Allmind Pump Upgrade Reduces Cost

Despite the best intentions of shore-side superintendents under constant pressure to reduce operational expenses and equipment downtime, the best pump systems are at risk due to a lack of diagnostic information and sophisticated control systems. Allmind provides an effective solution to this challenge.

As an intelligent system it monitors all types of pumps in a vessel and can help dramatically reduce expenses for day-to-day operations, maintenance, energy and spare parts costs. At the same time, Allmind helps to improve operational safety.

The concept of Allmind developed from a single leakage control device to become an intelligent condition monitoring and variable speed control unit. Allmind realizes the latest technology for condition monitoring and pump control on a vessel.

Energy costs account for 85 percent of the total cost of ownership for ballast and cooling pumps, demonstrating the importance of assessing total cost of ownership rather than basing purchasing decisions purely on initial cost. “The concept is just as relevantly applied to upgrade decisions”, says Christian Martin, Director, Product Management Commercial Marine at Colfax. This means keeping abreast of technology and, as is often the case with pumps, recognising when old practices must make way for the new to achieve greater operational efficiency and profitability. “We have the technology to reduce the energy consumed in pumping operations by up to 50 per cent simply by enabling variable speed operation with Allmind,” says Martin. “Moreover, add intelligent diagnostics as provided by Allmind and reliability goes up and maintenance costs go down – dramatically.”

Allmind is comprised of interchangeable modules, giving the system the flexibility needed to adapt to highly individualized processes. The system offers the ability to handle everything from relatively simple condition monitoring to sophisticated monitoring and control activities involving multiple pumps. And it does it all with a single unit. The system can monitor pressure, temperature, leakage, vibration, and output as well as activate PID controllers. Each pump can be individually equipped with speed control. Use of Allmind can increase system availability and helps avoid unplanned production downtime. The system stores all sensor values and makes them available for evaluation purposes.