Asset Monitoring Made Easy with Waukesha & Detechtion

Background

INNIO Waukesha Gas Engines Inc. (INNIO Waukesha) and Detechtion Technologies Inc. (Detechtion) are working together to expand asset connectivity, drive a customer-centric digital ecosystem and empower customers’ transition to decarbonization. Our cloud-based digital solution provides a new depth of remote asset insights and analysis across a fleet of installed natural gas engine and compressor packages.

The technology partnership combines INNIO Waukesha's engine analytics with Detechtion’s compression monitoring and optimization technology into a single solution for both new and existing compressor skids. The solution helps customers remotely manage their assets securely and in real-time, anticipating unexpected events and determining if assistance is required. The results: improved energy production and reduced plant downtime.

“Most systems on the market today monitor the performance of either the compressor or the engine—never both,” said Bud Hittie, president of INNIO Waukesha Inc. and leader of the Waukesha product brand. “This comprehensive solution combines INNIO Waukesha’s strength in engine analysis with Detechtion’s wide range of compressor diagnostics. Our collaboration strengthens our customer-centric strategy, helping drive the transition to net zero.”

Delivering proof of concept

For the collaboration, INNIO Waukesha and Detechtion worked with a large international fleet rental company on a proof of concept. Seven assets were selected by the customer, with three in Bolivia and four in Oman.

To ensure that the hardware would be plug and play once it arrived at site, various information was obtained from the customer ahead of time, including make/model, compressor geometry (bore, stroke, rod length, rod load limits, etc.), engine geometry and gas composition (fuel and compressed gas).

After receiving installation training, the customer installed Detechtion’s Enbase Hubs—a process that averages one hour per device with remote support. Because the Oman site did not have all the necessary data requirements to enable the full functionality of Detechtion’s digital twin, an expansion module was quickly shipped to the site. The customer then was able to install pressure and temperature transducers without the need for costly controller reprogramming.

The digital twins were built in Enalysis, the preferred predictive SaaS system Detechtion has developed for natural gas compressor fleet optimization. After the Hub communication was established and the data was confirmed to be valid, the Enbase Hub data began feeding into Enalysis to generate exception-based diagnostic reports.

Some of the calculations that Enalysis provides are:

• Incremental production
• Fuel gas used
• CO2 and NOx emissions
• Expected discharge temperature
• Compression ratio
• Volumetric efficiency
• Blowby
• Rod load compression and tension—static and net
• Minimum degrees reversal
• Minimum rod load net ratio
• Cylinder flow
• Horsepower used—overall and at RPM
• Cylinder capacity used

Once the systems were installed and running, the assets were monitored remotely by the Remote Operations Center (ROC) at Waukesha, which teamed up with the engineering account managers (EAMs) at Detechtion.

Results

When the ROC identified “blowby” on one of the assets, it quickly sent this information to an EAM for verification. If left untreated, blowby leakage on a compressor can be expensive and even catastrophic. The customer was proactively contacted by the ROC and EAM teams and was able to respond to the issue in a timely manner, avoiding failure and minimizing production losses.

The collaboration will continue to remotely monitor the assets and proactively identify issues as they arise.

Customer benefits

Through the collaboration between INNIO Waukesha and Detechtion, the customer gained full visibility into the compressor package (engine and compressor), which often results in:

• Lower operating costs
• Reduced asset downtime
• Increased asset availability
• Increased production and/or lower emissions and fuel gas usage
• Decreased risk of catastrophic failure
• Reduced number of trips to field locations

To learn more about the collaboration between INNIO Waukesha and Detechtion, visit: https://waukesha-detechtion.com/