There’s no denying the industrial sector’s essential role in our world. But as net zero deadlines draw closer, the energy and process industries must balance increasing demand with the need for rapid decarbonization. Solidifying our secure future will require all available vehicles for curbing CO2 emissions — including often-overlooked strategies such as asset management.
Asset management might not be the first thing that comes to mind when crafting your organization’s emissions reduction strategy. However, the right asset management approach can help support a move toward sustainability that aligns with emissions reduction targets and operational goals. At John Crane, we’re proud to help customers across the energy and process industries use asset management to power sustainability today.
The Role of Asset Management in Reducing GHG Emissions
Asset management is a systematic approach to deriving the most value from equipment and physical assets. Because it takes a comprehensive approach to operational oversight, asset management touches many parts of an organization. Some aspects, like maintenance, are involved directly, while others — such as data utilization and human resources — can play an important, though less obvious role.
Strategies such as predictive maintenance, inventory management and equipment condition monitoring are critical to enhancing asset value. However, they can also accelerate decarbonization efforts by minimizing energy usage and improving equipment reliability. A structured, data-driven approach can help managers make decisions that maintain productivity and conserve resources in today’s industrial landscape.
An effective asset management strategy empowers an organization, deepening its understanding of the synergies among maintenance, performance and reliability. In the new energy era, this knowledge can also drive tangible emissions reduction progress across five key areas.
- Energy Management
Energy efficiency is often considered the “first fuel” in the energy transition. An economical use of the world’s fossil fuel resources directly reduces GHG production — a key contributor to net zero goals.
Asset management solutions can capture valuable information on operational conditions, equipment performance and energy usage patterns. Through reporting and advanced analysis, this data can be used to identify opportunities for decreasing fuel consumption, consequently lowering CO2 output.
- Resource Management
Extracting raw materials consumes significant energy and progressing along the path to net zero means curtailing and respecting resource usage. Asset management solutions can improve how operators use resources for their processes and production by enabling smarter management of inventory and consumables such as lubrication oil and spare parts.
An effective strategy strikes a balance between having enough supplies to meet demand without taking up space with unneeded stock. This has bottom-line benefits — such as optimizing storage costs and minimizing tied-up capital — but can also ensure that maintenance teams have the necessary resources to complete their tasks.
By tracking usage patterns and using the data for effective inventory management, organizations can minimize waste, decrease resource extraction and, in turn, mitigate their environmental impact.
- Predictive Maintenance
Taking charge of maintenance practices benefits an operation by increasing asset uptime and improving overall process reliability. Predictive maintenance — as opposed to corrective maintenance — helps organizations eliminate unnecessary time-based work and emergency downtime.
Condition-based monitoring is a cornerstone of predictive maintenance and uptime reliability. By identifying equipment issues before failures or inefficiencies occur, machines suffer fewer energy-intense stops and starts.
John Crane Sense® facilitates predictive maintenance through state-of-the-art tools that deliver real-time sensing data. Our John Crane Sense technologies apply to dry gas seals, pumps and other processing equipment; collecting this data helps managers gain insight into asset health so they can take action before an issue becomes disruptive to operations.
The data supplied by John Crane Sense also defends against over-maintenance, such as replacing and disposing of parts that have not yet reached the end of their useful life. In this way, it can support a more efficient, waste-free operational model.
Read this case study to see how John Crane helped a liquefied natural gas (LNG) customer save an estimated $4 million in production losses by eliminating eight days of downtime.
- Lifecycle Optimization
In today’s industrial landscape, many asset management strategies focus on maximizing the lifetime value of equipment by taking a long-term view of a machine’s performance over years of operation. This methodology considers factors such as design, production, operation, decommissioning and disposal to inform decisions throughout an asset’s life.
Lifecycle optimization takes into account the evolving operating conditions a machine experiences in its lifetime; as a result, it requires a maintenance program that evolves along with these changes. Otherwise, a machine may be subject to over-maintenance, which wastes resources, or under-maintenance, which can lead to unplanned shutdowns.
Managing an asset’s operation should start as early as possible in its lifecycle. Designing for operational reliability builds in sustainability from the ground up.
- Sustainable Practices
Asset management can play a key role in sustainability initiatives, such as integrating new energy solutions into an asset mix or enabling data-driven reporting.
Renewable Energy Integration
Reducing reliance on fossil fuels by integrating energy sources like renewables or low-carbon fuels into an existing operation directly supports sustainability. An intelligent management solution incorporating multiple energy inputs can reduce the use of traditional energy sources that generate higher emissions and maximize the use of newer clean technologies.
Greenfield projects present an opportunity to establish responsible asset management in the planning phases. By choosing clean energy technology and designing reliability and strategic maintenance into operations, organizations can address carbon emissions up front — and enhance sustainability once a project is in operation.
Emissions Monitoring and Reporting
Determining whether or not a CO2 reduction initiative is effective requires emissions data. Through monitoring and reporting features, an asset management solution can enable tracking at the equipment level to give an organization insight into progress against decarbonization goals.
In addition to company-driven initiatives, the criteria around reporting are continuously evolving, with some jurisdictions implementing carbon penalties and others opting for carbon reduction incentives. Asset management solutions can provide the data required to comply with environmental regulations and take advantage of emission-reduction benefits.
Sustainable Policy Integration
Working toward net zero impacts business practices at every level of an enterprise, from evaluating suppliers based on their emissions metrics to aligning policies with broader corporate goals. Configuring asset management solutions to include sustainability criteria in the decision-making process leads to environmentally sound practices.
The Power of Data-Driven Decision Making for Enhanced Sustainability
According to the International Energy Agency, “Digital technologies and data hold tremendous potential to accelerate clean energy transitions.” Leveraging the data tracking and analytics capabilities within a modern software solution allows an organization to make informed decisions and glean data-driven insights.
Asset management technologies include the systems and data collection needed to help improve efficiency in various areas, including energy usage, resource consumption and decarbonization. Capturing real-time information and incorporating it into emissions reduction initiatives provides indisputable evidence of progress toward sustainability goals. This data can also identify untapped opportunities for lowering an operation’s carbon footprint.
Discover Asset Management Solutions for the New Energy Era
John Crane’s Asset Management Solutions team starts every partnership by learning about our customer and their application. No one management solution works for every company; a tailored approach is key.
Our team implements leading-edge maintenance management systems and can incorporate John Crane Sense® condition-monitoring software for real-time insights into equipment health. We pair these digital solutions with comprehensive expertise across asset management, including:
- Maintenance strategies
- Spare optimization services
- Workload smoothing
- Reliability services
- Reliability improvement
- Reliability engineering
- Traditional condition monitoring
- Condition-based maintenance
As part of our commitment to helping customers address emissions reduction goals, John Crane’s Asset Management Solutions provide comprehensive maintenance program design, data tracking, reporting and deep expertise in equipment reliability and efficiency. Our technologies, solutions and services let industries worldwide realize the full value of their assets and create a meaningful contribution to decarbonization efforts. Like John Crane’s other offerings, our Asset Management Solutions are delivered with reliability and sustainability at the core.
Contact John Crane to explore how our tailored Asset Management Solutions can accelerate your sustainability progress.