Sporadic boiler failure causing canning line downtime.
- Steam Boiler at Beverage Manufacturer
- Failed Flush Sequence
- Ivy League Research Labs Chiller Plant
- Kaizen Goal Reached Using Data
- Manufacturer’s Hidden Wastewater Problems
- Municipal Water Remote Station
- Municipal Water Monitoring & Optimization
- Remote Oil Field Booster Pump Failures
- Slurry Suspension Transitions to Solid
- Sporadic Dry Running Identified & Fixed
- Upstream Problem in a Harsh Environment
Steam Boiler at Beverage Manufacturer
Challenge
Solution
IoT sensors from Preddio were installed to monitor the pressure and temperature of the boiler. An additional vibration sensor was added downstream on a compressor motor. All sensors were 100% wireless.
Start to finish time: <10 minutes
Results
Actionable data was collected within 3 hours that revealed rapid pressure drops. Real-time alerts allowed maintenance staff to diagnose the problem while it was occurring which allowed thousands of dollars in production gains realized within the first days of installation.
Failed Flush Sequence
Challenge
A waste management plant, operating heavy-duty pumps to process industrial slurries, had repeated mechanical seal failures on several pieces of equipment. Despite replacing the seals with more robust and expensive versions, the problems continued.
Solution
Pressure sensors were installed to monitor suction, discharge, and stuffing box pressure of the impacted pumps. After a week of monitoring, it was discovered that the clean flush water supply was non-existent for extended periods during the evening shift. The seals had been running dry, allowing debris to accumulate, causing permanent damage.
Results
Leveraging the data collected from the pressure sensors, the customer was able to pinpoint the source of the problem and ensure that it did not recur. Operating procedures and equipment setpoints were adjusted to ensure that adequate flush water was provided to the pumps overnight. After making the changes, the problems were eliminated, and the customer was able to continue using the existing styles of mechanical seals, saving wasted capital and labor costs.
Ivy League Research Labs Chiller Plant
Challenge
Significant sporadic vibration was suspected to be impacting the operation of a large split-case pump. Routine vibration inspections were unable to capture the events which were occurring at random. Exploratory maintenance efforts were not feasible due to the critical nature of the equipment which supplies chilled water to numerous laboratories on campus.
Solution
Sensors were installed to continuously monitor vibration levels of dozens of pieces of equipment that were thought to be impacting the pump. Those that were operating normally were ignored, and the sensors were moved to different pieces of equipment. It was found that several control valves were malfunctioning, impacting downstream equipment. The valves were replaced, and the intermittent vibration on the critical pump was reduced to acceptable ISO standard levels.

Results
Extensive vibration of critical equipment was eliminated and without the need to pause operations. The upstream offending valves were identified and replaced, saving the need to shut down operations for maintenance or replacement of a critical pump and resulting in hundreds of thousands of dollars of avoided cost.
Kaizen Goal Reached Using Data
Challenge
A papermill running several white liquor centrifugal pumps, sealed with traditional packing, set a kaizen goal to improve the mean time between failure (MTBF). However, their current control system did not have access to the operating parameters needed to specify an improved mechanical seal solution.
Solution
Rather than invest in extensive control system modifications that would require a capital budget and corporate approval, the customer installed IoT pressure and temperature sensors on the suction, discharge, and stuffing box locations of the pumps. Using the data collected by the sensors outside of the hardwired control system, the mechanical seal manufacturer was able to specify improved seals to meet the Kaizen objective.
Results
By monitoring the existing process conditions of the pumps using rapidly deployed IoT sensors, the customer was able to upgrade the pump sealing solution without investment in their hardwired control system. Results were achieved within a week, saving valuable time and resources, while maximizing the productivity of the paper mill.
Municipal Water Remote Station
Challenge
Despite a lack of known problems, a forward-looking customer proactively installed IoT sensors on their pumps to monitor a remote unmanned lift station.
Solution
Three “supposedly” identical pumps were monitored in parallel. After a few weeks collecting data, a significant increase in pressure and bearing vibration was found on one of the pumps. After an ad-hoc inspection, it was discovered that an upstream control valve was restricting flow and causing increased pressure.

Results
As soon as the valve was repaired, the pump began operating as expected. Given that preventative maintenance was only scheduled for every two years, a potentially catastrophic event was avoided saving thousands of dollars for the repair and the potential downtime for residents that depend on the system.
Municipal Water Monitoring and Optimization
Challenge
A large public water utility had deployed hundreds of remotely located centrifugal pumps, tasked with providing potable water to several municipalities. Each lift station had at least six double-ended multistage pumps. Given the remote distributed nature of the utility, management sought a cost effective, highly capable solution that would provide remote monitoring of key assets while still being extremely easy to install and maintain.
Solution
Vibration, temperature, and pressure sensors were piloted on all the pumps at several of the remote locations. Cellular gateways were installed so that the utility could monitor performance in real-time, and receive automated alerts when anomalies occurred.
Results
After several weeks of collecting data, the utility was able to confirm their expectations that the pumps were operating correctly. However, what they did not expect to find was that they were able to adjust their operations schedule to decrease energy consumption while still meeting the demands of the municipalities. By deploying remote IoT sensors the utility was able to reduce operating expenses, while ensuring high quality, secure services that their customers expected.
Remote Oil Field Booster Pump Failures
Challenge
Located in a remote oil field, seals on a critical booster pump were failing. Because of the location, maintenance engineers were unaware of the failures until weeks after they occurred. When the pump was inspected it appeared that a sealing solution was failing within days of installation.
Solution
Preddio IoT sensors were installed on the pump to monitor performance around the clock. By analyzing the data, it was determined that the system was clogging and that an alternative filter basket was needed to avoid clogging and to protect the integrity of the seal. An upgraded cyclone style filter was installed, and the issues were resolved.

Results
By remotely monitoring the pumps’ high-risk failure modes, operations and maintenance engineers were able to identify the root cause and eliminate repeated failures caused by the original filter system. The IoT sensor platform from Preddio also eliminated the substantial cost that would otherwise have been needed to modify the existing monitoring system.
Slurry Suspension Transitions to Solid
Challenge
A pump designed to move a highly concentrated slurry in a Pulp and Paper Mill was experiencing significant vibration events. The plant was forced to shut down the pump several times attempting to find the source of the vibration.
Solution
Battery powered vibration sensors were temporarily installed on the pump. Because the sensors use a powerful magnet to attach to the equipment it was fast and easy to move their position to isolate the root cause problem. In this case decantation of the slurry had caused solid pulp to separate and accumulate in the volute of the pump.
Results
Following corrective action, the intermittent vibration disappeared. The customer was so happy with the results that they left the sensors in place and added a cellular gateway to monitor and prevent similar events in the future.
Sporadic Dry Running Identified and Fixed
Challenge
A municipality running several large vertical centrifugal pumps was experiencing reliability issues. It was hypothesized that dry running was occurring, but without time trended data, they were unable to pinpoint the problem when it occurred.
Solution
IoT Pressure and temperature sensors were installed to continuously monitor the operating conditions of the pump. After one week of collecting data, it became clear that the mechanical seals were operating under vacuum. Because the seals were not designed to handle negative pressure, the customer installed vacuum spacers to allow the mechanical seals to operate within specification.
Results
By using rapidly deployed IoT sensors to identify the root cause problem, the customer was able to install low-cost spacers, saving thousands of dollars in equipment replacement costs. Moreover, they gained peace of mind by remotely monitoring the condition of the equipment without having to invest in costly and difficult to install remote monitoring systems.
Upstream Problem in a Harsh Environment
Challenge
A chemical plant was experiencing an unusually high seal failure rate on a 65% Nitric Acid transfer pump. Mean time between failure (MTBF) was limited to only one month. Failure analysis revealed classic signs of dry running, but the end user insisted that this was not the cause. A new seal was installed under the supervision of the seal manufacturer, the environmental control plan was inspected, and operation data from the control system was reviewed. All was found to be satisfactory, and all agreed that there was no obvious indication of installation or operation issues.
Solution
IoT pressure and temperature sensors designed to withstand harsh acidic environments were installed on the seal chamber to augment the existing control system which did not provide coverage. After only a few days, data showed that the seal chamber was experiencing negative pressure while the pump was in operation. Due to the negative pressure, the mechanical seals were found to be experiencing symptoms that were identical to, but not caused by dry running. After further inspection it was found that an upstream valve was restricting flow to the pump. After adjustment, the seal chamber pressure levels were brought back to specification.
Results
After performing the corrective maintenance, the MTBF of the mechanical seal was estimated to have increased from 1 month to 24 months, resulting in a per incident equipment cost of $30K, totaling ~$700K in total savings (not including the cost of labor). By quickly installing rugged sensors in a harsh environment on an expensive asset, the customer was able to pinpoint the problem without having to modify the existing control system.