Customer Overview
A leading food manufacturing company in the Southeastern United States, implementing advanced technological solutions in its measurement and control systems for production processes to optimize energy usage.
This is a large-scale facility with multiple independent production lines, each operating under its own budget. As a result, real-time monitoring of energy consumption for each production line is critical for comparison and evaluation. This enables the facility to focus on improving the most energy-intensive production lines.
Challenge
Steam traps were identified as a primary cause of energy loss. When a steam trap fails in the open position, unutilized steam escapes directly into the condensate recovery system and may be released into the environment. This increases pressure in the condensate system, impairing the operation of other steam traps and reducing overall system efficiency.
Conversely, when a steam trap fails in the closed position, water accumulates, causing flooding in the steam distribution system. This reduces heat transfer efficiency and adversely affects production processes. Additionally, faulty steam traps increase the risk of water hammer, leading to equipment damage and temporary production halts for repairs.
To mitigate steam trap failures, the plant established a routine maintenance schedule. With nearly 100 steam traps in the facility, inspections were conducted only once per year. Each steam trap requires at least one hour for thorough inspection by the maintenance team, resulting in a total of 100 labor hours annually for maintenance.
Solution
“When I learned about Emerson’s acoustic signal transmission device, I wanted to test it immediately,” a plant representative shared. “We were looking for an automated solution that monitors steam trap performance in real time and sends instant alerts to minimize routine maintenance and optimize energy usage. Emerson’s new technology perfectly meets our needs, and we were excited to trial it.”
To monitor the condition of steam traps, the plant installed nine Rosemount 708 steam trap monitoring devices, mounted externally on steam pipelines. The collected data is transmitted directly to the plant’s management system via wireless communication.
The Rosemount 708 operates effectively across various types of steam traps, including:
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Thermostatic traps (TT)
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Float and thermostatic traps (FT)
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Inverted bucket traps
Additionally, The Rosemount 708 the Rosemount 708 monitors the acoustics of steam-driven pumps, enabling early detection of issues. The Rosemount 708 system is easily upgradable and scalable to enhance network stability. Despite the plant’s concrete structures and strong electromagnetic interference, the wireless signal remains stable and reliable.
Benefits of the Rosemount 708
The Rosemount 708 integrates temperature measurement and acoustic analysis, providing clear insights into steam trap conditions.
A project engineer shared, “Manual temperature checks were insufficient to detect faulty steam traps during water hammer events. However, with this steam trap monitoring device, we can quickly identify malfunctioning traps and promptly address issues.”
With its intelligent design, the Rosemount 708 operates fully automatically with minimal maintenanceThe customer emphasized, “During the last maintenance inspection, 22% of steam traps required replacement.Thanks to The Rosemount 708, we detected failures early, reducing steam loss, saving energy, and allowing the maintenance team to focus on other critical tasks.”
This steam trap monitoring device not only enhances production efficiency but also optimizes maintenance processes, delivering long-term value to the plant.
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