Monitoring Solution Automatically Checks Blower Health

A plant can slow down, or be shut down, if the blower associated with fired heater or boiler operations fails. But high costs for wired monitoring solutions have typically resulted in forced and induced draft blowers being checked only periodically by maintenance checks and during field rounds leaving facilities vulnerable to unexpected failures. But wireless technology is making it possible to justify real-time, online monitoring of these essential assets.

Emerson Process Management has introduced a Blower Health Monitoring Solution that uses a pre-engineered application and networks of wireless or wired instruments that lower implementation costs and provide an early warning system for operations and maintenance staff. The online, automated monitoring and health analysis results in reduced manual measurements, increased blower availability, fewer process upsets, reduced production outage and lower maintenance costs.

“Blower failures can trip fired heaters or boilers, resulting in plant slowdowns or shutdowns, or at least some serious upsets,” said Pete Sharpe, director of industry solutions development for Emerson Process Management. “Blower issues can also increase energy costs, reduce throughput, and potentially cause reportable safety and/or environment incidents.”

Sharpe’s presentation at ChemInnovations 2012 provided examples of equipment monitoring and remote expert support.

Many causes of blower failure can often be detected early, but manual maintenance procedures can miss the most common culprits. “The most common causes of trips include normal wear and tear that causes vibration, lubrication issues, motor alignment, bearing faults, bent blades, louver drives, and duct or screen blockages,” Sharpe said. “High costs for wired solutions have typically resulted in forced and induced draft blowers being monitored only periodically by maintenance checks and during field rounds. Failure symptoms are often missed between manual checks.”

Emerson’s new blower monitoring solution includes the monitoring software, as well as any new devices and services required to implement and set it up. It’s part of Emerson’s family of Essential Asset Monitoring solutions, which include monitoring solutions for pumps and heat exchangers as well. Each scalable module provides the user with a selectable set of faults that determine which instruments are needed for that asset.