Blog

Lunch & Learn: Understanding the Capabilities and Limitations of Condition Monitoring

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Join Hydro as we chat with Vince Marino of Empowering Pumps about the capabilities and limitations of condition monitoring.

Condition monitoring isn’t just a buzzword; it’s a vital part of keeping your equipment running smoothly. Robert and Jim explain how understanding its capabilities and limitations can enhance overall efficiency. They discuss how condition monitoring fits into a broader maintenance strategy, ensuring a cohesive approach to equipment upkeep and reliability.

You can watch the full lunch and learn here.

To learn more about Hydro’s Centaur condition monitoring, visit our Centaur webpage or contact us with questions.

We understand that hands-on experience is important in making an investment in a new technology, and provide end users with “test drives” of our monitoring solution through a commitment-free 90-day free trial. Interested in trying it out yourself? Apply here.

Podcast: Preserving Expertise, Harnessing AI, and Training the Next Generation

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Hydro joined Empowering Pumps for another insightful discussion on preserving experience through innovation.

Listen to the latest Empowering Industry podcast, where Charli Matthews chats with our President of Total Solutions, Mike Mancini, about the challenges facing the industry today, including workforce training, technology adoption, and the exciting potential of AI.

Watch the interview below, or listen to the podcast here.

 

Capability Spotlight: Addressing Obsolescence

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A dependable source of quality parts supply is critical to maintain safe, reliable, and profitable operation of industrial facilities. However, aging equipment and pressure on the global supply chain have created a challenging environment in the replacement parts.

Obsolescence and loss of supplier experience have resulted in many plants rethinking the idea that the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) should be the go-to source for parts supply. Consolidation of OEMs and retirement and down-sizing on the supplier side have led to loss of capability, compromised quality, and slower response times. Ordering parts through the OEM is also a highly transactional process that rarely engages engineering. Without engineering involvement, there is no opportunity to determine if new technology or design improvements are available that can improve the reliability of the component.

Hydro helps end users meet the challenges of obsolescence with hard-earned reverse engineering expertise, an extensive library of parts drawings across OEMs, a global engineering network, and a dedicated parts division that delivers industry-leading turnaround times for cast components.

When sourcing an alternative for quality parts, it is important to understand that reverse engineering goes beyond simple replication and must engage an experienced engineering team. Advanced technologies can help significantly in the process of reverse engineering critical parts, but relying on these technologies alone is not enough to ensure proper design and manufacture. Geometry, metallurgy, hardness, tolerances, and coatings should all be considered and they add to the complexity of the reverse engineering process. Reproducing the part without reviewing the hydraulic, mechanical, and material characteristics of the component can lead to incorrect geometry or failure of the part when placed in service.

Hydro’s reverse engineering procedures ensure that a comprehensive engineering review is completed during the reverse engineering process. We are also able to leverage our library of known failure mechanisms and proven solutions to improve component design and performance.

Read about how Hydro helps end users overcome the challenges of obsolescence and other supply chain challenges in our case studies with Nuclear Engineering International here and here.

Discover our Hydro’s Parts Solutions division here.

Capability Spotlight: Resolve Reliability Problems

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Why look backwards when you can be looking forward?

The problems you inherited with your pump and system design shouldn’t be an anchor holding you back from stable operation. Hydro’s mission to increase pump reliability extends beyond our service facilities and into the field. Hydro Reliability Services provides expert troubleshooting, advanced engineering analysis, and field mechanical and hydraulic testing for your rotating equipment.

Many pump applications experience ongoing vibration and reliability issues; aging installations are also seeing margins between operation and resonant conditions eroding and previously reliable equipment being pulled into problems. The root cause of these problems is often resonance, a condition that is often misdiagnosed and commonly goes undiagnosed, resulting in persistent high amplitude vibration issues for long periods of time. Structural resonance typically results in highly directional vibration and increased amplitudes that can be difficult to resolve without the proper engineering approach. Fortunately, technology has developed to diagnose resonance and develop effective solutions without resorting to costly trial-and-error methods.

To help our customers solve complex problems with critical pumping equipment, Hydro Reliability Services’ engineers bring an array of technology to the site. Monitoring of traditional health indicators – flow, power, vibration, and pressure – is supplemented with advanced technology, such as Operating Deflection Shape and Experimental Modal Analysis. Leveraging their expertise and advanced modeling software, Hydro’s reliability engineers analyze this data to determine design and system weaknesses and propose improvements. This assessment gives you the ammunition you need to make an informed judgment about the risk of current and future operation.

Read our recent case study in Pumps & Systems magazine to learn more about how field testing and troubleshooting helped a power plant resolve a vibration issue in a critical application.

What does more effective troubleshooting mean for you?

  • Maintaining a competitive edge in your marketplace through reduced operation and maintenance costs
  • Creating a safer workplace with much lower risk of equipment-related accidents and reduced exposure to hazardous materials
  • Contribution towards a sustainable future through more efficient operation and reduced risk of product leakage into the environment
  • Ability to focus resources on proactive strategies and process innovation instead of continuously reacting to problem equipment

Webchat: Drowning in Data? Learn to Swim in the Digital Age

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On June 4, 2024, Hydro’s Centaur team joined Chemical Processing for a webchat to talk about navigating the challenges of adopting new digital technologies.

The digital transformation presents both opportunities and challenges. As continuous monitoring becomes more ubiquitous, we are collecting exponentially greater amounts of data than ever before. At the same time, our industries are losing experience and facing reductions in manpower.

It’s natural to think that digital technologies could fill that gap, but many are realizing that without a thoughtful implementation strategy more data doesn’t always translate into greater reliability. During this webchat, we explored how to successfully implement condition monitoring technology to harness the power of data and drive effective decision making.

Some of the main discussion points included:

  • What are the first steps for a successful digital implementation strategy?
  • Quality vs quantity: How do we ensure that the data collected is meaningful and useful?
  • What resources are needed to analyze and act on information?

You can watch the full webchat here.

Chemical Processing Webchat with Hydro from Hydro, Inc. on Vimeo.

To learn more about Hydro’s Centaur condition monitoring, visit our Centaur webpage or contact us with questions.

We understand that hands-on experience is important in making an investment in a new technology, and provide end users with “test drives” of our monitoring solution through a commitment-free 90-day free trial. Interested in trying it out yourself? Apply here.