According to research by ServiceMax by GE Digital, around 70 per cent of companies lack full awareness about when their equipment is due for maintenance upgrade or replacement. Leaving maintenance to chance can lead to costly downtime — so closely monitoring equipment is the best way to keep systems operating. Here Clive Jones, managing director at thermal fluid specialist Global Heat Transfer, explains the signs that manufacturers need to look out for when maintaining heat transfer systems.  

While the pandemic resulted in nearly half of the UK’s workforce working from home, manufacturing businesses have had to keep feet on the ground to stay open. Manufacturing staff at food and pharmaceutical processing plants have to be physically in the plant, often in close proximity with colleagues across the production line. Plant managers are assessing how to continue operations while keeping employees safe, which often results in carefully controlled site access and stopping external visitors from entering the facility.

Degradation

Reducing the number of visitors to site helps protect employee safety. However, it also prevents external engineers from offering physical preventive maintenance support for key equipment such as heat transfer systems.

Once a thermal fluid enters the system, the manufacturer can no longer see its condition. As a result, manufacturers may not know when fluid and system maintenance is needed, because the system seems to be operating effectively. However, heat transfer fluid will degrade over time, creating by-products that can stick to the pipes, reduce the efficiency of the system and cause it to break down.

During normal operating conditions, third-party thermal fluid specialists visit the site regularly to sample heat transfer fluid and analyse its condition. If this can’t go ahead for safety reasons, the next best approach in the short term is to proactively check for warning signs.

Turn it up

When properly maintained, heat transfer fluids will work efficiently at required temperatures for extended periods. If engineers suddenly find that they need to turn up the temperature just to maintain output, there might be a problem. Having to increase temperature to maintain normal production levels suggests that the system is losing heat somewhere. A reduction in heat transfer efficiency can also present itself as increased energy usage and higher costs. While fluctuations in energy use can occur for many reasons, such as upscaling production or inflating energy costs, if utility bills continue to rise for no clear reason, it could be that the heat transfer system is losing heat.

These problems will not be resolved without intervention. Longer term, a reduction in heat transfer efficiency can develop into hot spots and a lack of conductivity. Acting early means plant managers can intervene before it leads to component breakdown. As soon as they detect a decrease in heat transfer efficiency, best practice would be to investigate and plan any maintenance required to solve the issue.

Inconsistencies

Visible changes in production may also indicate that fluid degradation has negatively impacted heat transfer efficiency and the fluid is nearing the end of its lifespan. One key example is inconsistency in product quality. For example, in food processing, baked goods may be either burnt or undercooked, or in chemical or pharmaceutical processing, ingredients may not be correctly blended.

Once the problem with the fluid impacts product quality, plant managers must cease production, or they risk wasting resources on large batches of defective products. Confronting the issue quickly and efficiently reduces costly downtime caused by complete system shutdown. In this case, you are likely to benefit from contacting a thermal fluid specialist as soon as you notice the issue, as a site visit will probably be necessary.

If a site visit is required, you should work with the thermal fluid specialist to ensure that any maintenance work can be carried out safely. For example, as part of Global Heat Transfer’s safe sample service all paperwork is digital and emailed, engineers will wear full PPE, no on-site interaction with staff is required and all sample analysis results are delivered by email and discussed in a phone or video call, reducing the need for face to face contact.

Remote monitoring

Manufacturers can also monitor and manage fluid condition by embracing digital technologies. Installing a remote condition monitoring system, such as Thermocare 24/7 Live Condition Monitoring, allows engineers to monitor and access accurate data about fluid condition without affecting the flow of the liquid.

The system continually monitors fluid condition, sharing real-time data with the cloud that engineers can access from any location. The platform can determine the presence of degradation factors and warn maintenance personnel with an alert to smart devices if it detects an anomaly.

Investing in this equipment as part of a proactive maintenance programme for thermal fluid management will help to keep heat transfer systems running efficiently. While facilities should continue regular sampling using traditional methods, a monitoring system can detect potential issues earlier, reducing the need for external engineers to visit the site regularly and reducing the risk of costly downtime in the future.

Precautions

As well as monitoring changes that suggest problems with thermal fluid, plant managers can proactively check for signs that the system is operating as expected. Maintenance staff should proactively check the system regularly to look for wear and tear, leaks or other changes.

Checking gauges is the principal way to monitor efficiency and discover problems within the system — flickering gauges suggest that the system is not operating as efficiently as possible. Noticing these problems early on can reduce the risk of downtime as parts can be cleaned, fixed or replaced accordingly.

While the most effective approach remains testing a sample from a system that is hot, live and circulating, plant managers should do what they can to avoid joining the 70 per cent of companies that are unsure of maintenance schedules. By regularly assessing the system for serious problems themselves in the short term, and allowing engineers back on site when it is deemed safe, plant managers can keep operations running.

Looking for more personalised advice on how to efficiently maintain your heat transfer system? Get in contact with our expert team here.