Air compressor monitoring enables enterprises to improve production efficiency, reduce downtime, and ensure the normal operation of air compressors equipment. Air compressor monitoring can also track the energy consumption of air compressors, helping companies implement energy-saving solutions that lower production costs. At the same time, to prevent unanticipated shutdowns and production halts, the company evaluates the air compressor’s performance trend based on air compressor monitoring data and predicts potential failures or maintenance requirements.
Read further: IoT remote monitoring and remote management of IoT devices
Air compressors are of great significance in industrial production. An industrial IoT gateway-built air compressor monitoring system may increase production effectiveness, prolong equipment life, and lower the danger of production disruption. When an abnormal situation occurs in the equipment, an alarm message will be automatically delivered because of the alert function of air compressor monitoring system. This article will help to interpret the application of industrial gateways in air compressor monitoring and the essential elements of an air compressor monitoring system.
Learn more: what is industrial gateway?
Why Need Remote Compressor Monitoring?
An air compressor is a device used to compress and transport gas, and is usually used to produce compressed air for use in various equipment and systems. They are extensively employed in the production of iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, shipbuilding, textiles, chemical fibers, vehicles, and tires, and there is a challenge: the air compressor is constantly working, and it is difficult to maintain. Traditional fixed-point manual inspections have trouble identifying flaws in a timely manner, and the long periods of downtime that follow will cost consumers a lot of money.
It is frequently required to check the air compressor to make sure it is operating normally and to increase job efficiency. By keeping an eye on the air compressor, any issues may be identified and fixed quickly, enhancing the equipment’s dependability, stability, and safety.
Additionally, remotely monitoring the health of the air compressor can improve output efficiency while lowering energy expenditures and upkeep requirements. Therefore, air compressor monitoring is one of the important means to guarantee equipment proper operation and boost job productivity in the industrial sector.
Air Compressed Monitoring System
Generally speaking, the industrial IoT gateway provides Internet access for air compressors and establishes a maintenance channel with on-site air compressors. After the maintenance personnel log in to the client application, they can implement functions such as remote maintenance and remote online monitoring, and grasp the on-site air compressor machine running status in real time and remotely upload and download programs when needed.
In detail, the data information and geographic location of the air compressor are transmitted to the industrial IoT gateway through the serial port, and the industrial IoT gateway transmits the data to the air compressor management platform, which analyzes and processes the data. Maintenance personnel can use the computer or the mobile terminal to realize data viewing, modification, alarm, statistics, analysis, etc. At the same time, the platform can also issue collecting and controlling instructions, and then send them to the air compressor through the industrial IoT gateway, and then return to the platform after collecting, and then the platform perform makes data analysis and processing to help enterprises make intelligent management.
Read further: basic elements of IoT
How to Implement Air Compressor Monitoring
To start, you need these elements:
- actuators and sensors: To gather information and manage the air compressor’s operational state, the air compressor can be equipped with smart sensors and actuators. The parameters of the sensors and actuators need to be configured.
- Smart gateways: The smart gateway is connected to the air compressor via wireless and wired methods and captures air compressor usage information. Through the gateway, the data captured by sensors can be uploaded to the IoT platform in real time. The uploaded data can also be pre-processed on the IoT edge computing gateways, including data filtering, sampling, calculation, etc., in order to obtain more accurate data and save bandwidth cost.
- IoT platform: It is necessary to have an IoT platform that can manage air compressor data. Through the IoT platform, the administrator may monitor the air compressor’s current condition, historical data, and analysis findings and quickly identify and resolve issues. Meanwhile, the air compressor’s faults and issues will be automatically forwarded to the administrator for prompt resolution.
The aforementioned procedures make it possible to implement the IoT-based monitoring solution for air compressors, which will enable users to track the real-time operational status of air compressors, increase production efficiency, and lower energy usage.
Industrial IoT Gateway Recommendation for Air Compressor Monitoring
The DSGW-410 developed by Dusun IoT is an industrial IoT gateway device that can be used for heavy machinery.
It can collect data such as pressure, temperature, power-on time, running time, warning code, fault code from on-site actuators and sensors and upload them to the designated cloud platform. In addition, it is an edge computing gateway that is capable of ensuring secure data transmission even when the network is unreliable. This design can not only lower network overhead, but also ensure data reliability and real-time performance.
On the cloud platform, the customer-built air compressor management system can realize centralized monitoring of on-site equipment, examine equipment status and make data analysis anytime and anywhere. Dusun IoT gateways’ potent performance may increase the air compressors’ remote monitoring level, increase operating efficiency, and keep stability while maintaining equipment safety.
You may want to know about Wi-Fi mesh
A Wi-Fi mesh network is a system of multiple interconnected devices that work together to provide seamless wireless coverage throughout a large area. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi networks, which rely on a single router to provide coverage, mesh networks consist of multiple interconnected access points or nodes, which can communicate with each other to extend the network’s coverage and reliability.
What Is Wi-Fi Mesh Function？
Wi-Fi Mesh based on ESP32 chip is like a Wi-Fi bridging function. As a technology in which a device transmits its own data and also serves as a data transmission relay for other devices, Wi-Fi Mesh function based on ESP32 chip requires at least two wireless hops to transfer information from the source device to the destination device.
Explore: Best WiFi Module for IoT
Wi-Fi Mesh function based on ESP32 chip adopts a tree topology with a root node, intermediate nodes and leaf nodes, which makes the Wi-Fi network more scalable and fault-tolerant. All nodes in the network can become the root node. So if the root node is abnormal, the network will automatically select a new root node. These effectively reduce the dependence of the tree topology on a single node, and allow each node in Mesh network to participate in the forwarding of information.
Explore: IoT with ESP32
Therefore, Wi-Fi Mesh function based on ESP32 chip defines a self-organizing, self-recovery, fast networking, and easy-to-control network. Its high reliability and wide coverage make it an ideal wireless solution for covering large areas.
How Does Wi-Fi Mesh Works In IoT Gateway and Its Benefits？
Wi-Fi Mesh function makes an IoT gateway into a device that serves as the primary access point for a Wi-Fi mesh network. The IoT gateway is usually connected directly to the internet through a modem, and it communicates with the other nodes in the network to provide seamless wireless coverage. The smart gateway is responsible for managing the network and ensuring that all devices are connected and functioning properly. It also provides a central point of control for the network, allowing users to manage settings and configurations from a single location.
Seamless Coverage Throughout A Large Area
One of the key advantages of a Wi-Fi mesh gateway is its ability to provide seamless coverage throughout a large area. Unlike traditional Wi-Fi networks, which can struggle to provide reliable coverage in larger homes or buildings, mesh networks can be easily extended by adding additional nodes to the network. This means that users can enjoy fast and reliable wireless coverage throughout their home, without having to worry about dead zones or dropped connections.
Explore: ESP32 Gateway
Advanced Security and Parental Control
Another advantage of a Wi-Fi mesh gateway is its ability to provide advanced features and capabilities. Many gateways working with mesh network come with advanced security features, such as firewalls and intrusion detection systems, which help to protect the network from unauthorized access and hacking attempts. They also often include parental controls and content filtering, which allow parents to control what their children can access on the internet.
Application of Wi-Fi Mesh Function
Wi-Fi Mesh function is very suitable for in industrial field needing numerous equipment spread over a large physical area to be interconnected under a single WLAN, with networking features of self-organizing and self-healing. Here we give an example of air compressor.
Air Compressor is widely used in metallurgy, electric power, petroleum and oil industries, for blast furnace blast, pulverized coal transportation of blast furnace and boiler, mine and power station cooling tower ventilation, etc. Air compressor manufacturer often wanted to deploy a equipment Mesh network and remote monitoring solution that could capture real-time equipment operating data (temperature, pressure, vibration, and run time) and perform compressor analysis, life assessment, and predictive maintenance, so as to improve production management.
Conclusion
In today’s world, it is becoming increasingly important to stay connected to the internet, no matter where we are. One of the ways to do this is through Wi-Fi networks, which have become a ubiquitous feature of modern life. However, as the demand for wireless connectivity grows, traditional Wi-Fi networks can often struggle to provide adequate coverage and reliable performance. This is where IoT gateways with Wi-Fi mesh function based on ESP32 chip come in.
