sustainability

Bio-gas conversion plants are all the rage in Europe where the high cost of energy has forced a culture of conservation and energy consciousness for decades. Waste rotting in landfill sites produces super concentrated greenhouse gases that pollute the environment and damage the ozone layer. Biogas plants divert waste away from landfills while converting greenhouse gas into methane which is in turn used for electricity and heat, and fuel. Residual waste is cleansed and repurposed as compost for landscaping and agriculture. Yet Biogas as an alternative fuel has difficulty finding traction in the face of cheap and abundant natural gas. It is more important than ever for biogas facilities to embrace Reliability and Uptime for their profit potential.

The equipment required to convert garbage to energy is expensive. Similar to the kilns found in cement plants, these mammoth machines rely on costly spherical roller bearings as the waste is churned into valuable commodities. Rotating at a turtle-like pace of 4RPM, ultrasound was deemed the best candidate for condition monitoring after a major bearing failure arrived without warning but at great cost. If the plant was to remain viable, they could ill afford anymore unplanned outages.