Increase Profitability and Productivity by Reducing Conveyor Downtime
Conveyor belt failure typically results in process line downtime, which equates to loss of production, loss of products, and ultimately loss of profits. Currently, many companies have a shift operator or superintendent that is in charge of ‘walking the belts’ and actually walk along or drive alongside every conveyor belt in the plant, audibly listening for faults along the unpowered idlers that support the belt. There is now a smarter, more efficient and reliable method to monitor conveyor health and prevent costly downtime.
The Praetorian™ Fiber Optic Sensing System, developed by Hawk Measurement Systems, has the ability to immediately detect which idlers have failed or will soon fail, identifies the exact location of each idler, and reports it to the control system or operator. Not only does this real-time smart solution detect which idlers have failed, but it also prevents a failure from ever happening in the first place. The Praetorian™ reports when an idler is going to potentially fail (in some cases, up to 20 days in advance) so it can then be replaced, drastically minimizing or completely eliminating downtime. This kind of preventative maintenance saves thousands. It provides the convenience to predict and schedule a plant shutdown instead of having an unexpected shutdown, where the need to hire a contractor on emergency services is extremely costly. In order to keep equipment running smoothly and production operational, the need to monitor conveyor health with a reliable and intelligent technology is imperative. 
The Praetorian™ Fiber Optic Sensing System features innovative technology called Field Programmable Gate Array (FPGA), which quickly records, processes and analyzes data, then reports signals generated by problematic events along the conveyor belt. Using a combination of Rayleigh backscatter and time of flight, the Praetorian™ determines the presence, location, intensity, and frequency of vibrations along an optical fiber in real time. The Praetorian™ analyzes vibration through the frame of the conveyor, and then reports which idlers are failed or going to fail. The system can be integrated within existing site infrastructure to provide alarm notifications (red, amber, and green) depending on the condition of the components. Reporting and alarms can be sent to smart phones, tablets and computers via SMS and email alerts. The report includes the location of an alarm, the alarm classification, its longitude and latitude, the alarm intensity as well as the time and date.
Installed along the actual conveyer, the Praetorian™ can monitor up to 80km (50 miles) of belt at the same time. With its adaptable design, the Praetorian™ is able to monitor a single large conveyor or can be routed around a plant to cover multiple conveyors at once. The Praetorian™ Fiber Optic Sensing System removes the requirement for ongoing periodic conveyor inspections, keeps equipment and production operational, and ultimately eliminates costly downtime.
Besides monitoring conveyor health, the Praetorian™ Fiber Optic Sensing System also has the ability to detect pipeline leaks, monitor ground disturbance, identify manual and machine excavation, vehicle movement, and hot tapping both above and underground. The Praetorian™ can also be used for perimeter security and threat detection by monitoring the vibrations and movements along a fence, perimeter, or border.
The Praetorian Conveyor Health Monitoring System (CHMS) is a plant & site-wide single solution for detecting when critical parts of the idler are beginning to fail. The early detection warnings allow operators to control downtime and avoid catastrophic costly unplanned shutdowns. HAWK's Praetorian Fiber Optic Sensing detects abnormalities in conveyor idler performance that other technologies cannot.
The Praetorian Fiber Optic Sensing System can be installed along a fence or perimeter and can detect, identify and report any movements. This system has limitless applications and can be installed on anything from explosive storage areas to farms and ranches. The fast processing speed and pulse rate allow the Fiber Optic System to detect minute interferences that may otherwise go unnoticed. Some examples of detectable activates include intruder movement along a perimeter, intruders cutting or climbing a fence, vehicle movement along a perimeter and digging, excavating or trenching. The Fiber Optic Sensing system is crucial for keeping valuable assets secure and protected.
The Praetorian Fiber Optic Sensing System can be installed on a buried or unburied pipeline and can immediately detect pipeline leakage, ground disturbances, manual and machine excavation, theft, hot tapping and vehicle movement. The Fiber Optic System continually monitors large spans of pipeline, looking for vibration and temperature changes. Once a detection occurs, the system alerts the operator or security personal to the exact location of disturbance in the pipeline. This type of real-time intelligent monitoring is critical to operating efficiently and protecting valuable assets.
The Praetorian Fiber Optic Sensing System can monitor buried and unburied data cables, wires and power transmission lines. Monitoring for wear, damage or corrosion of the cable is extremely difficult and often power failure or data outage is the first sign of a problem. These cables are typically installed in areas that have multiple uses by various stake holders and in the event of a failure can be logistically difficult and expensive to access for repair. The Praetorian Fiber Optic Sensing System can be installed either near the power cables or embedded within the power cable itself. It can monitor disturbances, identify manual and machine excavation, vehicle movement, ground condition assessment and detects hotspots. HAWK’s Fiber Optic Sensing System requires no additional field infrastructure such as power or communication and does not require maintenance or calibration after commissioning.
Tailings Dams are massive structures used all over for the bulk storage of mineral processing wastes. These earthen structures can measure tens of kilometers in length and width and be hundreds of meters tall. In terms of total volume tailings dams are the largest manmade structures in existence. However, over the last 20 years the rate of tailings dams failing has doubled. Failures of tailings dams are perhaps the worst possible case scenario for any mineral extraction operation. Events causing loss of life in the hundreds or even thousands, Environmental fines reaching billions of dollars and the loss of facility infrastructure and production are a confronting prospect. HAWK has developed a solution to prevent tailings dams failure. HAWK's Praetorian Geological Stress Detection System utilizes fiber optic sensing technology for the real time monitoring of field strain within earthen structures. This revolutionary technology uses fiber optic cables that are then inserted into the structure through drilled boreholes. These cables monitor field strain and deflection caused by dam loading and report both the borehole position and depth where the strain or deflection is occurring within the retaining wall structure. Sensitivities achievable with the Praetorian Geological Stress Detection System means that potential issues with ground shift can be detected and intercepted well in advance of visually symptoms of structural issues.