In my experience, few plant personnel are concerned with how a pump is running until after it breaks down. When the whole plant unexpectedly shuts down, then the pump gets attention. By simply monitoring pump pressures, however, users can avoid this problem. The equipment will usually tell you there is an issue long before the failure. You just need to know how to watch and listen for the signals. To quote a good friend and fellow pump expert, Larry Bachus, "Would you want to drive a car that didn't have a dashboard?" The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) reports that most workforce accidents occur when a plant is in an emergency (unscheduled) situation. If you want to increase reliability and reduce the high costs and safety risks associated with emergency shutdowns, adding gauges and managing the data are simple and inexpensive first steps.
01/22/2016