To ensure uninterrupted production, Tenaris has implemented a planned, preventive and predictive maintenance program with ABB under a global Total Motor Management (TMM) contract. The program is focused on reducing the frequency of repairs of 460 electric motors that drive the site’s rolling mills and other vital production equipment.
Tenaris is a leading global manufacturer of steel pipe products for the world’s energy industry. The Dalmine facility is the operation headquarters for Tenaris in Italy and manufacturers seamless steel tubes for oil and gas, industrial and automotive industries. The Dalmine site runs 24/7 to produce some 800,000 tonnes of products a year.
"With an infrastructure of this size, the efficiency and timeliness of maintenance are vital to the profitability of the company,” says Ettore Martinelli, Tenaris Maintenance Engineering Director. “Our TMM contract with ABB has helped us cut down motor repairs and guaranteed more reliable uptime of our motors.”
Tenaris has now adopted Industry 4.0 as the heart of its maintenance activities, especially for remote monitoring and predictive maintenance. In late 2018, the plant extended the existing TMM contract to include the ABB Ability™ MACHsense-R condition monitoring system for 20 high-voltage motors and 290 ABB Ability™ Smart Sensors on low-voltage motors running critical pumps and fans.
A wireless gateway automatically collects data from the motors and transmits it to a dedicated portal for storage and analysis. Tenaris engineering technicians have access to view the condition of all the motors being monitored. Additionally, if there are any faults and anomalies, the system sends an alert to the maintenance team via e-mail.
"The smart sensors have already detected motor anomalies, signaling alarm states. For example, the sensors identified the exact moment when a water pump started to fail,” says Martinelli. “The smart sensors are also proving to be effective in detecting vibrations that indicate bearing failure, and voltage and power anomalies that indicate a short circuit."
“The ABB Ability™ Condition Monitoring solution allows Tenaris to easily monitor its entire fleet of high-voltage and low-voltage motors and predict their maintenance needs, says Jonas Spoorendonk, Global Product Manager ABB Ability™ Smart Sensor. “By understanding the condition of their equipment, they can plan maintenance activities in advance and align them with planned production stops.”
The Dalmine facility will continue to add additional sensors and is serving as pilot for the use of sensor technology for other Tenaris operations.
About Tenaris
Employing around 23,500 people worldwide, Tenaris operates an integrated network of steel pipe manufacturing, research, finishing and service facilities. They have facilities in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa with a direct presence in most major oil and gas markets.
TenarisDalmine employs around 2,100 people. Featuring vertically integrated production the site includes a steel shop, production facilities, an R&D center, service facilities and a 120MW self-production power plant. All have received both ISO EN 14001 and OHSAD 18001 certifications.