Case Study: Vale Fertilizantes achieves $1.4M in production-loss savings with GE Digital's Predix Asset Performance Management

Vale Fertilizantes Saves $1.4 Million In Production Losses With Asset Performance Management

Vale Fertilizantes, a leading Brazilian fertilizer manufacturer, faced more than 14,000 tons of production loss over 15 months at its nitric acid plant due to failures in weak acid condensers and a compressor discharge air cooler. The company set KPIs to reduce condenser breakdowns by 90% and keep weak acid flow above 13 m3/h, and engaged GE Digital’s Predix Asset Performance Management (Predix APM) to address the reliability gaps.

Using GE Digital’s Predix APM (APM Reliability and APM Integrity) — including production analysis, thickness monitoring and root-cause analysis — Vale implemented 15 recommendations, replaced equipment, and added periodic thickness checks. The work avoided 25 days of lost production (saving $1.4M), achieved zero corrective maintenance in 2014–2015, kept weak acid flow above 13 m3/h, increased production from ~200,000 to >212,000 tons, raised revenue by $1.275M, cut maintenance costs by $150K, and doubled condenser life from two to four years.

Vale Fertilizantes