Up Time Magazine - February/March 2009 - (Page 53) program is that the VP approves all items that are added to the scorecard and personally monitors compliance at the brewery level. For this champion of the beverage industry, applying lip service to corporate sustainability was not enough. The management level and higher-up leadership levels understood from the start that sustainability for the environment, and for their bottom line, had to come from the top down. Anheuser-Busch chose to start an ultrasound program to give sustainability to their company through energy savings, reduced environmental footprint, and improvement to their overall design processes. They went a step further by ensuring that their mistakes of the past didn’t haunt them in the present and into the future. Sustainability through Ultrasound Figure 4 - This Compressed Air Leak Cost Calculator can be downloaded at www.sdtnorthamerica.com Improvements were tracked and awarded through bonuses, and non-compliance was penalized through reduction in the Plant Manager’s bonus. All breweries were surveyed during shutdowns. The logic was that during shutdown periods the air flow to Packaging and Brewing should be at a minimum. In fact, most air flow during a shutdown is consumed by leaks. The findings from these surveys confirmed that the savings justified the purchase of ultrasonic detectors for each brewery in order to standardize operations. The basis was a 25% cost reduction of compressed air, steam, and CO2. The target ROI was set at less than 12 months. fectiveness of the program. Ultrasonic scans are performed as per the Computer Based Training modules taken. Documenting the meter reading and using the SCFM – dBµV correlation chart determines the potential savings from eliminating the air loss (see Figure 4). During the next scheduled ultrasound scan, repaired leaks are scanned and confirmed repaired. Categorizing the leak is important, not only to save money, but also to ensure a more efficient process for the future. Ultrasonic inspectors are required to document not just the leak size, but also the cause of the leak. For instance, if the leak is a result of poor equipment design, the use of inferior fittings, or poor installation, it needs to be charted. If re-design can be documented to be cost effective, they not only eliminate present day waste, but prevent future losses through better design practices. Design issues are assigned to Reliability Managers to determine if a retrofit is cost effective. Tackling the root cause demonstrates more than just a band-aid approach to leak management. The ultrasonic program at Anheuser-Busch is now in full implementation in the twelve domestic breweries and has acceptance all the way to the Vice President level. One of the successes of Anheuser-Busch’s ultrasound Companies searching for justification for their Sustainability agenda should not overlook the potential of an airborne ultrasound leak management program. In addition to the fast and measurable wins possible from reducing waste in the compressor room, you can put your stamp on a greener environment by utilizing this technology in many other areas of the factory. Leaking steam traps and poorly lubricated bearings are both energy wasters that can be spotted and fixed within your ultrasound program. Vacuum leaks on condensers and evaporators, electrical faults in switch gear, poorly tightened belts, and misaligned couplings are other issues which are a drain on energy and, therefore, negatively impact the environment, and threaten the sustainability of your plant. Allan Rienstra is the General Manager of SDT North America providing ultrasound solutions to maintenance professionals since 1991. Allan has written countless articles on practical applications for ultrasound inspections including “Strategies for an Effective Airborne Ultrasound Program”. These published works are considered the standard by companies implementing inspections programs. As a co-author of SDT’s Level 1 Ultrasound Certification Program, Allan is recognized as a leader in his field. He is a graduate of Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada and resides in Cobourg, Ontario with his wife and two children. He can be contacted at Allan@sdtnorthamerica.com Implementation Guidelines A set of guidelines was developed for each Brewery, based on the assumption that no ultrasonic program existed previously. Their first step was to separate the brewery by line or cost center. The work was assigned to the process support technician as part of his daily work package. It was decided to limit the scans to a 4 hour period, but that can change based on feedback from the previous scan results. Repetitive work orders for each scan area are generated in SAP. Any repair work generated as the result of the scan is tracked in SAP as “Corrective maintenance, Ultrasonic Analysis”. This allows them to track the ef- www.uptimemagazine.com 53 http://www.sdtnorthamerica.com http://www.uptimemagazine.com
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