Case study
Steam trap failure monitoring
Natural gasPharmaceutical & ChemicalFood & Beverage Processing
A failed-open steam trap vents energy continuously and silently.
A pharmaceutical facility’s steam traps could remain failed open between periodic surveys. We follow their temperature signatures continuously and give the team a separate status for each trap to direct maintenance checks.
What the data showed
Hover or arrow-key across the trace to read any interval. The flagged point is the one that started the conversation.
Background
A pharmaceutical manufacturing facility uses steam traps throughout its steam system. The team checks their condition through a periodic survey, leaving intervals when a trap’s behaviour is not being followed. Our monitoring focuses on those intervals, when a trap can fail open and continue losing energy until the next inspection.
The problem
A failed-open trap allows a continuous loss that becomes part of the gas bill. The bill combines that demand with the rest of the facility’s use, so it offers little help in locating the trap. Waiting for the next survey leaves the team without a current view of which traps need attention.
How we found it
We use surface temperature probes upstream and downstream of each trap. The readings provide a temperature signature that can flag a fail-open pattern. A dashboard shows the status of each trap separately, connecting the change in the readings with a specific location for maintenance to check.
What changed
The facility team has an ongoing view of trap condition between surveys. A changing signature gives them a reason to investigate an individual trap while the loss is occurring. The status board makes that information available as part of regular monitoring, with the history beside the current reading to help explain what changed.
The lesson
We use the temperature signature to direct attention to the trap that needs a check. Keeping the readings available after maintenance also lets the team follow its subsequent behaviour. This gives operations and maintenance a shared record for discussing the fault, the work and whether the pattern has returned to its expected condition before another survey comes around.
What changed
Before
An annual survey and eleven months of hope
After
A trap-by-trap status board that updates every minute
Continuousmonitoring
Replaces an annual ultrasonic survey with an always-on temperature signature.
Where to go next
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