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Voestalpine Commissions New Sound-Based Monitoring System

The vendor, Primetals Technologies, said the system was installed to reduce maintenance costs.

It works by measuring the sound spectrum associated with pulsejet cleaning of the bag filters. If the system detects deviations from the sound spectrum, it sends an alert that maintenance might be needed.

“Inspecting the pulse-jet filter manually takes time because the maintenance personnel have to check a complete cleaning cycle,” Primetals said in a statement. “In contrast, (the system) facilitates a condition-based maintenance strategy. To this end, a microphone as an acoustic sensor is installed in the penthouse of the plant to continuously monitor the noises in the environment,” Primetals said in a statement.

The system, called Acoustic Expert, was installed in less than a day and commissioned in two, the company said.

“Acoustic Expert produces such a stable analysis that it is not impaired by background noises, and provides information about the current condition of each pulsejet valve. The maintenance personnel receive direct information about which valves are working correctly and which need to be repaired,” it said.