Pulp & Paper Industry Brochure

GE Energy

Condition Monitoring Solutions for the Pulp and Paper Industry

Today's Challenge Pulp and paper mills are under incredible pressure to remain profitable in the face of rising costs associated with lumber, process chemicals and energy, while competing in the market with low priced pulp and paper products. With each new cost increase cutting into your bottom line, there has never been a more important time to maximize your asset output while also optimizing your mill processes to reduce waste wherever it may be occurring. GE has the combined products and services to turn challenging times into opportunities that position you for future profitability year over year. We’ve been partnering with customers around the globe and in every industry to do just that for decades, and no company has a broader range of products, services and knowledge to get the job done right.

Reliability: The Key to a Successful Future Rising costs and an increasingly competitive business environment

• Tools: Our Bently Nevada™ product line is world-renowned

have one thing in common: if your production assets are unreliable,

for unsurpassed quality in machinery condition monitoring.

it has enormous consequences.

Everything needed to address the assets in pulp and paper mills is available, from sensors to continuous monitoring

What if you could make your assets more reliable while spending

systems to portable data collectors and analyzers. And, it’s

less money on maintenance? That’s exactly what today’s best

all brought together in a unified platform for asset condition

companies have discovered how to do.

monitoring and diagnostics –System 1® software. We also assist customers in integrating and using their already

Industry studies show that the average facility spends approximately 6% of its Replacement Asset Value (RAV) on

installed tools, such as computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) and reliability software.

maintenance each year. In comparison, best performers spend 1.7% of RAV ( 70 % less!) while enjoying better uptime, efficiency, and profitability. Thus, it’s not about simply spending less on maintenance, it’s about working differently—working smarter— to achieve a more reliable mill.

GE Energy Can Help Closing the gap between your reliability “entitlement” and what

• People: Reliability is about more than just technologies and processes. Armed with even the most sophisticated tools and effective strategies, companies can fail to reach their reliability goals unless they are able to successfully change the way they work. Reliability is a company-wide effort that touches operations, maintenance, planning and scheduling, purchasing, management, and engineering. GE is able to help customers change the way they work by addressing the

you are actually obtaining from your efforts typically involves

organizational culture issues that keep companies mired in

the following three categories:

ineffective processes, helping them transform their businesses

• Processes: Our comprehensive reliability services help

and balance sheets.

customers assess their goals, identify the reliability gaps in

Because GE is able to fully address each one of these, we are able

their current operations, and then implement the appropriate

to solve the whole problem—not just bits and pieces. Our tailored

corrective actions.

condition monitoring solution can help you close the gap.

Condition Monitoring While condition monitoring may not be the only element in a

assets will fail if the time-based intervals can’t be trusted? By

successful reliability program, it is nonetheless an essential part.

measuring the condition of the asset—vibration, temperature,

For years, we’ve been taught that the older an asset is, the more

efficiency, oil chemistry/particulates, and other physical parameters.

likely it will fail. As such, many mills have evolved elaborate and

In other words, condition monitoring.

finely tuned maintenance schedules based on calendar intervals This approach results in maintenance only when the condition

or running hours.

indicates the asset is failing. Further, failure progression can There’s just one problem with that approach: it’s only valid for

often be trended quite accurately, allowing maintenance

about 15% of the assets in most facilities.

intervention at exactly the right time—not too soon, not too late. And, condition data can be remarkably precise, indicating not

In other words, if you’ve applied this strategy to the majority of

just that the asset is failing, but exactly what is wrong, even

your equipment, most are getting “maintained” when they don’t

identifying root cause.

need to be. That’s wasteful, and it’s one of the major reasons that many companies are overspending on maintenance.

Different Assets, Different Approaches Not all assets are created equal. Some, such as paper machines,

Today we understand that the probability of an asset failure

boilers, refiners, gearboxes, turbine generators and compressors

is often highest just after it has been placed in service or

are critical to operations. Others, such as small pumps, fans,

undergone maintenance. Following this “infant mortality” period,

motors, presses, and mixers are essential. And still others have

its probability of failure becomes constant and does not rise

less impact on safety or production, with only maintenance

linearly over time. This means that running hours and calendars

costs as the primary consideration. As such, a variety of

are poor “predictors” of failure. So how do you know when such

condition monitoring products and approaches are required.

Criticality

Attributes

Recommended Monitoring

Critical

• Large impact on process • Large safety and/or economic impact of failure

• Continuous, online monitoring • Scanning, online monitoring

Essential

• Some impact on process • Physically inaccessible or impractical for manual data collection

• Continuous, online monitoring • Scanning, online monitoring

• Minimal environmental, safety or economic consequences of failure • Little or no impact on process • Physically accessible for manual data collection

• Offline, routebased manual data collection using a portable instrument

Asset Criticality Drives Condition Monitoring Approach

Critical

Criticality

NonEssential

Non-Essential Essential

Number of Assets

Condition Monitoring Applications in Pulp and Paper

Boiler

■◆ Barking Drum

■◆ Chipper ● Generator

● Turbine Bleaching

● Refiners Additionally, we monitor the following assets throughout the process. Pumps

■◆

Motors

■◆

Compressors ●

CMMS/ERP System

Cleaners

Plant Data Network System 1® Software

l Continuous On Line Monitoring

3500 Series

1900/65A

n Scanning On Line Monitoring

Trendmaster® Pro DSM

Hea

u Off Line Route B

Portable Data C

Snapshot™ Portable Data Collector Sn

Digester

■◆ Washer Screens

Evaporators

Cleaners

Black Liquor Oxidation

●■ Lime Kiln

Water Treatment ●■◆ ■◆ Recovery Boiler Fans

Contact your representative for more information on condition monitoring for these assets.

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ased Collection

napshot™ Clipboard

●■◆ Press Rolls

● Winder

■◆ Dryers (many bearings on these rolls need condition monitoring)

■◆ Calendar

Services Reliability Improvement: Whether your mill has all the tools it

• Scope based on your needs, from 100% turnkey to coordination

needs or is just getting started, GE can add value through far

with and use of internal mill resources for selected functions—

more than just a collection of condition monitoring products.

design-only services also available upon request

In fact, our Reliability Services offering is designed to function independently of the condition monitoring products you may

• Compliance with mill IT standards, hazardous area requirements, and country-specific certification agencies

have chosen—whether our own or someone else’s. It provides a holistic approach to your reliability efforts by reviewing your entire program and benchmarking you against world-class performance. Where gaps exist, we show you what to do about them and the financial benefit you can expect via a clear ROI.

• Outstanding record for safety, timeliness, and adherence to budget Machinery Diagnostics: Since 1972, we have been helping customers interpret their condition monitoring data, helping

We also go beyond just making recommendations and actually

them isolate not just machinery problems, but root causes.

help you implement the improvements you’ve chosen. For

These services are available globally through a team of more

example, perhaps a gap has been identified wherein you aren’t

than 70 specially trained engineers, and can be delivered either

using your CMMS to its full potential. We’ll help you get there

locally or via remote access using System 1® software.

with training and system integration support. Or, perhaps you are using interval-based maintenance on assets where run-to-

Training: We believe in helping customers help themselves.

failure is actually a better strategy. Or, you may find that 80%

Each year, we train thousands of customers worldwide on topics

of your time is spent “fighting fires,” leaving insufficient time to be

ranging from operation and maintenance of our instrumentation

proactive in your maintenance—and you don’t quite know how

systems, to machinery balancing and alignment, to reliability

to get out of this vicious cycle. Or, your spare parts inventory

awareness and improvement, to machinery diagnostics.

may be problematic and you need help developing a rational

• Worldwide network of professional training centers— on-site

strategy for which parts to stock and what quantities. Every one

training also available

of these can be addressed through our comprehensive portfolio of reliability services.

• Hands-on laboratories using real-world case histories— ensures underlying theory and practice are mastered

Finally, we help you change the way you work. Many organizations invest in technology and have excellent strategies, but neglect the most important factor: the human factor. When people understand the role of reliability and can feel the difference it makes in not just their jobs, but also the balance sheet, they are better able to embrace new ways of doing things. We understand how to tackle these often difficult, but vital, organizational culture issues in ways that get everyone playing on the same team and working towards common goals. Installation: Our extensive project capabilities combine our services with our hardware and software to deliver fully installed, fully engineered solutions in your mill—solutions that are tailored to your specific requirements, tested, configured, commissioned, and completely ready to use. And, they’re available for every product we offer.

You can rely on us For more than 40 years, we’ve been supplying condition

GE for a more comprehensive solution to their needs, moving

monitoring solutions to machinery-intensive industries. We also

beyond just machinery protection instrumentation on a few

bring two decades of experience conducting reliability

assets to plant-wide strategies and systems for improved

improvement projects. Customers turn to us for a simple reason:

environmental compliance, safety, asset production, quality

lasting value. Our solutions demonstrate their worth, day in and

and reduced operation and maintenance costs.

day out. We combine the highest quality products and responsive customer support with a service team that takes the

In the pulp and paper industry it is no longer, “business as usual.”

time to understand the uniqueness of your plant, your

To survive in this increasingly challenging field, you have to

personnel, and your goals.

meet or exceed the capabilities of the competition. A key question to ask yourself is this: “Are you the best you can be?”

Our products can be found in many of the world’s pulp and

At GE Energy, we’re ready to help you answer that question—

paper plants. Today, many of those same plants are turning to

and determine the best solution to your needs.

For more information about pulp and paper products and services, please call+1-775-215-1799 or visit www.ge-energy.com/bently

Bently Nevada and System 1 are trademarks of General Electric Company.

©2006, General Electric Company. All rights reserved. The contents of this document are the property of General Electric Company. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, except as permitted in written license agreement with General Electric Company. General Electric Company has made every reasonable attempt to ensure the completeness and accuracy of this document. However, the information contained in this document is subject to change without notice, and does not represent a commitment on the part of General Electric Company. The GE logo is a registered trademark of General Electric Company. GEA-14784 rev. A (11/06)