By Mark Bakker, Field Application Engineer, Fluke
Energy efficiency has always been a vital commodity in the manufacturing sector, but recent events have brought the discipline into much sharper focus. More than ever, today’s manufacturers cannot afford to waste a single joule if it can be avoided.
Of course, energy efficiency isn’t simply about minimising operational costs or protecting the environment. Other key benefits to manufacturers include being able to extend the working life of their expensive equipment while boosting productivity and performance levels.
Peak performance
In practice, energy efficiency relates to the ability to monitor whether machinery is operating at peak performance and identifies if motors and drives are being over- or under-loaded. This enables factory and plant managers to evaluate wastage in air compressors, process equipment and heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) systems by monitoring and maximising power quality at every opportunity.
Equipment can be damaged or corroded in many ways that aren’t obvious to the human eye, resulting in wasted energy leaking away with nobody in the factory able to identify the source or how much wastage is occurring. Plant efficiency is so crucial that it can affect whether a manufacturer is able to meet the needs of customers, fulfil orders, retain staff and maintain competitive advantage in business.
Electricity, water, gas and air
In manufacturing, the key areas where energy efficiency gains can be made are electricity, water, gas and air. The majority of downtime can be associated with these factors being poorly managed due damage or breakdowns in factory equipment and processes. Drilling down deeper, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) engineers need to focus on battery efficiency, energy analysis and overall power quality as well as the fast and efficient identification of air, gas and vacuum leaks.
Maintenance, Repair and Operations (MRO) engineers must rely on accurate logging equipment that is capable of recording and sharing real-time data on energy, load and power quality to optimise performance. Armed with this information, manufacturing companies can give themselves a clear picture of how healthy their electrical systems are. This enables teams to make informed decisions on what improvements need to be made in order to prevent costly equipment damage and achieve that elusive goal of maximising productivity and efficiency.
Power quality analysis
It is widely understood that poor power quality can lead to manufacturing equipment behaving unpredictably and even failing prematurely. If power quality is not checked regularly, problems can occur with motors, cables, transformers, capacitor banks and switch boards. Being able to test power quality as part of a routine maintenance programme will go a long way toward identifying potential and existing problems and dealing with them before they cause equipment failure and production line downtime.
Another issue is that power quality levels can be affected if a manufacturing facility installs new, complex machinery which alters plant dynamics. The more complex a manufacturing set-up becomes, the greater the likelihood that poor power quality will become a problem. To counter this complexity, it is essential to have a means of carrying out power quality analysis that is simple and safe. Ideally, the process shouldn’t take up significant time of critical personnel in the factory. Less experienced maintenance technicians should be able to perform inspections and draw up reports with ease.
Harmonics, dips and swells
The Fluke 1770 Series Power Quality Analyser enables manufacturers to deliver productivity and efficiency gains. The tool is capable of automatically measuring and analysing power quality parameters such as voltage and current unbalance, transients, flicker, harmonics, dips and swells. By capturing high-speed voltage transients, the analyser enables engineers to mitigate their effects to prevent equipment failure. The data can then be shared immediately through Wi-Fi, the ethernet or a GSM network.
The beauty of the Fluke 1770 Series is that it combines in a single, hand-held unit the trouble-shooting capabilities of a power quality meter with the robust analysis and logging capabilities of a stand-alone power quality analyser. Also, with best-in-class specifications, the instrument can be powered directly from a measurement circuit, eliminating the need for a separate power outlet or extension cord.
Detecting air leaks
Air leaks are an issue in every manufacturing setting, but they are particularly problematic in the food and beverage (F&B) sector when it comes to managing energy efficiency. Even in today’s high-tech environments, maintenance engineers resort to listening for leaks or using the tried-and-tested soap and water technique. There are obvious drawbacks with these methods, not least the limited chance of hearing air hiss in a noisy factory, reaching piping in hazardous or difficult to access areas, and marking and recording the leaks for subsequent repair.
A major soft drink bottling company in Germany had set itself tough new targets on the reduction of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and placed particular emphasis on cutting indirect emissions due to energy usage. More specifically, the company wanted to minimise the amount of energy that it was wasting because of undetected leaks in its compressed air systems. The production company estimated that using specific tools to quickly identify leaks had the potential to generate annual energy savings of up to €150,000.
Tests were conducted using Fluke’s ii900 Industrial Acoustic Imager. The tool’s array of 64 highly sensitive microphones showed that it was possible for maintenance engineers with little experience to obtain accurate, real-time data on air, gas and vacuum leaks in the factory’s compressed air systems. The data was shown on an easy-to-read LCD display.
Today, the global F&B company is using the point-and-shoot acoustic imager to identify compressed air leaks in hard-to-reach gated areas, overhead piping systems and in tubing, hoses, fittings and valves flanges and valves in the CO2 blender, syrup maker and ‘clean-in-place’ system. No longer do engineers need to scale ladders and take photographs to pass this information onto colleagues. In addition to this, the plant has eliminated the need for unplanned shutdowns while the leak detection process is underway. The team can also rank leaks in order of seriousness to produce a prioritised maintenance schedule, and once repairs have been made engineers can use the Fluke ii900 Industrial Acoustic Imager to check them.
The bottling plant energy manager commented: “This innovative technology was purchased for localising leaks in our compressed air systems throughout the plant. We have already seen enormous energy savings.”
Recovered capacity
In another example using the same acoustic imaging equipment, a USA-based global manufacturer of aerial lift equipment set a goal to become more energy efficient by detecting and repairing leaks. Genie (a Terex brand) estimated that it used between 1,800CFM and 2,600CFM of compressed air every day to operate up to 200 torque tools per line as well as equipment that moved large sheets of half inch steel. If the compressed air pressure was compromised in any way, the result could be the loss of up to 200,000 parts.
Some leaks were found in the hoses located high up in the factory’s rafters. Checking the hoses and locating the individual leaks in the system was difficult and time consuming. Finding a single leak could take up to 45 minutes, according to maintenance supervisor Josh Stockert. He confirmed that acoustic imaging had resulted in the factory recovering 25.7% of compressed air capacity which represents annual energy savings of USD $48,754. The savings were accurately recorded by a Fluke 3540 FC Three-Phase Power Monitor.
“We were near the top end of what our compressor system can put out,” Stockert said. “By correcting the leaks found using the ii900, one of our four compressors is nearly idle much of the time.”
He added: “It takes me all of 30 seconds to a minute to find an air leak with the ii900. Some days we can find and repair 30 or 40 leaks in just a couple hours. Plus, we can use the ii900 during production hours, when it’s extremely loud, and still been able to capture leaks at the rafter level up to six to 9 meters (20 to 30 feet) away.”
Multi-function calibrations
Manufacturers looking to maximise energy efficiency also understand the need to carry out regular inspection, testing and calibration on the vast number of process control equipment that operate in their factories. The performance of electronic instruments can change over time due to exposure of the electronics and the primary sensing element to varying temperatures and humidity, as well as pollutants and vibration. One problem with checking such equipment is that it often needs to work continuously and at peak levels of reliably and accuracy, which means it isn’t feasible to stop production operations to carry out the calibration process.
Many companies have turned to multi-function calibrators which enable sensors and transmitters and other essential equipment around the plant to be checked in-situ and without the need for a highly skilled calibration technician to be on-site. The Fluke 754 Documenting Process Calibrator with HART communication solves this problem by performing the functions of several tools. It can source, simulate and measure pressure, temperature and electrical signals in a single hand-held device. The unit also automates calibration procedures and captures data, eliminating the practice of documenting calibration records by hand which is still used in many factories today.
With a robust range of tools available, the ability to maximise energy efficiency across many critical areas in manufacturing has been given a substantial boost to the sector, enabling businesses to achieve their sustainability goals.
