By Noah Bethel, CMRP
Vice President of Product Development
PdMA® Corporation
Carbon capture is a strategic priority across the industrial sector for many reasons, including growing demand for low-carbon products, access to significant government incentives, tax credits, and investment capital. In pursuit of a lower carbon footprint, organizations often utilize techniques such as post-combustion, pre-combustion, and oxy-fuel systems to capture CO₂ and deploy direct air capture to remove CO₂ from the atmosphere.
One of the most effective ways organizations can reduce their carbon footprint is to decrease the amount of CO₂ that they must capture in the first place. A highly impactful approach to accomplishing this is to increase motor reliability. Focusing primarily on operational efficiency in carbon capture often yields short-term gains, but they can be offset by long-term losses from ignoring reliability. Increasing motor reliability means wasting less energy, replacing fewer motors, and requiring fewer costly restarts, dramatically lowering greenhouse gas emissions.
Lowering the carbon footprint through improved motor reliability
Motors are not only expensive to purchase but are also typically among the highest energy consumers in industrial operations. That makes proper motor management essential for reducing costs and lowering a facility’s carbon footprint. In fact, improved motor reliability positively impacts carbon emissions directly and indirectly.
First, more efficient motors help minimize direct CO₂ emissions and prevent high-emission shutdown and start-up activities. Second, motors that operate more efficiently reduce indirect emissions by lowering electricity demands for motor operations and increasing motor life expectancy, which, in turn, reduces material replacement and disposal/recycling costs. Companies that make a strong commitment to properly select and maintain motors put themselves in an ideal position to improve system performance and make measurable progress toward sustainability targets.
In today’s competitive marketplace, many companies have successfully implemented eco-friendly maintenance practices to improve reliability and achieve significant results. For example, Siemens rolled out predictive maintenance and edge/AI diagnostics across its factories and building systems to catch failures early, cut unplanned downtime, and optimize energy use. The company reported significant reductions in downtime and better energy performance from predictive maintenance pilots and product deployments.
In another instance, a multi-campus hospital enterprise used Analytika to improve energy efficiency and operational reliability. The enterprise’s goal was to identify opportunities to save energy and predict potential problems. Results of the efforts included avoiding energy costs of $1.2 million in the hospital enterprise and reducing over 10,000 metric tons of CO₂, the equivalent to taking 2,150 cars off the road for one year.
For manufacturing companies, optimizing motor reliability could yield similar benefits by reducing carbon emissions and operational costs. Numerous case studies have demonstrated that motor monitoring can lead to significant carbon emission reduction. For example, it is estimated that maximizing the efficiency of all deployed motor systems globally could reduce global electricity demand by 10% and eliminate 2,490 megatons (Mt) of CO₂ emissions in 2030. Schneider Electric’s Le Vaudreuil factory, a World Economic Forum “sustainability lighthouse,” recently demonstrated how data-driven insights led to a 25% reduction in power use and a 25% reduction in CO₂ emissions.
Monitoring allows identification of motors running significantly below or above their optimal load, enabling adjustments that reduce electricity consumption and extend equipment lifespan. The first step in optimizing motor reliability is understanding the major causes of motor inefficiency and energy waste in motorized production facilities.
Common causes of motor inefficiency and energy waste in industrial operations
In older production facilities, simple motor design and horsepower selection criteria are the biggest causes of energy inefficiency. Older facilities often use poorly designed motors that have the wrong horsepower rating, either oversized or undersized for the actual load. Oversized motors waste energy by drawing more power than needed, while undersized motors run inefficiently and wear out faster.
Meanwhile, in new facilities, power circuit and power quality issues are the primary causes of energy inefficiency. There the motors are typically modern, high-efficiency models that often meet or exceed IE3/IE4 standards. Because these motors are already well-designed and properly sized, the most significant remaining inefficiencies shift to the electrical infrastructure that powers them. Issues such as voltage imbalance, harmonic distortion, improper grounding, poor power factor, and undersized conductors can cause motors to draw more current than necessary, run hotter, and operate at suboptimal efficiency.
These power quality problems force motors and drives to work harder, waste energy as heat, reduce lifespan, and degrade overall system performance. Therefore, even in brand-new facilities, the quality of the power circuit is the primary limiting factor for energy efficiency, not the motor technology itself. Considering the factors common to aged facilities and those prevalent to new facilities, the question is, how can companies identify and eliminate hidden energy losses? The best answer is through continuous electric motor monitoring.
Installing test equipment and monitoring the electric motor condition
A cement production facility recently used the motor monitoring tool PdMAEYE®. This 24-hour system provided vital information while a motor was running and detected a significant difference in machine train frequency between two mills. The elevated machine train frequencies on one of the mills was then associated with the grinding rollers. With that knowledge, the company cleared debris from the mill’s rollers which improved operational efficiency and prevented further damage that could lead to downtime and costly replacements.
Another company utilized MCEMAX® to identify why one of its 19 motors was not operating as efficiently as the others. The data provided by MCEMAX enabled company personnel to determine that a misalignment in the motor’s gearbox caused it to load and unload unexpectedly. The gearbox was replaced, and the motor’s reliability (and efficiency) was brought in line with its peers.
When another company had a coal conveyor belt motor that wouldn’t start, MCEMAX and PdMAEYE provided data to help company personnel to quickly identify the problem (a faulty contactor) and correct it. This quick response saved the company significant money and downtime, as the motor was in a difficult-to-access area and a complete replacement would have required several days of challenging, unscheduled work.
PdMA offers a comprehensive suite of products designed to help companies maintain operational efficiency and reduce carbon emissions. For example, MCE® and EMAX testers are designed to monitor and trend the condition of AC induction, synchronous, wound rotor, and DC motors and their circuits. Testing capabilities include Power Quality, Power Circuit, Stator, Rotor, Insulation, and Air Gap analysis. MCE, EMAX, and the combination MCEMAX testers are designed to monitor six-channel inrush for improved troubleshooting and analysis, have heads-up LED lighting for improved safety while testing, perform board-level calibration, are capable of connecting directly to 1000 systems, have a modular circuit board design, use MTAP chip identification recognition, and more.
Improved reliability should not come at the expense of safety. MTAP2® and MTAP3 allow the collection of data with the motor running from outside the switchgear or control panel. This allows users to quickly and safely capture data and determine motor health. With PdMAEYE and PdMA’s other monitoring tools, companies can stay current on the health of their motors without sacrificing manpower or exceeding their budget.
An example of this is when a pulp and paper mill recently avoided considerable downtime and repair costs by using PdMA’s motor monitoring tools to identify heat damage of a field coil on a critical DC motor. By addressing the heat damage and the inefficiency it caused, the company prevented what would inevitably come next: major motor issues, unplanned outages, and high-emission shutdown and restart activities.
Continuous monitoring lets organizations evaluate their equipment 24 hours a day and identify even short-term impacts on reliability and carbon emissions. This maximizes the facility’s ability to respond quickly, preventing a minor issue from becoming a major one leading to downtime and the significant environmental and financial impacts of a motor replacement rather than repair.
Repairing motors, especially high-efficiency or larger ones, is generally greener than replacing them and significantly cuts carbon emissions (27%-65% less), materials (36%-73% savings), energy (28%-63% less), and water (34%-88%), by avoiding manufacturing new units and reducing e-waste, according to several recent studies.
For companies weighing motor repair versus replacement, repair is typically seen as a viable option if the repair and energy consumption costs following the repair are satisfactorily compared to the energy consumption and disposal/recycling costs of a complete replacement. Repairing a motor is often cheaper upfront and more sustainable, saving up to 50% over buying new. Additional benefits of repairing a motor include lower initial cost (up to 50% less than new), faster turnaround for custom jobs, preservation of materials (circular economy), restoration of near-new efficiency, and reduction of carbon footprint by helping companies avoid downtime.
Avoiding motor replacement and reducing shutdown/restart frequency
The cost of motor downtime varies dramatically by industry, from thousands to millions of dollars per hour, driven by lost production, idle labor, missed orders, and supply chain disruptions. Automotive sector costs are often cited at over $2 million per hour, while average manufacturing costs range from $10,000 to more than $500,000 per hour, and smaller businesses might lose hundreds per minute. These costs include immediate losses such as lost revenue and wages, as well as less obvious ones like damaged customer relationships and repair expenses, underscoring the significant financial impact of unplanned outages.
The keys to avoiding unplanned downtime include installing monitoring tools like MCEMAX, MCE, EMAX, MTAP2, MTAP3, PdMAEYE, and utilizing PdMA Cloud Services to stay up to date on electric motor condition and maintain operational reliability. It is also critical for companies to train personnel on how to best utilize monitoring hardware and software to get ahead of carbon footprint abuses. Companies that continuously monitor and test their electric motors can correct problems early, preventing reliability issues and reducing their carbon footprint.
One way to measure the impact of motor reliability on carbon capture is for companies to track specific metrics and key performance indicators (KPIs). Direct KPIs to track include electric motor efficiency and power consumption, like kilowatts (kW), kilovolt–ampere (kVA), and Power Factor. Indirect KPIs to monitor include values applied to Power Quality, Power Circuit, Insulation, Stator, Rotor, and Air Gap health. Any of these Fault Zone Analysis-related elements can reduce reliability, leading to expensive unplanned shutdowns and restarts.
Powered by MCEGold® software, PdMAEYE provides comprehensive data for five of the six specific fault zones, including Power Quality, Power Circuit, Stator, Rotor, and Air Gap. This provides companies with accurate data to make key decisions regarding electric motor operation.
PdMAEYE works by warning users of changes in the condition of a critical motor. Immediately after an event, users are notified and prompted to sign in to the MCEGold analysis software to confirm the condition. Red or yellow color-coded alarms identify any test data that is outside the acceptance criteria.
Another essential step for companies to take for maximum motor reliability and reduced carbon emissions is to stay current with the latest industry trends, such as 24-hour monitoring and the implementation of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) to assist data analysts in supporting the maintenance and reliability teams. Many companies now create a new data analytics group composed of individuals trained in software tools to detect even slight changes in data that could indicate a reduction in reliability.
Reduce carbon footprint with electric motor monitoring technology
Now is the time for companies concerned about their carbon footprint to get ahead of proposed stricter regulations. It is always better to be proactive instead of reactive and then scramble to catch up—a path which often leads to greater expenses and more stress and anxiety. Being proactive today means emphasizing motor reliability rather than just production efficiency. Electric motor reliability will improve sustainability and decrease the carbon footprint.
Motors are expensive to purchase and maintain and require a tremendous amount of electrical energy to operate. Ignoring electrical reliability harms sustainability and increases carbon emissions. By utilizing new technology like PdMA’s MCE, MCEMAX, EMAX, and PdMAEYE, companies can monitor essential motors 24 hours a day to identify even short-term impacts on energy efficiency and reliability, and correct problems before they become significant issues.
Ultimately, improved motor reliability reduces strategic risk while enhancing environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance, investor confidence, and brand value. For forward-thinking industrial companies, increasing motor reliability and reducing carbon footprint isn’t just an environmental initiative; it’s a competitive advantage and a pathway to long-term market viability.
About the Author:
Noah Bethel, CMRP, is vice president of product development for PdMA Corporation, Tampa, FL, the leader in the field of predictive maintenance, condition monitoring applications, and development of electric motor test equipment for motor circuit analysis. Tel: (800) 476-6463. www.pdma.com
