On a commercial vehicle, braking force is controlled by pressure limiting valves, which are responsible for distributing the braking force to individual axles of the vehicle depending on the load. Due to the importance of this system in vehicle safety, we propose a new universal inspection method that complies with Directives 2009/40/EC and 2010/48/EC and Regulation UN/ECE No 13-H, for vehicles in service based on load simulation techniques. The method can be applied during periodical inspections, and is able to detect any malfunction of the system as a whole, regardless its action mode. The test results obtained with real vehicles validate the method.

Distillation is one of the most common processes in companies of the chemical sector. Its overall performance cannot be based only on physical-chemical processes carried out, but as a whole, including maintenance and operation costs and trying to achieve the best possible energy efficiency. By means of predictive maintenance techniques, such as vibration analysis, ultrasound, thermography, etc., it is possible to anticipate equipment failures, avoiding unnecessary stops and significant losses, and identify dangerous or inappropriate functional conditions to achieve proper operating dynamics. This article describes a methodology to analyze the functional conditions of the agitators of large distillers and reactors. Based mainly on vibration analysis techniques, this methodology tries to find the best operating conditions for the equipment, both electromechanically and energetically, and identifying, if that were the case, those that are dangerous for the equipment. This methodology is currently being applied in a large process plant, and has been extended to gradually integrate all the agitators of the industrial plant, obtaining a substantial improvement in its energy efficiency, as well as a significant reduction of failures, particularly in the mechanical seals, a very expensive and essential element to maintain the correct pressure and temperature required for the process.

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