For global leaders in the industrial chiller manufacturing, reliability of the entire production process is of the utmost importance. Chillers are refrigeration systems that produce ice water to provide cooling for a process or industrial application. One of those leaders sought a way to respond to asset performance issues, even before they occur. The intelligence to guarantee maximum reliability of cooling devices is embedded (pre-alarming). A pre-alarming phase means that the cooling device still works, but symptoms may appear, telling manufacturers that a failure is likely to occur in the near future. Chillers who are not internet connected at that moment, provide little insight in this pre-alarming phase.

The Netherlands are well-known for their inland waterways, canals, sluices and of course port activities. The Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure indicates that there are thousands of buoys and fixed items in and near water environments that would profit from IoT monitoring. One of the problems with buoys for example, is that they get hit by ships and the anchor cable breaks. Without connectivity, it takes quite some time to find out that something has happened with that buoy. Not to mention the costs of renting a boat to go to the buoy to fix it. Another important issue, is that there is no real-time monitoring of the buoys at this moment. Only by physically visiting the object on the water, one gains insight in its status.

A circuit of the small inland waterways and canals with stops at the numerous quays is a so-called ‘must do’ for tourists as they say. For municipalities or canal authorities however, it is of great importance to have insight in the water level of these canals to prevent them from flooding. To gain more insight in the water level of the canals, the Ministry of Infrastructure uses sensors with RS232 protocols. Since this technology is quite an old-fashioned one, it is not suited for controlling the water level from several canals real-time from distance.

Companies are facing greater challenges than ever before when it comes to making sure their cooling equipment operates at maximum efficiency. One of the challenges is the need to understand how equipment is performing to optimize their use, their health and to anticipate issues and failures. Having an HVAC service engineer who continuously monitors the chiller is unrealistic.