Patent-pending IsoLogic is Des-Case’s first entrance into the rapidly growing Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) space, expanding on the launch of the first desiccant breather by the company in 1983 and its many innovations since.

Des-Case IsoLogic leverages connected technology to offer the most accurate breather on the market.

It is projected that 20.4 billion connected things will be in use by 2020, and 86% of respondents to a Bsquare survey already have IIoT solutions in place.

Des-Case IsoLogic leverages connected technology to offer the most accurate breather on the market. By eliminating the subjectivity of color-changing desiccant media, IsoLogic sensor technology within the breather provides a digital reading of remaining breather life, saturation direction, and breather temperature. An accurate reading of breather status means the breather is never replaced too early or left on too long leaving an asset unprotected. The humidity and temperature sensors in the desiccant breather communicate through an RFID-connected module, which synchronizes via Bluetooth to the corresponding IsoLogic app.

Users are able to view current breather status through a visual dashboard on the app and monitor alerts related to breather saturation, temperature and battery life. These insights provide maintenance and reliability staff a predictive look into proactively managing equipment. Additionally, a web-based platform allows users to view system status as well as historical trend data related to one or many breathers with IsoLogic technology. This data offers decision makers essential information to manage critical assets and plant-wide reliability programs.

Users will view current breather status through a dashboard on the app and monitor alerts related to breather saturation, temperature, and battery life.

“While the precision and accuracy of IsoLogic technology is of definite value to customers, having the ability to detect and record the exact moment of sudden water ingress is what makes our connected breather an invaluable predictive maintenance tool,” says Mark Barnes, Des-Case Vice President, Reliability Services.

Also, connected solutions like IsoLogic offer maintenance and reliability professionals a timesaving and safe way to monitor breather status on remote or hard-to-access equipment within a 100-foot range. Visual indicators on the module alert employees when the breather cartridge is ready to be replaced or batteries are running low.

IsoLogic technology is available on Des-Case VentGuard desiccant breathers. An ideal solution to protect low-flow applications with intermittent operations, VentGuard breathers have check-valve technology that isolates the system and only ‘breathes’ when necessary. Other applications for VentGuard breathers include gearboxes, high humidity, and wash-downs.

Des-Case CEO Brian Gleason states, “I believe Des-Case has built its excellent brand reputation by always staying connected to our customers―truly understanding their daily struggles and providing high-performing products that solve problems. With IsoLogic, Des-Case can be connected to our customers and serve them in a more modern and innovative way than ever before. IsoLogic will provide a level of accuracy and asset data that has not been available until now.”

IsoLogic is now available in beta test and limited quantities directly from Des-Case. Des-Case is currently partnered with several large organizations, spanning many industries, such as mining and minerals, food and beverage, pulp and paper, and general manufacturing. For more information on IsoLogic and potential partnerships, visit www.descase.com/isologic.

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FINDING SPARE PARTS for aging or discontinued wind turbines is often difficult and time-consuming. This is especially true in Europe where wind farms are more fragmented and smaller than in the U.S. What’s more, in Europe, there are about 25 different OEMs with many models and types that need service. Take Vestas for example. The wind industry is still dealing with its V25s, V27s, V80s, and other units less than 225 kW. No surprise that turbines OEMs want to focus on their newer machines. But how do you find parts for older turbines when the OEM shows little interest?

Marc Huyzer, right, and a colleague examine an aging wind farm.

Several firms offer improved and upgraded electrical and mechanical components. The Netherlands-based Spares in Motion took another approach with a cleverly simple idea: It started business connecting buyers with the sellers of spare parts for wind turbines. “That has worked well. More recently we put procurement and distribution services online so buyers can get quotes on parts and labor or look for needed services,” says Managing Director Marc Huyzer.

The wind industry is in constant flux so to keep up, the O&M industry must offer new procurement ideas. “Not long ago, for instance, a buyer from a utility mentioned that it was sometimes difficult to find a single supplier for a single purchase, especially for a part that came from a sub-supplier, a company that makes the parts for turbines. Was there an online solution, and if not, could Huyzer’s firm take care of the whole deal with sub-suppliers? He agreed to look into the question and now it does.

The web-based store will offer more new things. “Wind industry’s maintenance people will be able to shop for basic materials such as grease, filters, and other things, and pay online,” he says.

Finding buyers for used turbines and spare parts has been the bread and butter for Spares in Motion. For instance, for only $15,000, this slightly used Vestas V34 could be yours. Spares in Motion has recently branched out into procurement and distribution services.

In addition, in early 2017, the company added distribution services. “The trading and procurement service is mostly off-line. So if a request comes in for 200 parts from a maintenance company, we’ll ask for quotes for the parts from several sources and find the best price in the market. It’s a little bit more work on our side but it’s what the market is asking for,” says Huyzer.

The idea for the service comes from the fact that tightening competition occasionally turns companies into poor sports. For instance, an OEM may accept a contract to service turbines from another OEM. If OEM 2 has a protective nature, it may put a price premium or long-lead time on requested parts. Huyzer says being the third party removes that information and poor sportsmanship from the business.

Filters are another sought-after product. “People often ask for filters and not the cheapest ones. They want several levels of quality and price so they can make the best choice for their maintenance situation.” The distribution service and trading launched at the end of Apri

l. 

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LogiLube and Flender Corporation have signed a collaboration agreement to test the SmartGear condition monitoring technology platform on a Winergy gearbox for a GE 1.5 MW wind turbine. The proof of concept tests are taking place at the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado where Winergy has installed a gearbox specifically instrumented with measurement equipment to evaluate advanced drivetrain technologies under a 12-month Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA).

LogiLube is a Wyoming-based technology company focused on developing edge-to-cloud-to-client Big Data predictive analytics and machine learning solutions in the field of intelligent machine health management.

Comprised of Internet of Things (IoT) enabled sensors, real-time oil condition monitoring, oil sampling and analysis, edge computing and data analytics, as well as cyber-security features, “SmartGear is an advanced sensor suite that will provide the team critical information about the operating environment of the gearbox lubricant,” says Jon Keller, the Project Leader for the CRADA.

Under real operational conditions, the test will validate the SmartGear platform’s capability to provide in-line, real-time oil condition monitoring for wind turbine systems. The automated in-service oil sample collection process is coupled with LogiLube’s SmartLab mobile application comprising a full suite of tracking and reporting tools. Winergy and LogiLube expect that the central processing of dozens of parameters by the onboard mounted edge-processor will allow real-time analysis and reporting without interrupting run-time of the turbine. Particle count and size, water contamination, oil viscosity and the presence of aerated (foamed) oil are but a few of the critical parameters monitored in real-time by the SmartGear system. Proprietary algorithms are edge processed and the results are transmitted wirelessly every 30 seconds to a secure client accessible web-based dashboard, providing actionable intelligence.

Gearbox lube oil samples are autonomously collected while the turbine is in full operating mode and are tracked and protected with end-to-end chain-of-custody providing a data log from ‘edge-to-lab-to-cloud’. LogiLube’s SmartLab smartphone app ensures the physical oil sample is matched with raw wind turbine operational data that is uncorrupted, thereby lowering the risk of human error and providing unparalleled data integrity. SmartGear has the ability to monitor fluid samples for particles (ferrous and non-ferrous) of as small as 4 microns, which is approximately one-tenth that of conventional wind industry oil monitoring solutions today. Twenty times smaller than the diameter of a human hair, detection of 4-micron particles gives wind turbine operators the ability to monitor wear particle behavior in real time. Coupling the real-time capability of SmartGear with the physical oil sample analysis of SmartLab will provide the corroborating evidence to support a data-driven O&M response.

“Having access to the data provided by this technology will significantly increase availability. The method of measuring continuously key oil condition parameters and verifying them through oil samples is unique in the industry” says Edwin Hidding, Head of Digital Gearbox at Winergy. The autonomously filled sample bottle containing gear lube oil is representative of in-service oil harvested while the gearbox is in operation. Water contamination, metal wear particles, dirt, debris and oil additives are therefore homogeneously mixed within the physical oil sample. Throughout the 12-month CRADA, NREL researchers will climb the tower of the GE 1.5 MW wind turbine to collect the used oil sample bottles every two weeks. The resulting oil analysis reports will be coupled with 100 million data points of real-time gearbox operational and oil quality data reported by the SmartOil system every 30 seconds and accessible via a secure web dashboard.

Additionally, LogiLube will be using their SmartData platform and remote app servers to analyze the real-time data from the NREL test. The calibration and preliminary testing on the Winergy gearbox appear to indicate that the operational intelligence developed by the SmartGear platform is capable of providing actionable insight to make informed predictive maintenance decisions. Dynamic changes of wear particles (4μm, 6μm, 14μm, and 21μm) have been observed in real-time as the gearbox is subjected to increased loads and RPM. The SmartOil platform not only plots the particle counts on the web-dashboard but reports out an ISO 4406 cleanliness code for the operator to reference in real-time. Should the particle count, absolute value, as well as rate of change, exceed a pre-set threshold, an SMS text message, and email is automatically generated and sent to appropriate personnel for further action. A proprietary algorithm that discerns air bubbles (foam, aeration) from ferrous wear particles is edge-processed by the on-board microprocessor to minimize false alarms.

“Asset owners, gearbox manufacturers and wind turbine OEMs have already provided us feedback that the use of fleet-wide operations and performance data to spot condition-based changes which signify potential component failures is a key element to their successful operations,” says Bill Gillette, LogiLube founder and CEO. He continued by indicating that, “SmartGear is the singular solution which can provide all of the industry stakeholders, from OEMs to insurance carriers, with visibility and certainty to the performance data that is critical for predictive maintenance of wind turbine gearboxes. The U.S. wind fleet is available 94% of the time. Every 1% increase in availability is equivalent to an extra 2.4 TWh of generation.” The cyber-security features will also be validated through the use of the company’s one-way air gap unidirectional gateway technology as an integral part of the SmartGear ecosystem. This SmartSecurity feature safeguards monitored assets and sensitive corporate data to guarantee that both are protected against typical IoT vulnerabilities and hacking.

LogiLube and Winergy will present results of the project at the upcoming American Wind Energy Association Windpower Conference in May, 2018.

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