Challenge:
A pharmaceutical company had a failure in their autoclave and for 3 days had to shut down the line to search for the source. When they finally narrowed it down it was too late, they had lost $100k worth of product.
They also shut down the heating aspects of their steam system in the summer and find that every fall when they start it again they have several traps that fail.
One loss of product cost company over $100k
Solution:
They installed pulse steam trap monitors on all traps and have a dedicated computer with the dashboard in view at all times to ensure instant awareness of any anomalies or failures. They proactively purchase a number of spare traps ready to replace the ones that fail every fall. They have them at the ready when they start using the heat again and instantly swap out the bad ones.
Throughout the year they are now able to have visibility in real time on all steam traps and the efficiency and health of the entire system.
“Looking at this system was the catalyst to looking at other ways we can be more sustainable”
Benefits:
Production lines are confidently able to run without worrying about failures interrupting process at critical times
They don’t worry about shutting down and starting up the system
They have noticed a significant reduction in their energy consumption
They are calculating the amount of CO2 emissions they have reduced and are going to be putting together a comprehensive sustainability mandate for their organization
They are using some of the money they have saved by not losing product to send needed medical supplies to third world countries