Content area
Full Text
Installing remote monitoring via a condition-monitoring system on wireless network provides a cost-effective means of control.
Whether at a manufacturing facility, an industrial power plant or a public utility, the cooling system is a critical part of the operation. Heat is transferred from the process to the surroundings. Cooling towers cycle water through the manufacturing process and transfer the heat so that it can be released into the atmosphere. Because of the environmental, safety and profitability impact of failure, it is essential to keep these systems in operation.
Understanding and anticipating common failure modes make it possible to keep the plant operating at maximum capacity. Installing a condition- monitoring system can mean the difference between catastrophic failure and a planned shutdown.
Operation and Failure Modes
While there are many types of cooling towers, the most common form is mechanical draft. These towers typically are implemented in banks mounted on an elevated platform. Each tower may incorporate one or more cells with the airf low driven by one or more fans. These enormous fans are driven by motors via a rightangle gearbox. Despite their relatively slow rotational speed, the fans possess immense inertia. When allowed to run to failure, this inertia is transformed into destructive force that can not only bring down the tower but also can compromise the structural integrity of the entire platform. Such an incident puts people in harm's way and translates into a prolonged process shutdown or slowdown until the damage can be repaired.
In a less dangerous scenario, tower failure still has a significant impact on production. The tower is not easily accessible, requiring specialized manpower and equipment to move and service. Because of the location and size of the equipment and the tower, a crane is often necessary to perform service. Operation is further compromised when replacement components have long lead-times, meaning that an unexpected failure - even when not catastrophic - could leave sections of the plant down for an extended period of time.
Regardless of the design, the root causes of failure are the same for both mechanical-draftand natural-draftcooling towers. The fan may...