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Boost Your Plant’s Efficiency with Comprehensive IoT Solutions

IoT in Energy Sector

Plant efficiency is the most essential aspect that determines the overall health and performance of any industrial setup. Even a small change in the plant efficiency can make a huge difference for the company to boost its production rate and garner large revenue gains.

Especially in utilities and manufacturing units, the overall plant efficiency is the prime parameter on which other aspects of the industry lays. It directly correlates to a company’s ability to optimally utilize its resources, achieve compliance with emission regulations, and train their operators & employees properly. Production-based industries are hence always exploring ways to enhance their plant efficiency by even a small margin.

Internet of Things is one such technology that allows companies to remotely monitor the whole performance of the plant. Its comprehensive solutions enable companies to elevate their operational methodologies and detect anomalies that can result in a sudden plant shutdown. This allows the companies to ensure high net output and overall plant efficiency.

IoT’s Impact in Preventing Industrial Downtime and Improving Plant’s Efficiency:

Pumps and Compressors are among the most basic yet essential pieces of equipment that are generally used in industries to transfer fluids from one location to another. Almost every industry, that even work remotely with water or any other liquid types, rely heavily on this equipment. Today, pumps and compressors are used by companies associated with manufacturing, oil & gas, water, and even farming for water distribution, gasoline supply, refrigeration, chemical movement, irrigation, and many more.

However, these pumps can become a cause of major industrial accidents in case they are improperly maintained or are operated under hazardous conditions. There have been cases where a pump explosion resulted in severe consequences in terms of life loss and huge apparatus damage. Other implications of pump bursts may also include unanticipated plant shutdown affecting other important operations of the industry and a complete production halt.

Considering the measure of problems a single pump malfunction can bring to an entire plant apparatus, it is essential to have a system that can raise alerts about such incidents. IoT with its real-time monitoring and advanced analytics capabilities is one such technology that provides industries with similar benefits.

Intellia IoT, an end-to-end IoT platform developed by Biz4Intellia, is one such IoT platform that with its innovative solutions is revolutionizing various industrial practices. Let’s delve deep into a use case that shows its compatibility and effectiveness in a simple industrial setup.

Illustration of Intellia IoT:

Consider a pump (see figure 1) extracting water from a tank and delivering it to a heat exchanger. The water acts as a coolant and absorbs the heat from other fluid flowing through the heat exchanger. A water pressure meter is attached between the pump and the heat exchanger that measures the pressure of water flowing through the pipeline.

use-case-boost

A level monitoring sensor is attached in the water tank that continuously monitors the decreasing water level as the pump operates. Similarly, a temperature sensor is attached at the exit of the heat exchanger that measures the temperature of the fluid flowing through the heat exchanger.

This efficiency of this simple industrial apparatus can disrupt if:

• Pump bursts

• The pressure of the water entering the heat exchanger is low.

Let us see how Intellia IoT will help us in both these case:

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A. The explosion of pump:

The condition for pump bursts arises when the pump operates for a period of time when both the suction and discharge valves are closed. This stops the flow of water or other liquid through the pumps and thus the mechanical energy from the pump’s motor is converted into heat. This heat increases the hydrostatic pressure of water in the pump, resulting in the rupture of pump casing or failure of seal in the pump.

The condition of pump failures can be easily avoided with the help of the level monitoring sensor and the pressure meter. In case, the water level doesn’t reduce during the pump’s operation, the authorities will gain an alert that the pump is running in the idle condition which can further result in its explosion. Moreover, the authorities can confirm this via pressure meter which will show zero reading as water will not flow through it in such conditions.

B. Temperature monitoring of heat exchanger:

The water is required to enter into the heat exchanger at high pressure. At low pressures, the water will flow at slow speeds into the equipment and hence heat between the water and the other fluid won’t happen properly. This lowers the efficiency of the heat exchanger and the whole setup.

The sensor at the exit of the heat exchanger measures the temperature of the fluid. In case the temperature of the fluid is higher than the expected range, the operator can conclude that either the pressure of the water is not high enough or the pressure meter is broken. Hence, inspection time is reduced and quick maintenance procedures can be conducted to fix the malfunction.

Intellia IoT for Achieving Operational Excellence:

In this use case, IoT allows a company to reduce the chances of unexpected component breakdown and help it to increase its overall efficiency. With the help of a combined IoT solution, a company can monitor different variables associated with its plant’s performance and use their configurations to develop useful insights.

Similar to the use case we discussed above, there can be countless configurations of IoT devices that collectively can offer intriguing solutions to reduce the chances of equipment disruption and improve the operational efficiency of the whole plant.

Biz4Intellia has developed such solutions that are already integrated into its product named “Intellia IoT”. It is one of a kind system that a company associated with the field of production can use to manage various industrial operations. Its solutions can also be extended to other industrial segments and can be implemented for other purposes related to supply chain management, warehousing, etc.

Click here to know more about its features and the benefits it offers.