The Client & Asset
Client: Leading chemical processing company.
Monitored asset: A motor-pump unit used for hydrochloric acid discharge from tanker trucks — a critical asset that must be available 24/7 even though it operates intermittently. An unplanned failure on this pump carries both productivity and safety implications, given the hazardous nature of the fluid being handled.
The Problem: Early Bearing Wear on a Sealed Bearing
On June 20, 2023, Predicore AIâ„¢ detected an increase in high-frequency vibration on the discharge pump motor and issued an automatic alert. Vibration spectrum analysis revealed high-frequency noise consistent with a bearing lubrication deficiency.
The installed bearing is a sealed type — re-lubrication is not possible — making replacement the only viable corrective action. The Monitoring Center recommended planning a bearing replacement at the next scheduled shutdown window before the fault progressed to catastrophic failure.
Left undetected, the sealed bearing would have continued degrading until complete failure — triggering an emergency shutdown during an active acid discharge operation, with the associated safety, environmental, and production risks.
The Solution: A Planned Bearing Replacement
Following Predicore’s recommendation, the maintenance team scheduled and executed a planned bearing replacement. Post-intervention spectrum analysis confirmed a significant reduction in high-frequency noise, and vibration trend values returned to pre-fault baseline levels — confirming the asset was fully restored to healthy operating condition.
Stats
Proven at scale. Trusted by operations that can’t afford to stop.
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Catastrophic sealed bearing failure
Failure mode prevented
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Planned — zero unscheduled downtime
Maintenance executed
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Failure during acid handling
Safety risk avoided
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Restored to baseline
Asset condition
Frequently Asked Questions
How is a bearing fault detected on a pump before it fails? Continuous vibration monitoring tracks high-frequency signals that rise as a bearing loses lubrication or begins to wear. Spectrum analysis confirms the fault type, allowing a planned replacement well before catastrophic failure.
Why is a sealed bearing different to manage? A sealed bearing cannot be re-lubricated in service, so once a lubrication deficiency appears, replacement is the only corrective action. Early detection is what makes it possible to plan that replacement instead of reacting to a failure.
Why does condition monitoring matter for safety-critical equipment? On assets handling hazardous fluids like hydrochloric acid, an unplanned failure isn’t just a production loss — it carries safety and environmental risk. Detecting faults early lets teams repair during a controlled shutdown rather than mid-operation.
About Predicore
Predicore is a Maintenance Operations Intelligence platform that combines proprietary wireless sensors, purpose-built AI, and a 24/7 certified analyst team to detect equipment faults before they become failures — connecting asset risk with the people responsible for acting on it.