Full-Plant Earth-Pit Monitoring for 55 Critical Channels
Dalmia Cement deployed Innvendt's wireless E5 sensor network across 55 earth-pit monitoring channels plant-wide—replacing annual manual testing with continuous real-time ground impedance and leakage current monitoring.
The Challenge
“Dalmia Cement's plant electrical team was conducting annual manual earth resistance testing across 55 critical grounding channels—a process that took three weeks of dedicated engineer time and provided only a point-in-time snapshot of grounding system health. Between annual tests, the team had no visibility into grounding degradation, seasonal variation, or the effects of soil conditions on earth resistance. Two electrical incidents in two years were traced to grounding system failures that had developed between annual tests—incidents that continuous monitoring could have predicted and prevented.”
The Solution
Innvendt deployed a 55-channel wireless E5 sensor network covering all critical earth pits across the plant—substations, transformer neutrals, motor control centers, and critical process equipment grounding points. Each E5 sensor continuously measures earth resistance and leakage current, transmitting readings to the Innvendt central platform every 15 minutes. A GIS-based facility map overlays real-time health status for all 55 channels, with configurable threshold alerts routed to the engineering team's mobile devices.
Implementation
Sensor Deployment and Baseline Establishment
E5 sensors were installed at each of the 55 earth pit locations over a two-week deployment period, with each sensor's initial reading validated against a calibrated reference instrument to establish accurate baselines. A simultaneous seasonal survey established baseline earth resistance values at three soil moisture conditions (dry, normal, wet), providing context for interpreting future readings against seasonal variation. All baseline data was loaded into the Innvendt platform as the reference for trend and threshold analysis.
Alert Threshold Configuration
Alert thresholds were configured in collaboration with Dalmia Cement's electrical engineering team based on the specific equipment criticality and regulatory requirements for each channel. High-criticality channels (transformer neutrals, main substation earth pits) received tighter thresholds and immediate SMS+email alerts. Medium-criticality channels (motor control centers, secondary substations) received wider thresholds with daily digest alerts. Seasonal adjustment factors were applied to thresholds to account for predictable seasonal earth resistance variation, reducing false alarms during normal dry-season increases.
Integration with Preventive Maintenance Schedule
Earth pit maintenance scheduling was integrated into Dalmia Cement's SAP PM system via the Innvendt API. When a channel's earth resistance trend triggers a configurable trend alert (indicating developing degradation before threshold breach), a SAP PM notification is automatically generated with the sensor data and trending analysis attached. Maintenance planners review the notification and schedule an inspection, replacing the reactive approach (inspect after failure) with a predictive approach (inspect before threshold breach).
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