Pump Comparison in Water Treatment Plant
The Problem:
Pump failure or burst pipes can cause massive disruption in water treatment plants, leading to significant repairs and costly downtime.
The Solution:
A large water treatment plant decided to install an Agen remote condition monitoring solution. This system allows service providers to carry out predictive maintenance and more easily track machine data.
Technicians performed a side-by-side comparison between pumps of the same model. The following findings show how predictive maintenance can detect changes over time and prevent problems before they arise.
The Result:
Pump #1:
- Very high vibration shown at starting cycle
- Email alerts sent out at orange and red alarm levels
- Relatively high vibration levels while running (shown by the red horizontal line)
- Overall vibration level didn’t require an immediate shutdown, but technicians able to keep a close eye on things, ensuring spare parts are ordered and scheduling a thorough check during the next maintenance shutdown
Pump #2:
- Similar operating pattern as Pump #1, though a lot lower vibration levels indicating good health
- When looking at aggregated averages over three months, a 20% increase in vibration was detected, worth monitoring moving forward
- Even a perfectly healthy pump can show an increase in vibration over time either through normal wear and tear and/or drying out of lubricant
Pump #3:
- Sensors detected a sudden increase in vibration, triggering automatic alerts sent by email
- Technician visited the pump and found the outlet pipe was shaking due to a broken bracket
- Healthy vibration patterns resumed following the installation of a new bracket
