The Benefits of Predictive Maintenance in the Automated Valve Industry

The automated valve industry has been constantly evolving with technological advancements. With the implementation of digital valve controllers, diagnostics software, and network communications, the industry has achieved a significant reduction in maintenance costs and unplanned outages. This has resulted in enhanced service life, increased productivity, and cost reduction.

Process manufacturers have been striving to achieve predictive maintenance for decades as it saves millions in maintenance costs. Predictive maintenance involves deploying resources and focusing on equipment that is about to fail while allowing healthy devices to remain in service. This approach helps avoid unplanned outages and shutdowns, ultimately saving millions more.

However, predicting the future is notoriously difficult, and it has been a daunting task for companies to accomplish this goal. In this article, we will discuss the various diagnostic and data-driven initiatives that make predictive maintenance possible.

Automated control and on-off valves are critical components in numerous processes. Their unanticipated failure can cost millions of dollars annually. Unfortunately, many automated valves offer no obvious hint of developing problems. When the PID controller is set to automatic, which is typically the case, it compensates for degrading valve performance, so the loop continues to function, albeit with reduced performance. Eventually, the valve fails completely, upsetting the process or forcing a shutdown.

Valves often exhibit subtle signs of degradation well in advance of outright failure. However, these signs can be quite challenging to detect. If these conditions are noticed and appropriate actions are taken, unplanned outages can be avoided. This is where data plays a crucial role.

Historically, automated valve data has been limited to valve position. With every generation of smart diagnostic digital valve controller, more information has become available. These digital valve controllers employ an array of sensors to monitor the valve and detect abnormal conditions as they develop. Higher-tier units allow both offline and online monitoring.

The next generation of digital valve controllers is already well into the design stage, and they will provide even more data that can be utilized to monitor valve operation, packing performance, system integrity, and much more. New software apps will automatically analyze all available data to provide insights and recommendations.

However, data is only useful if it is used. No predictions are possible unless a knowledgeable entity receives that data and properly evaluates it to draw accurate conclusions. This is where a host of problems may arise.

The currently installed valve controller may be an older model lacking the ability to sense and capture the necessary data. The digital valve controller may capture the data, but it has no way to serve up the data unless a technician goes to the valve and accesses the information directly. The digital valve controller may be tied to some type of maintenance network, and the data transmitted to a common location, but there are no resources to look at the data. Even if resources are available, they may lack the experience and knowledge to accurately interpret the information and draw actionable conclusions.

The issues mentioned above are being addressed in various ways. As older valve positioners fail, most users are replacing them with diagnostic digital valve controllers, which have improved sensors and advanced communication technologies. However, there are tiers of performance with these devices, with higher-end equipment providing out-of-service and in-service diagnostics, as well as partial stroke testing.

To position a company for predictive maintenance, it may need to invest more in the digital valve controller for any repaired or new valves. This is particularly true of any valve that is critical to production or operates in severe service. Paying for the higher-tier digital valve controllers for these valves will almost always pay for itself in short order due to improved diagnostics capability, lower maintenance costs, and increased uptime.

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