In the context of waste management and incineration, condition monitoring tools can be used to monitor the conditions of gas analysers, which are used to verify compliance with the strict gas emission values imposed by the relevant European legislation.
The incineration of hazardous and non-hazardous waste can, in fact, lead to emissions of pollutants into the atmosphere, water and soil, causing damage to human health. To limit these risks, the Regulatory Authorities impose rigorous operating conditions and technical requirements for waste incineration and co-incineration plants.
Modern waste-to-energy plants for the non-recyclable fraction of waste are able to generate electricity and heat with low CO2 emissions. To this end, they employ complex gas purification systems to filter out pollutants produced during combustion. These systems can utilise condition monitoring solutions.
The importance of condition monitoring
Using SICK gas analysers allows the operator of the plant to ensure compliance with the legal limits imposed by the regulations in terms of emissions, in total confidence. Using “extractive measurement technology”, they take a sample of the exhaust gas and transport it to the analyser, which precisely measures the content of substances such as nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and mercury in low concentrations (a few micrograms per cubic meter). Such devices and analysis equipment must
ensure high availability to prevent the
emission control system from breaking down or failing, causing the operator to incur fines or, in the worst cases, the order to shut down the plant. Thanks to
condition monitoring solutions it is possible to
monitor gas analysers and record changes in the status of the devices, promptly recognizing any problems and avoiding system interruptions.
Condition monitoring
ensures regular maintenance of the emission control system and constant accessibility of the analysers. By checking every single component of the device, the operating parameters, and possibly replacing damaged components, compliance
with the laws on air pollution control is guaranteed, with the possibility of reaching availability levels above 97%.
Condition monitoring for waste management in incineration plants
Condition monitoring ability to quickly identify possible degradation of the equipment, represents the basis for implementing a true
predictive maintenance strategy. To plan this strategy companies can use the
Monitoring Box SICK's web-based condition monitoring solution.
The system, consisting of a
Telematic Data Collector (TDC) gateway that takes data from the system and a specific software package with a web interface, collects data from the analysers and, once encrypted, sends it to the cloud for processing via 4G, LAN or WLAN data connection.
This process allows you to identify any significant changes in the condition of the device, thanks to the use of specific monitoring apps. The maintenance technician can monitor the condition of the gas analyser and its functions on the control panel in real time - or access the data history. An e-mail will automatically notify any exceedance of the pre-set limit values. In this way, critical changes in conditions can be detected quickly and proactively, problems can be recognized in time and even avoided. As a result, service technicians can arrive on time and with the appropriate spare parts. In many cases, the cause can be diagnosed remotely, and the problem solved immediately, even before the decision to shut down the system is considered. As part of SICK's Monitoring Services, field service experts can also give concrete suggestions on what steps to take.
The Monitoring Box allows managers of incineration and waste management plants to incorporate digitally supported predictive maintenance into their operation. Thanks to condition monitoring, both the availability of machines and systems and the profitability of invested capital are increased.
