Clean, Green and Reliable

About this title

This is a book about common sense. It is also about doing the right thing.

It’s about making more with less and each of us doing our part to make our manufacturing companies more reliable, energy-efficient, cost-effective, and competitive.

It is also about being a steward to God’s earth, knowing that what we leave behind we leave to our children and to their children.

This is a book about being smart, being responsible, and being successful.

The book includes a comprehensive array of testing techniques and manufacturing systems that can be used by company owners, executives, managers, engineers, supervisors, technicians, mechanics, electricians, and operators. Chapters 1 and 2 are overviews of precision alignment/balancing and ultrasonic leak detection, respectively. Chapters 3 through 10 are discussions of reliability issues associated with the following specific systems: electric motors, HVAC/exhaust, air/gas conveyance, compressed air, refrigeration, hydraulic, electric power, and steam and condensates. Chapter 11 is a presentation of two actual case studies, and Chapter 12 is a description of the industry expert and leader in reliability engineering.

The authors write about some common systems and technologies where if businesses focused some time and effort, they would see a quick return on investment and an improvement in reliability.

Read, study, apply, and become more competitive. Reliability concepts work!

Testimonials

"Clean, Green & Reliable is a very practical guide to improve your plant’s green footprint. The guide walks you through 10 systems that most industrial plants have and gives best practices and means for detecting problems in each of these systems. The guides are very thorough and contains information on what to look for and how to look for defects that can be fixed to improve the energy efficiency and reduce the environmental effects as well as improving your cost. The topics covered are Precision Alignment And Balancing, Ultrasonic Leak Detection, Electric Motor Reliability, Air Handling Systems Reliability, Air/Gas Conveyance Systems, Compressed Air Systems, Refrigeration Systems, Hydraulic Systems, Electrical Power Distribution, and Steam and Condensate systems. In each of these chapters, Doug and Chris give very specific advice about where to look , how to look, what to look for, and why you should look for defects in these systems and what to do about them. They also cover several case studies to quantify the results you can achieve.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to make a quick improvement in the reliability at their plant."

Winston P. Ledet, co-author of Don't Just Fix It, Improve It

"Clean, Green & Reliable is a must read for anyone who thinks for a minute that there is no relationship between reliability and energy savings. The authors dispel that myth from the first page. When you read through the book and learn about the energy impact from mishandling our equipment it makes you stop, think, and hopefully take immediate action. There is a lot of money to be saved through energy cost reduction simply by implementing programs to identify and correct the equipment related energy loss. This book provides the details necessary to get started."

Steve Thomas, President of Stephen J. Thomas, LLC

"Clean, Green & Reliable is a straightforward and easy to undestand reference book for companies to change practices to reduce energy, minimze environmental impact and save money in their manufacturing operations. Doug and Chris list many of the basic reliaiblity fundamentals in different unit operations for companies to benefit. In our company, we have used many of these practices in the last decade. We have seen significant results to our companies' operations and bottom line. I would suggest use of this reference book and its applicable principles in your operations."

Timothy Goshert, CMRP at Cargill Inc., Corporate Reliability Excellence Performance Leader

"I found that Clean, Green and Reliable re-enforces the overall basic principles of PdM and TPM. Because of the way it's written, it is a great book for anyone just being introduced to TPM methodologies. In addition, it is reinforces the ideals of continuous improvement to those of us that are already in a program. I like the real life examples that are used. The analogy regarding the "toast scraper" is a great one! That is something everyone can relate to.

I have no knowledge of steam systems so that part was enlightening for me. Overall, I would recommend it to anyone in the maintenance or engineering field."

Mike Seiter, Maintenance Staff/Reliability Group at Honda of America Mfg. East Liberty Plant in East Liberty, OH

Contents

Chapter 1: Precision Alignment and Balancing

We address the topics of alignment and balancing in general, discussing the known effects that the two have on energy efficiency. How much more energy as a percentage will be consumed by a motor that is out of alignment, or by a fan that is out of balance?

Chapter 2: Ultrasonic Leak Detection
In this chapter we address the topic of leak detection and provide general information on how this technology can be used to return massive ROIs with the savings from detecting compressed air, gas, and steam leaks.

Chapter 3: Electric Motor Reliability
We examine motor efficiency and reliability, utilizing techniques such as Motor Circuit Analysis and Power Quality Analysis to determine the health of the motor (i.e., the condition of the winding, stator, etc.). We consider common design problems and the use of high efficiency motors. Motor PMs come in here as well: clean motors with proper airflow are just one example.

Chapter 4: Air Handling Systems Reliability
This chapter addresses energy consumption in both HVAC and exhaust systems. It is important in terms of reliability and energy efficiency that these systems be properly aligned and balanced. Also important is proper balance of the system along with the evaluation of how often absolute filters should be replaced. We discuss the effects of an overtaxed air handling system on reliability and efficiency.

Chapter 5: Air/Gas Conveyance Systems
Here we study energy consumption of air/gas conveyance systems. Improper design, misused operational procedures, and poor maintenance practices are the major issues with the energy efficiency of such systems.

Chapter 6: Compressed Air Systems
This chapter addresses the energy consumption of compressed air systems. This is the most frequently requested system we perform RCM on, and there are several failure modes that impact both asset reliability and energy consumption.

Chapter 7: Refrigeration Systems
Refrigeration systems represent huge energy consumers that often operate out of control. Like air systems, refrigeration systems are seen as a utility—people don’t care about efficiency; they just want them to work.

Chapter 8: Hydraulic Systems
We take a look at hydraulic systems and the common practices that lead to excessive energy consumption. These systems are maintained and operated almost identically to compressed air systems, which generally results in lar energy losses.

Chapter 9: Electrical Power Distribution
This chapter addresses electrical power distribution and the effects of “dirty” power, which yields unreliable equipment, increased operational variability, and reduced OEE. There is no doubt that clean power is more reliable and efficient. We analyze specific electrical failure modes that affect reliability and efficiency.

Chapter 10: Steam and Condensate
This chapter addresses steam and condensate systems and the potential energy waste that results from unreliability. We introduce some simple operating and maintenance tasks that can be performed to maintain reliable and efficient steam and condensate systems.

Chapter 11: Case Studies
We take a look at two fantastic case studies where projects that were aimed at improving equipment reliability also resulted in significant improvement in energy efficiency.

Chapter 12: Reliability and Energy, the Allied Way
Our final chapter provides an inside look at Allied Reliability’s approach to energy management with a foundation in equipment reliability.