Plant Services - May 2008 - (Page 31) Aging electrical systems? Creative approaches promise to raise reliability F motor circuit evaluation. This testing technology is more rom motors to their underlying electrical infrastrucexpensive than other PdM approaches, but a plant that is ture, maintenance must be proactive to ensure elecunable to make the investment can hire motor shops – for trical quality and reliability. Rather than purchasing example The Snell Group or Industrial Diagnostic Systems a tester, plants can outsource services and bundle equipment & Services LLC – that offer testing as a service. and financing to complete retrofit projects. Infrastructure upgrades: Older plants can’t benefit from Motor testing: According to Dave Abecunas, director of the latest electrical distribution technologies developed within asset reliability services for Signum Group, the ideal mainthe past 10 years, so Siemens Energy and Automation (SE&A) tenance organization does 50% predictive maintenance, 35% offers an array of energy-management devices. The i-3 technolpreventive maintenance, 10% customer requests and just 5% ogy in Siemens’ P1 Series Lighting Panel, one emergency work. “Predictive maintenance is of the smallest “smart” circuit-breaker panels, the biggest money-saver because it allows you Plants that controls branch lighting using a time schedule, to detect problems while they’re small, schedule maintenance without interrupting production rarely shut down program or building-management system. Siemens Type WL circuit breakers with and avoid the cost of equipment failure.” need motor Dynamic Arc-Flash Sentry and Extended InMotor-testing is essential to PdM. “Because testers that stantaneous Protection reduce arc flash energy. 40% of motor problems are in the circuit, are capable of Siemens ACCESS power-monitoring systems motor circuit evaluation technologies have gained in importance,” Abecunas says. “The reading dynamic monitor and trend electrical characteristics and track incidents and transients. The comnewer designs can test any motor, including data as well as pany also offers high-efficiency transformers, the whole circuit as well as the transformer.” static data. variable-frequency drive motors, lighting sysPlants that rarely shut down need motor testems, switchgear and related technologies. ters capable of reading dynamic data as well as For a plant eager to upgrade its electrical distribution sysstatic data. Spares on warehouse shelves deteriorate and should tem but on a limited budget, SE&A offers Siemens BEST be tested periodically to ensure they’ll perform when needed. (bundled energy-saving technologies), which ties financing, PdMA Corp. portable testers are capable of testing any equipment and labor so there’s little or no out-of-pocket motor type, size, style or condition. The combination unit, cost. Siemens Financial Services funds the projects, which MCEMax, conducts static and dynamic testing. Running are then repaid over time using energy savings. Afterward, MCEGold software, the MCEMax integrates motor testing, the client benefits from ongoing energy and cost savings. diagnostics, inventory control, scheduling and cost-containment Kevin Koder, national marketing manager for apparatus at capabilities. Technicians can use the MCEMax as a desktop, Siemens, explains, “Older facilities might have electrical sysfield, wireless or network tester to test stator, rotor, power tems that are near the end of their design life or are technologiquality, power circuit, air gap and insulation. This provides cally obsolete, but the cost to retrofit the infrastructure can be enterprise-wide visibility into inventory status and analyprohibitive. With Siemens BEST, you gain the latest technolsis through dashboards, messaging and reports. Users can ogy by offsetting the cost with energy and efficiency savings, compare performance across sites and drill down to specific and reduce the risk of failures and extended shutdowns.” condition codes, technician routes and motor summaries. Motor circuit testing complements traditional predictive technologies. For instance, problems uncovered via therE-mail Contributing Editor Sheila Kennedy, managing director of mography or vibration analysis can be resolved through Additive Communications, at Sheila@addcomm.com. www.thesnellgroup.com www.machinery-testing.com www.sea.siemens.com/best www.PLANTSERVICES.com For more information, see: www.signumgroup.com www.pdma.com May 2008 www.plantservices.com/articles/ 2008/034.html 31 http://www.thesnellgroup.com http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2008/034.html http://www.signumgroup.com http://www.machinery-testing.com http://www.plantservices.com/articles/2008/034.html http://www.pdma.com http://www.sea.siemens.com/best http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com
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