Efficient Plant December 2017 - 48

RMC

ultrasound technology

While ultrasound technology has become a leading 'early indicator' in the battle against premature
equipment failure, it can also help sites save energy. Photo courtesy UE Systems Inc.

'Hear' Problems
And Reduce Costs
AS AWARENESS OF predictive
technologies in manufacturing facilities
has grown, ultrasonics has taken its place
as one of the leading "early indicators" in
efforts to eliminate premature equipment
failures. Ultrasound technology can also
help personnel "hear" problems and reduce
operating costs in other ways. Compressed
air systems are a case in point.
Compressed air is one of the most
costly utilities in any manufacturing
facility. According to Paul Craven,
CFPHS, of Motion Industries (MotionIn-

dustries.com, Birmingham, AL), a simple
program of leak detection and repair
can dramatically reduce a plant's overall
energy costs. The manager of Motion
Industries' Repair Shop in Pensacola, FL,
he cites a study of a chemical plant by the
U.S. Department of Energy (energy.gov,
Washington) that showed how correcting
just 10 compressor leaks (1/4-in.) resulted in annual energy savings of $39,967.
Craven listed these best-practice steps
in using ultrasound technology to help
mitigate your site's compressed air costs:

Based in Pensacola, FL, Paul Craven is certified by the International Fluid Power Society as a fluid
power hydraulic specialist (CFPHS), and has worked in the field for more than 25 years. For more
information, visit MotionIndustries.com, or view the MI Energy Services video at
youtube.com/watch?v=o7CF3dyrb08&feature=youtu.be.

| EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

1. Conduct an initial walk-through of your
facility using an ultrasonic detector to help
identify leaks (or contract with a third-party
to do so). Record the location of each leak,
along with its decibel (dB) reading or flow
(CFM) estimate.
2. For consistency, start at the compressor
(supply side) and work your way to the
working component (demand side).
3. Create inspection zones to cover all sections
of your facility.
4. When you identify a leak, mark it with a red
tag to make it easy for maintenance to see
and correct. Note every aspect of the leak
including department, machine or asset
number, pneumatic component leaking, flow
estimate or dB reading, tag number, and
picture number to ease the job for maintenance to get back to the leak. When the leak
is corrected, mark it with a green tag to show
it has been addressed.
5. Conduct a final walk-through and re-check
the tagged items to make sure they were
corrected. Sometimes fixing a leak will
inadvertently cause another leak in a different
location to grow.
6. Take dB readings by zone and calculate the
savings.

OTHER USES FOR ULTRASOUND

Compressed air/gas leak detection is just one of
many uses for ultrasound technology in a plant.
As Craven noted, other systems and applications
include, but aren't limited to:
hydraulic and pneumatic systems (checking
for internal leaks around pistons seals in
cylinders)
centrifugal pumping systems (checking for
cavitation on the inlet of the pump)
electric motors (checking inboard and outboard bearings for early stages of peeling or
spalling of the inner or outer race)
steam-trap condition evaluation
machine-vibration analysis. EP
- Jane Alexander, Managing Editor

DECEMBER 2017

http://www.MotionIndustries.com http://www.energy.gov http://www.MotionIndustries.com http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7CF3dyrb08&feature=youtu.be http://www.EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Efficient Plant December 2017