designed to enhance pump performance without cost fitment issues are NSK’s Anti-Creep bearings. Easy to fit and requiring no special machining of housings, these bearings provide an effective solution to the problem of Creep, which is the result of loads becoming excessively high on the driving shaft of a pump. If not addressed, Creep causes excessive shaft vibration, which can trigger abnormal oscillation and lead to impeller damage.

Common measures against Creep include an interference fit between bearing and housing. For pumps, however, a tight fit is not practical, as it makes pump assembly more difficult and does not allow for additional loading caused by an increase in the shaft length due to heat generation. A better solution, provided by NSK’s range of AntiCreep bearings, is to install O-rings into the two grooves on the bearing outer ring. With this design, the frictional force of the O-rings helps to prevent the occurrence of creep and subsequent damage to the shaft of the pump upon which the bearings are fitted.

In addition to delivering improved MTBF in standard pumping and compression applications, NSK’s Petrochemical bearing package also addresses particularly demanding and arduous pumping tasks. The SPACEA LNG series bearings are designed for use in pumping liquid nitrogen gas (LNG) and have been developed to operate at speeds of up to 3,600 rpm while immersed in the gas, at -162 degrees C, with lubrication provided by the cryogenic agent itself.

In order to cope with lubricating conditions that are extremely rigorous i.e. a viscosity that is nearly a hundred times lower than the viscosity of normal lubricating oil - the LNG bearing material has excellent low temperature characteristics and abrasion resistance.

The bearings inner and outer rings and balls are made from high corrosion-resistant steel (AISI440C) which is heat treated to ensure that it remains dimensionally stable at low temperatures.

The bearing cage is made from Fluororesin, a material that offers the extremely useful property of being self-lubricating, even at very low temperatures.

New Free Publication for Petrochemical Industry.

NSK has detailed its innovative bearing products for the petrochemical industry in a new publication. The free booklet provides a wealth of information regarding the choice of bearings for use in petrochemical applications. Free copies of the publication are available from NSK: Tel: Freephone 0500 2327464. Callers should quote the publication reference: PIR/A/E/08.10 and also the title of the publication: ‘Bearings for the Petrochemical Industry’.

About NSK NSK inaugurated its business in 1916 and produced the first ball bearings made in Japan. Since then, NSK Ltd. has developed a full range of bearings, which have been sold throughout the world, and has contributed greatly to the development of industries and the advancement of technology.

NSK has used its expertise in precision machining technology, refined through years of bearing manufacturing, to diversify into automotive products, precision machinery and parts, and mechatronic products.

Since the 1960’s, NSK Ltd. has been aggressively developing its overseas markets. At present, the company has overseas sales operations in 25 countries and operates more than 30 international manufacturing locations.

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POWER & OFFSHORE

GEM STEAM TRAPS STOP MECHANCIAL TRAP FAILURE & REDUCE CONDENSATE RETURN PRESSURE BY 51% AT KNPC SHUAIBA REFINERY

Keeping on top of the constant challenge of repairing and replacing thousands of mechanical steam traps is no longer a problem at KNPC’s Shauiba Refinery in Kuwait following the successful conversion of 1,750 mechanical traps to Thermal Energy International’s award winning GEM Venturi Orifice design.

In addition, KNPC, a subsidiary of the Kuwait Petroleum Association, has seen the HP hot condensate header pressure drop from highs of 175 psig to just 90 psig.

Commissioned in 1968, Shuaiba Refinery, located some 50 km south of Kuwait City, occupies an area of 1,332,000m producing approximately 30 types of light, medium and heavy petroleum products. These consist of mainly gas, ordinary naphtha, various kinds of fuels such as high-octane gasoline, kerosene and ATK as well as automotive diesel, marine diesel, fuel oil and sulphur, which is a by-product of the industrial process.

As is the case in oil refineries worldwide, steam is the primary means of transporting energy from the numerous boilers and steam generators to the point of use and is used throughout the oil refinery for applications ranging from trace heating systems designed to keep the product at the correct viscosity to large reboilers consuming many tonnes of steam per hour.

As the steam gives up its useful heat it condenses to water. The steam trap’s

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function is to remove this water and air from the steam pipework. At Shuaiba Refinery the mechanical steam traps were failing at a rate of in excess of 10% per annum. Steam traps can fail in either the open position, resulting in the trap passing live steam, or closed which prevents the discharge of condensate from the system.

When Thermal Energy International was first approached by the Shuaiba Refinery, failed mechanical traps had caused the condensate return pressure to rise to 175 psig, preventing the 150 psig steam stem from being able to discharge. During a recent unplanned boiler outage, the refinery was able to run on just two boilers which prior to the installation of the GEM Venturi Orifice steam traps would have resulted in a loss of steam pressure to the refinery’s extremities and impacted on production.

“Use of GEM traps has resulted in an 85psig l reduction in the HP hot condensate header pressure as well as steam savings from the reduction in steam loss”, said Habib M. Atesh, Engineering & Maintenance Manager at Shuaiba Refinery. “In addition GEM traps are superior as only the strainers require maintenance”.

Instead of utilising a valve mechanism to close off steam for maximum energy and water conservation, the highly efficient GEM steam traps use the venturi orifice design to effectively drain condensate from the steam system. As the GEM steam traps have no moving parts to wedge open or

fail, it provides the ultimate in reliability necessitating only minimal maintenance and requiring no spares, testing or monitoring equipment.

Available in a wide range of sizes for a full cross section of applications, the hardwearing GEM steam traps are manufactured from corrosion resistant stainless steel and are guaranteed for 10 years, obviating the need for repair or replacement. The GEM steam traps can provide a fast payback from reduced energy costs and increased equipment reliability due to a reduction in damaging condensate in steam systems. In addition it improves product processing by enhancing the quality of steam and also reducing equipment repairs, downtime and replacement costs.

An innovative technology company, Thermal Energy is providing award winning energy recovery, conservation and bioenergy solutions, which provide significant financial and environmental benefits to customers.

For more information, visit: www.thermalenergy.com And: www.gemtrap.com.

Service facilities Our 15 tonne overhead crane handles large pumps with ease. In our workshop we have a 35kW pump test rig and a 'clean-room' for hygienic pump repairs. We have on-site high pressure cleaning, shot blasting, welding, de-greasing, machining and painting facilities.

Tight timescales Our promise is not a glib '24/7' marketing statement but we do promise that we will do everything in our power to get the job done to meet your timescale, even if that means working all night. We have service facilities in Huddersfield, Aberdeen, London and Newquay.

Repairing Pumps AxFlow offer a complete repair service for any

®fluidity. nonstop is a registered Trademark of the AxFlow Group

type of pump from any manufacturer. We can arrange collection and return of your pump or for complex repairs we can disassemble pumps on-site. We can re-lapp mechanical seal faces and supply complete bespoke mechanical seal solutions.

Working together We have experienced Engineers located throughout Great Britain ready to meet you and discuss your pumping needs. Be it troubleshooting or application expertise we are happy to help. If you are in doubt regarding a pump application we can offer a trial pump to prove the solution.

Don’t forget to check www.axflow.co.uk for all our fluid handling solutions

AxFlow Limited Tel: 0208 579 2111 Fax: 0208 5797326 Email: info@axflow.co.uk

www.axflow.com

INDUSTRY NEWS

NEW ROCOL UNIT DELIVERS IMPROVED LUBRICATION A new unit for ROCOL® Lubricants’ popular Unilube products is set to help make routine machine maintenance even easier for manufacturers.

ROCOL FOODLUBE® Premier, FOODLUBE Universal, FOODLUBE Chain Fluid, SAPPHIRE® and SAPPHIRE Premier are all now available in the new UNILUBE+ unit, which offers a number of benefits to enhance equipment lubrication.

The new unit has increased capacity of 20%, giving a total lubricant volume of 120cm3 and its compact and modern design enables it to fit into even the tightest of spaces.

The UNILUBE+ is transparent, making it easier to monitor lubricant levels; an integrated support flange for better stability

and an optimised connection thread for easy and safe connection. For oil-filled units, the unit has an integrated oil-retaining valve.

Brendan Kendrick, who heads the ROCOL maintenance lubricants business unit, says: “We are constantly reviewing and upgrading our product ranges to ensure they continue to meet market needs and simplify lubrication management for our customers. The introduction of this new unit for some of our most popular products is indicative of that commitment to quality.”

For more information about the new unit and the full ROCOL product range, visit: www.rocol.com or call: 0113 2322600.

NEW SEALS WITH RGD & BROAD CHEMICAL RESISTANCE FOR OIL AND GAS INDUSTRIES Kalrez 0090 perfluoroelastomer O-ring seal products from DuPont Performance Polymers are now available from the UK sealing specialists Dichtomatik Ltd. These products have been developed by DuPont to provide outstanding resistance to rapid gas decompression (RGD) combined with broad chemical resistance, as experienced in the harsh environments of the oil and gas industries. As an official authorised distributor of DuPont Kalrez products, Dichtomatik provide a first class service and can also offer full technical support for customers experiencing sealing problems involving extreme temperature or pressure conditions combined with aggressive fluids.

DuPont products have an established reputation for delivering durable and reliable sealing solutions for both downhole and surface-level equipment such as packers, pumps and valves as well as many general chemical handling and processing applications. Kalrez 0090 has achieved the highest ‘0000’ rating in the NORSOK M710 Rev 2 tests recently conducted in the UK by the independent Materials Engineering Research Laboratory (MERL).

It was established that Kalrez 0090 has

outstanding resistance to RGD, with no cracks or blisters having developed on the Oring sections throughout the test cycling.

In addition to finished O-rings, Kalrez 0090 can be supplied in the form of flat washers, discs, cords or special mouldings for all applications that require the highest ‘0000’ rating for RGD resistance. Additional properties that ensure superior performance include high resistance to chemical attack from more than 1,800 chemicals and solvents, especially sour multi-phase fluids containing H2S (as shown by the external NORSOK M-710 Rev 2 Sour Fluid ageing resistance certification provided by MERLUK). High-temperature resistance up to 250°C (482°F) is maintained with high levels of elasticity and recovery even after long-term exposure. High modulus at low elongation properties also ensure excellent extrusion resistance.

The NORSOK M-710 testing conditions included 100% CO2 gas composition, with 100°C temperature, 15MPa pressure and a decompression rate of 12MPa/min.

Sealing products with ratings poorer than the maximum achieved by the Kalrez 0090 seals are likely to suffer cracking or blisters

when exposed to pressure cycling. Once initiated, cracks then accumulate with subsequent pressure cycles, leading to eventual seal failure.

Dichtomatik Ltd, Donington House, Riverside Road, Pride Park, Derby DE24 8HX Telephone: 01332 524401 e-mail: kalrez@dichtomatik.co.uk Visit: www.dichtomatik-kalrez.co.uk

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EXPORT AWARDS

Hansford Sensors wins TVBMA Export Award The gala evening for TVBMA 2010 took place at the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre, Madejski Stadium, Reading, on Thursday, November 18, compered by Nadine Dereza.

More than 300 people packed the Royal Berkshire Conference Centre to hear guest speaker Lord Paddy Ashdown and the results of the 2010 Thames Valley Business Magazine Awards.

The awards were sponsored by The Royal Bank of Scotland, Pitmans, Deloitte, James Cowper, Vail Williams and UK Trade & Investment South East.

One of the awards was the Thames Valley Export Award, sponsored by UKTI South East. Amongst tough competition, this award was won by Hansford Sensors Ltd. of High Wycombe.

Although it is only four years since the company was formed by Managing Director, Chris Hansford, the company has grown

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consistantly over this time and exports over 80% of its turnover.

Chris Hansford commented, “With the downturn in the economy in the UK, we set our sights on overseas markets and now sell our vibration sensors into over 40 countries.

Asia has been particularly fruitful, with an incredible rise in products sold into the Australian marketplace, thanks to the hard work of our distributor in New South Wales.”

He continued, “ We are now working at

attacking other export areas and we have recently visited Mexico and the USA, discussing how our products can be applied into the maintenance management of industrial plant and machinery .”

Chris also praised the team back at their new premises on the Sands Industrial Estate. “Their enthusiasm, efforts and dedication have all contributed to the growth and success of the company.”

Awards chairman David Murray said: “I can’t remember such an outstanding group of finalists as we have gathered this year. The shortlisted companies demonstrate that, despite a very tough year for the economy, there are success stories that transcend the downturn, that shine a light when it might look gloomy.”

Well done and congratulations to all at Hansford Sensors Ltd. on achieving this prestigious award.

For more information, please contact:Hansford Sensors Ltd. Tel:0845 680 1957 Email: suzanne.pearl@hansfordsensors.com Web: www.hansfordsensors.com

MOISTURE MEASUREMENT

Michell make multi-channel process moisture measurements easy Michell have made multiple process moisture measurements easier with their new Multi-Channel Control Unit (MCU).

The Promet I.S, process moisture in gas analyzer, is now available in a multichannel format, with the MCU. This enables up to four measurement channels within a single 19” sub-rack unit. The Promet I.S channels can be combined together with a sister product for moisture in liquid measurement – the Liquidew I.S – into the MCU to enable both gas and liquid sample measurements to be taken with a single analyzer system. Each channel of the MCU

functions independently of the others so that maintenance can be carried out on one channel while the others continue to operate as normal.

The MCU is very simple to operate: its bright alphanumeric LED display, with optional live pressure compensation, provides unit conversions from dew point to an exhaustively wide range of alternative moisture content units to allow the user complete flexibility to select their preferred unit of measurement. The MCU is easy to install into existing sampling and distribution systems with minimal wiring. To allow for

further expansion, customers can order blank channels.

The front panel interface enables the user to scroll through the set up menus to easily configure the analyzer to their own requirements. Four user-adjustable alarm points and two analogue 4-20 mA outputs are provided as well as a digital RS485 RTU for connection to external devices.

Based on Michell’s Ceramic Moisture Sensor, the Promet I.S can measure dew points as low as -100°C, and is calibrated and traceable to NPL and NIST.

Speedfold Speedfold800 800High HighSpeed SpeedDoor Door

IT IS BIG...

IT IS CLEVER... ...and its Say no to heat loss, airborne particles and ingress of vermin pests and rodents. dp Doors and Shutters Ltd. are pleased to announce the introduction of their new Speedfold 800 High Speed Door manufactured at our modern factory here in Sheffield.

The Speedfold 800 has a unique fold up style operation combined with integral and horizontal wind bars designed to offer maximum wind resistance for external and large width doorways.

DOORS & SHUTTERS LTD 23b Orgreave Crescent, Dore House Industrial Estate, Sheffield, S13 9NQ. Tel: 0114 288 9464 Fax: 0114 293 9193 GB 00605

E-mail: sales@dpdoorsandshutters.co.uk Web site: www.dpdoorsandshutters.co.uk

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PUMPS

East Hull pumping station pumps given a new lease of life One of the challenges that AxFlow’s maintenance engineers face when called in to quote for a pump refurbishment project is not knowing what the condition of the internal components will be until the complete unit is stripped down. Externally the pumps may look to be either in a reasonable state or not worthy of being rescued. This was the situation that confronted AxFlow’s engineers when they were called in by the Environment Agency’s contractors AMCO to the East Hull pumping station in late 2009.

An external inspection in 2008 of the four Gwynnes 24-inch and 48-inch mixed-flow vertical land drainage pumps operating at the pumping station since 1949 indicated that the pumps were old and in need of replacement and had exceeded their design life capacity. When later removed from service by AxFlow (Fig.1) for a thorough evaluation it was clear that they could be renovated to a standard that would meet

Fig 1 ‘No.3 pump with the rotating assembly removed. - Seeing the outside world after 60 years!

Pump inside is in surprisingly good condition except for a large accumulation of Humber mud’

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the future requirements of the Environment Agency. Most importantly, AxFlow would be able to undertake the renovation project in a time frame quicker than a full replacement programme and at a more competitive price.

Hull is unique amongst English cities because parts of the city are below sea-level when there is high tide and the plain around it is higher. This means that water from the Wolds tends to drain down towards the city, so it is important that there’s a good, well maintained drainage system in the city. The purpose of the East Hull Works is to transfer water from the Holderness Drain into the River Humber over high tide periods.

East Hull is the older of two pumping stations that service the city and both stations are currently undergoing a £16m upgrade aimed at improving the capability to move sewage, surface water and land drainage out of Hull and into the River Humber. East Hull Works pumping station stands at the point where Holderness Drain flows into the Humber estuary and operates daily around high tide when the tidal gates on the Holderness Drain are closed. The four Gwynnes pumps are used to pump the drain into the estuary at times of high tide when the normal gravity discharge is prevented. However, in the past couple of years, the East Hull pumping station has been called into service more frequently so the Environment Agency, which has responsibility for the pumps, has implemented a £900,000 refurbishment programme in order maintain protection against flooding for 1000 homes in East Hull.

“The pumps needed an overhaul so we decided to do it alongside a major refurbishment being carried out by Yorkshire Water”, comments EA Project manager, Richard Hartley. “We were looking at long term options for the pumping station, but whatever we decided depended on the funding being available and any necessary planning permissions. Meanwhile, we could not leave the Bransholme area unprotected so we decided to go ahead with a

refurbishment, which buys us up to five years to review possible options.”

AMCO were contracted to carry out the refurbishment and this involved a complete strip down and overhaul of the pumping equipment by pump maintenance specialists AxFlow. The EA also looked how we can control levels in the drain to maximise the efficiency of the existing pumping station.

The existing building housing the East Hull Pumping Station was enlarged in 1972 to accommodate a sewage pumping system to carry screened effluent from the eastern side of Hull into the estuary. In 1989 overall responsibility for the site passed to Yorkshire Water at privatisation, but the former National Rivers Authority took over maintenance of the four Holderness Drain pumps, passing to the Environment Agency in 1996.

“In late 2009 we undertook an on-site evaluation of all four pumps in the East Hull works, “ says AxFlow’s Mark Redgrove, “and made recommendations as to what work would need to be undertaken to put them all back into a reliable and efficient operating condition. In mid-January 2010, with assistance from AMCO, we removed the four pumps (Fig.2) and brought them to our Huddersfield works where we did a full strip down to allow dimensional checks to be made along with an overall condition report.”

The two 24-inch pumps, which were the first to be refurbished, were found to be in a reasonable condition, according to Mark Redgrove. “We found that the bronze bushes, sleeves and grease-lubricated

Fig 2 ‘No. 3 Pump rotating assembly (48” impeller) being removed through station floor. The rotating assembly weighed in at 1.3 tonnes. Space restrictions meant that the pump had to be completely stripped on site as the whole assembly would not fit through the hole in the motor floor’

PUMPS

Fig 3 ‘No.1 Pump bowl/impeller reassembled in-works with new bush bearings’

bearings were fairly well-worn but were serviceable, and the impellers had been repaired at some stage so there was no reason for additional work. The two 48-inch pumps did need more work and it was necessary to cast a new wear ring for the back of the impeller on the third pump as the original was cracked. When the impeller race was removed on this pump it completely disintegrated. As luck would have it, we found three new impeller races on site, so we were able to make use of one of these for this pump and also one for the fourth pump as it was necessary to cut the race in order to remove the impeller.”

Looking at the refurbishment programme for all four pumps, AxFlow have balanced the impellers and replaced all of the wearing parts such as bushes and sleeves on the shafts (Fig.3).

By their design, each of the pumps contain three or four shafts as the water flow from top to bottom of the sump is 7m, so the shafts are in sections. In addition, all the white metal Mitchell bearings have been overhauled; the pads re-metalled, thrust collars skimmed and all the internal surfaces of the housing shot-blast and repainted.

Running together, the refurbished pumps will a have the capacity to handle 7.5m3 sec and they will be expected to run for periods up to three hours at a time twice a day.

“The key to the success of this contract was that we were able meet the Environment Agency’s request to work all four pumps at once, as opposed to instigating a rolling programme,” continues Mark Redgrove. “Because of the size of these pumps, weighing up to 12 tons, it was necessary to dismantle them on site then rebuild them back in our workshops once the refurbishment jobs had been undertaken to check tolerance and dimensions (Fig. 4).

We then had to dismantle them again for returning them to the pumping station and once again rebuild them on site. Because of the logistics of the programme of works on both the East and West works, we were given a tight timeframe in which to undertake the project. From first day onsite through to having the pumps re-installed and ready to run we were given 12-14 weeks.”

For further product information, contact:

Tony Peters AxFlow Ltd Orion Park Northfield Avenue Ealing London W13 9SJ Tel: 020 8579 2111 Email: info@axflow.co.uk Fig 4 ‘No.1 Pump (24”) assembled in-works ready to return to site and reinstate’

Website: www.axflow.co.uk

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COATINGS

Deritend Industries Completes Belzona’s Authorized Coating Centre Initiative On Wednesday 17th November 2010, Belzona, a design and manufacturer of industrial protective coatings and polymer repair composites, celebrated the launch of Deritend Industries as a Belzona Authorized Coating Centre (BACC) which will now complete the BACC initiative.

Achieving the BACC status now means that Deritend Industries are recognized

by Belzona as a specialist service centre for the rebuilding, long term protection and efficiency enhancement of rotating equipment such as Pumps, Fans, Blowers, Screw Conveyors and Agitators. It is envisaged that this new partnership will further improve the level of support offered to customers and offer a full turnkey repair service on rotating equipment.

Darren Harris, Operations Manager for Deritend Industries commented, ‘‘Being an Belzona Approved Coating Centre will play a very important part of the Deritend Industries strategic goal going forward in the way of offering its customer energy saving solutions and whole life cost benefits. As a result, Belzona 1341 (Supermetalglide) a high performance coating for improving the efficiency of fluid handling equipment will be

incorporated into the Deritend full energy efficient pump refurbishments.

Deritend welcome the new partnership with Belzona and look forward to reaping mutual benefits for both parties.”

Belzona introduced the BACC scheme to differentiate and reward specialist service centres that invest heavily in surface preparation equipment and are dedicated to maintaining high levels of application procedures and customer service.

Gordon Cairns, National Sales Manager for Belzona explained, “The BACC concept

was created to distinguish between regular machinery and equipment contractors and a specialist group of service centres that go the extra distance. This gives us the platform to target key industries that require a “total service” The launch of Deritend Industries now completes the BACC initiative as status has already been granted to companies based in Glasgow, Teesside, Leeds, Manchester and Southampton. The launch of Deritend Industries based in the Midlands now gives us complete coverage across the UK.” Deritend Industries is one of the UK’s fastest growing and most dynamic maintenance services organisations, encompassing several specialist engineering operations within the group. The largest component of the group, Deritend, operates onsite electromechanical engineering teams and a nationwide branch network including engineering workshops placed strategically across the UK. The Group also includes a large UK based pre-formed windings production site, and other specialist engineering operations covering induction services, condition monitoring and machine tools services.

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AUTOMATION

Rockwell Automation Focuses on Scale and Modularisation of Integrated Architecture System New integrated motion and safety capabilities of the Allen-Bradley CompactLogix controller help machine builders leverage a single control platform for the full range of control and information applications December 3rd 2010 Rockwell Automation is focusing on scale and modularisation of its Integrated Architecture system to help deliver multidisciplined control and high performance on a “right-sized” system.

The company recently introduced three programmable automation controllers (PACs) based on the Allen-Bradley CompactLogix form factor, including the Allen-Bradley Compact GuardLogix, CompactLogix L2 and CompactLogix L4 controllers. In 2011, Rockwell Automation will continue its focus on scale by delivering the Allen-Bradley CompactLogix L1 and additions the L3 PAC family, along with an expanded suite of complementary products ideally suited for applications with less than 200 I/O points and up to 16 axes of motion.

This expanded suite can all be configured in the common design environment of Rockwell Software RSLogix 5000. Using

the PanelView Plus 6 or the PanelView Plus Compact operator interface fulfills the need for visualisation and information in midrange machine applications.

The CompactLogix PAC brings the benefits of the Rockwell Automation Logix Control Platform — common configuration, networking and visualisation environment — to smaller, machine-level control applications. Combined with Compact I/O, the CompactLogix platform is designed for customers looking for high performance, multidisciplined control in a small footprint.

“OEMs and end users are building today’s contemporary machines with an eye toward improving safety, achieving higher levels of performance and better integration of the machine with the rest of the manufacturing operation. Those who do this well will truly differentiate themselves in the marketplace,” said Mike Burrows, Integrated Architecture, Rockwell Automation. “Achieving these goals requires a scalable, modular control system that has the safety, throughput and information management capabilities to match the machine design.”

Rockwell Automation Logix-based control solutions are ideal for the OEM and end user looking to meet tomorrow’s machine requirements cost-effectively. Through features such as integrated safety and standard control, information-enabled software, integrated motion control on the EtherNet/IP network and reusable development tools, Rockwell Automation helps deliver machines on-time, costeffectively and beyond customer expectations.

“With its new scaled offerings, Rockwell Automation leverages the company’s core IA strength in multidisciplined control,” according to Craig Resnick, research director, ARC Advisory Group. “Using the combination of control, networking, visualisation and information technologies, the Logix Control Platform addresses a full range of production applications, integrating discrete, motion, process, batch and safety applications, while providing information integration with the rest of the site. Rockwell Automation’s continued focus on scale and modularisation will help OEMs and midrange applications leverage the benefits of a single multidiscipline control platform, including reduced total cost of ownership.”

The Rockwell Automation portfolio expansion in 2011 for midrange applications will include the PanelView Plus 6 humanmachine interface (HMI), offering users increased memory, a factory default option for significantly faster refresh rates, and the ability to store more data and machine instructions directly on the HMI. The portfolio will also feature two new controllers: the CompactLogix L1 controller is designed for standalone applications requiring up to two axes of motion, while the enhanced CompactLogix L3 controller handles up to 16 axes of motion using an embedded dual EtherNet/IP port. Also on EtherNet/IP, the new Kinetix 350 servo drive will provide cost-efficient integrated motion control capabilities, and is ideally suited for packaging, material handling and assembly machines.

For more information: Tel 0870 242 5004 Fax 01908 839696 E-mail: ukmarketing@ra.rockwell.com

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MINING

Mine Loader Failure Predicted by OMDEC EXAKT “Intervene Immediately” after 10,000 trouble free hours Summary In a joint project with its Australian partner, FIRM Solutions Pty Ltd in 2010, OMDEC’s EXAKT failure prediction analysis tool accurately identified a critical impending failure in a large front end loader for a mining giant.

Starting with an incomplete data set, the joint team successfully refined the data to the point where the failure modeling produced a startling prediction: a 90% probability of failure in the main engine bearing within the next 500 operating hours in a unit that had no history of similar problems for 12,500 operating hours.

By analyzing multiple equipment conditions, EXAKT developed an easily measurable formula to accurately predict whether any of the equipment was in danger of immediate failure.

The answer was “Yes”.

Conclusions Three important conclusions were reached:

Background & Objectives The mining company operates a fleet of loaders as a key part of its continuous production operation. Downtime is both critical and expensive: a ratio of 4:1 is used to compare run to failure costs with preventive replacement.

The key objective was to determine whether smart data analysis could produce meaningful results relating to the probability of failure and remaining useful life of the fleet.

A second objective – which turned out to be even more significant in the short run – was to apply the fleet model to individual units to predict and prevent expensive impending failures. Where failure was predicted, management needed to be confident of the probability within a given time frame so that spurious results did not cause unnecessary maintenance.

Methodology Multi-year condition data was available for the fleet and was used as the basis for the analysis. 31 failures were analysed covering 10 failure modes for the fleet of 64 engines.

Main engine bearing failure was the dominant failure mode accounting for about one third of critical failures. This became the focus of the detailed analysis, using a variety of condition measurements to determine which combinations had the best predictive capability. Among the possible conditions such as vibration, engine operating temperature, fuel burn etc, two specific measurements met the standard 95% test for confidence levels. These were derivatives of the Lead and the Antimony measurements obtained gained from oil sample analysis. This was integrated with event data such as oil changes, operating starts, out-of-service intervals and actual failure dates extracted from the EAM work history database.

From this data, an EXAKT statistical model was developed to correlate the condition monitoring data with actually experienced failure or potential failure events. The model was then applied to the individual units in the fleet. Two very timely output reports were produced for one loader:

EXAKT failure prediction and decisions models were successfully developed and tested for the fleet’s key failure modes at the 95% confidence level A readily applicable formula was developed to enable tracking of multiple equipments By applying the modeling to individual equipment, a critical impending failure was predicted with a probability of over 90% within the next 500 operating hours on a unit that had no history of this failure mode.

For More Information Visit: www.omdec.com Or Email: info@omdec.com

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Above: figure 2

Above: figure 1

Figure 2 shows that for the engine main bearing failure mode being analysed, the unit has operated without significant risk of failure for its working life of 12,500 operating hours.

However: The probability of failure within the next 250 hours is 75% The probability of failure within the next 500 hours is slightly over 90%.

These results are confirmed in Figure 1 with the recommendation to intervene immediately to prevent costly damage to the equipment.

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TUBE PROTECTION

Reliability Improvement Series An Essential Guide for Improving Boiler Reliability and Safety Distinctive features:

Includes many examples of fatigue and corrosion-related failures.

Gives guidance on how, when and where to inspect fire-tube boilers.

Gives guidance on how to repair fire-tube boilers which have suffered fatigue cracking and/or corrosion.

Contains many tips and practical advice on how to improve boiler safety and reliability.

Contents:

Basic boiler design Fabrication/welding defects Scaling Priming Fouling Corrosion Fatigue Thermal fatigue Corrosion fatigue Boiler inspections Non-destructive testing Periodic inspections Inspection Plans Boiler repair methods Welding requirements Boiler maintenance In-house inspections Safety valve examination Safety valve maintenance inspections Index of useful standards.

CD-ROM

The new Fire-Tube Boiler CD-ROM is a unique reference source for boiler owners, operators, maintenance personnel and inspectors. For more information please visit www.enspectechnology.com or send a mail to cd@hamiltonpress.co.uk for a link to a PDF containing further information on the CD.

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OIL EFFICIENCY

Remove Water and Particulate Contaminants from Oil Efficiently and Cost-Effectively to Prolong Equipment Life

History Lubricated machines require clean, dry oil to work properly. Recent studies have determined that as much as 80 percent of all failures and wear problems that hydraulic and lubricated equipment experience are due to oil contamination. The most damaging forms of contamination are particulates and moisture.

All oil lubricated machines that have rolling elements and pressure surfaces rely on the oil to separate moving surfaces. Examples include gears, roller bearings, journal bearings, side bearings, piston pumps, vane pumps, servo valves and dynamic seals. Operating pressures and loads on those elements dictate the required oil film thickness, and the film thickness that can be provided by the oil depends on its viscosity and temperature.

Particulate contamination is capable of bridging the film thickness gap, leading to contact fatigue, additional particle generation and accelerated wear. Water contamination reduces component life and productivity by causing rust and corrosion, oil oxidation, additive depletion, varnish deposits, hydrogen embrittlement and changes in viscosity. In addition, these phenomena can result in additional internal particle generation.

Challenge

Summary A majority of the failures and wear problems that lubricated machines experience are caused by oil contamination from particulates and water. In order to keep oil clean and dry, use advanced filterdehydrator technology—which enables effective oil conditioning with a simple, low maintenance design—to enhance particle filtration and to remove free, emulsified and dissolved water.

As an example: the main lube reservoir at

a paper mill had been typically averaging a moisture level of 290 to 530 ppm, with excursions as high as 3,770 ppm on occasion. Given the high cost of replacing journal bearings and associated downtime, the overall cost to the facility was well over $100,000 per year. If a failure resulted in lost production, the cost and wear are due to oil contamination. would escalate to $5$10K per hour. Since a dedicated filter dehydration system was installed, the oil has averaged 50 to 100 ppm—potentially tripling the paper mill equipment’s operational life.

Particulate contamination is present to varying degrees in new oil, can be generated internally or may occur due to ingress during a lubricated machine’s operation. Over time, as industry became more aware of the damaging nature of particulates, they have become more focused on the need for filtration. Highefficiency (ßeta Rated) filtration is widely accepted, and OEMs now often incorporate full-flow filtration into new equipment.

However, in many cases there is still plenty of room for improvement.

Moisture presents a greater challenge, with some machines more at risk than others.

Since water solubility will vary based on oil type and temperature, even a small amount of excess moisture can lead to equipment failure. Water can be present in the free, emulsified, and dissolved states, and it typically infiltrates lubricated machines through condensation, seal leaks or ambient conditions, as well as from cleaning chemicals and water from equipment cleanup. For optimum performance, all

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OIL EFFICIENCY forms of water contamination must be removed. And while several methods are used for this purpose, many have significant downfalls.

Partial Solutions Some removal methods are better suited for one type of moisture than another. For free water removal, water-absorbing cartridges, settling tanks, centrifuges and coalescing filter/separators are often used—but many are high in cost and require significant labor.

Plus, their effectiveness often depends upon the viscosity of the oil and volume of water.

Water-absorbing cartridges use hygroscopic media capable of removing trace amounts of free water from oil. Water-absorbing cartridges can be installed for low initial capital cost, but they are typically rated in grams of water per element and are not appropriate for systems with ongoing moisture ingression. They do not effectively remove emulsified or dissolved water and must be replaced when saturated, making them labor and cost-intensive for applications involving higher volumes of water.

These systems do not remove emulsified or dissolved water, or gases. While relatively inexpensive, effectiveness is a function of tank design, residence time, turnover rate,

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oil viscosity and additive chemistry. Due to the relatively large size tank needed even for small systems, space limitations often make settling tanks impractical.

Two additional systems, centrifuges and coalescing filter/separators, mechanically separate free water using gravitational forces. These are best suited for use on lower viscosity fluids and can be used to remove significant volumes of gross water.

However, new centrifuge installations are costly, and with a large number of moving parts, this equipment can be very laborintensive—requiring dedicated operators.

Coalescing filter/separators are subject to fouling from particulate contaminants and certain additives, and this equipment may require heat plus discharge cooling.

To remove dissolved and emulsified moisture as well as free water, vacuum dehydrators (sometimes referred to as a vacuum purifiers) have often been used.

Such systems have typically placed in slipstream (kidney loop) oil circulation with the reservoir, utilizing a vacuum to lower the boiling point of water, allowing moisture and gases to vaporize out of the oil. Vacuum dehydrators have moderate-to-high capital, operating and maintenance costs due to

their relatively complex designs. In addition to requiring trained operators, they often require a heater to increase oil temperature to promote water vaporization—and a cooler on the return. Along with these challenges, as with most typical oil purifiers, vacuum dehydrators are relatively large and difficult to relocate to different areas of a plant.

A Solution That Works Since conventional water and particulate removal alternatives involve significant trade-offs, a new, advanced form of fluid conditioning has proven beneficial. To provide a more a cost-effective, convenient solution, this conditioning system was developed to utilize the fundamental principles of mass transfer. The system continuously removes all free, emulsified and dissolved water, as well as particulate contaminants—without the complexity and operator knowledge required with conventional methods.

Mass transfer principles dictate that moisture will naturally diffuse from a region of higher concentration to one of lower concentration. With an innovative filter-

OIL EFFICIENCY

dehydration system, Using mass transfer principles, a filter-dehydration system free, emulsified and effectively diffuses moisture from oil to the dry air in the dissolved water will diffuse from the oil to the system’s dehydration contactors. First, oil is pumped from its reservoir into the system’s high efficiency particle filter, which cleans the oil beyond the levels attained by most full flow filtration circuits. The oil then flows through the inside of the patented hollow fiber membrane contactor, while dry air sweeps the exterior surface of the membrane. This promotes the diffusion of moisture through the contactor and into the sweep air. The air, which now contains dissolved moisture, vents out of the system to atmosphere with no bulk water or other disposables generated in the process, and the clean, dry oil returns to the reservoir.

This filter-dehydration system operates at ambient oil temperature with no heat or post-process cooling required, preventing thermal degradation, and it enables customers to cost-effectively remove contaminants—minimizing equipment wear for improved process uptime and performance.

Another significant benefit of this filterdehydration system is its simplicity. It requires no routine operator intervention, no moving parts and no liquid level controls or water drains. Since the only routine replacement component is the system’s coreless particle filter, it saves significant maintenance costs. Once moved into position near a reservoir, simple connections are made for oil supply, oil return, power and compressed air. In operation, the only things to be monitored are the differential pressure gauge (for particulate filter condition), and the moisture level in the oil (to determine when conditioning is complete).

Conclusion: Driflex™ Oil Conditioning System The Driflex™ Oil Conditioning System from Pentair Industrial features this revolutionary filter-dehydration technology to remove free, emulsified and dissolved water, as well as particulates and gases, from petroleumbased and synthetic oils. The Driflex oil conditioning system was designed to

serve a wide variety of applications within pulp & paper mills, power plants, hydraulic presses (such as stamping and plastic injection molding), steel and roll mills, etc.

It decreases water concentration, down to 25 ppm, and improves particulate filtration, as low as ISO 13/10 (or lower). Plus, Driflex reduces oil contamination, minimizing wear, maintenance expenses and downtime for extended hydraulic and lubricated system life.

Driflex is cost-effective, conveniently Driflex™ Oil Conditioning System sized and easy to maintain. With no moving parts or flow/level controls to adjust, specialized operator training is unnecessary. These systems are well suited for periodic use on reservoirs throughout an entire facility. Driflex may also be dedicated to a particular reservoir to provide continuous conditioning, ensuring that oil is optimized without the fluctuations in water concentration that occur with periodic oil reconditioning.

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BUYERS GUIDE 2010

Testing & Certification

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BUYERS GUIDE 2010

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BUYERS GUIDE 2010

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