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Monitor stops dry running in hazardous area pumps

01 February, 2019

Siemens has developed a technology that prevents centrifugal pumps in hazardous areas from running dry. The technique said to need less hardware, to provide early detection of faults, and to avoid damage to pumps. It also claimed to cut the time and money spent on maintenance, and to result in higher system availabilities and efficiencies.

If a pump runs dry in a hazardous area, it can lead to potentially dangerous conditions because of the presence of air-gas mixtures, sparking and high temperatures caused by friction.

As a pump starts to run dry, its power consumption drops. The new technology detects decreasing flow rates using specially developed current/voltage detection modules that monitor the active power consumption of the motor and shut it down in time to prevent dry running. This approach eliminates the need for extra monitoring devices, such as level sensors.

The system – based on Siemens’ Simocode pro motor management system – can be integrated with control systems such as Simatic PCS 7, and includes interfaces for system-wide communication. It can send operating, service and diagnostic data, as well as process and measured values, to higher-level systems and the cloud.

Siemens pump protection technology is based on its Simocode pro motor management system

Siemens investigated the principles and practical application of the new technology in a joint research project with the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (the National Metrology Institute of Germany). The technology has been certified as an ignition source monitoring device corresponding to a type b1 ignition protection system, in accordance with Atex and IEC Ex.




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