Success Stories

Asset Confidence

Industry

Alumina Refinery

Asset

Slurry Pumps

Our customer engaged our global partner ALS to deploy MOVUS FitMachine® sensors in one of their alumina refineries.

In less than two weeks of asset performance monitoring, FitMachine detected high levels of vibration and acoustics on one of their slurry pumps.

The early warning allowed the maintenance team to do some further testing and eventually diagnose a gland packing failure as the cause.

FitMachine alert helped prevent unplanned downtime and keep maintenance team out of hazardous areas.

The Situation

FitMachine was deployed to monitor a number of different equipment including caustic liquor pumps that are critical to refinery operations.

Monitoring developing faults in the pumps is key to keep the plant running. The inspection and monitoring of these pumps are extremely hazardous, specially because gland leaks usually leave slippery slurry around the work area.

Gland failures cause hot, corrosive liquor to spray from the pump seals. Gland failures occur often with little or no warning, risking injury to personnel.

FitMachine took action

FitMachine sensors were installed at our customer’s refinery and gathered the assets performance baseline within a week through the (machine) learning process.

Three weeks later, FitMachine detected a rapid change in behaviour at one of the slurry pumps, with vibration and acoustic levels both increasing. Our Customer Success team immediately notified the maintenance planner, who welcomed the alert, continued monitoring the asset, and sent out a specialist to inspect the asset. No apparent abnormalities were found at that stage.

Within hours, the temperature began to increase, at which point the specialist returned and found a blown packing. Shortly after the pump was repaired and returned to normal operation.

Early Fault Detection

Minimised process downtime

Avoided catastrophic failure

Enabled planned preventative maintenance