IMI Aggregates, a division of Irving Materials Inc. (IMI), provides crushed stone, sand and gravel from facilities in Indiana.
One IMI Aggregates site has several dewatering basins that are designed to capture rain, groundwater and seepage water. The basins are located in remote areas of the quarry and help to keep water away from production pits.
In a typical quarry, these types of basins can flood after a heavy rainfall, causing water to overflow into a production area. Such an event can cause equipment failure and result in downtime.
Because of this potential, IMI Aggregates sought to prevent flooding at its operation. It looked for a monitoring system to provide instant notification of problems such as pump failures, power outages, phase loss and rising water.
The Perceptiv Intelligent Reliability Solutions team at Regal Rexnord suggested a 24/7 monitoring solution for the quarry as a means to provide visibility of the pump operation, water levels, motor phase loss and motor power. By having the ability to monitor production assets, IMI Aggregates can now ensure process optimization that helps to prevent pits from flooding.
“Twenty-four hour, seven-days-a-week monitoring definitely helps with keeping an eye on the production and making us immediately aware of any issues,” says Craig Gibson, plant superintendent at IMI Aggregates-Pendleton. “We chose Regal Rexnord, as they are very innovative and have the engineering backing to build the product that we were after. We’re gaining production due to less downtime when we do have issues with pump power, supply power or water levels.”
Condition monitoring and predictive maintenance
Before seeking out a system like Perceptiv, IMI Aggregates personnel monitored pumps through visual inspection.
Monitoring this way could take hours, and it was done more frequently with increased rain and storms.
Using the industrial internet of things to monitor pump performance, the solution IMI Aggregates found has the hardware, software and cloud-based server to measure a variety of machine health parameters on the pump systems operating at the company’s site. The online system monitors pump operation, water levels, motor phase loss, motor power and communication status, providing web-based access to plant operation.
A battery backup ensures the availability of power in case of a lightning strike or another power loss event. There is also a built-in notification if cellular coverage is lost.
Also, IMI Aggregates personnel can check the quarry’s dewatering basin pump health and water levels from anywhere using a smartphone, tablet or computer. Systems were supplied in a NEMA-rated enclosure that contains the data acquisition hardware for signal processing, power supply and terminations for power and signal leads, and remote access to the cloud-based server. The systems are modular and flexible so that any number of sensor inputs can be accommodated.
During a weather event, quarry personnel can immediately be dispatched to take proactive measures.
Uninterrupted operation
With the new tech in place, IMI Aggregates does not miss notifications if water levels rise. Personnel can proactively manage motors and pumps, addressing issues prior to flooding.
If a complication with a motor or pump surfaces, personnel can now do a fix before water rises and creates a flood condition. Or, if water levels increase too fast, portable diesel-powered pumps can be brought in to lower them.
While IMI Aggregates’ current solution centers around monitoring the motor and pump systems, it provides a platform for a more extensive smart and connected quarry operation.
Since its initial installation, IMI Aggregates has implemented this predictive tech in two other locations with multiple pump systems.
Related: Regal Rexnord launches next generation of Perceptiv solutions
Peter Mills is senior manager of sales at Regal Rexnord.
