Maintworld Magazine 1/2023
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1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld.com<br />
maintenance & asset management<br />
Wind Energy:<br />
The path to<br />
generating 50% of<br />
Europe's electricity<br />
p 12<br />
Metaverse,<br />
Multiverse &<br />
Maintenance p 16<br />
Strategic<br />
view of asset<br />
management<br />
p 44
EDITORIAL<br />
Maintenance &<br />
Responsibility<br />
At the beginning of February,<br />
we held our main maintenance<br />
congress in Finland<br />
after a four-year break. The<br />
number of participants in<br />
the congress remained the same, but a lot<br />
changed during the four years. Especially<br />
in terms of service companies. New companies<br />
have joined, and at the same time,<br />
some of the old companies have disappeared.<br />
The themes of the congress were<br />
maintenance-oriented, but over the course<br />
of four years, responsibility and sustainable<br />
development have been included with<br />
a firm emphasis.<br />
Recently, there has been much talk<br />
about the ChatGPT open chatbot (published by OpenAI, openai.com), so I thought<br />
I'd try what the AI application answers to the question "What is responsibility in<br />
maintenance."<br />
"Responsibility in maintenance is important, as it helps to reduce the risks of<br />
equipment and objects failing, improve their reliability, and ensure their continuous<br />
operation. It also helps avoid repair costs and possible environmental impacts<br />
resulting from equipment failure. Responsible maintenance is also an important<br />
part of environmentally responsible and sustainable management, and it promotes<br />
the sustainable use of the object or device."<br />
The answer follows the same lines as the answers from our congress participants<br />
to our pre-congress survey. I'm not sure what conclusion can be drawn from this,<br />
but we will probably come back to the topic often when it comes to the utilization of<br />
AI applications.<br />
Anyway, I personally think that responsibility has always been part of maintenance<br />
DNA – how to get the most out of the machinery, tools, and materials during<br />
the whole life cycle.<br />
This issue of the magazine is implemented with a partly new team. The names of<br />
the new responsible persons can be found at the bottom of this article. In the future,<br />
I will be the editor-in-chief of the magazine, so that you can send any complaints<br />
about the magazine content to me, and the thanks can then be directed to our<br />
responsible producer.<br />
<strong>Maintworld</strong> magazine is a proud media partner of the EuroMaintenance <strong>2023</strong><br />
congress in Rotterdam. The combination of EuroMaintenance and Maintenance<br />
NEXT will make Rotterdam an essential meeting place for maintenance professionals<br />
this year. The entire congress program is already published, and thousands of<br />
people are expected to attend the event. More information about the event can be<br />
found in this magazine.<br />
I also want to remind you of the EMAM Survey, launched at the end of 2022.<br />
The results of this survey will be reported during EuroMaintenance <strong>2023</strong>. Persons<br />
answering the survey will get the survey report after the EuroMaintenance event.<br />
The link to the study can be found on the EFNMS webpage: https://www.efnms.eu/<br />
Hope to meet You in Rotterdam!<br />
Jaakko Tennilä<br />
Executive Director, Finnish maintenance society, Promaint<br />
Editor-in-Chief, <strong>Maintworld</strong> magazine<br />
38<br />
ESG.<br />
These three<br />
small letters add up to<br />
significant operational<br />
changes for any<br />
business.<br />
4 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
IN THIS ISSUE 1/<strong>2023</strong><br />
12<br />
Wind<br />
energy has become a<br />
vital and indispensable part<br />
of Europe's energy system.<br />
Today it makes up 17% of all<br />
electricity generated in Europe.<br />
33<br />
Hydrogen<br />
– one of<br />
the key players<br />
in the energy transition.<br />
4 Editorial<br />
6 News<br />
10<br />
12<br />
16<br />
22<br />
Why companies are moving to<br />
condition-based maintenance<br />
Wind Energy: The path to generating<br />
50% of Europe's electricity<br />
Metaverse, Multiverse and Maintenance<br />
Ultrasound: Achieving energy<br />
savings by detecting<br />
compressed air leaks<br />
24<br />
Multi-site Maintenance Excellence<br />
26<br />
30<br />
33<br />
36<br />
Is your lubrication program<br />
world-class?<br />
Secure supply chains are crucial to the<br />
industrial sector’s cyber defence<br />
Using pipelines to transport<br />
hydrogen instead of natural gas<br />
Microbial energy, biobased chemicals,<br />
and soil improvement are the new<br />
resources for industrial food and<br />
chemical production<br />
38<br />
41<br />
Time for Big Business<br />
to Clear the Air<br />
Improving energy efficiency - An example<br />
of university-business cooperation<br />
44<br />
Strategic view of asset management<br />
– managing emerging trends and<br />
perspectives<br />
46<br />
48<br />
EuroMaintenance comes to the<br />
Netherlands<br />
Myths vs Facts: Common<br />
misconceptions about motors<br />
Issued by Promaint (Finnish Maintenance Society), Messuaukio 1, 00520 Helsinki, Finland, tel. +358 29 007 4570. Editor-in-chief Jaakko<br />
Tennilä, Promaint. Publisher Avone Oy, avone.fi, producer Vaula Aunola, editor@maintworld.com, contributing journalist Nina Garlo-Melkas.<br />
Advertisements Kai Portman, Sales Director, tel. +358 358 44 763 2573, kai@maintworld.com. Layout Avone. Subscriptions and Change of<br />
Address: toimisto@kunnossapito.fi. Printed by Savion Kirjapaino Oy Frequency 4 issues per year, ISSN L 1798-7024, ISSN 1798-7024 (print),<br />
ISSN 1799-8670 (online).<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 5
In Short<br />
Cyber-threat detection hit a recordbreaking<br />
146 billion in 2022,<br />
representing a 55% increase from the<br />
previous year – Trend Micro Incorporated<br />
Wind turbine<br />
failures on<br />
the rise across<br />
the globe<br />
Wind power demand<br />
expected to increase<br />
by over 20%<br />
by end-2030<br />
THE WIND TURBINE bearing market is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 10.82%<br />
between 2022 and 2027. The size of the market is forecast to increase by USD<br />
9,287.77 million.<br />
According to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC), wind power met 10%-<br />
15% of the global electricity demand in 2021, which is further expected to<br />
increase by more than 20% by the end of 2030. Also, various nations have been<br />
adding onshore wind turbine capacity. Thus, the increasing onshore wind power<br />
installations will drive the growth of the market in focus during the forecast<br />
period.<br />
According to the the International Energy Agency (IEA), onshore wind capacity<br />
is expected to grow by 57% to 850 GW by the end of 2024, which accounts for<br />
50%-60% of current installations.<br />
The global weighted average cost of offshore wind installations decreased by<br />
one-fifth during 2010-2018, and that of onshore wind installations decreased by<br />
more than one-third during the same period.<br />
Source: Technavio<br />
TURBINE FAILURES are on the uptick<br />
across the world, sometimes with blades<br />
falling off or even full turbine collapses.<br />
A recent Bloomberg report says<br />
production issues may be to blame for the<br />
mysterious increase in failures.<br />
According to Bloomberg, the problems<br />
have added hundreds of millions of<br />
dollars in costs for the three largest<br />
Western turbine makers, GE, Vestas Wind<br />
Systems and Siemens Energy’s Siemens<br />
Gamesa unit; and they could result in<br />
more expensive insurance policies.<br />
– It takes time to stabilize production<br />
and quality on these new products,<br />
Larry Culp, GE CEO, said last October to<br />
Bloomberg.<br />
– Rapid innovation strains manufacturing<br />
and the broader supply chain.<br />
Without industrywide data chronicling<br />
the rise—and now fall—of turbines, we’re<br />
relying on industry experts to note the<br />
flaws in the wind farming.<br />
– We’re seeing these failures happening<br />
in a shorter time frame on the new<br />
turbines, Fraser McLachlan, CEO of<br />
insurer GCube Underwriting, admitted to<br />
Bloomberg.<br />
The push to produce bigger windgrabbing<br />
turbines has sped production<br />
of the growing apparatuses. Bloomberg<br />
reports that Siemens has endured quality<br />
control issues on a new design, Vestas<br />
has seen project delays and quality<br />
challenges, and GE has seen an uptick in<br />
warranty costs and repairs. And this all<br />
comes along with uncertain supply chain<br />
issues and fluctuating material pricing.<br />
It takes time to<br />
stabilize production<br />
and quality on these<br />
new products.”<br />
6 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
2031<br />
The global industrial maintenance services market size was<br />
valued at $49,011.0 million in 2021 and is projected to<br />
reach $85,815.5 million by 2031, registering a CAGR of<br />
5.6% from 2021 to 2031. - ResearchAndMarkets.com<br />
OSHwiki article<br />
in the spotlight:<br />
Occupational<br />
Neurotoxicology<br />
THE EUROPEAN AGENCY for Safety and Health at Work<br />
has published a new OSHwiki article – Occupational<br />
Neurotoxicology – that provides information on the risks of<br />
various chemicals on human health. Chemicals can produce<br />
neurotoxic disease in humans, but only a small fraction of<br />
chemicals has been adequately evaluated for neurotoxicity.<br />
In 2009, a conservative estimate set the number of<br />
neurotoxic chemicals in the workplace at more than 1,000.<br />
The article provides a general overview of occupational<br />
exposure to dangerous substances and the link with<br />
neurotoxicity. It provides definitions and an introduction<br />
to the most relevant neurotoxic agents and neurotoxic<br />
syndromes.<br />
The heavy metals lead, arsenic, manganese and mercury<br />
are considered as the most neurotoxic agents from the<br />
occupational point of view. Exposure to plant protection<br />
products and biocides can lead to a plethora of severe<br />
neurological diseases. Organic solvents exposure can cause<br />
acute and long-term neurological damage.<br />
INDUSTRIAL ASSET MANAGEMENT MARKET REPORT <strong>2023</strong>:<br />
SECTOR TO REACH $14.4 BILLION BY 2029 AT A 12.2% CAGR<br />
ACCORDING to a new market research<br />
report ‘Industrial Asset Management<br />
Market by Offering, Deployment Mode,<br />
Asset Type, End-use Industry, and<br />
Geography - Global Forecast to 2029,'<br />
the global industrial asset management<br />
market is projected to reach $14.4 billion<br />
by 2029, at a CAGR of 12.2% from 2022<br />
to 2029.<br />
The growth of this market is<br />
driven by the benefits of cloud-based<br />
industrial asset management solutions<br />
and the rising need for real-time<br />
monitoring of industrial assets. However,<br />
concerns regarding data security and<br />
confidentiality restrain the growth of this<br />
market.<br />
The integration of artificial intelligence,<br />
machine learning, and 5G technologies<br />
and the growing adoption of industrial<br />
asset management solutions in the<br />
pharmaceutical sector are expected<br />
to create growth opportunities for the<br />
players operating in this market.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 7
In Short<br />
In 2022 the market for heavy (≥16 tonnes)<br />
electric trucks in Europe, grew by 200%<br />
to 1,041 trucks, and Volvo Trucks holds the<br />
highest share of this market.<br />
Smart monitoring enables saving<br />
energy, water, and maintenance<br />
costs at reverse osmosis plant<br />
THE CHALLENGE: MANAGING<br />
PUMP EFFICIENCY AND<br />
MAINTENANCE<br />
Pumping operations at the Kymenlaakson<br />
Vesi RO plant require a continufind<br />
potential energy-efficiency improvement<br />
points and recognize the pumps'<br />
maintenance needs.<br />
The two-part solution consists of data<br />
capture devices at the pumping sites<br />
communicating directly to the cloud and<br />
data analysis in the SmartView software.<br />
Data is collected directly from process<br />
sensors and variable speed drives without<br />
interfering with the automation<br />
system or loading the field buses. The<br />
software processes the gathered data,<br />
calculating all pumps' energy usage and<br />
output volumes.<br />
Kymenlaakson Vesi uses the collected<br />
IoT information to make informed<br />
decisions on pump maintenance and<br />
optimized energy consumption. The IoT<br />
setup gives a global view of the operations,<br />
allowing for intelligent planning<br />
and preventive actions to ensure efficiency<br />
and sustainability at the RO plant.<br />
Kymen Vesi is responsible for<br />
water supply management<br />
and water treatment and<br />
disposal for over 100.000<br />
residents in the Kotka,<br />
South of Kouvola, and Pyhtää regions of<br />
Southern Finland. Kymenlaakson Vesi<br />
produces clean water for Kymen Vesi and<br />
aims for eco-efficiency.<br />
A reverse osmosis (RO) plant is an<br />
integral part of the water treatment<br />
process at Kymenlaakson Vesi. Over a<br />
third of all the water is treated for fluoride<br />
elimination. To ensure performance<br />
at the RO plant, Kymenlaakson Vesi is<br />
working with Viimatech to utilize the<br />
Internet of Things (IoT) to monitor the<br />
energy usage of pumps.<br />
ous energy supply. However, the exact<br />
energy requirements are hard to estimate<br />
with conventional methods, as every<br />
pump system has its utilization rate and<br />
daily varying output volumes.<br />
The RO plant relies on well-functioning<br />
pumps. Dysfunctional pumps and<br />
maintenance breaks interrupt the water<br />
treatment operations causing unnecessary<br />
delays and costs.<br />
Kymenlaakson Vesi aims to guarantee<br />
continuity at the plant with performance<br />
data. The IoT devices help in creating a<br />
digital model for monitoring the pumps.<br />
The information allows for optimizing<br />
energy efficiency and preventive maintenance.<br />
VIIMATECH AND SMART<br />
MONITORING OF PUMPS AT THE<br />
RO PLANT<br />
Viimatech provides Kymenlaakson Vesi<br />
with the technology to measure the<br />
energy usage of each pump. The aim is to<br />
RESULTS<br />
The Viimatech monitoring solution has<br />
operated with the Kymenlaakson Vesi<br />
RO plant since 2018. The system has<br />
provided actionable data from pumping<br />
operations to improve several aspects of<br />
the water treatment process.<br />
Kymenlaakson Vesi utilizes the Viimatech<br />
solution to improve maintenance<br />
practices and optimize pumping operations.<br />
The results of the collaboration so<br />
far include the following:<br />
• An increase in energy efficiency,<br />
reducing the specific energy of pumps<br />
by 20 %.<br />
• An increased period between filter<br />
cleansing times from 24 hours to 48<br />
hours.<br />
• Decreased cleansing-related water<br />
usage by 4300 m3 per year<br />
• A good tool for monitoring energy in<br />
process changes<br />
• Optimizing the amount of rejected<br />
water to improve energy efficiency<br />
8 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
2027<br />
The<br />
3D printing services market is expected to grow to $12.39<br />
billion by 2027 according to Printing Services Global Market<br />
Report. Asia Pacific was the largest region in the 3D printing<br />
services market in 2022, North America the second largest.<br />
Logistics in <strong>2023</strong>:<br />
7 Main Trends<br />
shaping the sector<br />
1<br />
WAREHOUSE<br />
SIMULATION<br />
Simulation, which uses digital<br />
twin technology, raises companies’<br />
competitiveness. It consists of creating<br />
virtual replicas of objects or processes<br />
to reproduce the behaviour of their<br />
real-world counterparts.<br />
In logistics, this virtual representation<br />
of processes lets you simulate your<br />
warehouse layout as well as operator<br />
and goods flows. Simulation also helps<br />
to detect inefficiencies and possible<br />
adverse scenarios. It’s also capable of<br />
spotting improvement opportunities to<br />
facilitate strategic decision-making. For<br />
instance, you can introduce new picking<br />
methods or predict how your facility<br />
would perform if other storage systems<br />
were installed.<br />
2<br />
LOGISTICS<br />
FLEXIBILITY<br />
Flexible logistics was key<br />
throughout 2022 and will remain so<br />
this year. Flexibility is essential in all<br />
supply chain stages. Having flexible<br />
logistics and production processes<br />
guarantees stock availability for end<br />
customers. At the same time, it limits<br />
cost overruns in manufacturing, storage,<br />
and transport. Businesses with<br />
elastic logistics can adapt their warehouses<br />
to unexpected changes without<br />
altering their throughput. Likewise,<br />
they have an easier time maintaining<br />
their competitiveness in supply chain<br />
disruption scenarios.<br />
3<br />
ROBOTIC PROCESS<br />
AUTOMATION<br />
Robotic process automation<br />
(RPA) technology will continue<br />
to play a major role in business processes<br />
in <strong>2023</strong>. RPA is used to automate<br />
repetitive tasks. These include<br />
connecting to web apps, copying and<br />
pasting data, moving folders and creating<br />
directories and folders, among<br />
other functions.<br />
In logistics, RPA technology can<br />
improve product tracking and monitor<br />
order shipment status. RPA also<br />
facilitates the execution of purchase<br />
orders based on automated criteria<br />
such as price, quantity and frequency.<br />
4<br />
DATA MINING<br />
Data mining consists of<br />
analysing large quantities<br />
of information to detect and extract<br />
patterns that reveal useful knowledge<br />
for improving decision-making in<br />
organisations. In Logistics 4.0, automatically<br />
detecting patterns in operations<br />
such as goods receipt, order<br />
picking and returns could enhance<br />
stock demand forecasting and inventory<br />
control.<br />
5<br />
CLOUD COMPUTING<br />
Cloud computing is redefining<br />
business management<br />
— more specifically, the way<br />
supply chains are organised. Software<br />
as a service (SaaS) will be another<br />
logistics trend to make a mark in<br />
<strong>2023</strong>. Digitising your logistics operations<br />
with a warehouse management<br />
system (WMS) in the SaaS model<br />
gives you access from any device<br />
with an internet connection. Plus, it<br />
saves you money on infrastructure<br />
and maintenance costs.<br />
6<br />
DRONES AND<br />
LOGISTICS<br />
Drones are starting<br />
to gain ground in the logistics<br />
industry and could become a mainstay<br />
in <strong>2023</strong>. Multinational tech<br />
companies such as Google and<br />
Amazon have been working for<br />
some time on drone prototypes to<br />
deliver orders to customers by air.<br />
Although still at an experimental<br />
stage, drone delivery would bring<br />
benefits such as lower costs, faster<br />
shipments, less road transport and<br />
reduced pollution.<br />
7<br />
GREEN LOGISTICS<br />
Also known as sustainable<br />
logistics, green logistics<br />
encompasses the set of policies<br />
and measures designed to lessen the<br />
environmental impact of business<br />
activity.<br />
Using electric vehicles, promoting<br />
pick-up points and employing<br />
biodegradable materials are some<br />
of the measures companies are<br />
implementing to limit waste and<br />
consume less energy in their business<br />
processes.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 9
PARTNER ARTICLE<br />
Why companies are moving to<br />
condition-based maintenance<br />
Every day experienced and capable people are trying<br />
to second-guess the maintenance requirements of the<br />
machines that populate their plants. The reason is simple: an<br />
effective maintenance program increases uptime, decreases<br />
maintenance costs, reduces unplanned outages, and extends<br />
the lives of assets. In today’s highly<br />
competitive market, companies of all<br />
sizes are looking for ways to run<br />
a leaner and more efficient operation.<br />
ANKUSH MALHOTRA, President at Fluke Reliability<br />
An effective maintenance<br />
program must include a<br />
way to collect and analyse<br />
vibration data. After all,<br />
vibration matters wherever<br />
critical motors exist.<br />
Critical motors can be found in just<br />
about every manufacturing plant and<br />
facility. As an example:<br />
• Food and beverage plants often<br />
operate on tight margins. That can<br />
make reliability maintenance a challenge<br />
to implement, especially<br />
since these facilities are interested<br />
in training and the ability to scale<br />
to cover critical assets.<br />
• Automotive manufacturing operations<br />
often have larger reliability<br />
teams and stronger buy-in for<br />
downtime prevention.<br />
• Machinery manufacturing plants<br />
vary in their approach to reliability,<br />
but condition monitoring applications<br />
are getting faster.<br />
All these industries share the objective<br />
of integrating data and analytics<br />
into their maintenance programs to<br />
transform them into reliability programs.<br />
The right program increases<br />
equipment availability and performance<br />
by identifying and removing<br />
the cause of potential failures. Reliability<br />
programs can significantly<br />
reduce the possibility of failure and<br />
its impact.<br />
10 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
PARTNER ARTICLE<br />
Some of the frustrations with current<br />
condition monitoring solutions include<br />
a lack of high-precision, in-depth intelligence,<br />
time-consuming, complex installation<br />
and setup, limited diagnostic range<br />
and service offerings which increase total<br />
cost of ownership. In addition, some condition<br />
monitoring solutions can be hard<br />
to scale to multiple assets and data sets<br />
for individual products are often siloed<br />
which leads to systems detecting only<br />
one type of fault. Wired and wirelessonly<br />
sensors are often incompatible with<br />
plant network infrastructure resulting in<br />
reams of unusable data.<br />
As maintenance is a means to operate<br />
safer and more efficiently, industrial<br />
plants across the globe are taking a more<br />
proactive approach by moving away from<br />
simply responding to the crisis of the<br />
day. Today, the immediate goal is to find<br />
and fix problems before there is a breakdown.<br />
The long-term goal is to drive<br />
business value.<br />
THE VALUE OF CONDITION-<br />
BASED MAINTENANCE<br />
Monitoring and studying the trends of<br />
machine health are staples of predictive<br />
maintenance. However, conditionbased<br />
maintenance (CBM) is a better<br />
term because no one can predict when<br />
a machine will fail. CBM uses machine<br />
condition data, contextual data, trends,<br />
analytics and knowledge of specific<br />
machines to determine how machines<br />
are performing.<br />
Wireless vibration sensors for vibration<br />
screening and analysis are one<br />
of the most powerful ways to enact<br />
CBM. Monitors like the new Fluke<br />
3563 Vibration Analysis Sensor are<br />
attached to critical machines to track<br />
vibration data over time and identify<br />
faults. Using accelerometers, vibration<br />
monitors measure changes in the<br />
amplitude, frequency and intensity of<br />
vibration. When combined with the<br />
LIVE-AssetTM Portal software, teams<br />
can spot patterns, receive alerts about<br />
anomalies and compare measurements.<br />
While critical machines benefit from<br />
more powerful vibration analysis sensors<br />
that provide in-depth data to help<br />
determine the nature of a problem, the<br />
new Fluke 3562 Screening Vibration<br />
Sensor is an effective way to track semicritical<br />
machines. The Fluke 3562 is a<br />
battery-less sensor that runs on power<br />
provided by either a thermoelectric<br />
or photovoltaic energy harvester. The<br />
screening sensor collects snapshots of<br />
data, such as vibration levels, temperature<br />
and humidity, and trends the nine<br />
highest FFT peaks by magnitude. Taken<br />
together, vibration screening and analysis<br />
combined with software, create a<br />
powerful condition monitoring solution<br />
that detects if machines are functioning<br />
correctly.<br />
USING CONDITION<br />
MONITORING TO INFORM CBM<br />
CBM is based on machine condition data<br />
that can be read by condition monitoring<br />
devices or transmitted by sensors connected<br />
to the machine. The advantages of<br />
this approach include:<br />
• Always-on asset monitoring: When<br />
internet-enabled devices are connected<br />
to software, measurements<br />
are automatically aggregated around<br />
the clock. Data is stored in the cloud,<br />
assigned to assets, and organised for<br />
users to review.<br />
• Faster identification of the root cause<br />
of a problem: Teams can swiftly troubleshoot<br />
assets using different condition<br />
monitoring devices and compare<br />
measurements over time to quickly<br />
pinpoint anomalies.<br />
• Monitor equipment safely from anywhere:<br />
Wireless sensor measurements<br />
are automatically sent to the cloud<br />
without human intervention, enabling<br />
teams to access data remotely on<br />
smart devices.<br />
CREATING A CONNECTED<br />
RELIABILITY PROGRAM<br />
CBM is part of a complete connected<br />
reliability program. Fluke Reliability<br />
supports companies by building data<br />
systems that provide cost-effective maintenance<br />
and reliability. The company’s<br />
products keep customers informed<br />
about their assets’ health with advanced<br />
software solutions and services driving<br />
better maintenance decisions, such<br />
as improving productivity, increasing<br />
uptime and reducing costs.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 11
RENEWABLE ENERGY<br />
Wind energy –<br />
on the path to generating<br />
50% of Europe's electricity<br />
The wind energy scene is certainly never short of excitement.<br />
The sector was only in its infancy a generation ago. The scale<br />
of growth in recent years has been astonishing: Wind energy<br />
has become a vital and indispensable part of Europe's energy<br />
system. Today it makes up 17% of all electricity generated in<br />
Europe. By 2050 the European Commission wants it to be<br />
as much as 50%. But there are many hurdles to overcome on<br />
this victory march.<br />
CHRISTOPH ZIPF, WindEurope<br />
The success of wind energy<br />
in Europe is rooted in rapid<br />
improvements to wind turbine<br />
technology. The turbines<br />
we're building today culminate<br />
in technological innovation, streamlining,<br />
and industrial<br />
scale effects over<br />
many years.<br />
Wind energy is<br />
an increasingly stable<br />
form of power<br />
supply with capacity<br />
factors between<br />
30-45% onshore<br />
and over 50% offshore<br />
– matching<br />
the capacity factors<br />
of fossil power plants. Some 20 years<br />
ago, the industry installed 1 MW turbines<br />
onshore, and offshore wind was a niche<br />
technology. Since then, yields have risen<br />
significantly – and modern turbines continue<br />
to grow in size and efficiency. The<br />
latest turbine models tested by European<br />
The European<br />
Commission wants<br />
Europe to have 440 GW<br />
of wind energy by<br />
2030, up from<br />
200 GW today.<br />
manufacturers are 15 MW offshore wind<br />
machines. Over the years, wind turbines<br />
have also become increasingly flexible –<br />
operating at lower wind speeds and aligning<br />
more smoothly with electricity demand.<br />
Digitalization has been a big help here<br />
– not just for monitoring<br />
output but<br />
also for improving<br />
the design of turbines<br />
and extending their<br />
lifetimes.<br />
Wind power is now<br />
one of the cheapest<br />
energy sources in<br />
Europe. Perhaps most<br />
importantly, wind<br />
power is now far more<br />
affordable than any fossil fuel equivalent.<br />
This fact makes wind energy a genuinely<br />
competitive and transformative technology<br />
– a driving force behind the energy transition.<br />
For example, Hornsea 2, the world's<br />
largest offshore wind farm, became fully<br />
12 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
RENEWABLE ENERGY<br />
operational in 2022. The project, located<br />
in the North Sea off the coast of England,<br />
generates electricity for around 1.3 million<br />
homes. Each turbine is 200 m tall,<br />
with the blades alone measuring 81 m.<br />
A single rotation of these turbines can<br />
generate enough electricity to power an<br />
average household for a full day. This<br />
project is very much at the cutting edge<br />
of our existing turbine technology, but it's<br />
just one example of the power that wind<br />
brings to the table – and an example of<br />
how far we have come in just a few decades.<br />
At the same time, the industry is proactively<br />
addressing the last outstanding<br />
questions concerning circularity and<br />
recyclability – making wind the sustainable<br />
energy source of choice. As it stands,<br />
85-90% of turbines are recyclable, and<br />
breakthroughs aim to push that percentage<br />
even higher. In other areas, the environmental<br />
advantages of wind energy are<br />
plain to see. Turbines emit zero carbon,<br />
SOx, NOx, or PM and consume hardly<br />
any water. The actual CO2 footprint of<br />
wind farms is negligible – each turbine<br />
pays off its lifecycle emissions within<br />
about 6-9 months of operation. Our aim<br />
is to guarantee recyclability across the<br />
whole turbine lifecycle – from the start of<br />
every project to the end-of-life stage and<br />
beyond.<br />
THE PATH TO GENERATING 50%<br />
OF EUROPE'S ELECTRICITY<br />
How big is wind in Europe today? Wind<br />
power already accounts for a sizable<br />
chunk of Europe's energy mix – meeting<br />
up to 17% of the EU's electricity demand<br />
at the end of 2022. The figure was 55%<br />
and 34% in Denmark and Ireland,<br />
respectively. For Germany, Portugal,<br />
and Spain it was 26%, 26%, and 25%<br />
respectively. As an industry, it represents<br />
300,000 jobs across Europe – adding<br />
€37bn to European GDP – and 248<br />
factories employing people in some of<br />
Europe's most economically-deprived<br />
areas. Every new turbine represents<br />
€10m of economic activity on average. All<br />
told, wind is a significant component of<br />
the European economy.<br />
Electricity from wind is produced<br />
locally – here in Europe. The war in<br />
Ukraine has been a painful reminder of<br />
Europe's overreliance on imported fos-<br />
440<br />
GW<br />
of wind energy<br />
by 2030 up from<br />
200 GW today.<br />
As it stands,<br />
85-90%<br />
of turbines are<br />
recyclable.<br />
By 2050<br />
wind energy will be<br />
as much as 1,300 GW<br />
and generate<br />
50%<br />
of all electricity in<br />
the EU.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 13
RENEWABLE ENERGY<br />
sil fuels. Russia's energy blackmailing<br />
and the surge in electricity prices across<br />
Europe highlighted the crucial role of<br />
domestic energy production for energy<br />
security and electricity affordability in<br />
Europe. Today the energy transition<br />
to renewables is not only an urgency<br />
to fight climate change but also to protect<br />
national security. Or as Germany's<br />
Finance Minister Christian Lindner put<br />
it: "renewable energies are now freedom<br />
energies."<br />
As the EU decarbonizes, wind, solar,<br />
green hydrogen, and its derivatives will<br />
become the backbone of our energy<br />
system – delivering clean, affordable,<br />
homegrown power to all Europeans. The<br />
Russian invasion of Ukraine has accelerated<br />
the need to transition away from<br />
imported fossil fuels. In REPowerEU's<br />
energy policy reaction to the invasion,<br />
the European Commission doubled<br />
down on competitive and domestic<br />
renewables to deliver energy security.<br />
REPowerEU states that the growth of<br />
wind, along with other renewables, is<br />
now a matter of "overriding public interest."<br />
The European Commission wants<br />
Europe to have 440 GW of wind energy<br />
by 2030, up from 200 GW today. By<br />
2050 wind energy will be as much as<br />
1,300 GW and generate 50% of all<br />
European electricity. The International<br />
Energy Agency (IEA) expects wind to be<br />
Europe's number one source of power by<br />
2027.<br />
THE EUROPEAN WIND<br />
INDUSTRY IS STRUGGLING<br />
But to make these expansion targets for<br />
wind energy a reality, we need to see a<br />
concerted push to accelerate the growth<br />
of wind. As it stands, there are still several<br />
factors that are holding this up.<br />
The main factor continues to be new<br />
wind farms' slow and burdensome permitting.<br />
Europe needs to issue more<br />
permits to meet its energy and climate<br />
targets. As a result, the wind industry<br />
only built 16 GW of wind in Europe last<br />
year – but we need to develop at least 31<br />
GW a year to meet the EU's 2030 climate<br />
targets.<br />
The second hurdle is the electricity<br />
market design. New and uncoordinated<br />
national emergency measures brought<br />
in over 2022 to respond to the energy<br />
crisis have led to a patchwork of different<br />
rules across the EU. This has<br />
diminished investor confidence – at<br />
the precise moment, we need to ramp<br />
Wind power is now one of the cheapest energy sources in Europe.<br />
The war in<br />
Ukraine has been<br />
a painful reminder<br />
of Europe's overreliance<br />
on imported<br />
fossil fuels.<br />
up. The European Commission is set to<br />
present a proposal for the revision of the<br />
EU electricity market design in March<br />
<strong>2023</strong> – which we hope will reverse some<br />
of these unhelpful measures.<br />
The third and final challenge is the<br />
lifeblood of the energy system itself –<br />
grid infrastructure. Transmission and<br />
distribution networks need to expand<br />
and modernize, making use of new grid<br />
and system integration technologies<br />
– interconnectors, energy islands, and<br />
other hybrid projects. Energy storage will<br />
also be vital here – storing excess supply<br />
in times of high wind but low demand<br />
and providing a backup during periods of<br />
low wind but high demand.<br />
The result of these challenges seems<br />
paradoxical: while Europe wants more<br />
and more wind, the wind energy supply<br />
chain is struggling not only because of<br />
the low market volumes caused by the<br />
permitting bottlenecks but also because<br />
of poor auction designs, inflation, and<br />
exploding prices for commodities, raw<br />
materials, and components. Thankfully<br />
European policymakers have understood<br />
the problem – and new policy measures<br />
will aim to reinforce the European supply<br />
chain and shore up Europe's clean<br />
tech manufacturing capacity.<br />
Regarding technology and cost-competitiveness,<br />
wind energy will continue<br />
to be one of the cheapest sources of<br />
energy available – much more affordable<br />
than fossil fuels. The new urgency<br />
of the energy crisis puts wind front and<br />
centre of the coming energy transition.<br />
The current hurdles are mostly related<br />
to policymaking and industrial ramp-up<br />
– and will need to be tackled soon if our<br />
climate targets are to be met. But there's<br />
no doubt that wind will take centre stage<br />
in the future European energy mix. And<br />
in an increasingly volatile world, having<br />
control over our energy security could<br />
make all the difference.<br />
14 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
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INDUSTRIAL INTERNET<br />
Metaverse,<br />
Multiverse &<br />
Maintenance<br />
Metaverse has become a buzzword in the tech industry. Not a single day goes by without<br />
the media mentioning it, especially in the context of investments, start-ups, new platforms,<br />
and companies entering the world of digital engagement. There is a massive momentum<br />
towards an almost real 3D virtual world. Facebook even rebranded itself as Meta, which<br />
may be remembered as a red-letter moment in the evolution of the metaverse.<br />
PROF. DIEGO GALAR, RAMIN KARIM, AND UDAY KUMAR from the University of Luleå, Sweden<br />
In his science-fiction novel Snow<br />
Crash, Neal Stephenson introduced<br />
the word "metaverse"<br />
in 1992. The novel describes a<br />
networked world, "Metaverse,"<br />
parallel to the real world. Meta means<br />
Metaverse<br />
has become<br />
a buzzword in the<br />
tech industry.<br />
"transcendence," and verse refers to<br />
"universe". Later, Roblox, a sandbox<br />
game platform, became the first<br />
metaverse concept game. Since then,<br />
the concept and articles about the<br />
"metaverse" have appeared in many<br />
16 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
INDUSTRIAL INTERNET<br />
media reports, attracting the attention<br />
of people from all walks of life, even government<br />
departments, and creating the<br />
"meta-universe" phenomenon.<br />
But the metaverse isn't just a place for<br />
gamers and kids playing Roblox. That is<br />
why we keep hearing about serious companies<br />
establishing a presence and services<br />
there, including maintenance services.<br />
To some extent, companies make<br />
the jump just because they don't want<br />
to miss out, even though the metaverse<br />
for industry and especially for maintenance<br />
is still in its infancy. Indeed, the<br />
metaverse is only emerging and is years,<br />
even decades, from maturity. Even the<br />
naming conventions for this virtual<br />
world still need to be settled. We are<br />
not sure if we will have "the" metaverse,<br />
"a" metaverse, "many metaverses", or a<br />
"multiverse" as a "pool of parallel metaverses".<br />
However, even at this early stage,<br />
the value that can be obtained from the<br />
metaverse is close at hand. The buzz<br />
and hype may be exaggerated, but that<br />
doesn't mean we can't obtain value from<br />
the components and parts that go into it.<br />
With the development of technology,<br />
the fantasies described in Snow<br />
Crash have gradually become more real,<br />
making it easier for people to cross the<br />
physical distance of the real world and<br />
connect, improving the immersive experience.<br />
In the metaverse, people perform<br />
their daily activities using avatars repre-<br />
senting their "real" or imaginary selves.<br />
Simply stated, a virtual space becomes<br />
the real world for an alternative life with<br />
avatars or digital profiles participating in<br />
events, sometimes for private and sometimes<br />
for professional purposes – with<br />
possible economic implications.<br />
Metaverse is still evolving, but its<br />
components are ready for use. These<br />
components include the technologies,<br />
tools, and systems these virtual worlds<br />
are built on and accessed through and<br />
the underlying concepts that support<br />
the new experiences. Some of these<br />
technologies have been around for some<br />
time, and the concepts are being applied<br />
in active metaverse platforms.<br />
THE IMMERSIVE<br />
TECHNOLOGIES<br />
Realizing immersive experience requires<br />
hard and soft technologies, plus a pool<br />
of services. Two dominant technologies<br />
underlie the metaverse: augmented reality<br />
and virtual reality.<br />
∫ Augmented reality adds a digital<br />
graphic element to an existing, physical,<br />
real-world through the use of<br />
technologies such as glasses, lenses,<br />
or smartphones. In effect, it superimposes<br />
information on the natural environment.<br />
This technology has been<br />
especially popular in maintenance,<br />
where superimposed information for<br />
technicians has facilitated quicker<br />
repairs and increased the maintainability<br />
of assets. Lifelogging is a subclass<br />
of augmentation of the inner<br />
world where smart devices are used<br />
to record daily lives on the Internet.<br />
Examples of lifelogging are the social<br />
networks we use daily for professional<br />
or private reasons, such as Facebook,<br />
LinkedIn, or Instagram. Lifelogging<br />
is promising for maintenance, as<br />
machines connected in a machineto-machine<br />
(M2M) environment are<br />
expected to deliver new services based<br />
on the social networking of assets in<br />
an unattended manner.<br />
∫ Virtual reality is a virtual online<br />
3D reality, with avatars and communication<br />
tools simulating the inner world.<br />
The avatar can be personalized. Even<br />
though virtual reality's cultural, physical,<br />
and social characteristics are different<br />
from reality, the avatar, like a real person,<br />
can communicate with other entities<br />
and achieve goals. Online video games<br />
are a well-known use of virtual reality.<br />
But virtual<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 17
INDUSTRIAL INTERNET<br />
reality also applies to industrial settings.<br />
For example, in the virtual commissioning<br />
of new plants or assets, technicians<br />
can recreate the future shop floor, and<br />
correct or adapt as required, thus avoiding<br />
costly trial and error actions. A subclass<br />
of virtuality mirrors worlds that are<br />
virtualizations or simulations of the real<br />
world. The authentic appearance, information,<br />
and structure are transferred<br />
to a virtual space to carry out activities<br />
via the Internet or mobile applications.<br />
Well-known examples are Google Maps<br />
and Google Earth.<br />
There is a lot of debate about whether<br />
AR or VR will dominate the market. The<br />
truth is that each has its unique value.<br />
Each enables users to experience and<br />
interact with the digital worlds that comprise<br />
the metaverse and the avatars that<br />
inhabit them. Each offers adaptability<br />
for different maintenance scenarios<br />
since using specific gadgets on the shop<br />
floor is impossible. Sometimes it is possible<br />
to use a PC or mobile device. Still,<br />
the immersion and physical interaction<br />
offered by a head-mounted display and<br />
hand-tracking controllers are much<br />
more natural and engaging than those<br />
of a keyboard, mouse, or games controller.<br />
Moreover, a remote maintenance<br />
action may require an immersive experience<br />
rather than a standard inspection,<br />
and augmented information provided<br />
by a device might be enough. But it is<br />
the convergence of these technologies<br />
and concepts that is truly the game<br />
Metaverse is still<br />
evolving, but its<br />
components are<br />
ready for use.<br />
changer when it comes to leveraging the<br />
metaverse.<br />
While current headsets can be hot<br />
and heavy, the technology is advancing<br />
rapidly, and a new generation of slimmer<br />
and lighter devices suggests the beginning<br />
of a more comfortable way to access<br />
the metaverse. VR and AR offer different<br />
experiences, with VR fully immersing<br />
users and AR layering digital items over<br />
the real world. Use cases that demand a<br />
fully immersive experience will benefit<br />
more from VR use, whereas others that<br />
depend on interacting with the natural<br />
world will necessitate AR. Neither is<br />
better than the other, and neither is<br />
"wrong."<br />
The metaverse is a location where the<br />
real world is augmented, connected, and<br />
replicated with virtual reality, and, as<br />
such, it can be considered another world.<br />
For the digital generation, the metaverse<br />
is and will be a space where they spend<br />
part of their daily lives. The Covid-19<br />
pandemic accelerated this trend with<br />
widespread isolation measures. The<br />
changes caused by the pandemic also<br />
had maintenance implications; Covid-<br />
19 limited maintenance inspections<br />
and interventions. Consequently, many<br />
activities moved from only being offline<br />
to also becoming virtual. In other words,<br />
the metaverse is not only a place offering<br />
escape but where people will live part of<br />
their lives. In the maintenance context,<br />
it means there is a better ability to safeguard<br />
the robustness and resilience of<br />
assets by providing virtual assistance and<br />
skipping costly actions to inspect remote<br />
and unattended equipment. The connection<br />
with the metaverse is facilitated by<br />
new technologies that allow us to be part<br />
of the online world 24 hours a day, all<br />
the time, and everywhere. The benefits<br />
for the maintenance sector are evident<br />
in terms of health monitoring, support<br />
and training of technicians, and remote<br />
troubleshooting.<br />
Consequently, maintenance as a<br />
service is attracting interest in the<br />
metaverse, with researchers examining<br />
the potential of the virtual world for<br />
detecting and predicting failures and<br />
providing maintenance support.<br />
DIGITAL TWINS AND CYBER-<br />
PHYSICAL SYSTEMS AS<br />
AVATARS OF OUR ASSETS<br />
Thanks to Industry 4.0 and the upcoming<br />
Industry 5.0, a dramatic technological<br />
transformation linking the physical<br />
world to the digital space has been<br />
accomplished. Digital twins and cyberphysical<br />
systems (CPS) define how a<br />
physical system integrates sensors, communication,<br />
computing, and control in<br />
a large-scale cyberinfrastructure. Digital<br />
twin technology is vital in boosting this<br />
convergence. This technology permits<br />
global industries to establish digital<br />
copies of their processes and assets to<br />
optimize maintenance and performance.<br />
Digital twin and CPSs technologies provide<br />
virtual representations, digital replicas,<br />
or copies of products, but also people,<br />
in the form of avatars. We could say<br />
the avatars of humans in the metaverse<br />
will interact with digital twins of the<br />
assets that are, in fact, avatars of assets.<br />
CPS are systems linking networked<br />
products and operations. Digital twins<br />
are engineering systems that drive new<br />
abilities to design, operate, maintain, and<br />
create new services to maximize value.<br />
Therefore, the digital twin of an asset is<br />
expressed as a virtual (digital) profile of<br />
a physical thing or process's current and<br />
past state, providing the elements and<br />
dynamics of how the replicated system<br />
18 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
INDUSTRIAL INTERNET<br />
performs and degrades using CPS as a<br />
backbone.<br />
Digital twins, as avatars of our<br />
products, add value to the industrial<br />
metaverse and beyond from the perspective<br />
of extended reality, with platforms<br />
for managing and analyzing data and<br />
experiencing the immersive interactions<br />
of avatars with digital products. Indeed,<br />
the key aspect of the maintenance<br />
metaverse is that digital twins of assets<br />
with different maturity levels will be<br />
transferred to the metaverse and become<br />
the avatars of these assets, ready to interact<br />
with the avatars of the maintenance<br />
crew.<br />
Metaverse platforms for immersive<br />
remote monitoring and control of intelligent<br />
industrial applications are challenging<br />
but achievable with appropriate gadgets.<br />
An industrial metaverse will include<br />
detailed digital twin models equivalent<br />
to full real-world assets where Industrial<br />
Internet of Things (IIoT) data and 3D<br />
digital models link digital and physical<br />
worlds. The merging of digital and physical<br />
object interactions that is already<br />
underway gives credibility to the concept<br />
of a metaverse as a viable future reality.<br />
Digital twins are a fundamental<br />
requirement for realizing the industrial<br />
metaverse, when assets are perceived<br />
from multidimensional perspectives to<br />
initiate new maintenance frameworks,<br />
such as remote monitoring, troubleshooting,<br />
and training new workers<br />
through an interactive simulation.<br />
On the one hand, for monitoring purposes,<br />
integrating digital twin technology<br />
with real-world data-related technologies<br />
will enable the creation of advanced<br />
simulation algorithms that could anticipate<br />
how processes and products will<br />
perform and degrade. Such algorithms<br />
must integrate IIoT data, Industrial AI,<br />
data analytics, and domain knowledge<br />
to improve output. Given the advancements<br />
in AI and Big Data technologies,<br />
the virtual models (digital twins) can<br />
become a staple in modern engineering,<br />
thwarting costly asset failures, eliminating<br />
the sophisticated testing of products<br />
and processes, and fostering efficient<br />
predictive and monitoring capabilities of<br />
systems.<br />
On the other hand, using metaverse<br />
and digital twin-enabled solutions as<br />
training and remote troubleshooting<br />
platform will help in testing systems and<br />
obtaining feedback. Based on the feedback,<br />
the system could be optimized, and<br />
the experimentation could be repeated.<br />
There are clear<br />
relations between the<br />
metaverse and the<br />
prevention and<br />
mitigation of failure.<br />
At the initial stage of the testing, since<br />
a digital platform or a clone of the<br />
machines is used, the wear and tear of<br />
the intelligent industrial machines and<br />
gadgets will be safeguarded. Further,<br />
based on the learning from the digital<br />
simulation platforms, testing could be<br />
done on the physical industrial machines<br />
in industrial settings, thus achieving<br />
real virtual commissioning with a high<br />
success rate. This immersive and virtual<br />
experience will allow maintainers to collaborate<br />
with experts and trainers from<br />
remote locations.<br />
In summary, considering digital twins<br />
as a tool to monitor dynamic changes<br />
in systems is crucial for maintenance<br />
applications in the industrial metaverse.<br />
Metaverse solutions are essential for<br />
remote maintenance managers and<br />
workforce groups who can use digitally<br />
cloned models for testing, monitoring,<br />
intervention, and training. In this way,<br />
the metaverse will become a powerful<br />
platform for maintainers and beyond. Its<br />
role in assisting virtual teams in gaining<br />
access to or control over digital clones is<br />
also being considered as a means of promoting<br />
new business models in the field<br />
of maintenance as a service; this includes<br />
remote troubleshooting and assistance,<br />
but it also includes innovative alterations<br />
in the digital clones based on ongoing<br />
failures, problems, and maintenance<br />
20 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
INDUSTRIAL INTERNET<br />
actions, thus promoting new product<br />
development and reliability growth.<br />
METAVERSE AND<br />
MAINTENANCE ACTIONS<br />
There are clear relations between the<br />
metaverse and the prevention and<br />
mitigation of failure. The metaverse can<br />
certainly be adopted for diagnostic and<br />
repair support with satisfying results.<br />
Maintenance 4.0 has already adopted<br />
and adapted various innovative technologies,<br />
such as IIoT, CPS, cloud, fog,<br />
Big data Analytics, machine learning,<br />
blockchain, and Industrial AI. Immersive<br />
technologies are becoming increasingly<br />
important. The disruptions they bring to<br />
performing maintenance will include the<br />
ability to monitor and interact remotely<br />
with a large population of assets and<br />
educate those involved in maintenance<br />
activities. Digital innovations can be<br />
adopted as an alternative maintenance<br />
service model; indeed, the possibility of<br />
creating avatars allows consultations and<br />
personalized actions. In the metaverse,<br />
maintainers could "consult" in a 3D<br />
virtual workshop using remote services<br />
and devices, such as wearable sensors<br />
and smartphone applications, monitor<br />
the health status of assets, and once they<br />
have a "diagnosis", perform maintenance<br />
intervention using haptic sensors and<br />
robotic actuators.<br />
The potential for incorporating monitoring<br />
devices into asset health programs<br />
is enormous. Different devices can be<br />
adapted to remotely monitor asset health<br />
conditions, connecting real life with the<br />
virtual world. The health of a distant asset<br />
can be assessed by IoT sensors, plus a<br />
number of virtual sensors, with Industrial<br />
AI models within the system adding<br />
further physical and expert knowledge.<br />
The creation of soft sensors will increase<br />
health visibility and improve maintenance<br />
criteria. With this information, both real<br />
and virtually created, maintenance crews<br />
will evaluate asset performance and damage<br />
propagation, comparing, in real-time,<br />
their data with the data of other users<br />
worldwide. Through real-time monitoring,<br />
maintainers can be part of an online<br />
community, and being guided by experts<br />
worldwide increases the likelihood that<br />
they will attend maintenance good practices<br />
programs and adopt world-class decisions.<br />
Moreover, these monitoring devices<br />
will allow assets to be fully present in the<br />
metaverse, 24/7. Importantly, monitoring<br />
health parameters around the clock<br />
will facilitate prompt prevention or<br />
intervention, helping service providers<br />
improve maintenance security. Along with<br />
monitoring, in the metaverse, a virtual<br />
and AI-based avatar or agent may provide<br />
personalized feedback and support, and, in<br />
this way, maintenance interventions could<br />
become more effective.<br />
Finally, an avatar that can act as a "virtual<br />
doctor/nurse" may be able to directly monitor<br />
and interact with the asset, providing<br />
individualized care and treatment but also<br />
supervising and monitoring, in real time, the<br />
"patient's" evolution after maintenance or<br />
repair actions. In this way, the metaverse can<br />
serve as a transitional stage before maintenance<br />
providers tackle real-world problems.<br />
In the metaverse, they can accompany assets<br />
into specific individualized environments,<br />
thus enhancing the efficacy of maintenance<br />
programs and actions. Beyond maintenance,<br />
however, virtual care models with group support<br />
programs could be a valid intervention<br />
in real-world health problems; in this context,<br />
remote virtual nursing care with robotic<br />
end-user delivery units could be helpful.<br />
REFERENCES<br />
Galar, D., Kumar, U., & Seneviratne, D. (2020). Robots, Drones, UAVs and UGVs for Operation and Maintenance. CRC Press.<br />
Karim, R., Galar, D., & Kumar, U. (2021). AI Factory: Theories, Applications and Case Studies.<br />
Galar, D., & Kumar, U. (2017). eMaintenance: Essential electronic tools for efficiency. Academic Press.<br />
Galar, D., Daponte, P., & Kumar, U. (2019). Handbook of Industry 4.0 and SMART Systems. CRC Press.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 21
PARTNER ARTICLE<br />
PETER BOON, Product Manager at UE Systems<br />
Ultrasound:<br />
Achieving energy savings by<br />
detecting compressed air leaks<br />
With energy prices at an all-time high, it is now more important than ever for maintenance<br />
teams to focus on detecting compressed air leaks at their industrial facilities. As electricity<br />
prices keep going up, generating compressed air becomes more and more expensive –<br />
detecting and fixing leaks becomes now a priority.<br />
It is estimated that more than 50%<br />
of all compressed air systems<br />
have energy efficiency problems,<br />
and losses from such systems can<br />
be very costly. About 30% of all<br />
industrial compressed air is lost due<br />
to leaks, generating a huge economical<br />
and energetic waste. Just think that a<br />
leak of just 3mm can cost up to 574 GBP<br />
per year if it is not detected (on a 5-bar<br />
pressure system). Thus, detecting and<br />
repairing compressed air leaks may lead<br />
to huge energy savings.<br />
LEAK DETECTION METHODS<br />
There are a few methods used to detect<br />
compressed air leaks. One of the<br />
22 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
PARTNER ARTICLE<br />
most traditional methods, still widely<br />
used, is detecting leaks with a soap and<br />
water solution. This method has a few<br />
disadvantages: it takes a very long time,<br />
creates additional work, and may also<br />
constitute a safety hazard.<br />
A much more effective, quick and<br />
safe method is using ultrasonic inspections<br />
instruments. These can be listenonly<br />
instruments or the more recent ultrasound<br />
leak detection cameras, which<br />
make the job even easier.<br />
WHY USE ULTRASOUND<br />
FOR LEAK DETECTION<br />
Using the characteristics of Ultrasound,<br />
locating leaks is fast and easy to do so<br />
because of:<br />
• Directionality of sound waves makes<br />
locating the source easy<br />
• Intensity of signal: the closer you get,<br />
the more sound you detect<br />
• Fixed frequency, making it effective<br />
to locate even in a loud factory environment<br />
As any gas (air, oxygen, nitrogen, etc.)<br />
passes through a leak orifice, it generates<br />
a turbulent flow with detectable<br />
high frequency components.<br />
By scanning the test area with an<br />
ultrasound instrument, a leak can be<br />
heard through the headset as a rushing<br />
sound or noted on the display/meter.<br />
The closer the instrument is to the leak,<br />
the louder the rushing sound and the<br />
higher the reading.<br />
Should ambient noise be a problem,<br />
a rubber focusing probe may be used to<br />
narrow the instrument’s reception field<br />
and to shield it from conflicting ultrasounds.<br />
In addition, frequency tuning (available<br />
in most models) dramatically<br />
reduces background noise interference<br />
to provide ease of ultrasonic leak detection<br />
as never before experienced.<br />
COMPRESSED AIR LEAK<br />
SURVEYS – EVALUATING<br />
THE COST OF LEAKS<br />
One of the more popular applications<br />
for ultrasound is the creation of compressed<br />
air leak surveys.<br />
Utilizing a software for compressed<br />
air leaks, users are able to locate and<br />
report on cost estimation per leak while<br />
also demonstrating the reduction of the<br />
carbon footprint.<br />
∫ Locate the leak site fast & easy<br />
∫ Tag the leak site & record values with<br />
digital ultrasound inspection instruments<br />
∫<br />
Report potential cost avoidance &<br />
produce repair reports<br />
This can be done using software such as<br />
UE Systems DMS or even a mobile app<br />
like the Leak Survey Sidekick app.<br />
This app lets the user create a compressed<br />
air leak survey report. Once<br />
leaks are identified and information is<br />
entered, the data can be used to generate<br />
a comprehensive Excel report that<br />
includes estimated LMP (litre-perminute)<br />
loss, up-to-date cost avoidance,<br />
leak location photos (taken with your<br />
smartphone or tablet), and greenhouse<br />
gas reductions.<br />
Survey quality assurance is optimized<br />
by identifying leaks that have<br />
been repaired and leaks that have not<br />
been repaired. Also works with specialty<br />
gases like Argon, Helium etc.<br />
ULTRASONIC CAMERAS<br />
FOR COMPRESSED AIR LEAK<br />
DETECTION<br />
Traditional ultrasonic inspection instruments<br />
are effective but work only<br />
with sound. The user detects leaks<br />
by following the leak sound coming<br />
through the headphones connected to<br />
the instrument, scanning in all directions,<br />
and following the sound source<br />
until it’s possible to pinpoint the exact<br />
leak location. This is called the gross-tofine<br />
method.<br />
However, with the most recent developments<br />
in ultrasound technology for<br />
leak detection, there are ultrasonic cameras<br />
available which allow the user to see<br />
the leak on a screen, in real-time. One example<br />
of the available ultrasonic cameras<br />
is the UltraView from UE Systems.<br />
maintenance professionals can<br />
easily find compressed air leaks (or<br />
any other compressed gas) by simply<br />
switching on the camera and watch<br />
how the leak locations show up on the<br />
screen. This way, it is possible to quickly<br />
cover a large area and find a significant<br />
number of leaks, even at a safe distance.<br />
Thus, finding leaks with this ultrasound<br />
camera is much more efficient when<br />
compared to traditional leak detection<br />
methods.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 23
PARTNER ARTICLE<br />
Multi-site<br />
Maintenance<br />
Excellence<br />
Text and images: MAINNOVATION<br />
From ‘not invented here’ to creating<br />
support and commitment<br />
The term ‘Operational Excellence’ refers to an excellent and<br />
flawless way of working to meet the highest expectations<br />
of customers. Maintenance obviously plays an important<br />
role in this. The term excellence is therefore also becoming<br />
‘common knowledge’ in this area. With ‘Maintenance<br />
Excellence’ we aim for the best performance of our assets.<br />
A nice challenge, but how do you roll out this way of<br />
working to multiple locations around the world?<br />
Large companies with multiple<br />
locations all over the world are<br />
called multi-site companies.<br />
Due to growth, relocation<br />
or acquisition, the company<br />
expands in various countries. This<br />
implies that the company is doing well,<br />
but it also creates a huge challenge. How<br />
do you make sure all these factories –<br />
with differences in processes, languages,<br />
cultures, time zones and IT systems – all<br />
perform in an excellent way? And is<br />
24 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
there even one excellent approach to be implemented<br />
everywhere?<br />
CULTURAL DIFFERENCES<br />
"There is enormous potential in learning from each<br />
other's best practices, but this is not an easy task,"<br />
confirms Guy Delahay, Managing Partner at Mainnovation.<br />
Delahay regularly flies to other continents<br />
to advise multi-site companies on maintenance and<br />
asset management. “Without wanting to generalise:<br />
in America they are used to a top-down approach and<br />
if management indeed knows how to set the right<br />
course, this can work well. Germany is more hierarchical.<br />
When the boss is at the meeting table, the<br />
employee keeps a low profile. In Asian countries you<br />
see that the group feeling must be taken into account.<br />
And the Dutch have the image of being open and freespirited.<br />
Here a mechanic can tell the director that he<br />
has a better idea. If this is an American manager, this<br />
may not be appreciated.”<br />
GIS<br />
Next<br />
Generation<br />
EAM<br />
PdM<br />
Mobile<br />
APM<br />
AIP<br />
BI<br />
PPM<br />
IDEOLOGIES<br />
Nevertheless, it is worthwhile to see whether the different<br />
factories can learn from each other. To achieve<br />
Maintenance Excellence, many organisations opt for<br />
methods that support this. Delahay calls this 'the battle<br />
of the ideologies'. Delahay: “Companies choose to<br />
implement Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) or<br />
Reliability Centred Maintenance (RCM) at all plants.<br />
This often leads to top-down imposed programmes<br />
that ignore adaptation, commitment and support.<br />
Best practices are indicated from qualitative measurements,<br />
that are not at all relevant at some factories.”<br />
A Global Maintenance Excellence Champion is<br />
also appointed to lead the project. “This can work<br />
well, but this has to be someone with – there's that<br />
word again – excellent qualities. Flair, leadership and<br />
decisiveness. But also someone with a mandate. Can<br />
they make decisions or are they only allowed to give<br />
advice? And even then, this official can run into a wall<br />
of resistance. 'Not invented here' the employees say,<br />
because they mainly believe in their own way of working.”<br />
SUPPORT BASE<br />
Is it an impossible task then? “Certainly not,” says Delahay.<br />
"You just have to be aware of the pitfalls." Cultural<br />
differences, resistance to a top-down approach<br />
and differences in targets, priorities, and action plans.<br />
“And despite all these pitfalls, it is possible. With our<br />
VDM XL methodology, for example, factory-specific<br />
solutions can be taken into account. The focus is on<br />
connecting people. Ensuring healthy competition<br />
between sites is good, but you do have to compare<br />
apples with apples: so, benchmark well and compare<br />
the right KPIs with each other.” It is also important to<br />
include everyone in order to create support and commitment.<br />
“Give space to ownership and knowledge<br />
exchange and celebrate successes. And provide insight<br />
into each other's results and KPIs. In this way you<br />
step by step create a willingness to implement other –<br />
better – working methods and EAM systems. Improving<br />
multi-site.”<br />
BIM<br />
AI<br />
Many companies use their Enterprise Asset Management<br />
(EAM) system mainly as an electronic card index or a<br />
digital work order system, unaware of the possibilities it<br />
has for Asset Management. EAM Systems like Maximo,<br />
IFS Ultimo, HxGN EAM and SAP EAM have evolved<br />
tremendously. They now offer functionalities for Asset<br />
Investment Planning, Project Portfolio Management,<br />
Asset Performance Management, Business Intelligence<br />
and Predictive Maintenance. Major steps have also been<br />
taken in the field of Mobile, GIS and BIM integration.<br />
Are you ready for Next Generation EAM?<br />
Our VDM XL experts can assist you with further<br />
professionalisation and automation of your Maintenance<br />
& Asset Management organisation.<br />
www.mainnovation.com
ASSET LIFE ASSESSMENT<br />
Is your lubrication<br />
program world-class?<br />
Acoustic Lubrication is just one of the 8 application pillars adopted by world-class<br />
ultrasound programs. And what an important one it is. Poor lubrication practices account<br />
for as much as 40% of all premature bearing failures. When ultrasound is utilized to<br />
assess lubrication needs and schedule grease replenishment intervals, that number drops<br />
below 10%. What would 30% fewer bearing related failures mean for your organization?<br />
Keeping up with the changes in on-condition bearing lubrication techniques is challenging.<br />
Technology advancements from SDT’s LUBExpert allows us to transform complex<br />
processes into a simple procedure.<br />
HOW TO GET STARTED<br />
Success is dependent on organization<br />
and commitment. Without<br />
these two structural elements, your<br />
ultrasound lubrication program<br />
will find difficulty getting traction.<br />
A well-organized strategy and carefully<br />
planned execution will get the<br />
project started properly. Getting the<br />
commitment from all levels becomes<br />
much easier when a program can<br />
demonstrate structure and cohesion.<br />
Results will prove the program faster<br />
which will trigger easier access to<br />
funding to grow and sustain the program.<br />
Start by asking “Why start an ultrasound<br />
lubrication program and<br />
what improvements do we expect?”<br />
There is no one easy answer to the<br />
question. Saving money is an obvious<br />
benefit that gets the attention<br />
of management, but it is not specific<br />
enough. How will an ultrasound lubrication<br />
program save money?<br />
Poor lubrication<br />
practices account<br />
for as much as 40%<br />
of all premature<br />
bearing failures.<br />
Clearly defining and communicating the objectives of your lubrication program is the<br />
best way to create a precision lubrication culture that benefits your entire organization.<br />
26 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
ASSET LIFE ASSESSMENT<br />
Keeping your<br />
bearings healthy<br />
requires a lubricant<br />
with the right quality for<br />
the application.<br />
• By reducing grease consumption;<br />
• By raising awareness of the right<br />
types of grease to use;<br />
• By making more effective use of<br />
lube tech’s time;<br />
• By reducing unwanted machine<br />
breakdowns caused by lubrication<br />
failures;<br />
• By extending bearing life expectancy.<br />
A new beginning is the best opportunity<br />
to review what you have<br />
been doing previously. Identify what<br />
worked and improve or remove what<br />
did not. We will not go deeply into all<br />
aspects related to good lubrication<br />
practices. However, there are some<br />
basic and relevant points that should<br />
be noted.<br />
Lubricant management program:<br />
Keeping your bearings healthy requires<br />
a lubricant with the right<br />
quality for the application. By quality<br />
we refer not only to the quality of<br />
the grease manufacturer, but quality<br />
in a broader sense which involves all<br />
the processes from manufacturing<br />
to application. Some general recommendations<br />
are:<br />
• Keeping high standards of housekeeping<br />
for storage, handling, and<br />
application to prevent contamination<br />
that degrades the quality of<br />
lubricants.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 27
ASSET LIFE ASSESSMENT<br />
• Keeping a detailed list of products to use for each lubrication<br />
point. Selecting the right lubricant requires technical<br />
knowledge in several aspects. Using the wrong product<br />
will jeopardize the useful life of the component. Don’t<br />
change lubricants without solid reasons. Consider contracting<br />
a lubrication consultant to direct advice on this.<br />
• Providing training in every aspect relevant to lubrication<br />
practices and product knowledge to those responsible for<br />
lubrication.<br />
• Setting objectives to reach so you have a clear path to follow.<br />
APPLICATION GUIDELINES:<br />
Delivering the lubricant to the right point requires some<br />
type of device; usually a grease gun. There’s lots of different<br />
types but they all have one thing in common: they<br />
deliver grease with high pressure, enough to overcome the<br />
backpressure in the grease fitting.<br />
Dirty grease and mixing grease types kills bearings.<br />
Therefore, it is necessary to extend the precautions for<br />
contamination and storage discussed above, to the application<br />
of lubricant through grease guns:<br />
• Wherever possible, insist on using a dedicated grease<br />
gun for each grease type to avoid the risk of applying<br />
the wrong product through cross contamination. Label<br />
the grease gun with the associated grease to be used.<br />
LUBExpert manages multiple grease guns to prevent<br />
mixing of grease types.<br />
• Standardize your grease guns so they all deliver the<br />
same quantity of grease per stroke.<br />
• The same principle must be applied<br />
for your ultrasound device.<br />
If using SDT’s acoustic lubrication<br />
adaptor LUBESense1, assign a different<br />
one for each grease type.<br />
Grease remaining in the adaptor<br />
can mix with new grease causing a<br />
degrading chemical reaction.<br />
• Always clean the grease fitting and<br />
grease gun before and after every<br />
application.<br />
• Some bearings have drain plugs for purging old grease.<br />
If you open the drain, remember to clean the drain<br />
hole; it may be clogged. Use a clean brush like a bottle<br />
washing brush to clear the port.<br />
• Apply grease slowly, one full stroke at a time (no more<br />
than 20% of the maximum designated quantity per<br />
injection) to avoid over greasing. This also avoids potential<br />
damage to the bearing as too much pressure can<br />
push the bearing cage into the roller elements.<br />
• Always allow for churning time – the time required for<br />
freshly injected grease to work its way into the bearing.<br />
TYPE OF BEARING INSIDE:<br />
Don’t assume that a grease fitting installed on a bearing<br />
housing means a path to grease the bearing. Sometimes,<br />
motors are fitted with both grease fittings AND sealed<br />
for life bearings. You must identify every grease point<br />
to be managed within the ultrasound program. Identify<br />
Ultrasound assisted<br />
lubrication offers<br />
significant benefits<br />
that calendar based<br />
lubrication cannot.<br />
the bearing inside to know its size<br />
for lubrication quantity, its particulars<br />
for defect diagnosis, and the<br />
type of grease typically used. Here<br />
are some helpful tips regarding the<br />
use of acoustic lubrication:<br />
• Friction produces ultrasound.<br />
Bearing friction is produced<br />
by the contact between race, rolling<br />
elements and seals or shields.<br />
• Less contacts means less friction. A ball bearing<br />
produces less friction than a same size roller bearing<br />
under the same lubrication conditions, speed and load.<br />
• Plain bearings produce the lowest friction levels.<br />
Their ultrasound baseline often trends in the single<br />
digits or low teens. Typically, they remain consistent<br />
for their lifespan and only display sudden upward<br />
trend lines when the oil film becomes contaminated or<br />
the bearing is near failure.<br />
BENEFITS OF ULTRASOUND<br />
Ultrasound performs well at sensing and measuring<br />
changing in friction levels. It’s the perfect technology to<br />
guide lube technicians during the lubrication-replenishment<br />
task. Ultrasound assisted lubrication of plant assets<br />
offers significant benefits that calendar based lubrication<br />
cannot. The days of relying on calendars and calculators<br />
are over.<br />
C<br />
M<br />
Y<br />
CM<br />
MY<br />
CY<br />
CMY<br />
K<br />
Find out more by visiting our website at https://sdtultrasound.com/industry/bearing-lubrication-monitoring/<br />
28 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
CYBERSECURITY<br />
Secure supply chains are crucial<br />
to the industrial sector’s<br />
cyber defence<br />
Significant advancements are being made to digitalise and<br />
automate industrial operations. Critical infrastructure<br />
is becoming more and more digitally connected to make<br />
society safer, bring down costs and increase efficiency.<br />
But digital transformation carries emerging risks. Rising<br />
geopolitical tensions, war in Europe, a cost-of-living crisis,<br />
energy supply shocks and widespread food insecurity are<br />
shining a light on just how vulnerable critical infrastructure<br />
is the more connected it becomes.<br />
JALAL BOUHDADA, Global Cyber Security Segment Director, DNV<br />
Cyber threats to industrial<br />
facilities are becoming<br />
more common, complex,<br />
and creative as opera-<br />
tional technology (OT) –<br />
the control systems that manage, tor, automate and control industrial<br />
operations – is increasingly networked<br />
and connected to IT environments. The<br />
manufacturing sector recently became<br />
the world’s most cyber-attacked industry<br />
for the first time, according to IBM’s<br />
2022 X-Force Threat Intelligence Index.<br />
moni-<br />
Other industrial sectors, including<br />
energy and transport also appear within<br />
the top ten.<br />
Production shutdowns, safety incidents,<br />
process disturbances and other<br />
service disruptions are all potential<br />
consequences of a cyber-attack on industrial<br />
operations. Life, property and<br />
the environment are at stake.<br />
It’s no surprise, then, that cyber security<br />
is rising up the boardroom agenda<br />
in industrial sectors. Cyber security<br />
risks are now business risks, and business<br />
leaders are recognising that cyber<br />
security is a pre-requisite for tion and automation<br />
digitalisaexcellence.<br />
30 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
CYBERSECURITY<br />
The overriding principle<br />
to mitigate against assets<br />
and operations being<br />
compromised by a cyberattack<br />
is to protect, detect,<br />
respond and recover.<br />
single-entry point to multiple companies’<br />
environments.<br />
Supply chain security risks have not<br />
gone unnoticed by OT security professionals.<br />
The majority say their organisations<br />
are at risk because of their inability to<br />
ascertain the security practices of relevant<br />
third parties and to mitigate cyber risks<br />
across the OT external supply chain, according<br />
to research conducted by Applied<br />
Risk, a DNV company, in 2021.<br />
Many suppliers and manufacturers of<br />
equipment integrated within OT systems<br />
simply lack the people, processes, and<br />
technologies to demonstrate the cyber<br />
security of their products and services.<br />
By adopting a cyber security programme,<br />
investing in training of the workforce and<br />
following a Secure Software Development<br />
Life Cycle (SDLC) process, the risk of<br />
security vulnerabilities in products in production<br />
can be improved.<br />
Vendors’ systems used to be standalone.<br />
Now, they are increasingly connected<br />
within IT/OT systems internally<br />
and externally in much larger critical<br />
infrastructure ecosystems.<br />
Applied Risk’s study found that only<br />
a third of OT security professionals say<br />
their organisations conduct regular audits<br />
of their main suppliers, and just a quarter<br />
(27%) conduct due diligence prior to contracting<br />
with new suppliers.<br />
Companies with industrial operations<br />
need to pay greater attention to assuring<br />
that equipment vendors and suppliers<br />
demonstrate compliance with security<br />
best practice from the earliest stages of<br />
procurement and throughout the lifecycle<br />
of a project. Strengthened data management<br />
securing information and data<br />
sharing between suppliers, customers and<br />
other partners, limited access to critical<br />
assets - next to implementing monitoring<br />
and threat detection systems - improve<br />
supply chain cyber security by mitigating<br />
the risk of cyber-attacks. And if things go<br />
wrong, have an incident response plan in<br />
place to manage the threat and act fast.<br />
THE SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY<br />
CHALLENGE<br />
Industrial companies’ investment in cyber<br />
security is now increasing. More focus is<br />
being placed on identifying where companies<br />
are vulnerable to attack, and putting<br />
the people, process, and technology<br />
measures in place to defend their IT and<br />
OT environments. But all this effort will<br />
make no difference if the security posture<br />
of a company’s supply chain is not equally<br />
strengthened.<br />
Companies can have complete oversight<br />
of their own vulnerabilities and have<br />
all the right measures in place to manage<br />
the risk, but this doesn’t matter if there<br />
are undiscovered vulnerabilities in their<br />
supply chain. One issue can escalate or<br />
‘domino’ into many others. The supply<br />
chain is a very attractive target for cyber<br />
criminals because it potentially provides a<br />
TIME TO TAKE ACTION<br />
It is now time for both industrial operators<br />
and their suppliers to face these challenges<br />
head-on. Increasingly, suppliers<br />
must assure themselves that they have the<br />
right measures in place to defend their<br />
products and systems from cyber threats.<br />
They must also be in a position to demonstrate<br />
their security posture to companies<br />
procuring from them.<br />
The overriding principle to mitigate<br />
against assets and operations being compromised<br />
by a cyber-attack is to protect,<br />
detect, respond and recover. This is in line<br />
with industry best practice including the<br />
National Institute of Standards and Technology’s<br />
(NIST) cyber security framework.<br />
The Centre for Internet Security (CIS)<br />
sets out benchmarks for vendor product<br />
families to help protect systems against<br />
threats more confidently while The<br />
Open Worldwide Application Security<br />
Project (OWASP) Foundation provides<br />
free online resources for web application<br />
security.<br />
For many organisations, however, the<br />
challenge in ensuring cyber resilience<br />
is understanding and identifying where<br />
their vulnerabilities are. By having a clear<br />
overview of attack surfaces and potential<br />
entry points, you can prioritise the vulnerabilities<br />
and non-conformities that must<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 31
CYBERSECURITY<br />
be addressed. Robust and often straightforward<br />
mitigation measures can be put in<br />
place to address most vulnerabilities.<br />
When it comes to demonstrating security<br />
posture, it pays for suppliers to be able<br />
to prove that they conform to a growing<br />
number of industry standards and practices.<br />
These standards include IEC 62443,<br />
the international series of standards that<br />
address cyber security for operational technology<br />
in automation and control systems,<br />
and ISO 27001, the standard for information<br />
security management systems and<br />
their requirements.<br />
Recommended practices are also available<br />
to help companies on their path to<br />
compliance with industry standards. For<br />
example, DNV’s Recommended Practice<br />
DNV-RP-G108 provides best practice on<br />
how to apply the IEC 62443 standard in the<br />
oil and gas industry.<br />
Help is at hand from industrial cyber security<br />
specialists, including DNV, for those<br />
companies who don’t have the in-house expertise<br />
to undertake this work themselves.<br />
They can help to identify which standards<br />
are most relevant to comply with, uncover<br />
companies’ compliance status, what outline<br />
what needs to be done to achieve compliance<br />
before helping to put mitigating actions<br />
in place.<br />
For companies procuring products and<br />
systems from suppliers, we recommend<br />
that supply chain audits and vendor cyber<br />
security requirements are implemented<br />
during procurement, installation and operation<br />
of equipment, systems, and software.<br />
By defining requirements up front, and<br />
regularly reviewing suppliers against those<br />
requirements, understanding the supply<br />
chain’s cyber security posture becomes less<br />
of a black box. Vulnerabilities can be more<br />
easily identified. Mitigating actions can be<br />
undertaken more collaboratively. Assessments<br />
should be undertaken continually,<br />
rather than periodically, to ensure resilience<br />
against new and emerging cyber-attack<br />
vectors.<br />
TIGHTER REGULATION ON THE<br />
HORIZON<br />
Companies with industrial operations who<br />
have not yet put their own cyber security<br />
and that of their supply chain on their to-do<br />
list may be incentivised to do so by tightening<br />
regulation. For example, organisations<br />
providing essential services (including<br />
energy, drinking water supply, transport,<br />
healthcare and more) in the European Union<br />
(EU), will soon face tougher cyber security<br />
regulation than ever, with the threat of<br />
Assessments should be<br />
undertaken continually,<br />
rather than periodically, to<br />
ensure resilience against<br />
new and emerging cyberattack<br />
vectors.<br />
Organisations in<br />
industrial sectors should<br />
now think about NIS2's<br />
scope and if their operations<br />
fit within it.<br />
more and greater fines and/or withdrawal<br />
of license to operate if they do not comply.<br />
The revised NIS2 Directive strengthens<br />
cyber security requirements on companies,<br />
introducing top management accountability<br />
for non-compliance and streamlining reporting<br />
obligations. Crucially, the Directive<br />
also puts more focus on cyber security of<br />
supply chains.<br />
The NIS2 Directive suggests forcing<br />
individual businesses to address cyber security<br />
risks in supply chains and supplier<br />
partnerships to address the security of these<br />
ties. The idea is that it will improve supplychain<br />
cyber security for important information<br />
and communication technology at the<br />
European level. Building on the successful<br />
strategy used in the framework of the European<br />
Commission’s Recommendation on<br />
Cybersecurity, Member States may conduct<br />
coordinated risk assessments of vital supply<br />
chains in collaboration with the Commission<br />
and the European Union Agency for<br />
Cybersecurity (ENISA).<br />
The revised Directive on Security of Network<br />
and Information Systems (NIS2) to<br />
come into force in January <strong>2023</strong>. Member<br />
States have until October 2024 to homologate<br />
NIS2 into national legislation and while it<br />
is estimated that organisations within NIS2<br />
scope will have to start complying by mid-<br />
2024 with relevant national laws.<br />
Organisations in industrial sectors should<br />
now think about NIS2's scope and if their operations<br />
fit within it. An organisation should<br />
consider the organisational, financial, and<br />
technical actions that will be necessary to get<br />
ready for NIS2 compliance if it looks likely<br />
that they will fall under the new legislation's<br />
purview. For instance, the European Commission<br />
anticipates that organisations' ICT<br />
security spending will increase by up to 22%<br />
in the first few years following the introduction<br />
of NIS2. In-scope organisations should<br />
also monitor how NIS2 is implemented in the<br />
important EU jurisdictions where they conduct<br />
business.<br />
If you think your organisation might fall<br />
under the scope of the NIS2 Directive, my<br />
advice is to get advice. DNV’s white paper on<br />
the Directive is a great starting point for identifying<br />
what new cyber security laws mean<br />
for industrial companies in Europe, and what<br />
you need to do to get ready to comply.<br />
32 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
ASSET LIFE ASSESSMENT<br />
Using pipelines<br />
to transport hydrogen<br />
instead of natural gas<br />
DR. JOHANNA STEINBOCK, Expert Fracture Mechanics Analysis, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service<br />
JAN SACHSE, Head of Department Plant Safety, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service<br />
DR. ALBERT GROSSMANN, Expert High-Pressure Pipelines, TÜV SÜD Industrie Service<br />
Source: TÜV SÜD.<br />
Hydrogen is one of the key players in the energy transition.<br />
Plans envisage using existing natural gas infrastructure for<br />
its transport and storage. Relying on fracture-mechanics<br />
analysis, TÜV SÜD assesses the integrity and remaining<br />
service life of pipelines intended for hydrogen transport<br />
and storage, considering hydrogen embrittlement of steel<br />
and aspects such as crack initiation and propagation in a<br />
hydrogen atmosphere.<br />
CONTACT:<br />
TÜV SÜD Industrie Service GmbH,<br />
Westendstrasse 199, 80686<br />
Munich, Germany<br />
+49 89 5791-2176<br />
jan.sachse@tuvsud.com<br />
tuvsud.com/en/themes/<br />
hydrogen/hydrogen-pipelines
ASSET LIFE ASSESSMENT<br />
Green hydrogen produced<br />
with electricity from<br />
renewable sources could<br />
slash carbon emissions by<br />
several million tonnes per<br />
year in Germany alone. Beyond its application<br />
in the steel and chemical industries,<br />
the energy carrier can also be used<br />
for energy storage and in fuel-cell drive<br />
systems in the transport sector. Given<br />
this, the German Federal Ministries for<br />
Economic Affairs and for Digital and<br />
Transport have invested a total of over<br />
8 billion euros since mid-2021, funding<br />
around 60 large-scale hydrogen projects<br />
from hydrogen production to transport<br />
and industrial use.¹<br />
USING AVAILABLE<br />
INFRASTRUCTURE<br />
With a service life of up to 100 years,<br />
pipelines and storage caverns are particularly<br />
ecological and economical<br />
solutions for gas transport and storage.<br />
In addition to roughly 500 000 km of<br />
pipelines transporting gas throughout<br />
Germany, there are 40 000 km of pipelines<br />
for cross-regional and cross-border<br />
transport. With diameters of up to<br />
1.4 m and service pressures of up to 100<br />
bar, the pipes are generally also suitable<br />
for transporting hydrogen. This is supported<br />
by historical fact; up to the mid-<br />
20th century, “city gas” contained up<br />
to 50 % of hydrogen. Using the existing<br />
infrastructure would further increase<br />
Hydrogen is one of<br />
the key players in the<br />
energy transition.<br />
the sustainability of the transition to<br />
hydrogen as an energy carrier.<br />
However, for this approach to be successful,<br />
various types of steel must be<br />
tested for their resistance to hydrogen,<br />
taking into account the current state of<br />
the art in this field and appropriately<br />
adjusted safety and maintenance strategies.<br />
HYDROGEN EMBRITTLEMENT<br />
High-strength steels involve the risk of<br />
hydrogen-induced cracking. Minimal<br />
flaws in the structure of the material,<br />
inclusions, impurities, or cyclic mechanical<br />
stresses may cause the protective oxide<br />
layers of the metal to corrode, enabling<br />
hydrogen atoms to diffuse into the material<br />
and accumulate at flaws in the steel’s<br />
crystalline lattice structure. Because pipelines<br />
in particular, are exposed to pressure<br />
fluctuations, permanent avoidance<br />
or exclusion of damage in the passive<br />
oxide layers is impossible. Fluctuations in<br />
the internal operating pressure of a pipeline<br />
are due to various factors including<br />
injection and withdrawal processes.<br />
Hydrogen deposition reduces the<br />
material’s plastic deformation capability<br />
and thereby its ductility, resulting in<br />
embrittlement and causing microscopic<br />
cracks. Continued accumulation of<br />
hydrogen atoms at the crack tips and<br />
cyclic loading cause these cracks to propagate.<br />
The extent of hydrogen embrittlement<br />
depends on the grade and structure<br />
of the steel and its type of production.<br />
Higher strength values and rougher<br />
surfaces increase the risk of hydrogen<br />
deposition.<br />
In principle, hydrogen reduces fracture<br />
(crack) resistance by up to 50 per<br />
cent and accelerates crack propagation<br />
even at relatively low partial pressures.<br />
It also lowers contraction at break, but<br />
not tensile strength. These influences<br />
of hydrogen on steel must be taken into<br />
account in pipeline assessment.<br />
USING FRACTURE-MECHANICS<br />
ANALYSIS<br />
Fracture-mechanics analysis is applied<br />
in examining pipelines and their materials<br />
for their suitability for transporting<br />
hydrogen, and in calculating the<br />
expected service life. In the case of<br />
known flaws, the experts will assess<br />
the integrity of the component. Fracture<br />
mechanics are also applied to new<br />
pipelines, e.g. to identify the detection<br />
limits in non-destructive testing of the<br />
material and weld seams and to calculate<br />
the inspection intervals for future<br />
operations.<br />
The propagation behaviour of existing<br />
cracks in particular can be mathematically<br />
quantified. Fracture-mechanics<br />
analysis looks not only at the materialspecific<br />
parameters, but also at stresses<br />
and distortions in the presence of the<br />
respective fluid. Generally, it can be said<br />
that stresses at the crack tip are theoretically<br />
unlimited and interactions between<br />
crack geometry and loading are highly<br />
complex. Fracture mechanics use the factors<br />
of stress intensity and rate of energy<br />
release to describe local stress conditions<br />
at the tip of the crack and crack-propagation<br />
behaviour.<br />
Since diffusion of hydrogen atoms<br />
into the lattice structure of the metal<br />
is a function of time, the frequency<br />
at which the workpiece is loaded also<br />
plays a critical role. This applies all<br />
the more given that cyclic loading<br />
causes varying operating pressures<br />
and may therefore further accelerate<br />
crack growth, which is slower when<br />
1 www.bmwi.de/Redaktion/DE/Pressemitteilungen/2021/05/20210528-bmwi-und-bmvi-bringen-wasserstoff-grossprojekte-auf-den-weg.html<br />
34 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
ASSET LIFE ASSESSMENT<br />
the operating pressure is high and the<br />
pressure amplitude low than vice versa.<br />
VISUALISATION IN A DIAGRAM<br />
A failure assessment diagram (FAD)<br />
is used to examine and evaluate flaws<br />
that may result in component failure<br />
from an integrated perspective with the<br />
help of fracture mechanics. The factors<br />
of loading intensity (L) and stress<br />
intensity (K) describe component stress<br />
with regard to the plastic collapse of<br />
the residual cross-section, and material<br />
strain at the tip of the crack with regard<br />
to brittle fracture. LR stands for the<br />
ratio of existing stress in the residual<br />
cross-section to load at plastic collapse,<br />
whereas KR stands for the ratio<br />
of existing load at the tip of the crack<br />
(stress intensity) to the material’s fracture<br />
toughness.<br />
Together, LR and KR define the<br />
position of an evaluation point in the<br />
FAD (Figure 1). The green FAD curve<br />
indicates the limit values. Parameters<br />
below this curve are still acceptable,<br />
while parameters above the curve are<br />
unacceptable. The blue point indicates<br />
a specific case of evaluation. The analysis<br />
of past loading cycles can be used to<br />
make predictions about future loading<br />
cycles. The expected growth of an initial<br />
crack and the length of time until the<br />
crack turns into an unacceptable flaw<br />
can be mathematically calculated, so<br />
that experts can calculate the service life<br />
of a pipeline.<br />
CLARIFYING HOW H2<br />
INFLUENCES THE MATERIAL<br />
In the USA, most steel types listed in<br />
accordance with the ASME Code have<br />
been analysed; in other words, their<br />
parameters (material characteristics<br />
in a hydrogen atmosphere) are known.<br />
However, where some steel types are<br />
concerned, fracture (crack) resistance<br />
and fatigue crack growth in a hydrogen<br />
atmosphere have yet to be determined<br />
or may be subject to changes caused<br />
by certain alloy elements or heat treatment<br />
processes.<br />
For European materials in particular,<br />
experts must first determine how hydrogen<br />
will impact the relevant parameters<br />
before they can complete fracturemechanics<br />
analysis. DVGW, a German<br />
Pipelines and<br />
storage caverns are<br />
ecological and<br />
economical solutions<br />
for gas transport<br />
and storage.<br />
recognised standardisation body for the<br />
gas and water industry, has launched a<br />
research project on this topic. TÜV SÜD<br />
is represented on the relevant committees<br />
and engages proactively in discussion<br />
and development of the pertinent<br />
safety concepts, which will be published<br />
shortly: DVGW Technical Rule – Code<br />
of Practice G4643 (M) “Fracture-<br />
Mechanical Assessment Concept for<br />
Steel Pipelines with a Design Pressure<br />
of more than 16 bar for the Transport of<br />
Hydrogen” is scheduled for publication<br />
in March <strong>2023</strong>.<br />
NORMATIVE BASIS<br />
All gas pipelines – irrespective of whether<br />
they transport natural gas, pure hydrogen<br />
or a mixture of the two – fall under<br />
the German Energy Management Act<br />
(EnGW). Under the German Regulation<br />
on High-Pressure Gas Lines (GasH-<br />
DrLtgV), conversion of existing natural<br />
gas lines to hydrogen transport represents<br />
a major change and must be reported. The<br />
pipeline operator must prove that the conversion<br />
was completed expertly, professionally<br />
and in accordance with the state<br />
of the art. The technical requirements<br />
are described in DVGW Technical Rule –<br />
Standard G463 and/or DVGW Technical<br />
Rule – Code of Practice G409.<br />
Benefiting from third-party expertise<br />
Acting on behalf of pipeline operators,<br />
TÜV SÜD is currently reviewing the conversion<br />
of existing natural gas pipelines<br />
to hydrogen. In their review, the experts<br />
consider all factors influencing service<br />
life as well as all documents on planning,<br />
construction and operation. The experts<br />
also point out measures that are suitable<br />
for determining, evaluating or upgrading<br />
the condition of pipeline infrastructure.<br />
By providing support in the form of<br />
safety strategies and fracture-mechanics<br />
analyses, TÜV SÜD is helping to achieve<br />
safe, secure and carbon-neutral energy<br />
management.<br />
Figure 1: Example of analysis of static load, FAD curve<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 35
BIOINDUSTRY<br />
Microbial energy, biobased<br />
chemicals, and soil improvement<br />
are the new resources for industrial<br />
food and chemical production<br />
ELIAS HAKALEHTO, Adj.Prof., PhD universities of Helsinki, and Eastern Finland; CEO, Finnoflag Oy<br />
Our modern world is in a phase of industrial metamorphosis. Novel solutions have<br />
been developed for circular economics and are urgently needed to help clean up the<br />
consequences of past negligence. Microbes are present everywhere, so why not make use<br />
of them as workhorses in biobased production? For more effective but softer solutions.<br />
Microscopic interactions<br />
between<br />
various invisible<br />
microbes are incessantly<br />
making<br />
wheels turn in our surrounding world.<br />
One example is the carbon dioxide<br />
emission of individual cells being necessary<br />
for the activation of adjacent<br />
other cells (Hakalehto and Hänninen,<br />
2012). In this example, the onset of<br />
population growth was speeded up by<br />
about 50 % by leading the liberated<br />
carbon dioxide from one PMEU (Portable<br />
Microbe Enrichment Unit) cultivation<br />
syringe to the next stationery<br />
syringe. This demonstrates the effects<br />
between individual cells in the succession<br />
of the bioprocess, as well as in<br />
the natural carbon sequestration. The<br />
technologies behind the Finnoflag bioprocesses<br />
were demonstrated already<br />
in the 21st International Society of<br />
Environmental Indicators global conference<br />
in 2015 in Windsor, Canada<br />
(Hakalehto, 2015a). Climate-friendly<br />
Hydrogen emission from biomass is<br />
facilitating the fixing of Nitrogen from<br />
the atmosphere into soil by microorganisms.<br />
STRUCTURES OF THE<br />
MICROBIOMES<br />
The rapid distribution of microbial<br />
strains reflects the succession of diverse<br />
microbial ecosystems. These<br />
Our modern world<br />
is in a phase<br />
of industrial<br />
metamorphosis.<br />
processes were previously often aseptic<br />
reactions with one or two biocatalytic microbial<br />
strains only. Nowadays, we have<br />
learnt to employ the entire population<br />
to work for the engineering goals using<br />
a more holistic approach (Hakalehto,<br />
36 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
BIOINDUSTRY<br />
2022). This approach makes biotechnology<br />
somewhat distinctive from the pure<br />
chemical processes.<br />
Still, if learned to be used accurately,<br />
it provides flexibility, energy efficiency,<br />
and novel products such as precious<br />
chemicals or polymers. Productivities<br />
that are 2-3 times more effective have<br />
been demonstrated. At the same time,<br />
it is possible to clean up mixed wastes<br />
or waters eloquently (Hakalehto and<br />
Jääskeläinen, 2017).<br />
MICROBES ARE OMNIPRESENT<br />
AND EFFECTIVE<br />
The use of microbiomes in bioprocess<br />
engineering is opening new avenues for<br />
biorefineries. Besides the human body<br />
system, communities of various microbes<br />
occur everywhere and cooperative<br />
microbiomes are also formed in the<br />
industrial processes. For example, some<br />
microbial presence in the circulating water<br />
in the paper industries is beneficial<br />
for papermaking. In bioprocess engineering,<br />
the exploitation of the mixed<br />
microbial cultures brings about new and<br />
interesting products and production<br />
methods.<br />
On microbial cell surfaces, the effective<br />
surface area is exceptionally high,<br />
even in small volumes of bioprocess<br />
fluids. This factor, as well as the rapid<br />
throughput of the process, increases<br />
productivity and makes it possible to<br />
save in space and costs. In modern<br />
agriculture and maintenance security,<br />
microbial strains could consolidate new<br />
means for soil improvement.<br />
BACKGROUND FOR INDUSTRIAL<br />
PROCESSING IS IN THE<br />
DIGESTION<br />
As indicated above, it has been demonstrated<br />
that both the intraspecies and<br />
interspecies gas emissions can cause a<br />
boosting effect of the growth of butyric<br />
acid clostridia, which are in a vital position<br />
in the human colon microflora.<br />
Correspondingly, the impact of surrounding<br />
carbon dioxide on the growth<br />
of Clostridium acetobutylicum was<br />
proven in the case of industrial processes<br />
as demonstrated in a series of<br />
experiments (Hakalehto, 2015b) in<br />
Handbook of Clean Energy Systems,<br />
by R. Wiley & Sons. As he described<br />
in his lecture in Helsinki in 1939, the<br />
dramatic effect of microbial carbon assimilation<br />
was anticipated by Dutch microbiologist<br />
A.J.Kluyver. Nowadays, we<br />
have achieved remarkable Carbon binding<br />
into bacterial bioprocesses. These<br />
processes could be combined with the<br />
high production of bioenergy, such as<br />
biohydrogen.<br />
CASE TAMPERE AND THE<br />
AFTERMATH<br />
A cellulosic industrial side stream accumulated<br />
for a century into Lake Näsijärvi<br />
in Tampere, West Finland, from a<br />
forest industry complex that was active<br />
between 1913-2008. Finnoflag team<br />
under the supervision of the author has<br />
demonstrated that lactic acid (lactate)<br />
could be produced from the sedimented<br />
Hiedanranta reservoir with productivity<br />
of 14,7% using sustainable biotechnology.<br />
The results were newly published in<br />
the European Geosciences Union (EGU<br />
22) General Assembly (Hakalehto et al.<br />
2022).<br />
The joint production of valuable<br />
chemicals, energy gases, and organic soil<br />
improvement, is lucrative. According to<br />
our calculations, it could already be seen<br />
in 2020 that profits from the industrialization<br />
of the process varied between<br />
30 and 110 M€ in five years according to<br />
different scenarios. Since that time the<br />
prices of steel and energy have increased,<br />
but the technical productivity has also<br />
reached new levels. This extensive project<br />
in Tampere or elsewhere could be<br />
forwarded in cooperation with several<br />
Finnish and foreign universities and<br />
companies. For example, downstream<br />
processing was experimented with by<br />
a Swedish group (Beckinhausen et al.,<br />
2019). Numerous accompanying technologies<br />
are under development, such as<br />
AI (artificial intelligence) for controlling<br />
bioprocesses and product recoveries.<br />
Food production could also be boosted<br />
through bioengineering (Hakalehto<br />
2020, 2021).<br />
Lactic acid and mannitol are both nontoxic<br />
and widely used chemicals for food<br />
supplements and ingredients, pharmaceutical<br />
excipients, and in cosmetics and<br />
sweet-manufacturing too. Tomorrow´s<br />
pills and tablets will contain increasingly<br />
more often, readily dissolving mannitol<br />
as the carrier substance. Finnoflag Oy has<br />
been able to raise its production levels<br />
by 10-12% starting from the initial trials<br />
of food industries nearly 10 years ago<br />
(Hakalehto et al. 2016).<br />
Finally, the pilot studies in Tampere<br />
2017-22 could serve as a model for a<br />
feasible biorefinery plant. Such environmental<br />
deposits of cellulosic and other<br />
sediments could be found in thousands<br />
of locations worldwide.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 37
HSE<br />
TIME<br />
for Big<br />
Business<br />
to Clear<br />
the Air<br />
Take a deep breath. You assume the air is<br />
clean; it's the very breath of life and you<br />
will do it 20,000 times a day.<br />
MARK NAPLES, General Manager for Umicore Coating Services<br />
In a lifetime, about 300m litres of air pass through the<br />
average person's lungs. Furthermore, if that person walks<br />
along a busy city street today, they will inhale around 20<br />
million toxic 'nanodust' particles with each lungful. 99%<br />
of the world's population breathes air that is harmful to<br />
their health.<br />
Air quality has become a legislative concern, bringing the issue<br />
into sharp focus for various industries. Tackling air pollution<br />
means taking leadership seriously. If we cannot lead the way in<br />
measuring air pollution, set ambitious goals to reduce it, and actively<br />
support innovation in new technology, who will?<br />
Air pollution is connected to the six top-ten causes of death<br />
worldwide, including lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, and<br />
dementia. Businesses have a moral imperative to monitor the air<br />
quality on their sites and protect the people who work there.<br />
While our cities are not the deadly smog traps they once<br />
were, air pollution still remains a serious problem – but it is<br />
however one that we all have the power to solve. Laser absorption<br />
spectroscopy is one simple and logical solution that should<br />
be embraced worldwide. It represents an accessible and accurate<br />
means of detecting and tracking levels of pollutants in the air.<br />
38 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
HSE<br />
ESG INITIATIVES FOR A NET ZERO FUTURE<br />
ESG. These three small letters add up to significant operational<br />
changes for any business. They represent a framework around<br />
which an entirely new operational structure must be built,<br />
changing every level of a company from the top down.<br />
A growing urgency drives the rise in ESG focus for individuals<br />
and corporations alike to tackle one of the world's most<br />
pressing problems – climate change. Individually and corporately,<br />
we are all stewards of the natural environment, but we<br />
have not protected, nurtured, or renewed it as well as we should<br />
have.<br />
There is an almost uniquely strong consensus around sustainability.<br />
Broadly, consumers, businesses, and lawmakers<br />
agree that more must be done on the issue. And as every company<br />
is responsible for at least some emissions throughout their<br />
supply chains, everybody has at least some part to play.<br />
As events like the annual COP conferences continue to focus<br />
minds on climate change policy on a global scale, the direction<br />
of travel is only moving one way – however slow it might be. If<br />
corporate image protection and consumer pressure were not<br />
enough to deliver that focus, then stricter environmental regulations<br />
such as mandatory government climate risk disclosures<br />
certainly should be.<br />
By adopting measures based on data provided by intelligent<br />
sensors, organizations can improve their ESG compliance and<br />
enhance their contributions to people, the planet, and profit.<br />
By embracing data, businesses<br />
can be empowered to make more<br />
informed decisions to improve<br />
processes and drive efficiencies.<br />
A foundation of this structure relies on mitigating the hazards<br />
posed both in the workplace and the broader environment.<br />
Data is one currency that can chart our route across this uncertain<br />
terrain and into a more sustainable future. It is impossible<br />
to acquire this data without the intelligent sensors required to<br />
collect it. Using sensors to inform hazard mitigation and other<br />
ESG policies, businesses can maximize safety, minimize disruption<br />
and downtime, and protect people and business assets.<br />
Between the increased risk to workers, machinery, and<br />
other assets, and the rapidly shifting legislative landscape, the<br />
business case for improving air quality is now open-and-shut.<br />
Before this can happen, the air's state must be more closely<br />
monitored.<br />
CROSS-SECTORAL ACCOUNTABILITY<br />
We cannot always see the consequences of air pollution around<br />
us. And there are communication issues around trying to get<br />
people to see the invisible costs of pollution.<br />
Air pollution is an entry point to planetary health. To catalyse<br />
action for clean air, we must reform how we think about<br />
accountability for air pollution and health. And to do that,<br />
tracking the most damaging but best-understood pollutants,<br />
tiny particles of black carbon, nitrates, sulphates, ammonia, or<br />
mineral dust, is non-negotiable.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 39
HSE<br />
Thankfully tremendous advances in<br />
sensor technology have activated a range<br />
of reliable options available for gas detection.<br />
Technology is now more affordable<br />
and accessible than ever. Connected gas<br />
detection is not the technology of the future<br />
anymore, it is available today.<br />
Air pollution measurement instruments<br />
serve multiple purposes: publishing<br />
dust information online to update the<br />
public and issuing cautionary statements<br />
if required. Having this data in real-time<br />
can ensure that the right people act when<br />
increased levels are reported, and control<br />
measures can be put in place and continuously<br />
evaluated.<br />
Environmental monitoring and protecting<br />
against potentially dangerous<br />
conditions can be challenging to manage<br />
without reliable data streams and monitoring<br />
of a site perimeter that gathers<br />
environmental data. For this reason,<br />
more and more companies are turning<br />
to boundary monitoring technology to<br />
measure the level of risk and ensure<br />
they adhere to environmental limits<br />
and guidelines while protecting against<br />
health hazards.<br />
Companies operating in fast-changing<br />
environments can also use a hand-held<br />
particulate monitor to instantly detect<br />
dangerous concentrations of airborne<br />
particles during spot checks and walkthrough<br />
surveys.<br />
LASER-FOCUSED ON GAS<br />
DETECTION<br />
Industrial gas detection is a mature market<br />
that continues to expand as devices<br />
become cheaper at the compliance end<br />
of the market and smarter at the top end.<br />
At Umicore Coatings Services, we work<br />
with OEMs stripping their devices back<br />
to basics, focusing on functionality and<br />
cost for low-cost markets. We also assist<br />
in driving advances to open new opportunities<br />
and allow end users to use their<br />
devices in ways they have not considered<br />
before.<br />
Optical laser technologies are at the<br />
heart of many modern gas monitors.<br />
In such devices, a laser beam is passed<br />
through the gas sample of interest onto<br />
a detector or sensor that converts the incoming<br />
laser light into electrical signals.<br />
Laser-based sensing technologies have<br />
become widely adopted for gas detection<br />
and analysis due to their quick response<br />
times, high sensitivity, and reliability.<br />
Laser sensors work by monitoring the<br />
changes between the incident laser beam<br />
and the light ultimately detected by the<br />
sensor. One approach to doing this is<br />
to compare the laser beam that passes<br />
through the sample to a reference beam<br />
that is not passed through any gas. These<br />
changes are caused by the absorption of<br />
light by the gas sample. Each gas has a<br />
unique absorption profile, which means<br />
it will absorb different wavelengths<br />
of light in different amounts, which<br />
provides the chemical fingerprint that<br />
means that laser sensors can be used for<br />
chemical identification.<br />
While laser sensors can be designed<br />
for any region of the electromagnetic<br />
spectrum, many gas analysis devices<br />
operate in the infrared. This is because<br />
many small gaseous species, like methane,<br />
carbon dioxide, and other hydrocarbons,<br />
absorb infrared light very strongly,<br />
so it is easy to design devices with a<br />
sensitivity that extends to parts per billion.<br />
The additional advantage is that<br />
many different spectral lines characterize<br />
the absorption profile of these gases in<br />
the infrared. This means many features<br />
in the spectra can be used to identify<br />
chemical species with greater accuracy,<br />
and the wealth of information that can<br />
be provided with laser sensors makes<br />
gas analysis a powerful tool in industrial<br />
processing.<br />
We work closely with our customers<br />
through a consultative approach to<br />
develop custom IR designs that balance<br />
performance reliability with production<br />
efficiency. In doing so, we can offer a<br />
range of bandpass optical filters ideally<br />
suited to environmental/gas detection<br />
and analysis applications, with a centre<br />
wavelength anywhere on the NIR to<br />
FIR spectrum with steep-edge and deep<br />
blocking capability.<br />
It is impossible to deal with a problem<br />
we cannot see clearly. By making the invisible<br />
threat of air pollution visible through<br />
accurate data, we can begin to mitigate<br />
and even eliminate harmful emissions<br />
from many industries. It is only possible<br />
to navigate these turbulent waters with the<br />
data acting as our map and compass.<br />
By embracing data, businesses can<br />
be empowered to make more informed<br />
decisions to improve processes and drive<br />
efficiencies. The net result: more sustainable<br />
performance, heightened productivity,<br />
better quality products, reduced<br />
energy usage, lower emissions, and less<br />
landfill. That is the sort of future we all<br />
need to invest in.<br />
40 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
CASE STUDY<br />
Improving energy efficiency<br />
at Hotel Waltikka –<br />
An example of universitybusiness<br />
cooperation<br />
LEA MUSTONEN, Senior lecturer, Communications, Häme University of Applied Sciences<br />
TIMO VIITALA, Senior lecturer, Electrical and Automation Engineering, Häme University of Applied Sciences<br />
TIMO VÄISÄNEN, Senior lecturer, Electrical and Automation Engineering, Häme University of Applied Sciences<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 41
CASE STUDY<br />
Heating and energy solutions are the<br />
hot topic of the day. We are living in a<br />
time of transition and every player in<br />
society is concerned about some aspect<br />
of energy - price, availability, low carbon.<br />
Our university's Hybrid Systems and<br />
Energy Efficiency study module has<br />
never been more topical. This article<br />
presents an implementation approach<br />
that combines the learning needs of<br />
students, the university's objectives<br />
for business cooperation and regional<br />
effectiveness, and the individual<br />
company's objectives for cost-effective<br />
development of its own activities.<br />
The case is Hotel Waltikka, a private family business<br />
built in 1988 in Valkeakoski, Finland. The<br />
hotel has 83 rooms. The volume is 5600 square<br />
metres, or 22 000 cubic metres. The meeting<br />
rooms and restaurant are both about 800 square<br />
metres. And being Finland, the number of saunas is important:<br />
there are 4 of them.<br />
The current owners of the hotel, Piia and Tomi Kuparinen,<br />
bought the hotel in 2019. At this point, any reader familiar<br />
with the tourism industry will sigh in their minds, knowing<br />
what happened the year after they bought the hotel. No one<br />
however, had a crystal ball to predict the coming Covid-19<br />
pandemic or the energy crisis that would soon erupt – crises<br />
that decisively changed the calculations made on the hotel's<br />
profitability.<br />
CEO of the hotel, Tomi Kuparinen, set out to revamp<br />
the hotel by developing both the operational concept and<br />
the physical building. Several energy-saving upgrades were<br />
made: motion sensors, LED lighting, ventilation upgrades,<br />
an automation control system for heating pressure, watersaving<br />
showers, tendering for electricity contracts, etc. The<br />
solar panels alone have already generated 100 MWh per year.<br />
This year's upgrades include an air-to-water heat pump, supplemented<br />
by district heating.<br />
HELP FROM UNIVERSITY COOPERATION<br />
Crises have followed one another, and entrepreneurs in<br />
Finland and elsewhere have sought new solutions to survive.<br />
The CEO Kuparinen started working with our university.<br />
HAMK is a multidisciplinary higher education institution<br />
offering bachelor's and master's degrees in engineering. Research<br />
in this field is carried out in the HAMK Tech research<br />
unit, where one of the research areas is energy efficiency<br />
research. The link between education and working life is<br />
ensured through projects, internships and theses in cooperation<br />
with companies. Teaching is delivered in eight-week<br />
(15 cr) modules.<br />
42 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
CASE STUDY<br />
The case of the Hotel Waltikka was implemented as part of<br />
the module "Hybrid solutions and energy efficiency", which<br />
introduces the realisation of heat and electricity solutions for<br />
the building. In addition to the theoretical studies, the students<br />
worked in small groups to carry out a study and design<br />
on an aspect of energy efficiency in the building. The aim was<br />
to find new innovative and smart energy-saving solutions with<br />
a short payback period.<br />
THE PROJECT WAS DIVIDED INTO SUB-AREAS<br />
For all aspects, a thorough current state analysis<br />
was first carried out by familiarising the building,<br />
its systems and documents. The sub-areas:<br />
1. Ventilation and heating of the restaurant<br />
lobby and lower lobby; aim to achieve the<br />
demand-based heating and ventilation<br />
2. Lighting of the restaurant lobby; aiming at<br />
intelligent lighting with LEDs<br />
3. Total heat recovery; with the aim of improving<br />
energy efficiency<br />
4. Ventilation and heating of the meeting rooms;<br />
with the aim of achieving energy efficiency in<br />
heating and ventilation<br />
5. Lighting and AV controls in the meeting<br />
rooms; with the aim of intelligent lighting in<br />
LEDs<br />
6. Ventilation and heating of sauna rooms; with<br />
the aim of achieving efficiency in heating and<br />
ventilation<br />
7. Sauna room lighting and heating controls;<br />
aiming at intelligent lighting with LEDs and<br />
scene controls for different uses<br />
8. Kitchen ventilation and lighting; aiming at<br />
achieving compliance with both lighting and<br />
ventilation needs<br />
9. Optimisation of electricity consumption and<br />
use of domestic appliances in the kitchen;<br />
with the aim of finding the optimal and<br />
appropriate Lean "drive" for all appliances<br />
10 Ventilation and heating in hotel rooms; aiming<br />
at achieving the necessary efficiency in<br />
heating and ventilation<br />
11. Lighting of the hotel rooms and long corridors<br />
and consumption of hot water in rooms;<br />
aiming at intelligent, demand-based lighting<br />
with LEDs<br />
12. Design of the architecture of the distributed<br />
automation system; aiming at a new<br />
distributed hardware architecture<br />
13. Mapping of the existing electrical system; aim<br />
to modernise the sub distribution boards<br />
TECHNICAL AND BUSINESS SKILLS<br />
At the time of writing, the project was about halfway through<br />
and the results were not yet ready, but it looked promising.<br />
Sensors and meters had been brought into the building, which<br />
had allowed us to make very precise measurements. The results<br />
of the measurements were already being put to good use.<br />
From the university's point of view, this kind of cooperation<br />
is very useful. The students become familiar with the theoretical<br />
knowledge of energy efficiency. Alongside this, they<br />
get to work on a real and concrete application in groups. The<br />
presentation of the results will give them an overall picture of<br />
the energy mapping and energy efficiency improvement of a<br />
large building.<br />
In addition to technical skills, students will also learn other<br />
skills such as project management and teamwork. Their communication<br />
skills will be developed, as students will prepare<br />
a written report on the subject under the guidance of a communication<br />
teacher, following the requirements of the thesis.<br />
The development of business thinking, business case analysing,<br />
is also important. "Developing technical skills alone is not<br />
enough for today's engineers. Solution options must always<br />
include an explanation of the payback period," sums up the<br />
CEO Tomi Kuparinen.<br />
A student's path to becoming an<br />
energy professional is a<br />
combination of theory-based<br />
learning and practical training.<br />
STUDENT PERSPECTIVE<br />
The group of students consisted of people studying for an<br />
engineering degree while working. This allowed the students<br />
to benefit from their previous experience and, by studying in<br />
small groups, they can also learn from each other.<br />
Ari Kolehmainen works at Nokeval and studies while working.<br />
He describes the project as interesting: “It took us from a<br />
school environment to a real customer environment.” His team<br />
studied exhaust air heat recovery. According to the student, the<br />
group had a business-critical mindset, with a two-step approach<br />
to the solution: first, you could choose a cheaper solution with a<br />
lower initial investment cost but with a lower heat recovery capacity.<br />
This could be followed by a more expensive solution with<br />
a higher purchase price, which could even double the efficiency.<br />
The group started with saving electricity, but ended up considering<br />
saving district heating. He said this was a challenge, but it was<br />
also because his group wanted a challenging task.<br />
From the teachers' point of view, this is a positive development<br />
as it shows a strong motivation to learn. Cooperation<br />
with the company has increased the understanding of how<br />
to implement this type of energy efficiency project with students.<br />
In addition, important information has been obtained<br />
during the project about which things to pay attention to from<br />
the point of view of energy consumption.<br />
The student's path to becoming an energy professional is a<br />
combination of theory-based learning and practical training.<br />
The importance of business cooperation cannot be over-emphasised:<br />
it benefits all parties involved.<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 43
EFNMS AWARD<br />
STRATEGIC VIEW<br />
of asset management –<br />
managing emerging trends<br />
and perspectives<br />
JYRI HANSKI, Senior Scientist, VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland.<br />
Many trends and perspectives impact how asset management strategies are formulated<br />
and implemented. My thesis, "Supporting strategic asset management in complex<br />
and uncertain decision contexts," explored this topic and won the EFNMS 2021 Ph.D.<br />
Award competition. Due to covid, the official award ceremony was postponed to the<br />
Euromaintenance conference that will be arranged in April <strong>2023</strong>. Currently, the key topics<br />
of the thesis are increasingly crucial for organizations.<br />
ISO 55000-2 (2014) defines AM<br />
as the "coordinated activity of an<br />
organization to realize value from<br />
assets." At a strategic level, asset<br />
management decisions are often<br />
uncertain and complex. Uncertainty<br />
is the deficiency of information<br />
about an event, its consequences, or<br />
its likelihood. In contrast, complex<br />
systems have a history, are evolving,<br />
and involve many interacting elements,<br />
where minor changes may have significant<br />
consequences. This complexity and uncertainty<br />
stem from factors such as long and varying lifetimes<br />
of assets, imperfect information on which the decisions<br />
are based, complex technologies, information systems and<br />
organizational structures, and multiple stakeholders with<br />
possibly conflicting needs and requirements.<br />
The dissertation (completed in 2019) identified key trends<br />
and perspectives affecting strategic asset management:<br />
regulation and legislation, sustainability, circular economy,<br />
climate change, enabling technologies, ecosystem, business<br />
models, risk management, robustness and flexibility, and life<br />
cycle information management. There is a need for methods<br />
supporting strategic asset management that consider these<br />
aspects of managing the uncertainty and complexity related to<br />
strategic asset management.<br />
RE-EVALUATION OF KEY TRENDS<br />
More concrete requirements and demand<br />
for a sustainable society have<br />
sparked several new legislations,<br />
regulations, standards, and guidelines<br />
that affect asset-intensive industries.<br />
These include EU Green Deal, Fit<br />
for 55, EU Taxonomy for sustainable<br />
economic activities, and Corporate<br />
Sustainability Reporting Directive. Role<br />
of stakeholders and the impact of (lack<br />
of) social responsibility has become more<br />
visible. Since 2019, there has been a need to reevaluate<br />
the list.<br />
Investments in the low-carbon industry and energy efficiency<br />
have been abundant. Minimizing greenhouse gas emissions<br />
is on everyone's agenda, and biodiversity is the focus of<br />
manufacturing industries. New regulations are expected to<br />
force organizations to verify and quantify the green claims.<br />
The global pandemic and war in Ukraine have emphasized<br />
the risks of dependency on extra-EU raw materials, components,<br />
and competencies. Supply security and military aspects<br />
are among the key decision criteria in strategic asset management.<br />
Current and future energy prices are increasingly crucial<br />
in asset management decisions. Furthermore, which role<br />
can AI take in automating and assisting asset management<br />
decisions?<br />
44 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
EFNMS AWARD<br />
There is a call (figure 1.) to build<br />
resilience against the impacts of these<br />
disruptive phenomena and to identify<br />
opportunities within them. These<br />
phenomena have far-reaching impacts<br />
on many parts of production systems<br />
and infrastructure. They are interconnected<br />
with megatrends such as<br />
circular economy, sustainability, and<br />
digitalization, which are already transforming<br />
businesses.<br />
The focus is establishing an asset<br />
management system and strategic<br />
plans that inform investment, maintenance, operation, and<br />
sustainable end-of-life decisions. From a strategic asset<br />
management perspective, these disruptive phenomena disrupt<br />
the use of assets, alter investment volumes in the asset<br />
base, alter the timing and nature of production disruptions,<br />
and may even result in the shutdown of production units.<br />
The global pandemic<br />
and war in Ukraine have<br />
emphasized the risks of<br />
dependency on extra-<br />
EU raw materials,<br />
components, and<br />
competencies.<br />
CIRCULAR ECONOMY AS A KEY FOR<br />
SUSTAINABLE ASSET MANAGEMENT<br />
Circular economy emerges as one of the main topics for<br />
strategic asset management. Strategic asset management<br />
already incorporates many aspects of the circular economy,<br />
such as reducing waste and keeping assets in use through<br />
effective maintenance. Adopting life cycle thinking in strategic<br />
asset management aligns with the goals of the circular<br />
economy by maximizing the value of assets. Assets are<br />
stockpiles of valuable resources, including critical raw materials<br />
(CRMs), and any degradation<br />
results in value loss.<br />
However, incorporating circular<br />
principles more deeply into strategic<br />
objectives would increase the sustainability<br />
of the asset management<br />
system and the organization. This<br />
requires a more comprehensive understanding<br />
of strategic decisions'<br />
economic, environmental, and social<br />
impacts and incorporating circular<br />
design strategies into decisionmaking.<br />
Examples of such decisions include investing in greener<br />
production systems, investments, and practices to increase<br />
energy and material efficiency, prioritizing non-critical,<br />
biobased, or secondary raw materials, maintaining and<br />
remanufacturing production systems, and reusing or recycling<br />
them at the end of their first life cycle and essentially<br />
all actions towards preventing waste and downcycling.<br />
CONCLUDING REMARKS<br />
This article outlined some of the main topics of my dissertation.<br />
The main contributions of the dissertation were: 1)<br />
emerging trends and perspectives in strategic asset management,<br />
2) advancing the classification of methods supporting<br />
strategic asset management, and 3) developing and testing<br />
novel methods for supporting asset management decisions.<br />
The dissertation is available to read at: https://urn.fi/<br />
URN:ISBN:978-952-335-397-8.<br />
EXTERNAL<br />
TRENDS AND<br />
PERSPECTIVES<br />
INTERNAL<br />
PERSPECTIVES<br />
Figure 1. Important trends and perspectives affecting strategic asset management (Applied from Hanski, 2019)<br />
1/<strong>2023</strong> maintworld 45
EUROMAINTENANCE<br />
EuroMaintenance<br />
comes to the Netherlands<br />
The maintenance workforce has grown again this year.<br />
However, there are challenges facing the sector. For<br />
example, the increasing ageing of the population is causing<br />
a high average age (46 years), an increase in the number of<br />
vacancies (15 vacancies per maintenance organisation) and<br />
an increase in the outflow (8.9%). Of the outflow, a large<br />
group (43.5%) leaves the organisation because of retirement.<br />
In the coming years, efforts should<br />
be made to increase the inflow<br />
of new personnel. One way to<br />
achieve this is by attracting more<br />
women (current share 8,4%) and<br />
more people with a migrant background<br />
into Maintenance. Furthermore, efforts<br />
should be made to retain these groups<br />
within the maintenance organisation.<br />
QUESTIONS NEED ANSWERS<br />
– These and many more questions cry out<br />
for an answer, says Ellen den Broeder,<br />
General Manager NVDO and leader of the<br />
EuroMaintenance project team.<br />
– With many hundreds of professionals<br />
attending EuroMaintenance in Rotterdam,<br />
the Netherlands, we may be able<br />
to find a solution. And besides, we also like<br />
to share the rosy picture: within the sector<br />
EuroMaintenance,<br />
the<br />
largest European<br />
conference on<br />
maintenance<br />
has existed since<br />
1972 and is an<br />
initiative of the EFNMS (European<br />
Federation of National Maintenance<br />
Societies) and organized by the Dutch<br />
Maintenance Society NVDO in April<br />
<strong>2023</strong>. Maintenance NEXT is the most<br />
important platform for industrial<br />
maintenance in the Benelux and will be<br />
held next-door. The largest European<br />
maintenance conference will be held in<br />
Rotterdam from 17 to 19 April.<br />
there is increasing confidence in recruiting<br />
enough staff. 60% of companies<br />
say they are confident about attracting<br />
enough technical staff and 71% say they<br />
are confident about attracting enough<br />
technological staff.<br />
The outflow due to dissatisfaction<br />
has decreased (35.5%), which means<br />
that Management and Maintenance is<br />
an attractive sector to work in. These<br />
and many more figures are the outcome<br />
of the yearly Maintenance Benchmark<br />
in the Netherlands.<br />
ASSET MANAGEMENT AT ITS<br />
BEST<br />
The NVDO Maintenance Compass is an<br />
annual publication and provides insight<br />
in the status of, and trend in the Asset<br />
Management industry. Based on key figures,<br />
trends and vision documents, the<br />
NVDO aims to help the Asset Management<br />
industry deal with developments,<br />
challenges and opportunities in the Asset<br />
Management field.<br />
– Our maintenance market amounts<br />
to roughly 36 billion Euros, equivalent<br />
to roughly 4.5% of the gross domestic<br />
product (GDP). The maintenance market<br />
as a whole employs approximately<br />
300,000 professionals, this means that<br />
46 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
EUROMAINTENANCE<br />
3.0 to 3.5% of the Dutch working population<br />
is employed in the maintenance<br />
sector, Den Broeder says.<br />
DIVERSITY WILL DELIVER A<br />
HIGH-LEVEL CONFERENCE<br />
Keynotes, Workshops and Inspiring<br />
Tables<br />
– Since there are a couple of changes<br />
in the total employee base that catch<br />
the eye, we decided to give the Huma<br />
Factor prominent place at EuroMaintenance.<br />
Not only will the keynotes cover<br />
the theme, but some of the workshops<br />
will also give an answer to the problems<br />
we all deal with, Den Broeder says. Besides<br />
the workshops and the keynotes,<br />
there is an Inspiring Table at the end of<br />
the second conference day to inspire the<br />
audience. EuroMaintenance welcomes<br />
36 workshops, 11 keynotes and 3 Inspiring<br />
Tables. All of them are of the highest<br />
quality and of international stature.<br />
INCREASING FOCUS ON<br />
INNOVATIONS AND BIG DATA<br />
Besides the Human Factor, there are<br />
four more themes to learn from at EuroMaintenance:<br />
Asset Performance,<br />
Safety, Smart Industry, Sustainability.<br />
– The opportunities offered by innovations<br />
and big data are being embraced<br />
more and more. A solid 70%<br />
of the organisations holds the opinion<br />
that their own industry is either ahead<br />
of, or on-par with other industries. A<br />
vast majority is convinced that they<br />
adopt a sufficient amount of innovations<br />
and technology in order to at least<br />
keep up. However, the most important<br />
barriers to the adoption of innovations<br />
are a lack of capital and a lack of<br />
knowledge.<br />
Den Broeder refers to the Maintenance<br />
Compass again. Data driven<br />
working is becoming ever more common<br />
according to her. It is evident that<br />
all these issues are of the attention of<br />
EuroMaintenance.<br />
– We all look forward to welcoming<br />
hundreds of professionals from all<br />
over Europe. NVDO, EFNMS and Ahoy<br />
Rotterdam ensure that Rotterdam, the<br />
Netherlands, will be the Maintenance<br />
Capital of Europe during 17,18,19 April.<br />
See, Hear, Learn!<br />
EUROMAINTENANCE TEAM MEMBER<br />
IAN VAN DEN BRINK (NVDO):<br />
Some one-and-a-half years ago I<br />
joined the NVDO-team and Euro-<br />
Maintenance has been one of our<br />
focusses from when I first started.<br />
It feels as if we have been working<br />
together for many more years than<br />
we actually have, and I am incredibly<br />
proud that we are accomplishing<br />
such a strong, high calibre and international<br />
event with our small team! In<br />
the past months we have been hard<br />
at work, and it has all paid off with the<br />
incredible enthusiastic responses we<br />
are receiving from everyone involved.<br />
The Global Maintenance Professionals<br />
are waiting eagerly to once again<br />
meet each other at EuroMaintenance<br />
and I am very excited to speak to all<br />
of them in the European Maintenance<br />
Capital, Rotterdam!
TECHNOLOGY<br />
Common misconceptions<br />
about motors<br />
The tongue-in-cheek saying “If it’s in black and white, it must be right” is a helpful reminder<br />
that not everything we read (or hear) is accurate or complete. It’s always best to check<br />
sources and verify facts before accepting consequential statements as true. A similar adage<br />
underscores the importance of this advice in the digital age: “If it’s on the Internet, it must<br />
be true.” With these things in mind, here’s a random collection of common misconceptions<br />
about three-phase squirrel cage motors and the facts that deny them.<br />
THOMAS H. BISHOP,<br />
P.E., senior technical support specialist at EASA<br />
Soft-starting motors reduce utility-demand charges<br />
Soft starters typically ramp up the voltage applied to a<br />
motor over a few seconds at start-up, reducing winding<br />
heating and starting current. This may extend the life of<br />
the winding for motors that start frequently, but it doesn’t<br />
affect utility demand charges. That’s because the electric<br />
meter averages the kilowatts consumed over each 15 -<br />
30-minute period, not just for the few seconds that the soft<br />
starter reduces input power to the motor.<br />
Higher current means a motor is less efficient<br />
Input power is not a function of current alone. Other factors<br />
are voltage, power factor and efficiency. As an example, Table<br />
1 shows the key data for two 460-volt motors of the same 75 hp<br />
(55 kW) rating.<br />
Table 1. Example of motor current versus efficiency.<br />
Motor Amps Power factor Efficiency<br />
A 85.0 0.866 0.954<br />
B 88.2 0.835 0.954<br />
48 maintworld 1/<strong>2023</strong>
TECHNOLOGY<br />
Note that Motors A and B have the same full-load efficiency<br />
despite a difference of more than 3 amps in their ratings. If you<br />
want to fact-check this, use the formula in Figure 1.<br />
746 × hp<br />
1.732 × E × PF<br />
Where:<br />
hp = horsepower<br />
E = voltage<br />
I = current<br />
PF = power factor<br />
Figure 1. Formula for 3-phase motor efficiency.<br />
Power factor correction capacitors can reduce<br />
the energy consumption of a motor<br />
Applying power factor capacitors at the motor terminals increases<br />
the power factor on the supply cables but does not<br />
change the motor’s power factor. Increasing the power factor<br />
on the supply lines reduces current in them, causing a corresponding<br />
but typically insignificant reduction in I²R losses<br />
(energy) in the supply wiring. The primary reason for reducing<br />
supply circuit current is to add electrical loads without rewiring<br />
a facility.<br />
A motor can be loaded up to its service factor current<br />
An example of this would be loading a 1.15 service factor motor<br />
up to its service factor current (typically ~1.15 × rated current).<br />
That would be a problem, according to clause 14.37.1 of NEMA<br />
Stds. MG 1-2016: Motors and Generators (MG 1): “A motor<br />
operating continuously at any service factor greater than 1 will<br />
have a reduced life expectancy compared to operating at its<br />
rated nameplate horsepower. Insulation life and bearing life<br />
are reduced by the service factor load.”<br />
Further, the service factor only applies to Usual Service<br />
Conditions (MG 1, 14.2). These include operation at an ambient<br />
temperature of 5°F to 104°F (-15°C to 40°C) and at an altitude<br />
of less than 3300 feet (1000 meters) when rigidly mounted in<br />
areas or supplementary enclosures that do not seriously interfere<br />
with the machine’s ventilation.<br />
A 230-volt motor can be used on a 208-volt electrical<br />
system<br />
Per MG 1, 12.45, motors can operate successfully at ±10 percent<br />
of their rated voltage. Since 10 percent below 230 volts is<br />
207 volts, a 230-volt motor would appear to be acceptable for<br />
use on a 208-volt system. But ANSI Std. C84.1 permits service<br />
entrance voltage for 208-volt power systems to be as low<br />
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as 191 volts. Since there will be additional voltage drop in the<br />
building wiring, the voltage supplied to the motor could be less<br />
than 191 volts–well below the 207-volt minimum required for<br />
the 230-volt motor.<br />
If the motor has a nameplate rating of 208-230 volts, ask<br />
the manufacturer for a suitable voltage range. Said another<br />
way, ask if the manufacturer’s warranty will apply if the motor<br />
is used anywhere between 187 volts (208 volts minus 10 percent)<br />
and 253 volts (230 volts plus 10 percent).<br />
Oversized motors, especially motors operating below<br />
60% of rated load, are not efficient and should be<br />
replaced with appropriately sized premium efficiency<br />
(IE3) motors<br />
On the contrary, matching motor horsepower (kW) rating to<br />
the load will usually mean a slightly lower efficiency at that load<br />
than using the next larger size motor. The reason is that motors<br />
tend to peak in efficiency between 75-80 percent load. Motors<br />
that drive, supply or return air fans in heating, ventilation and<br />
air-conditioning (HVAC) systems generally operate at 70 to 75<br />
percent of rated load, making them candidates for use with oversized<br />
motors. Further, even at 60 percent of rated load (which<br />
more than one industrial motor study found to be the average<br />
load level), the next higher power rating motor could be more<br />
efficient at that load than the appropriately sized power rating.<br />
Some high-inertia loads also require more HP/kW to start than<br />
to run the load. Reducing the HP/kW to match the running load<br />
could result in the motor being unable to start the load.<br />
It doesn’t matter which of the three line-to-line<br />
voltages in a three-phase system you measure to see if<br />
a motor is supplied with the proper voltage<br />
It does matter. Voltage unbalance negatively affects threephase<br />
motors. Even modest differences among the three lineto-line<br />
voltage levels can increase motor heating considerably.<br />
Voltage unbalance is expressed as a percent and determined by<br />
the formula in Figure 2.<br />
Percent voltage unbalance = 100 ×<br />
Example: With voltages of 460, 467, and 450, the average is 459,<br />
and the maximum deviation from the average is 9.<br />
Therefore:<br />
Percent unbalance = 100 ×<br />
Reference: ANSI/NEMA Std. MG 1-2016, 14.36.<br />
Figure 2. Formula for voltage unbalance.<br />
Max. volt. deviation from avg. volt.<br />
9<br />
459 = 1.96%<br />
Average volt.<br />
It’s always best to check<br />
sources and verify facts before<br />
accepting consequential<br />
statements as true.<br />
The formula for percent additional temperature rise in<br />
a motor winding due to unbalanced supply voltages is<br />
2 × (% voltage unbalance)2, so a mere 3.5 percent unbalance<br />
would cause a substantial increase: 2 × 3.52 = 24.5%. For many<br />
motors, that would be an additional temperature rise of about<br />
36°F (20°C).<br />
According to a well-accepted guideline, motor winding life<br />
decreases by half for each 18°F (10°C) increase in temperature.<br />
Thus the 36°F (20°C) additional temperature rise due to a<br />
3.5 percent voltage unbalance can cut a motor’s insulation life<br />
to about a quarter of what it should be.<br />
Hand contact on a motor surface is a reliable way to<br />
judge operating temperature<br />
Never check a motor’s surface temperature by hand! Modern<br />
motors can have surface temperatures near or above the<br />
boiling point of water during normal operation. Appropriate<br />
devices for measuring these temperatures include thermometers<br />
or pyrometers, thermocouples and thermal imagers.<br />
Note that MG 1 sets specific limits for internal winding<br />
temperatures but not for motor surfaces. Where it does address<br />
parts other than windings (e.g., clause 12.43), it says<br />
the temperature of such parts “shall not injure the insulation<br />
or the machine in any respect.” So, unless the motor surface<br />
temperature exceeds the winding's rating or something on<br />
the surface is damaged or otherwise degraded, MG 1 would<br />
not consider it too hot.<br />
Winding burnout is the most common cause<br />
of motor failure<br />
Although a winding failure usually results in a more costly<br />
repair and longer downtime, bearing failure is the most common<br />
cause of motor failure (see Table 2).<br />
Table 2. Summary of motor failure surveys for motors rated up to 4 kV.<br />
Component<br />
Survey 1 Survey 2 Survey 3 Survey 4<br />
Stator 36.5% 24.8% 25.0% 15.8%<br />
Rotor 9.5% 6.0% 6.0% 4.7%<br />
Bearing 41.0% 51.6% 51.0% 51.1%<br />
Other 13.0% 17.6% 18.0% 28.4%<br />
SURVEY REFERENCES<br />
1. P.F. Albrecht, J.C. Appiarius, and D.K. Sharma, “Assessment of reliability<br />
of motors in utility applications – Updated.” IEEE Transactions on Energy<br />
Conversion, vol. EC-1, no. 1, pp. 39-46, March 1986.<br />
2. O.V. Thorsen and M. Dalva, “Failure Identification and Analysis for<br />
High-Voltage Induction Motors in the Petrochemical Industry,” IEEE<br />
Transactions on Industry Applications, vol. 35, no. 4, pp. 810-818, July/<br />
Aug. 1999.<br />
3. Monitoring und Diagnose elektrischer Maschinen und Antriebe, Allianz<br />
Schadensstatistik an HS Motoren 1996-1999 in VDE Workshop, 2001.<br />
44. O.V. Thorsen and M. Dalva, “A survey of faults on induction motors in<br />
offshore oil industry, petrochemical industry, gas terminals and oil<br />
refineries,” PCIC, 1994. Record of Conference Papers, IEEE IAS 41st<br />
Annual, Vancouver, BC, 1994, pp. 1-9.<br />
Adapted from EASA’s Root Cause Failure Analysis, 2 nd ed., pp. 1-5.<br />
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