CASE STUDY

Detecting a Bearing Fault on a Hazardous Chemical Discharge Pump — Before It Became a Safety and Production Risk

When a pump fails while handling hydrochloric acid, the risk isn’t just lost production — it’s safety and the environment. On a motor-pump unit used for acid discharge, Predicore’s condition monitoring detected early bearing wear and flagged it for a planned repair before the fault could reach failure during an active discharge operation. The result: a scheduled bearing replacement, zero unscheduled downtime, and an unsafe emergency shutdown avoided — with the asset confirmed fully restored to baseline.

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 AI™ 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.

  • Catastrophic sealed bearing failure

    Failure mode prevented

  • Planned — zero unscheduled downtime

    Maintenance executed

  • Failure during acid handling

    Safety risk avoided

  • 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.