Networked Equipment Aims to Improve Safety, Operations

The Internet of Things — an increasingly massive network of electronically connected systems, devices and people that enables cross-platform data sharing — is creating a large, connected ecosystem across many industries, including refrigeration.

“There is continuing growth in remote monitoring with all types of refrigeration equipment, driven largely by the need to safeguard consumers and food, manage energy use, and provide a consistent, effective maintenance program,” said Dean Landeche, vice president of marketing for Emerson Commercial & Residential Solutions, a technology and engineering services provider based in St. Louis.

Retail groceries have long recognized the importance of connected refrigeration systems, and have high adoption rates of connected devices, Landeche said. Previously, the primary focus was operating alerts and alarms to indicate problems. “Now, with more points of connection, more sophisticated data from embedded sensor and controllers and advanced analytics capabilities in the ‘big data’ world, the focus has changed to creating more insights that drive specific decisions and actions,” he explained.

Landeche said he is seeing much more interest and use of information to prompt action in advance, based on opportunities and trends identified in data patterns rather than reacting to failure modes and alerts. “Applied at the system, site and enterprise levels, those types of insight-driven actions have huge implications for cost-saving, labor productivity, maintenance improvement, food safety and more,” he said.

Tristam Coffin, director of sustainability and facilities for retail grocer Whole Foods, said there is value in having information housed in one location. “You can’t manage what you don’t measure. You want to be able to measure systems and compare them so you can manage loads properly and have access to troubleshoot, make changes or make adjustments so the system is operating appropriately,” he said.

Coffin said Whole Foods is constantly looking for new solutions, and has remote control over the refrigeration systems and other major HVAC systems. However, Coffin said he hasn’t found a single solution. “The main obstacle we’re running into is one, equipment and two, whether that equipment is open protocol so we can integrate other software systems to take an enterprise approach. We’re in the discovery process right now,” he said.

Coffin said systems haven’t evolved much in the last 10 years, but he is starting to see a shift. “We’re seeing a little bit of fusion of technology with the Internet of Things and softwareas-a-service technology becoming available. That is exciting,” he said, adding that the challenge is making them all communicate with each other. “We have a lot of things but we don’t have them all dialed in and connected with each other.”

Through remote monitoring, equipment owners and their service providers can often detect problems as they emerge rather than after-the-fact in an emergency breakdown. “Major food safety risk and food loss is often avoided, and system operation can be maintained through proactive efforts,” Landeche said. “We’re also seeing more adoption of remote monitoring for refrigerant leak detection, where advanced data can often identify small leaks up to 30 days prior to discovery by leak detectors.”

“Major food safety risk and food loss is often avoided, and system operation can be maintained through proactive efforts,” Landeche said. “We’re also seeing more adoption of remote monitoring for refrigerant leak detection, where advanced data can often identify small leaks up to 30 days prior to discovery by leak detectors.”

– Dean Landeche, vice president of marketing for Emerson Commercial & Residential Solutions

Colmac Coil’s heat exchangers include sensors that talk to a central computer system in a facility. “We’re reporting things like temperatures, pressures, different operating conditions of the machinery that indicate to the central computer system timeliness of maintenance, proper operation or failure modes,” said Bruce Nelson, president of Colmac Coil. “Not only does it allow companies to do more preventative maintenance, but also anticipate failures and make adjustments before things fail. It also offers opportunities for increased efficiency of operation.”

Landeche said he is also seeing simplification of the actual insights tools, meaning that users can often use software more easily than before rather than relying on expert third-parties for complex and costly project-style work. “Today’s smarter systems are making it easier, faster and highly reliable to implement equipment monitoring and performance processes,” Landeche said.

With more embedded electronics, self-diagnosing systems, automated data processing and easy access to wireless networks, many start-up challenges and operational difficulties have been minimized, Landeche said.

For many organizations considering remote monitoring, network security remains a concern, as a few wellpublicized security breaches have been linked to access through IoT systems. “These concerns generally can be resolved through proven, managed security processes, effective firewall systems, separate operating networks, or even full outsourcing of IoT system functions to keep equipment and operational functions totally separated from customer records and financial data,” Landeche said.

A wider array of embedded sensors provides more points of data to internal controllers. In turn, those controllers have more onboard functionality for automated operations, more storage capacity for data, and onboard communications capabilities that can often exchange information in a direct-to-cloud environment.

For example, Emerson’s CoreSense technology unlocks advanced diagnostics, protection and communication in Copeland compressors. With in-depth system information, technicians can make faster, more accurate decisions resulting in improved compressor performance and reliability. Based on user interest and contractor support, CoreSense availability has been extended as a basic component on many of Copeland’s Scroll compressors.

Rob Seitz, owner of Kolbi Pipe Marker Co., said he is seeing an increase in the number of companies requesting QR codes. With QR codes, each piece of equipment would have its own code and anyone with a smart device can scan the code and view standard operating procedures for that equipment, preventative maintenance schedules, prior maintenance work and other pertinent information on their smart phone or portable device.

Kolbi can print the codes on five different substrates. “We’re getting a lot of questions and opportunities about QR codes. Contractors and the individual owners are coming to us asking if we can do this. Because of our digital printing equipment and capabilities, we’re able to say we can,” he said.

“The information is accessible. It is powerful and everybody can have it,” Seitz said, adding that the technology allows for the accumulation of information and makes it instantly accessible right at a piece of equipment as well as online.

Coffin of Whole Foods said he believes that as technology evolves and the industry moves into natural refrigerants there will be even more opportunity for visibility from a safety perspective. “I think it is important that technology continues to evolve and provide visibility for energy management and load-side management of the systems that are being employed in any given facility,” he said.

People expect to have visibility into whatever they may be managing at their fingertips and Coffin expects customer demand will only increase. “It started with email on your phone, now you can be 3,000 miles away from a facility but dial in and see exactly how it is operating,” he said.