Rotec hosts Remote Monitoring Technology Discovery Day

Rotec Hydraulics Ltd hosted their first ever Technology Discovery Day in August, with a focus on cutting-edge remote monitoring technology.

Guests were invited to the home of Somerset County Cricket, and after a opportunity for networking listened to a short presentation from Phil Ingate on the benefits of the Parker Tracking System (PTS). Proven to significantly reduce equipment downtime, PTS is a tagging and tracking solution to store, access and monitor critical asset information.

Following this, the focus of the Technology Discovery Day turned to Rotec’s remote monitoring offer. Guests listened to a presentation from Parker’s IoT expert, Tim Harris, ending with a demonstration using an intelligent demo kit linked to a mobile and laptop.

The ability to remotely and reliably monitor assets, collect data and receive service alerts is becoming increasingly desirable for clients from all sector industries. Rotec is proud to have been the first in the UK to offer Parker Internet of Things (IoT) Technology.

Parker IoT is the latest monitoring cloud-based solution specifically designed to provide sophisticated data, monitoring and performance control capabilities.

IoT makes it easy for businesses to collect and analyse data to identify usage trends and system maintenance concerns with unparalleled intellectual design and operational insight. Smart sensors and telematics help manage assets and prevent failures by optimising performance across multiple sites. By investing in IoT, you can reduce asset downtime, eliminate unnecessary spend, ensure compliance and safety as well as gain critical performance visibility. 

Continuous remote monitoring allows you to track key parameters and gauge the health of your assets. Parker IoT technology delivers an integrated, automated monitoring solution that uses the internet to enable you to monitor your assets from anywhere remotely.

With IoT technology, users can:

  • Review data anywhere, anytime and make informed decisions
  • Improve safety
  • Gather data without interrupting production
  • Schedule service events
  • Receive alert notifications
  • Optimise machine performance and service life
  • Maintain production quality

Data, provided by Parker, has shown IoT to increase productivity by up to 20%, reduce fuel consumption and recordable accidents by up to 20% and reduce diagnostic time by up to 70%.

For more information, please visit our remote monitoring technology page.

A basic guide to hydraulic oil

Hydraulic oil is a non-compressible fluid that is used to transfer power within hydraulic machinery and equipment, and lubricates system components. It is crucially important to regularly check and maintain a system’s hydraulic fluid.

Hydraulic oil can be synthetic or mineral based. Other chemical additives are often added to hydraulic fluid to maintain or improve performance of the oil and the equipment within the hydraulic system. The additives can help to prevent corrosion, rusting and water contamination. It is critical the appropriate oil is chosen for each system. Using the incorrect oil can lead to performance issues and potentially system and component damage.

Additives may include anti-freeze for oils that are been used in harsh, cold environments. In the event of high temperatures, which in turn would lower the oil’s viscosity and increase the risk of leakages, additives may be added to maintain a suitable viscosity for the system being used.

If hydraulic fluid is being used in a high pressure condition, heavy-duty oil is necessary. Heavy-duty hydraulic oil often contains additives that prevent wear.

Biodegradable and environmentally-friendly oils are excellent for those working in sectors that may pose a potential risk of oil spills or leak, and thus environmental contamination. The oils, which are made of rapeseed and other vegetable oils, are also great for businesses with sustainability awareness and targets.

Hydraulic oil life

It’s important to maintain healthy hydraulic systems and components, a crucial part of this is looking after your hydraulic oil.

Modern hydraulic systems are typically smaller and use less oil during operation. Pumps can also produce a lot more output, subsequently producing higher pressures. Less oil means higher fluid temperatures – which in turn, increases oxidation and thermal stress on the additives on the oil. 

Several factors can influence hydraulic oil longevity including:

  • Oil quality
  • Working conditions
  • Oil temperature
  • Oxidation
  • Contamination.

Within the right environment and with the correct maintenance, a high quality oil may last longer than six months. 

For technical support and more information about choosing and maintaining hydraulic oil for your systems, contact Rotec via sales@rotec.net or phone 01823 348900. 

Rotec provides IoT technology for smart monitoring

Internet of Things (IoT) technology enables engineers to remotely control and monitor various performance and safety parameters using strategically placed, wireless sensors to provide data and control systems over the internet.

IoT technology can lead to a reduction in downtime, better response rates and speed of intervention for predictive maintenance.

Everyday examples of IoT include smart home security systems or wearable health monitors. In terms of engineering, the potential for IoT is staggering, from autonomous agricultural equipment to advanced monitoring systems allowing machinery to be monitored from any location worldwide.

With more than 7 billion connected IoT devices today, experts are expecting this number to grow to 10 billion by 2020 and 22 billion by 2025.

Rotec has invested in IoT devices to offer this forethinking technology to our new and existing customers, as part of the business’s strategy to maximise the use of the latest technology, data analysis and to find environmentally sustainable solutions for our customers. We are now the only company South of England to be offering a range of Parker IoT products suited to all sector markets that rely on hydraulic, pneumatic and electrical mechanical engineering solutions. 

This data centric and digital approach enhances both our own and our clients’ understanding of what really ‘works’ when designing hydraulics, pneumatics and electrical mechanical systems. It complements the other services delivered by of our brand such as bespoke design, custom builds, maintenance, repair and overhaul activities.

IoT can be applied to all sectors. Examples include IOS; an innovative solution to measuring the quality of hydraulic oils and hydrocarbon fuels. Lightweight, robust and portable, IOS features a laser detection particle counter, battery and pump plus memory with web page generator for data download onto any PC or laptop – enabling clients to sample oil on-site and gather results within 2minutes. The IOS’s ability to sample directly from a hydraulic reservoir, barrel, vehicle fuel tank or from a high pressure online hydraulic system with the addition of a pressure reducing adaptor makes it undoubtedly the most adaptable contamination service tool available today. 

Another Parker IoT product range Rotec are proud to offer is an extension to the IQAN mobile controller family of hardware; products we have very extensive experience and knowledge of . This product range permits clients to quickly write applications for the desired functionality of their machine, reducing programming time and expense for machine control systems.

We are currently researching and designing a custom-made, cutting-edge hydraulic system, with IoT for remote monitoring embedded into the design, for a prominent name within the UK marine industry. Using Rotec designed test case fitted with Parker IQAN and GPS hardware, our client will have the technology to remotely dial in to monitor the hydraulic system sensors. This ability to proactively monitor remotely has numerous benefits, including reducing severity of damages caused by contamination and temperature, as well as reducing downtime for non-remote monitoring activities.

To discuss your requirements, and speak to a member of our team about IoT, please contact sales@rotec.net or call 01823 348900.

Rotec part of a groundbreaking vessel development: WaveAccess

WaveAccess Tenacity vessel

In 2014, Rotec were invited to join Coastal Charters, a commercial maritime business based in West Cumbria, on the development of WaveAccess.

The project originally came as a response to an emerging trend within the offshore wind industry to move the construction further out into the sea.  The company anticipated the industry’s need for a reliable vessel that would be faster and able to cope with the challenging conditions further offshore.

The goal of the project was to design and build a rapid crew transfer vessel that would be faster, safer and cheaper to run than the vessels in use, resulting in the pilot vessel: Tenacity

The radical new design allows for transport of passengers and crew with dramatically reduced fuel consumption at twice the speed, while maintaining safety, minimising motion sickness and improving comfort at up to 40 kts in seas in excess of 2m. The vessel can be used for crew transfers in industries such as oil & gas, offshore wind and construction, search and rescue, patrol, medivac, safety boat, to name a few.

See video of the vessel in action on WaveAccess website or YouTube channel

WaveAccess Tenacity vessel

Thanks to  Rotec’s extensive marine experience and previous control systems the company had developed for use on multi-hull jet vessels in the wind-farm support vessel industry we were invited to participate in this innovative project.

Vessel interiorAndy Rimes, Rotec’s Technical Director outlines the project “Together with the team at WaveAccess and other specialists we developed a bespoke control system for the twin waterjet propulsion system to provide fully automated synchronised control of the jets, clutches, thrusters and main engines both in normal forward cruising modes and reverse facing tower operations.”

The electronic system is based on Parker Hannifin’s Iqan mobile controller and associated products. “As well as the electronic supervisory control and monitoring system we also completely re- equipped the Italian Castoldi waterjets hydraulic drive and control systems to provide fully proportional control electronically controlled from the Iqan system. This provides a smoother, more controllable and economic drive system. “

 

CGG Veritas Oceanic Sirius

All design work and bench testing took place at Rotec’s premises in Taunton, with the installation, setup and sea trials carried out by Rotec engineers at Coastal Charters home in Cumbria.

It was a challenging, yet ultimately rewarding, experience to be involved with the development of a concept vessel such as this and we wish Stephen and all the crew and team at WaveAccess best of luck with their promotion of the successful and innovative vessel to the industry.

For more information please visit: www.waveaccess.co.uk

 

 

Author: Sarka Humpolcova

Date: 06/04/2017

Engineering Talks 1.4: Bridgwater engineering student joins us for work experience

Harry Safe work experience

Harry Safe

This week we had a welcome addition to our engineering team at Taunton in form of the lovely Harry Safe, a final year student at Bridgwater College, who joined us for work experience.

 

Name: Harry Safe

Course: Level 3 Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering

 


 

How did you get the work experience at Rotec?

I was looking at the local companies and since my parents know Paul Prouse (Managing Director), I send him an email asking about any opportunities and he agreed to take me on for a week.

 

Is this the only work experience you are doing?

Yes

 

Could you guide me through your week at Rotec?

On Monday I was with Richard Renfree, working on Solidworks, designing disc brakes. On Tuesday I was with Dan Foster, doing electrical work on winching systems. On Thursday I was with Matt Cooke, testing release valves and taking apart flow control valves and today, I am building brackets for the winches I worked on on Tuesday.

 

Any highlights?

Yes, yesterday was pretty good, hands – on work.

 

So you prefer hands-on work to for example design?

Yes, both are good, but yes, definitely prefer the more hands on work.

 

Do you feel the experience benefited you, if so, how?

Definitely benefitted me, it’s a bit of an eye-opener really, it gives me an idea of what’s it actually like to work in the industry, instead of just not knowing anything about the work places.

 

What are your future career plans?

I am working on getting enough UCAS points to allow me to enter the RAF as an officer, which is what I want to do.

Paul Prouse foreword for BFPDA

Rotec’s own Managing Director, Paul Prouse, was selected to hold a chairman position for the BFPDA (British Fluid Power Distributors Association) throughout 2016. In his 2017 foreword for the association’s publication ‘Yearbook & Members Directory’, Paul talks about two of the topics dominating the headlines of newspapers across the world; Brexit and Women in power…

“It is hard to put pen to paper and not talk about Brexit, the topic has dominated the headlines throughout 2016 cultivated continuously by everyone from small SMEs through to large corporate businesses trying to second guess what ‘best strategy’ for their business should take whilst the politicians arguably find themselves with a task to extract the UK from Europe that in reality, the net effect is unknown along with strategy or policy that was never scripted.

I will come back to Brexit. In the meantime, what has also been interesting throughout the year and in part has caused me to reflect on the situation within the trade members of BFPDA and our industry as a whole is the renewed emphasis on women within the industry. The global stage has been dominated by Mrs Merkel, Mrs May and the near miss of Mrs Clinton joining the ranks as respective leaders of 3 of the world’s wealthiest nations providing a healthy balance in tipping the scales that in part have been dominated by men.”

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