The Challenge
A pharmaceutical packaging facility operated three oil-free screw compressors feeding critical production processes. Compressor health was assessed through quarterly PM visits and operator observation. There were no runtime monitors, no load tracking, and no pressure trend logs.
The facility had experienced two unplanned compressor failures in 18 months — each resulting in 4–6 hours of production stoppage and an emergency service call. Neither failure had been preceded by any visible warning. Both were attributed to running at high temperatures for extended periods — something detectable with temperature monitoring, but not without it. The quarterly PM schedule had no provision for trending or anomaly detection.
What Changed
Real-time monitoring of all three compressors: inlet temperature, delivery temperature, pressure differential, motor current, load/unload cycles, and runtime hours. A live dashboard with alert thresholds for each parameter.
Within the first week of monitoring, one compressor showed consistently elevated delivery temperatures during the second shift — 4–6°C above baseline, persistent but subtle. Investigation revealed a partially blocked aftercooler that had never been identified during quarterly service. The repair took four hours and prevented what the service engineer estimated would have been a bearing failure within 30 days. PM schedules were restructured from calendar-based to condition-based.
Results
improvement in kW/CFM
bearing replacements scheduled before failure
replaced calendar-based intervals
“Compressor failure rarely happens without warning — but the warnings are invisible without instrumentation. Temperature drift, current draw creep, and pressure differential changes all precede bearing failure, valve wear, and cooler blockages by weeks. Once visible, these signals become maintenance leads rather than emergency callouts.”