ASSET PERFORMANCE SOLUTIONS
accuracy without periodic calibration and offering lifetime reliability. (Note: Some wireless sensors do require process penetration. While they’re not easily relocated, wireless connectivity reduces their installation cost below equivalent wired versions.) The first wireless sensors to become popular were vibration monitors for keeping tabs on rotating-equipment health. They can detect bearing wear, misalignment and chipped gear teeth. In pumps, they can spot cavitation, alignment issues and impeller or blade damage. By establishing baseline levels of vibration, facilities can keep track of equipment health and schedule maintenance before equipment failure causes a shutdown or worse. Other variables that can be measured wirelessly include temperature and flow (using clamp-on ultrasonic sensors), plus sensors to detect flames, smoke, airborne chemicals and acoustic emissions from leaks and valve openings. Wireless devices in use today monitor valve position, liquid hydrocarbon spills, use of safety showers and opening of safety valves. Consider the following applications. A major cost in many plants is created by leaking or otherwise defective steam traps, which waste enormous amounts of energy every year in the United States. According to the Department of Energy’s Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), “in steam systems that have not been maintained for three to five years, between 15% to 30% of the installed steam traps may have failed.”[2] EERE estimates that an open steam trap with a 1/8-inch orifice on a 150 psig steam line will lose 75.8 pounds of steam per hour at an annual cost of $6640 (assuming steam costs $10 per thousand pounds). Multiply that by the number of leaking steam traps in a typical plant, and consider that a steam trap could leak for a year before it is spotted, and the cost becomes obvious. A wireless ultrasonic sensor can detect a leaking steam trap and report it to a monitoring system immediately; some of these detectors are FEBRUARY 2014
Many of these sensors can be mounted without any process penetration, which saves time and money and eases relocation, if needed.
SGS Herguth leads the industry in high quality innovative condition monitoring analysis for industrial users. If a machine contains oil, grease or operates with fuel SGS Herguth is involved with condition monitoring somewhere on the globe. With 29 condition monitoring laboratories around the world we are the leaders in industry. SGS Herguth provides custom or tailored testing packages and special analytical services designed for your plant or application.
Certifications Include:
ISO/IEC 17025 - Testing and Calibration Laboratories ISO 9001 – Quality Management Standard 10CFR50 Appendix “B” – Quality Assurance for Nuclear Power Plants ASTM - Test Procedures Radioactive Materials - Handling License ANSI - Nuclear Quality Assurance MIL - Q9858A Military Quality Program
Contact us today for all of your testing needs!
SGS Herguth Laboratories, Inc. 101 Corporate Place Vallejo, CA 94590, USA
Tel: 1-800-645-5227 (OIL-LABS) Local: 1-707-554-4611 Fax: 1-707-554-0109
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