Pump Running Indication

1. Discharge pressure from the pump.
2. Current flowing to the pump motor.
3. Flowmeter in the line.

4. Transmission to the DCS could be via switch contacts or analog signal.

Re no.2 it might be better to use phase angle. Current says that it is running. Phase angle says it is doing some work.

There plenty of flow transmitters/ transducers available in the market. Just google you find millions of pages of information.

You can tell its running from the pitter pat of little feet.

A motor running signal is often nothing more than a connection to the starter that says it should be running. The suggestions in previous posts are a far better idea.

The sun signal I mentioned we called an 'idiot light'.

Hi prvn619,

I was working in various oil projects and the pump running indication was taken from the contact from electric cabinet associated to the pump. We are talking about just a simple contact hardwired to the DCS discrete input board in order to indicate if the pump is running or not.

I hope this help

Regards

JP

That is an indication the pump 'should' be running - or what I called an idiot light.

I get an indication that the sump pump in my house is running from the water flowing onto my driveway.

Mount an accelerometer on the pump housing and send a wireless signal to your DCS.

Cha ching!

Re no.2 it might be better to use phase angle. Current says that it is running. Phase angle says it is doing some work.

PWS Slack: I am unable to comprehend this, you meant phase angle between voltage and current? how will this help me find whether my motor is running or not?

Or do you mean change in phase angle b/w voltage and current due to change in active power consumed by motor due to work done?

The phase angle between voltage and current will allow a calculation of how much real work is being performed by the motor. Another method to express this relationship is to measure the power factor of the motor and load. This is only true if this is an AC powered motor, a DC powered motor will naturally not have a phase angle. However, a bearing freeze, stuck impeller, blocked outlet with a fluid safety bypass route can negate any assurance that your pump is actually putting fluid where it is supposed to go.

The point I had hoped that you'd grasp by the wide variety of valid answer you got from your imprecise question is that it all depends on the design and process where and how you should monitor a pump.