Monitor VI Curves to Proactively Discover & Resolve ESP Issues

Monitor V/I Curves to Proactively Discover & Resolve ESP Issues

Regular monitoring of key performance indicators is a smart way to keep your ESP running efficiently. Small problems are likely to eventually become big ones, or even de-rate crises, so it makes sense to head off issues at the pass by making best use of the operational data available.

One key indicator that’s often overlooked is the V-I curve (voltage current relationship between T/R sets). Regular monitoring of V-I curves can provide useful insight into why changes in system performance occur over time. From these readings, it’s possible to uncover a variety of problems, such as fluctuations in resistivity, which can be fixed more easily if caught early

While it’s true taking a V-I curve reading requires ramping the T/R set down and back up, which can cause a short opacity spike (especially with outlet fields), the useful data rendered from this short blip is well worth it. Checking V-I curves should be part of your maintenance and troubleshooting routine along with voltage control calibration and resistivity testing.

Despite the potential utility of V-I curve data, almost no-one monitors this key indicator on a regular basis. So, if you haven’t made a New Year’s resolution yet, try this: I will regularly perform V-I curve monitoring and use this information to proactively address ESP problems.

 

Helpful Resources

KnowledgeBase: Troubleshooting

KnowledgeBase: Maintenance

KnowledgeBase: Theory of Operations: Charging

KnowledgeBase: Optimizing Corona Power

Go Back

Rising from the Ashes

Holnam Cement

Following a kiln outage in early 1997, a fire destroyed four precipitators at Holnam Cement in Clarksville, Missouri. Within two days, Neundorfer and Holnam had a plan for replacing ESP components. Eighteen weeks after the fire, the rebuild was compl ...

Read the White Paper

"The silver lining of the cloud caused by the fire is that now Holnam is able to shut off any one of the precipitator units for maintenance while continuing production, which had previously not been possible."

Emergency Repairs

Clarksville, MO

Back to Top