Predictive maintenance & condition monitoring
The future of condition valve monitoring
An automated valve diagnostic monitoring system from Imtex Controls provides seamless monitoring of automated valves using a fully integrated, end to end solution. The results are safer and more productive plants.
A
ll industrial operations are continually driving to improve efficiency and productivity to increase profit margins
and maximise bottom-line returns. In many sectors (such as the Oil and Gas Industry), this drive occurs against a back drop of heightened health and safety demands and environmental concerns as well as the need to implement improvements on old assets that can often be operating beyond their initial design life. An important means of delivering on these
expectations is to reduce the number of unscheduled plant shutdowns. On average 92 per cent of shutdowns are unplanned and cost oil and gas companies an estimated $42 – 88
‘‘With big data now being recognised as the
million a year in worst case scenarios. It has been observed that most unplanned shutdowns are often attributable to worn out equipment, and in a lot of cases is due to the lifespan of an element being exceeded. With a routine maintenance schedule and a
condition monitoring solution, operators could prevent costly shutdowns and increase production up time, reduce maintenance spend and improve plant safety. A study by GE found that data monitoring helped improve oil and gas maintenance schedules resulting in a 36 per cent reduction in unplanned downtime, which in turn resulted in an average of a $17 million improvement to the bottom line. As such, asset monitoring, asset
management, and predictive maintenance solutions are gaining popularity.
ConDITIon MonITorIng on VAlVeS As valves are a critical constituent element of any flow-based process, valve performance is an important factor to review when trying to prevent unscheduled maintenance, plant shut downs and
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future of industrial and manufacturing processes, it is innovations like the VDMS that can make all the difference to data aggregation for safety, efficiency and not least profitability
loss of batch production. The immediate effect of valve problems can then be the failure to meet client expectations whilst indirect effects may include higher insurance premiums and increased HSE scrutiny, meaning that, valve problems can often be very costly. Whilst some operators are already deploying
Condition Monitoring on Control Valves and Critical Valves, many valves, notably those used for On/Off process and shutdown applications, are often left unmonitored.
Why Are VAlVeS noT beIng MonIToreD? Whilst technology is available to monitor these valves, operators are dissuaded from this investment primarily due to the prohibitive hardware and installations costs. Although some OEMs have touted various
valve testing and monitoring systems, many of the solutions offered can pose operational, financial and/or functional implementation issues. This is because they are generally significantly more costly than traditional systems; can require installation of new wiring
October 2019 Instrumentation Monthly ’’
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