Water & Wastewater Treatment Magazine
Issue link: https://fhpublishing.uberflip.com/i/1106950
www.wwtonline.co.uk | WWT | APRIL 2019 | 9 EXPERT VIEW SPONSORED BY STEVE HUGHES DIGITAL LEAD, MOTION ABB Making pumps smarter brings better resilience Digitalisation is making pump powertrains more reliable, with condition monitoring that makes for smarter maintenance activity P umps oen work in harsh and challenging conditions, particularly in the water and wastewater sector, and to prevent failure from events such as clogging of impellers, they must be checked regularly, which can be costly and time-consuming. Yet, pumps are only one part of a powertrain. As well as the pump motor, there can be a variable speed drive (VSD) controlling the motor's speed and, potentially, mounted bearings and gearing. If a pump stops operating in, say, a critical water treatment plant, it might not be immediately evident which part of the powertrain is at fault and so time is wasted while the team try and diagnose the fault. The maintenance team may call the pump set maker or OEM. If the cause is a tripped VSD, this could lead to further delays and costs while the drive supplier provides maintenance support. These costs and delays could be a thing of the past due to pioneering smart sensor technology developed by ABB. Initially designed for low voltage motors, the sensor measures key motor parameters, allowing maintenance to meet actual needs. The smart sensor has now been adapted for pumps, where it measures vibration and temperature to detect common problems such as cavitation or overheating. Because the data reflects the pump's real condition, maintenance is carried out more efficiently. It can be used on both centrifugal or vortex pumps, on water or wastewater applications and with direct online or variable- speed driven pump motors. Meanwhile, the VSD used within the powertrain, does not require the same smart sensor technology. It is digital by design and packed with its own sensors and soware and built-in motor protection. Each powertrain, including drives, motors, mounted bearings and pumps, sends measurement data to the cloud where it is analysed and consolidated. A simple dashboard shows correctly functioning powertrain assets as green; yellow indicates some level of inspection is needed; while red means something more serious could be imminent. Users can then drill down into any individual powertrain until they locate the actual component part at fault. The cloud data can also be used by the system vendor for fleet management or to assess if components require maintenance at times different depending on their usage. This could also help manage upgrades or replacements of pumps and motors to maximise efficiency and extend the powertrain's life. Setting up a gateway and sensors is a low-cost investment compared to the cost of unplanned shutdowns. Digital sensors can guard against the lost production, lost raw materials and possible cleaning and repairs that can result from a powertrain failure. With remote access to data, they can also remove many health and safety challenges, removing the need for special work permits for dangerous areas and thus saving further costs. Although connected devices raise cybersecurity concerns, digital sensors have no electrical connection to the motor or pump, so there is no risk of hackers taking control of chemical dosing in a water treatment plant, for example. Some sites, like water pumping stations, are located in remote areas. Through remote assistance services and smart sensor technology, downtime can be planned in advance, based on information received. This eliminates the high costs of failure which could lead to engineer call outs, spares and liing machinery. Making pumps and their powertrains into digitally-enabled devices makes these workhorses of industry part of the new industrial revolution and ensures pump users benefit from the new age of data. applying predictive analytics to fill in the information gaps, both the occurrence and location of leaks have been shown to be identified with up to 80% accuracy up to 21 days before they would have typically been reported - potentially saving millions of litres of water per year. Innovation unlocks opportunities All these opportunities in turn offer a chance to run the networks themselves in a smarter way, by reducing customer demand through metering, reducing wasted water through leakage prevention and gaining a more in-depth view of demand peaks and troughs. In this scenario the need to reactively spin up financially intensive technologies such as desalination plants could become a thing of the past, providing more resilience to a network which is set to face significant challenges should the population continue to grow as anticipated. OFWAT have made it clear in their response to initial PR19 submissions that they are looking for significant, disruptive change within the sector and the adoption of at least some of the technologies outlined above provides ample opportunity to achieve this.