A chemical plant was experiencing unusually high failure rates for mechanical seals installed on a particular pump in extremely acidic conditions. Repairs and replacements were constantly being scheduled on a monthly basis without a known root cause.
Chemical Industry
Problem
Solution
A Simplicity Sense™ smart sensor was installed to monitor the operating conditions of the equipment. Within a few days, sufficient data was collected to identify the root cause and the necessary operational adjustments were put in place.
Results
The changes led to an increased lifetime by more than 20X, saving the customer thousands of dollars per month for that one piece of equipment alone.
Gas Industry
Problem
A critical booster pump seal failed within days of installation. It was replaced with a new one, which also failed within days. Without a clear understanding of why the seals were failing, corrective actions were unable to be put in place.
Solution
A Simplicity Sense smart sensor was installed to monitor the process conditions causing the premature failure. Using the Simplicity Cloud analytics the customer was able to review the process pressure and temperature trends during pump operation.
Results
After analyzing the data, the customer was able to identify the critical operating changes needed to solve the problem. In addition to saving thousands of dollars in replacement parts and repairs, they have increased their efficiency by decreasing the unexpected downtime.
Chiller Plant at University
Problem
Unexplained vibration on a pump in a chiller plant at an ivy league university was becoming a significant problem. Staff suspected that the non-critical pump running in parallel was causing the issue, but could not verify the relationship.
Solution
Rather than pausing production and shutting down the critical pump, Simplicity Sense smart sensors were installed on both pumps to determine the impact of pausing the non-critical pump. By turning off the non-critical pump, a significant reduction in vibration on the critical pump was observed, confirming their original suspicions.
Results
By using the Simplicity Sense smart sensors, the university staff were able to confirm their hypothesis without pausing production. By changing the operation schedule of the non-critical pump, they were able to reduce wear and tear on the critical pump, extending the service life by an estimated 8 months.
