Emerson Exchange 365

Rising fuel costs and increasingly rigorous environmental standards in recent years have sent many process managers scrambling to find cheaper and better ways to conserve energy. Steam traps, which remove condensation from steam lines, are easy targets for potential savings—there are hundreds of them in most plants, and they can have an immediate impact on profitability when they fail.

Knowing when they've failed is the challenge, says Joerg Hamacher of Tanatex Chemicals, who presented a case study in steam loss prevention along with Emerson Process Management's Ralf Kueper today at the 2014 Emerson Global Users Exchange in Stuttgart, Germany.

“Failed steam traps can cause inefficient heat transfer and pose a serious risk to personnel and equipment,” Hamacher said. “Studies have shown that the life expectancy of most steam traps range from four to eight years with failure rates of 12 to 25 percent, depending on quality. The average inspection period is just once a year. In the meantime, your process could be leaking money without you even knowing it.”

In September 2013, Tanatex partnered with Emerson to implement the ISO 50001 energy management standards at its Leverkusen chemical plant. The project managers developed a plan to outfit about 100 of the facility's older, more critical steam traps with Emerson’s Rosemount 708 wireless acoustic transmitters linked to a WirelessHART network.

“Emerson has used a unique combination of our expertise in wireless and instrumentation to create a new solution for the steam trap issue,” said Kueper. “The Rosemount 708 is a simple wireless transmitter based on proven technology that allows real-time visibility of critical steam traps. It works on any manufacturer’s steam trap and any trap type. With a 10-year battery life, it rarely needs attention, which allows our customers to worry about far more important things.”

The physical installation process at the Leverkusen plant was completed in a matter of hours without any downtime or pipe cutting necessary, and the system was fully operational within two days. SteamLogicTM software allows operators to quickly and easily identify which steam traps are normal, cold (stuck closed) or blown-thru (stuck open), and whether the monitors are functioning properly. This can help make sure that the right repairs are made at the right time, reducing maintenance costs.

Tanatex estimates that the monitoring system will save at least €40,000 a year, with a projected ROI timeframe of two years or less. Plans are in the works to expand the Leverkusen plant's WirelessHART network to handle additional measurement capabilities, and the company is looking to install similar systems at other facilities in Europe.

“With Emerson's wireless sensing technology, we are now able to monitor our steam traps continuously, 365 days a year,” Hamacher said. “Not only will this minimize energy loss, but it will free up our maintenance resources so that we can focus on improving productivity elsewhere. The system has performed flawlessly so far—we're very pleased with the results.”