BASF notes predictive maintenance savings at Antwerp

BASF monitors around 3,000 machines at the Belgian site where it collects and analyses vibration data using Emerson’s CSI Machinery Health Analyzers for maintaining the health of rotating machinery. The chemicals maker is also adopting Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA) technology as part of a move towards more proactive maintenance

“Using Emerson's Machinery Health Analyzers and AMS Suite: Machinery Health Manager software has enabled us to detect critical problems that could not have been seen before," said Johan De Wever, BASF rotating engineering specialist, in an Emerson release.

De Wever cited, for example, how BASF applied the diagnostic technologies to detect a defective bearing cage in a fan used for drying chalk, where a failure could have caused two days of lost production worth around $12,800 and damaged machine. The company, he added, has also been able to use vibration monitoring to extend the period between bearing replacements on fertilizer production machinery.

“These tools have allowed our team to grow our core competencies to include troubleshooting, multi-channel analysis, and ODS analysis,” the BASF expert concluded.