Retrofit on a Centrifuge Control Panel

An oil and gas company needed to upgrade their control panels at minimal cost. Could hardware common to their existing fleet be used?

Challenge

A customer owned a fleet of decanter control panels that were difficult to troubleshoot and were experiencing an accelerated rate of failures.

ICS was asked to develop a plan to upgrade control panels at a minimal cost by reusing their existing control cabinet and framework. Customer wanted to use hardware common to their existing fleet to help reduce cost of ownership.

Results

A custom problem required a custom solution. In this project ICS:

  • Worked with the end customer to develop a hardware specification.
  • Designed two custom panel layouts to accommodate two different sized enclosures.
  • Created quality wiring diagrams / schematics for troubleshooting.
  • Replaced the existing control architecture, which was complicated and difficult to troubleshoot (Profibus & DeviceNet), with hardware that had built-in Ethernet communications.
  • Updated controls allowed additional data gathering that customers asked for such as torque control, speed feedback, bearing temperature monitoring, fault monitoring, and other diagnostic capabilities.
  • Added remote communications/control.
  • Programmed PLC to automatically re-program AC drives if one was ever replaced. AC Drives were now “plug & play.”
  • Replaced old HMIs that were difficult to read with daylight readable/compatible screens.
  • Added vibration suppressors to help reduce hardware failures.
  • Improved airflow to keep temperature-related issues down. 

Relevant Industries

Benefits of upgrading control panels:

How to get started

Understand your needs

Talk with one of our senior engineers and we’ll identify the problems you’re facing.

Get to work

Working with your timing, budget, and existing equipment, our experts will work to find a solution unique to your industry.

Transform your business

No longer doing more of the same, reduce downtime, increase production, and deliver better results.