Food and beverage plant, CIP supply pumps. Management wants « predictive maintenance » after a pump failed mid-clean and we lost a shift. Only two of the six pumps have flowmeters. All have motor current from the drives and suction/discharge pressure transmitters.

My idea is to estimate flow for each pump from current and differential pressure, compare it with what it should be, and get warned when they drift apart. I read a bit about state observers (Luenberger, Kalman, extended Kalman) and I’m not sure which ones are actually used in plants or if it’s overkill. And then how do I get a useful warning out of it in Hermetry without a flood of false alarms during CIP steps?