TRANSDUCERS, TRANSMITTERS & SENSORS FEATURE
John Saysell, head of business development and Training, MCP Consulting Group, advocates the use of smart sensor solutions for remote monitoring - improving reliability and reducing maintenance
T
he Internet of Things (IoT) and recent technological advances in
3G/GSM/GRRS technology and connectivity together with sensor miniaturisation have resulted in the availability of a wide range of remote monitoring devices, which can be quickly installed and instantly connected. These offer real-time visibility to see not only what needs doing, but crucially, when it needs attention, for maintenance, FM or on a production line. Plant maintenance and process
monitoring based on real information has increased in popularity due to sensor cost reductions and better connectivity. In 2020 it is estimated there will be 50
Billion connected devices in our buildings compared to 7 Billion people living on the planet. Connected devices, also called remote monitoring, can enable processes to be monitored, measured, controlled and optimised as never before. Through the adoption of remote monitoring technology businesses large and small will increase efficiency and profitability. Remote monitoring is usually 1/10th the
cost of legacy systems or even human intervention. Companies know they should be using connected devices; after all who would not want to prevent a critical process line or chiller system from failing? Yet very few organisations understand how to adopt and benefit from remote monitoring. Condition Based Maintenance is now wholly affordable - where the systems tell you when they need attention before they fail. Collecting and analysing equipment related information provides the strategic insight necessary to prevent asset failure and extend operational life.
ASSET REPLACEMENT One of the biggest capital investment questions for any organisation is: “When should I replace these assets?” MCP and associated partner IoT analysed the reactive maintenance requests on a capital-intensive asset for a client. They found that after 14,000 run hours the maintenance costs increased dramatically. Questions inevitably arise from the companies we work with, such as: “How
/ PROCESS&CONTROL COMPRESSORS
SMART SENSORS OFFER MUCH MORE THAN JUST MONITORING
do we do it and how can I ensure it will be profitable” and “How do I know I am monitoring the right things, and will it be cost effective?” With over 20 years experience, MCP has
an understanding of the integration of sensors, software and networks. First it is important to understand the
needs of the company and its business case. The graphic below shows the main applications CEOs and their Boards should consider when adopting a connected device solution.
Figure 1: Predicted growth of monitoring devices in volume (billions)
recommended that several low-cost, retrofit, remote monitoring sensors be used. The devices needed no cabling, no skilled electricians, consultants, mains power or permits. Total installation time 20 minutes per chiller room!
CASE STUDY – POWER USAGE Many of our manufacturing clients are identifying ‘losses’ across their plants from sub-metering equipment and process lines. They are using sensor technology to identify when equipment is left running when, in fact, it should be turned off. As a result energy usage of the asset is
FRIDGES AIR HANDLING UNITS MANUFACTURING PRODUCTION LINES CHILLERS COOLING TOWERS FOOD INDUSTRY SERVER UNITS PUMPS
understood. The effects of energy management projects, that use sub- metering to base line the consumption, validate the savings they are achieving after changes to capital equipment. In conclusion, the benefit of detection
LIFTS EMERGENCY Y LIGHTING BELT DRIVES ENREGY METERS
CASE STUDY - CHILLER MONITORING A globally renowned beverage company had suffered a chiller failure in their server room. This stopped the manufacturing line, costing £1M/day in lost production. For FMCG processing companies, like this
example, temperature is everything; following investigation it was apparent that monitoring of all chiller systems was necessary. A large building management company
quoted £13M to deliver a data system solution. The alternative system from MCP/IoT came in at less than £4 per day to have real-time visibility at each critical location. After a site survey it was
Figure 2: Cumulative repair costs v. run hours of process machinery
Some examples of sensor applications
sensors is that they continually collect and exchange data with other devices within any selected network. Each device has a range of alerts, which can be configured to send notifications to anyone, anywhere in the world, or even be used to raise a work order in your CMMS/CAFM platform. This cloud-based software offers users a real- time data dashboard, so companies can check on the asset performance from any device on any operating system. No-one is suggesting for one minute
that organisations replace statutory tests with sensors. However the use of remote monitoring solutions reduce the cost of those statutory tests. It is the continuous monitoring of the
assets performance that enables organisations to resolve issues – improving plant reliability and reducing maintenance and asset lifecycle costs. Industry’s aim should be to understand
the problem and adopt the right solution, through the delivery of cost saving programmes as well as the installation of sensors to make intelligence gathering easier. These analytics can then be used to drive business insights and underpin the organisation’s future strategy.
MCP Consulting Group
www.mcpeurope.com
PROCESS & CONTROL | NOVEMBER 2018 31
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