Water & Wastewater Treatment

In Depth: Pumps and control What will the pump of the ture look like? F ew components in plant and equipment engineering are as steeped in tradition as the pump. But how does this fit in with the age of digitalisation? And is it even possible to design a hydraulic element that is fit for Industry 4.0? German manufacturer KSB is one firm which has been reconciling these two worlds successfully for some time now. The company is primarily focused on the optimisation of pumps – knowing the exact load profile and tuning the pump to the ideal operating point. This is borne out by the sheer number of different pump casings and materials used and the impeller adjustment options available. However, conditions can change during the life of a pump, and it o…en happens that a pump no longer runs at the optimum operating point. This also applies to newly installed pumps. For years now, KSB experts have therefore been investigating how to optimise pumps more easily without using complex analytics or even having to replace the pump. Digitalisation offers tremendous potential for this. However, it takes time to develop new approaches and put them into practice. "It's a matter of transferring decades of experience and expertise into an algorithm and a so…ware solution," explains Dr Thomas Paulus, Head of Programme Office Digitalisation & Startup Projects at KSB. "This cannot be done in a single step: It involves many different components and aspects. By How will the pump play its part in the digital ture represented by industry 4.0? Bryan Orchard explores how one manufacturer is incorporating tomorrow's technology bringing together these component parts, however, you end up with an intelligent and practical concept that provides real added value for the pump operator." Step 1: Digital Monitoring Unit The first step in this direction is a monitoring unit which shows in plain language what goes on inside a pump. KSB's 'PumpMeter' monitoring unit, which fulfils this function, comprises pressure sensors as well as an analysing and display unit fitted to the pump. Two sensors in the pump measure the suction and discharge pressures around the clock. The PumpMeter uses this data to calculate the differential pressure and determines the current operating point, which is updated continuously in real Fig 1: KSB's PumpMeter continu- ously analyses the pump operating data, establishes and load profile, and makes the operator aware of energy saving potential WWT PUMP SUPPLEMENT DECEMBER 2017 13

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