Predictive Maintenance of Pump Cavitation
(Cavitation Detection System)

This product contributes to efficient operation and maintenance of the plant by detecting and making “pump cavitation” visible which is one of “production obstacles” that hinders plant operation from the information of the field device. This product uses the pressure information of the field device, so cavitation can be detected earlier.

Table of Contents

System configuration



What is cavitation？

Cavitation is a physical phenomenon in which pressure differentials within a flowing liquid can quickly cause formation of vapor-filled cavities, or “bubbles.” The energy released when the bubbles collapse has the potential to create significant damage to the equipment, which could result in a system failure.

A critical aspect in Plant Asset Management

A typical process plant consists of numerous assets such as piping, pumps and valves. All such assets need maintenance, but the timing of maintenance is not always clear. Often, periodic maintenance is scheduled much too frequently. This could be costly if it requires the process to shut down. If operators are fully aware of the health status of all assets, they can accurately determine when maintenance is required rather than performing periodic maintenance inappropriately or, even worse, expensive repair work after a failure.

Healthy assets contribute to the plant’s operation, safety and availability. Yokogawa offers a broad variety of measurement instruments, which include self diagnostic functions and algorithms that provide health and operational status information. This information could prevent unnecessary maintenance activity, improve uptime and contribute to a safer operation. But some conditions occur in a plant asset where no measurement device  is installed or where traditional measuring principles cannot be applied.

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How can pump cavitation detection contribute to your plant’s profitability ?

Process industries use large, highly complex pumps. Failure of such process critical pumps could result in downtime costs that exceed $200,000/day.  Therefore, customers closely monitor these pumps and are strongly considering implementation of predictive maintenance solutions. Since cavitation can implode a pump and result in a major safety risk, customers are seeking a reliable solution that allows them to predict and prevent it.

Cavitation sensor data analysis leads to informed decision-making and strengthens operational process management in real-time. This intelligent innovative approach to eliminate pump cavitation will result in very high ROI for process users.



Pump Cavitation Detection Features

Existing cavitation detection systems monitor the pump and piping for abnormal sounds and vibration. By the time they report a problem, cavitation could be well underway. However, the Yokogawa system can accurately detect cavitation in pump much earlier by directly measuring the weak pressure fluctuation as a bubble collapses within the transmitter.

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What is the advantage of Yokogawa’s cavitation detection methodology compared with conventional one?

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Yokogawa’s unique and patented technology enables customers to monitor process conditions in a pump to predict the onset of cavitation even before the first air bubble forms. This early detection of a possible pump cavitation allows plant operators to take appropriate action and prevent any damage to the pump.

Detect pump cavitation at early stage

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For what types of pumps and liquid the Yokogawa’s cavitation detection system is applicable?

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Currently these pumps and liquids are supported.
    Applicable pump: Centrifugal pump
    Applicable fluid: liquid (recommended viscosity range 0.78 to 8.00 mPa·s)
    Recommended fluid temperature range: 2 to 50 Celsius degree

Supported liquid type and viscosity

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Can I avoid a cumbersome installation that requires piping modifications and difficult commissioning?

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Yes. Yokogawa provides an easy setup mechanism that allows automatic configuration of numerous FOUNDATION ™ Fieldbus (FF) equipment settings. This system incorporates unique sensing logic suing a high-precision differential pressure transmitter (DPharp EJX) and a controller (STARDOM) that is capable of real-time operation on a 100 ms cycle.


Components of Cavitation Detection System

Components of pump cavitation detection system



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