Engineering solutions company Weir explains that its NEXT Intelligent Solutions offering uses data and digital technology to optimise performance and prevent unplanned downtime through advanced condition and performance monitoring.

Through its Insight package, one of three offerings within the suite, a customer was recently able to gain the visibility they needed into the separation process on their hydrocyclones, says Weir director: digital solutions management Marina Eskola.

“We created the Insight package to give our customers clearer visibility into their plant processes by providing real-time data flow,” she adds. “When applied to hydrocyclone operations, this package includes a solution called roping index monitoring, which focuses on tracking the hydrocyclone’s separation efficiency.”

Weir was able to monitor the throughput and separation efficiency of the customers’ hydrocyclones, as well as the roping index. Eskola notes that the long-term value of this adjustment was significant, enabling the customer to optimise both the hydrocyclone’s separation efficiency and throughput, ultimately improving recoveries.

Predictive insights do more than just protect components and equipment from damage and unplanned downtime - they also enable more effective planning of maintenance strategies, she explains. In turn, better maintenance contributes to a lower total cost of ownership for the equipment, she adds.

Insight, along with Uptime and Production, make up the three packages in NEXT Intelligent Solutions. The tools are designed to leverage real-time data in making informed decisions, applying state-of-the-art sensing technologies and boosting operational efficiency.

While the Insight package can be used to give customers access to information about equipment performance and condition, Uptime allows customers to extend the operational lifetime of their equipment. Predictive capabilities are added, so that forecasts can be made of the remaining useful lifetime of critical components.

The third package, NEXT Production, is aimed at allowing customers to maximise their process efficiency with AI-powered optimisation. Taking the data gathered through the Insights and Uptime packages, it gives recommendations to metallurgists, process engineers and operators based on their operational priorities.