Norwegian manganese smelter Eramet Norway Sauda upgrades online monitoring of production-critical exhaust fans
Manganese producer Eramet Norway is set to update the monitoring of production-critical exhaust fans by upgrading to SPM's most advanced online system, Intellinova Parallel EN. This high-performance online system is ideally suited for condition monitoring of industrial equipment with high availability demands.
The Eramet manganese smelter in Sauda, Norway, has used SPM condition monitoring equipment since the early 1990s. In 2010, Eramet Norway installed an Intellinova Standard online system with shock pulse transducers on four production-critical exhaust fans. This system will now be replaced by the high-end Intellinova Parallel EN system with sixteen channels, along with transducers for vibration and temperature measurement. The patented HD Technologies will be used to monitor the fans' bearing condition, vibration levels, and temperature. Condition monitoring with HD Technologies provides exceptional pre-warning times, thus enabling flexible planning of relevant maintenance actions at a suitable time. In addition, one vibration transmitter will be installed on each fan. The transmitters will be connected to the smelter's control system for shutdown in case of high impeller vibration levels.
Commenting on the upgrade, Tor Johne Åbø, Department Manager of Electrical/Automation at Eramet Norway Sauda, said: "These fans are very important for our production, and we need full control of their mechanical condition to avoid unplanned stops that cause pollution of the environment. With this system in place, we will get the control we need."
A dashboard displaying relevant real-time data on bearing condition, vibration levels, and temperature using integration via REST API or OPC is planned for later implementation. The dashboard will give maintenance personnel at-a-glance information on the relevant fan condition parameters, organized in a single view.
Eramet Norway is a part of the French industrial Group Eramet, a world leader in producing metal alloys, particularly manganese and nickel, as well as high-quality special alloys. The Group employs about 9,000 people in twenty different countries. Eramet Norway's processing plant in Sauda employs about 175 people and, with its two 40 MW furnaces, is the largest ferromanganese producer in northern Europe.