EDITOR’S PICKS
Identifying poor assets and inefficient pumps
Despite the soaring prices brought on by an energy crisis that shows no signs of diminishing, ask pump and blower operators about the efficiency of their equipment, and the truth is that most don’t know– according to a leadingmonitoring technology provider.
The pumps, for example,might often be described as ‘working fine’ and‘doing their job’, but is that, nowmore than ever, a strategy? Howabout savingmoney now, and in the future?
“The opportunity to trulymaintain, protect and optimise assets is here and now,with a Return on Investment (ROI) that is shorter than ever”, says Julian Lowe fromRiventa. “The cost of solving asset management challenges is on amuch smaller scale thanmost companies imagine”.
So, just howcan youmake hidden costsmore visible?
Atminimum, put some testing in place. By obtaining accurate, quality data, this first proactive stepwill give you a snapshot of performance, aswell as health and efficiency. Even this entry-level testingwill help identify poor assets and inefficient pumps.
Riventa’s Julian Lowe added: “Allwe hear about at themoment, understandably, is the giant hike in energy prices, so best test your pumps (and/or blowers and turbines) to reduce energy consumption andmaximise savings. Thiswill almost immediately help identify actions to improve performance. In addition to pump efficiency,measuring key parameters such as flowrate, head and electrical power - current pump performance characteristics can be compared to‘as new’and‘post-refurbishment’conditions. This provides the same accuracy as a pumpmanufacturer’s test facility – butwith the distinct advantage of real operating conditions”.
Across numerous industries,where for some, running pumps ‘til destruction is themodus operandi, Lowe has a point. He claims that for larger pumps, blowers and turbines, the ROI can be as little as 18months.
A level up frompump testing is to look at an Optimisation Service, utilising secure on-site pumpmonitoring equipment to provide real-time data. This enables you to start seeingwhat’s happening across your systemby capturing data over 14-days or longer. This doesn’t have to involve tons of ‘spaghetti’. Systems can nowbe cable-free; up and running in around 1 hour per pump, at lowrisk andwithminimal disruption to existing operations.
36 | June 2023 |
www.draintraderltd.com ‘Realistic payback calculations’
Dr TomClifford fromRiventa, continued: “Once in place, real-time data for each asset can be evaluated,with information-driven insights highlighting performance issues and supporting decisions. This can establish best practice recommendations, realistic payback calculations and a business case formoving forward – all backed by precisionmeasurement and innovative analytics”.
Clifford explained howRiventa had recentlyworkedwith a food manufacturer; testing the company’s cooling system,which is split into two pumping sub-systems: factory pumps 1-5 for sending chilledwater fromheat-exchangers to the factory; and evaporator pumps that send chilledwater fromthe factory to refrigeration heat exchangers.
“To test the pumps,we used the thermodynamicmeasurement technique (with our specialist software) tomeasure suction and discharge pressures either side of the pump, differential temperature, andmotor input power. Thesemeasurements enabled us to calculate differential head across the pump, hydraulic efficiency and volumetric flow. Pumpswere altered gradually. After each change, a test pointwas taken,while allowing enough time to obtain the best statistical average. Tests also involved a routine of testing performance at an incumbent set point, followed by throttling the pump to reduce its flowrate. The latter action allowed other pumps running in parallel to increase in speed to compensate,with a final test point taken at thismoment”.
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