Process Industry Informer June 2019

June 2019

www.processindustryinformer.com

Volume 15 No. 2

The Uk’s leading publication serving the process industry

APEX28

hose pump

transferring abrasive lime slurry for water clarification

In this issue:

Process Measurement & Control Special Pharmaceutical & Hygiene Focus Introducing our new columnist IN PRINT | Online | Mobile - The UK’s No. 1 Media for the manufacturing process industries

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Contents

FEATUREDARTICLES ARTICLES FEATURED SAFELY EXTENDING A world under pressure: OPERATIONAL INTELLIGENCE pressure for FROM THEmeasurements CONTROL ROOM process industries TO THE PLANT FLOOR

PRODUCTSECTIONS SECTIONS PRODUCT NEWS & EVENTS Sean Moran Intro NEWS & EVENTS

04-10 PAGE

04 –1206

Process Measurement IIoT

37 0813 && 10-11

Inspection & Vision Systems

39 25 41 25 42-47

HEALTH & SAFETY & Hygiene focus Pharmaceutical

5026

Health & Safety PUMPING

Filtration FILTRATION

28 –5432

56 - 5932

Heating & Cooling

HEATING & COOLING

Maintenance

PROCESS MEASUREMENT

Compressors DRIVES IIot

SHAPA NEWS Water analysis

22

making the right choice

SERVING UP FINANCE: OEMS CAN HELP THEIR CUSTOMERS Review Level inDetailed the food and of beverage Measurement and Control sector embrace digitalisation instrumentation with integrated finance

13 – 25

Drives & MoTors POWER SUPPLY Compliance Management

CELL DISRUPTION Fluids & Liquids Handling

09

WHAT DOES THE FUTURE Process control valves HOLD FOR SCADA?

38

FOOD INDUSTRY FOCUS

CROSS CONTAMINATION FOOD INSPECTION RISKS Concentration measurement RECEIVE HYGIENIC HAND using Coriolis flowmeters

26

17

37

60 62

DIGITAL FARMS TO SUPERMARKET SMART How ISO 55000 Asset Management Benefits SHELVES – A NEW ERAProcess OF Industries CONNECTIONS

42 – 43

62 49 63

51 –6477

EDITOR EDITOR Phil PhilBlack: Black:philblack@piimag.com philblack@piimag.com PUBLISHING / ADVERTISING MANAGER PUBLISHING MANAGER Peter Ullmann:/ ADVERTISING peterullmann@piimag.com Peter Ullmann: peterullmann@piimag.com SALES & MARKETING MANAGER Guy Ullmann: guyullmann@piimag.com SALES & MARKETING MANAGER Guy Ullmann: guyullmann@piimag.com CIRCULATION MANAGER Jean Caunin: info@piimag.com CIRCULATION MANAGER

Jean Caunin: info@piimag.com OFFICE MANAGER Diane Ullmann: dianeullmann@piimag.com OFFICE MANAGER Diane Ullmann: dianeullmann@piimag.com ART DIRECTION Louise Brooks & Jayden Ken ART DIRECTION JaydenbyKen Printed Bishops Printers Ltd

20

40

34 48

Manufacturing

RF & MICROWAVE Temporary chillers: MATERIAL MEASUREMENTS: the perfect medicine for techniques and applications

39

51

pharmaceutical manufacturers

IS How GAStoGENERATION ensure that you size filtration system give the best THE SOLUTION TOtoRISING compromise between initial capital energy costs?

44 55

outlay and low running costs

BRITISH INDUSTRY TO BENEFIT FROM UK GOVERNMENTCondition Monitoring and Diagnostic BACKED INVESTMENT Engineering Management into innovative energy The Way Forward efficiency technologies

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36 – 38

HIDDEN TRUTHS Future your about Proof cooling system Pharmaceutical water filtration

Tel: 01428 751199 Tel:01428 01428 751188 751188 01428 751199 Fax:Fax: Email: Web: www.piimag.com Email:info@piimag.com info@piimag.com Web: www.piimag.com

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14

WHY WILL EFFECTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT be more important than ever before in 2019?

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All All product product announcements announcements published published in in Process Process Industry Industry Informer Informer are are paid paid for. for.All Allcopy copysubmitted submittedfor forpublication publicationininProcess ProcessIndustry IndustryInformer Informermust mustbebelegal legaland andmust mustcomply complywith withthe theBritish BritishCode CodeofofAdvertising AdvertisingPractice Practice and for publication, publication, or or not, not, at at the the publishers’ publishers’ absolute absolutediscretion. discretion.When Whendeemed deemednecessary necessaryallallcopy copymay maybebeedited editedand andclassified classifiedatatthethepublishers’ publishers’discretion. discretion. material contained Process Industry Informer and is is accepted accepted for AllAll material contained in in Process Industry Informer is is published in good faith, but it is emphasised that the publishers do not in circumstances accept responsibility for the accuracy or otherwise of any advertisement or message published (nor is any kind of warranty published in good faith, but it is emphasised that the publishers do not in circumstances accept responsibility for the accuracy or otherwise of any advertisement or message published (nor is any kind of warranty expressed expressed or implied by such publication) and that the publishers specifically disclaim all and any liability to advertisers, readers and user of any kind for loss or damage of any nature whatsoever and however arising, or implied by such publication) and that the publishers specifically disclaim all and any liability to advertisers, readers and user of any kind for loss or damage of any nature whatsoever and however arising, whether due to whether due to inaccuracy, error, omission or any other cause, and whether on the part of the publishers of Process Industry Informer, or their servants or agents, or any other person. inaccuracy, error, omission or any other cause, and whether on the part of the publishers of Process Industry Informer, or their servants or agents, or any other person.

Although it is is the the intention intention of of the the publishers publishers in in general general to to run run copy copy as assupplied suppliedby byadvertisers, advertisers,advertorial advertorialitems itemsheadings, headings,which whichare arenot notcharged chargedfor, for,will willbe beselected selectedby bythe theEditor, Editor,and andother otherminor minorchanges changesmay maybebemade, made, the Editor’s Editor’s discretion, discretion, for for the the sake sakeofofthe theclarity, clarity,totoavoid avoidoffence, offence,forforlegal legalreasons reasonsorortotoensure ensureconformity conformityto to house style.

Copy supplied over length to the amount Units abbreviations at the house style.

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No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted by any means without the prior written consent of the publishers.

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Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

News & Events

Bite size news Brexit uncertainty continues to take toll on manufacturers – Make UK/BDO survey Sellafield Mitie workers contending with stress, mental health and bullying ‘epidemic’ as strike action resumes

A confidential survey of Unite members employed by Mitie at Sellafield has revealed shocking high levels of stress, mental ill health, financial problems and bullying among workers.

The survey found that 91 per cent of members said that in the past year they had experienced stress at work. The principle causes of stress were low pay (66 per cent), too much work per shift (52 per cent) and bullying at work (28 per cent). Over a quarter of the affected workers (28 per cent) had to visit their GP due to stress with 18 per cent having to take time off work due to the condition.

Industry warns economic lunacy of ‘No Deal’ scenario must be avoided at all costs

Key findings: • Domestic and export orders continue to weaken • Gap between output and orders increased • Export orders remain at weakest levels since referendum • Growing evidence of European customers abandoning UK supply chains • Investment intentions paralysed • Manufacturing forecast to grow just 0.2% in 2019, 0.8% in 2020 • Britain’s manufacturers are warning of the potential impact of ‘no deal’ economic lunacy as a survey shows that prospects for the sector are continuing to weaken as the uncertainty of Brexit drags on.

According to the Q2 Manufacturing Outlook survey published by Make UK, The Manufacturers’ Organisation and business advisory firm BDO LLP, domestic and export orders are continuing to trend down as the boost of artificial stockpiling unwinds, whilst growing evidence shows overseas customers are switching their supply chains away from the UK.

As a result, investment by the sector has been paralysed with no evidence that there is pent-up demand waiting to be unleashed and, whilst business confidence has held up with the relief of ‘no deal’ being avoided twice, it remains below the levels seen ahead of the EU referendum in 2016.

However…..

Sage research reveals 99% of process manufacturers preparing for growth despite challenging market conditions • 82% of manufacturers are confident UK will be considered a world leader by 2025 • 8 in 10 say the threat of import-export shake-ups around Brexit is having significant impact on strategic decision making, while 62% claim regulatory changes are affecting their business • Over half (54%) of manufacturers see a bigger opportunity in providing locally sourced goods regardless of price, rather than cheaper items irrespective of origin • Product traceability is the biggest risk factor, with 90% saying it can have a direct impact on their brand value and affecting human lives where allergens are concerned • Majority of manufacturers (61%) would invest in technology like robotics, internet of things, automation, to drive greater productivity Majority of UK manufacturers say regulatory change is impacting business but are responding by investing in new technologies and Brand Britain

Sage, the market leader in cloud business management solutions, has released its global state of the nation report on process manufacturing, revealing a sector that’s taking charge of its own destiny despite growing change and uncertainty.

As political uncertainty bites, almost two thirds of UK manufacturers (62%) say regulatory changes are affecting their business, with 82% revealing the threat of import-export shake-ups around Brexit having significant impact on strategic decision making.

Despite those challenges, however, that same number (82%) are confident their UK home-grown industry will be considered a world leader by 2025, and an overwhelming 99% of all process manufacturers who took part in the research in the UK, US and Canada saying they are preparing for growth, suggesting a can-do attitude on both sides of the Atlantic.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Solar cell defect mystery solved after decades of global effort A team of scientists at The University of Manchester has solved a key flaw in solar panels after 40 years of research around the world.

The majority of solar cells only achieve 20% efficiency – for every kW of equivalent sunlight, about 200W of electrical power can be generated.

Now an international team of researchers have resolved a key fundamental issue of material defect which limits and degrades solar cell efficiency. The problem has been known about and studied for over 40 years, with over 270 research papers attributed to the issue with no solution.

The new research shows the first observation of a previously unknown material defect which limits silicon solar cell efficiency.

Read more here

4

News & Events

Manufacturing recruitment set to plummet – new report

Manufacturers turn to investment in premises and machinery and away from people to grow their business The number of British SME manufacturers planning to increase staff headcount in the coming months has plummeted to just 30%, its lowest level for a decade, raising crucial questions around growth, productivity and competitiveness for the UK.

With this concern tied to flat sales expectations and profit predictions in the next six months, those considering how the sector will realise its on-going growth plans will be buoyed by manufacturers’ longerterm growth and investment intentions.

The findings, published in the national Manufacturing Barometer, show that 44% of SME manufacturers had increased their investments in new premises and machinery in the last six months, up on the previous quarter’s 37%.

Whilst the number of manufacturers wanting to increase investment in their business will hold steady in the coming months, by this time next year half of all UK SME manufacturers want to have increased investment in machinery and premises.

In three years’ time, 56% anticipate investing more than they currently do in their businesses.

In association with:

Industry calls for scrapping of English Baccalaureate

Urgent need to boost Design & Technology to fuel Industrial Strategy

Britain’s manufacturers are calling on the Government to scrap the English Baccalaureate (Ebacc) and rebrand Design & Technology (D&T) currently taught in schools as part of a massive effort to boost vocational education take-up and develop more young people with the skills and knowledge required to fill STEM skills gaps.

The call was made by Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation and Semta in a new report ‘Making Design & Technology manufacturers’ business’.The report contains new analysis of the extent to which the number of pupils studying Design & Technology has plummeted over the last decade, along with an increasing shortage of specialist teachers in the subject.

According to Make UK and Semta a renewed emphasis on Design & Technology in schools is essential not to just to fill current skills gaps but to fuel the pipeline of future students taking STEM subjects.

MakeUK.org

5

UNILEVER PIONEERS SOLUTION THAT ENABLES BLACK PLASTIC BOTTLES TO BE RECYCLED • 2,500 tonnes of black plastic to potentially be removed from waste stream • Solution to be shared with other manufacturers and across industry • Comes as part of Unilever UK & Ireland’s new Get Plastic Wise Campaign Unilever has pioneered the use of a new detectable black pigment for its High Density Polyethelyne (HDPE) bottles for its leading brands, TRESemmé and Lynx, so they can be detected by recycling plant scanners and sorted for recycling. This means that around a further 2,500 tonnes of plastic bottles could now potentially be sorted and sent for recycling each year – equivalent to the weight of 200 London buses, or 1,250 family-sized cars.

The new detectable bottles will be phased in during 2019 and will allow Unilever to further ‘close the loop’ and include the recycled black plastic back in new packaging. In 2019, TRESemmé and Lynx will both introduce a minimum of 30% recycled material into their packs.

North West Manufacturing Under Threat Again The North West of England has long been the lifeblood of the UK’s heavy industries and its manufacturing sector.

Despite its recent resurgence, with 15,000 manufacturing jobs created since 2010, the region now faces a new potential blow from the energy regulator, Ofgem.

Ulf Lofgren, Director of a Mill in Cumbria, has been one of the leading opponents, arguing that “the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry in the North West is being undermined by a state agency that hasn’t considered the impact it is having on communities”.

Ofgem, the UK’s electricity and gas regulator, is concerned that with increasing numbers of both domestic and industrial users at least partly-off grid, there is a looming shortfall in the costs for running the network.

Association members pour cold water on renationalisation A survey of British Water members on the Labour Party’s plan to renationalise the water industry shows that a majority believe it will negatively impact the supply chain and customers.

On overall impact on the supply chain, 78% of respondents said they believed future investment would be reduced or significantly reduced, while 14% believed it would increase. Sixty-four per

UK manufacturing drops to second place in league table of most attacked industry sectors – 2019 Global Threat Intelligence Report reveals

Global Threat Intelligence Report

NTT Security report shows technology sector move up to first place; and China top source of attacks UK Manufacturing and Technology sectors continue to battle it out for first and second place in the table of most targeted industry sectors by cyber attackers, according to the 2019 Global Threat Intelligence Report (GTIR) from NTT Security, the is the specialised security company and the centre of excellence in security for NTT Group.

While Manufacturing took top billing in the 2018 GTIR, with almost half (46 per cent) of all cyber attacks in the UK, this year’s report shows a significant fall to second place with a fifth (20 per cent) of attacks. However, the Tech sector, which attracted less than a quarter (23 per cent) last year, jumps to top spot with 47 per cent of attacks in the UK. Download the NTT Security 2019 GTIR from here

It is seeking to address this through its Targeted Charging Review, which recently closed the consultation period with industry.

Most users have responded positively to this principle, recognising that everyone should pay something towards the network’s fixed costs. But they’ve been keen to ensure that this does not discourage investment and costs are proportionate to use.

Ofgem are proposing a new fixed charge by user category (i.e. domestic, retail/ light industry, large users). On current information, this model will increase price differences by region meaning the North West’s charges are 26 times that of the lowest charged regions. These regional disparities would increase by a further ten-fold for Iggesund Paperboard under the other charging model Ofgem are still considering.

This would mean several millions of pounds in extra fees for manufacturers across the North West and would be a significant blow for the region, where manufacturing industry employs over 340,000 people and contributes £26bn to the UK economy. cent said they believed the number of people employed in the supply chain would be reduced.

A similar number, 66% believe that standards of service would be reduced or significantly reduced, but only 39% believe that water quality at the tap would be reduced. Some 40% of British Water’s 200+ member companies responded, with some 55% saying they believed their business’ turnover and profitability would be reduced or significantly reduced.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

News & Events

Axion Polymers is a National Recycling Awards finalist Axion Polymers is a finalist in the 2019 National Recycling Awards for the ‘Team of the Year – Commercial’ category for their efforts in driving innovation in recycled polymer applications.

The Manchester-based plastics recycler’s experienced team was selected for its united approach in pulling together to develop bespoke recycled polymers to suit clients’ specifications for use in a wide range of new product applications.

Plastics are recycled from end-of-life vehicles (auto shredder waste) and refined into highquality engineering polymers capable of matching the qualities of virgin material at the

company’s two processing sites.This complex process requires dedicated knowledge, teamwork and close liaison with clients at every stage of the development process.

The team delivers high performance for diverse clients through a thorough understanding of their requirements from initial contact; the laboratory team working on the physical properties of the polymer following through to personal visits at clients’ premises and working with their production teams. From that stage, the team helps the client to set up their machinery for best finish and results and existing procedures are checked to ensure they are in place to deal with any customer concerns.

Laura Smith, Commercial Operations Manager says: “We’re prepared to invest a lot of time and effort in the development phase of the project because what we’re looking for are long-term relationships with our customers based on trust. And, ultimately, that is to everyone’s benefit.”

Judith Clayman, Axion’s General Manager comments: “All credit is due to the excellent team at Axion Polymers that builds longterm relationships with customers to deliver

Konecranes Demag UK partners with WES Konecranes Demag UK Ltd has become a partner of the Women’s Engineering Society (WES).

She adds: “What was once considered a waste material is being turned into a valuable raw material resource: plastics from scrap cars going back into new vehicle components, as well as a host of different applications, from furniture to roof tiles. I’m very proud of our team that is driving the circular economy by working together to meet the customers’ diverse needs in every respect.”

The Awards ceremony will be held at The Hilton, Park Lane, London on June 27th 2019.

Axion Polymers is part of the Axion Group that develops and operates innovative resource recovery and processing solutions for recycling waste materials.The Group works with a wide range of clients within the recycling and process industries on the practical development of new processing and collection methods.

For more information, contact Axion Polymers on 161 737 6124 or visit the website www.axiongroup.co.uk @axionpolymers.

Vicki Shields (left) is Branch Manager at Konecranes UK’s Rochester service depot.

gender diversity and inclusion objectives.

Lifting equipment manufacturer and service provider, Konecranes Demag UK Limited, has reaffirmed its commitment to providing equal employment opportunities by entering into partnership with the WES. The move is consistent with the company’s objective of promoting the engineering sector to women and recruiting female employees to establish a more diverse workforce. Konecranes Demag is taking an active role within the WES, attending the organisation’s events and adopting best practice procedures.

The company will also advertise technical vacancies on the WES website, job boards and newsletters to make job opportunities more accessible to female engineers.

Konecranes UK HR Director, Karen Winfield, stated: “This is an issue about which I am passionate and I am delighted that Konecranes Demag is working with the WES to inspire and support women in engineering careers. Attracting women to technical roles is a challenge faced by many engineering companies. Our partnership with WES fits in with our global diversity programme and will enable us to encourage more women to join Konecranes Demag and the engineering sector at large. I am very excited about the community we are building and hope that it will inspire more women to join us.”

WES is a charity and a professional network of women engineers, scientists and technologists offering inspiration, support and professional development. Working in partnership with industry, the organisation supports and inspires women to achieve their potential as engineers, scientists and as leaders. It encourages engineering education and training to help companies meet their

Mark Goringe, Industrial Service Director UK EMEA Mid-West, added: “Our Industrial Service business is focused on profitable growth. To achieve this goal we need to attract and recruit the right people from across the engineering community. Our aim is to deliver world class service through our proactive and consultative customer

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

successful, sustainable – and crucially locallysourced - raw material supply chains with allround benefits. It’s an environmentally-friendly and economically-viable ‘virtuous circle’ of which the whole team is justly proud.”

approach. Our success depends not only on our world-class products and tools but on further developing our diverse and inclusive workplace. We have many available service roles within the business, which historically have been predominantly filled by men. Our partnership with the WES is an important part of our recruitment strategy to reach out to women within the engineering community to promote and fill the available roles which are open within Konecranes Demag.”

Konecranes Demag UK Limited Unit 1 Charter Point, Coalfield Way, Ashby Business Park, Ashby De La Zouch, Leicestershire, LE65 1NF Tel: 01332 697 700 Fax:01332 697 755 www.konecranes.co.uk

6

News & Events

NSK´s fight against counterfeiting continues with seizure of fake bearing packaging in China The quest to stop the fake bearings industry continues apace at NSK, where the recent seizure of counterfeit NSK packaging and labels in Hebei Province, China, illustrates the scale of the problem. More than 23,000 fake boxes and cartons, which were subsequently confiscated pending further investigation and potential prosecution, were discovered in Linxi County, Xintai City.

Dishonourable traders who ply their trade in fake bearings not only put their own businesses at risk - by sourcing and selling inferior quality bearings - but that of innocent end users, who unwittingly buy these products in the belief they are getting ‘the real thing’ at a reduced price. Of course, such bearings have the potential to fail prematurely, even catastrophically, thus presenting an inherent safety risk. In turn, there is a significant negative effect on the brand image of NSK.

intensive, high-cost exercise.

However, NSK continues undeterred in its relentless pursuit of these disingenuous operations. The latest success in Hebei arrived with the assistance of an investigator and Chinese government officials. Contained within the counterfeit store was a large quantity of fake, premiumbrand bearing packaging, located either on shelves, piled inside woven bags or simply stacked on the floor. Furthermore, inkjet printers and people producing counterfeit cartons were found on site. When questioned about the seized bearing packages, the owner of the business admitted that all were fake.

The challenge of catching counterfeiters, especially in countries like China, is a time-

More information about the fake bearings industry can be found at www.stopfakebearings.com.

Tomlinson Hall Donates 100 Sleeping Bags to Homeless Charity Award winning Local Pump Distributor & Manufacturer – Tomlinson Hall – has this month donated 100 sleeping bags to one of the region’s most recognised homeless charities as it marks its centenary year in business.

The Billingham based pump company, which launched its 100th-Anniversary charitable drive at the beginning of this year - its 100th year in business - delivered the 100 sleeping bags to CEO Sleepout, a national charitable organisation working on behalf of homeless people. From there, the charity organised a donation to The People’s Kitchen in Newcastle who will be donating the 100 sleeping bags to homeless people living on the streets.

The contribution of the sleeping bags forms part of Tomlinson Hall’s plans to donate 100 sought-after items – every month throughout the year - to 12 good causes across the region.

Speaking about the initiative, Colin Simpson, Business Development Director at Tomlinson Hall said:“It was very important to us that – as part of our centenary celebrations – we

did something that reflected the company’s commitment to charitable causes. As such, we devised the 100 for 100 campaign which will see us donate everything from sleeping bags through to food parcels, sanitary products and financial contributions to charitable causes across the region.

“The donation of the 100 sleeping bags to The People’s Kitchen has been particularly rewarding as it has involved a number of key partners working together to make sure the bags get to the people who need them. This has been a real example of organisations in the region working together for the greater good with CEO Sleepout facilitating the sleeping bag donation and The People’s Kitchen distributing them within the region. We’re very proud to have been instrumental in making this happen.”

The People’s Kitchen was originally founded as a soup kitchen in 1985 and – since then -has more than 200 volunteers, delivering 35,000 hours supporting homeless and disadvantaged people across Newcastle. The charity now serves over 40,000 hot meals every year, provides sleeping bags, blankets and warm clothes to people living on the streets and supports physical and mental well being through its work with partner agencies. www.tomlinson-hall.co.uk

7

MICRONICS UF D5500 EASY TO USE, NON-CONTACTING FLOW METER FOR ACCURATE FLOW MEASUREMENT OF “DIFFICULT” FLUIDS FROM OUTSIDE A PIPE

NEW!

NEW NON-CONTACTING DOPPLER FLOW METER Measure, Display, Totalise, Log and Control from Outside the Pipe The NEW Micronics UF D5500 flow sensor installs without cutting the pipe. It takes just a few minutes to mount on the outside of any pipe. Configuration is easy with the builtin, 5-button keypad. Select your choice of flow units and enter pipe diameter through the user-friendly calibration menu. Integral 25 million point data logger, 2 control relays, 4-20 mA output and optional Modbus or HART communication.

Benefits of Non-Contacting Flow Measurement No Contact means no maintenance, no sensor fouling, no obstruction to flow, no pressure drop, no corrosion and no pipe cutting or drilling for installation.

Designed for: n n n n

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Pulp Stock Food Products Lubricating Oils Crude Oil

Ideal for full pipes > 12.7mm / 1/2 inch diameter and any liquid containing gas bubbles or solids larger than 100 microns and in concentrations greater than 75 ppm.

For fur ther information call us on

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or email sales@micronicsltd.co.uk w w w.micronicsflowmeters.com Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

News & Events

Sharing the original renewable resource A community project in the Yorkshire Dales that was a pioneering venture of its kind, is embarking on a new funding drive to invite environmentally savvy shareholders from across the globe to be part of this historic scheme.

The Settle hydroelectric scheme (Settle Hydro) was built in 2009 at Bridge End Mill on the picturesque River Ribble.

Environmentally clean electricity is generated by water drawn from a weir on the river through a sluice gate, along the mill’s original head race and down the Archimedes Screw, a mighty turbine which, in turn, drives a generator. The electricity is fed by a direct line to the old mill building, now converted into residential apartments. Any surplus is fed into the National Grid, providing income for local community organisations and Settle Hydro shareholders at the discretion of the Directors.

and his fellow pioneers embarked on a massive learning curve to turn what seemed at the time a relatively simple concept into a complex renewable energy community project ahead of its time.

Support for the scheme came from many quarters, local and national, including Friends of the Earth, the Cooperative Group, MPs and local businesses, but a substantial investment of £450,000 was needed to install the hydro. 211 individual shareholders from the community pitched in a combined £200,000 to become Members, grant funding was obtained with the help of Yorkshire Forward and the balance borrowed from The Charity Bank.

The scheme was initiated and still managed by a small team of volunteers. Settle resident, Steve Amphlett, was running an initiative, Going Green, when he was approached by a firm championing hydroelectric power. They had identified the town as the perfect location for siting a renewable water energy resource fed by the surrounding hills.

That was the easy bit. The team recalls that at one point each director was working up to 30 hours a week on the hydro on top of their day jobs. They had first to create an Industrial & Provident Society for the Benefit of the Community, essentially a co-operative which could sell shares as an investment and to give a return, whilst retaining the principle objective of benefitting the community above the individual shareholder. A massive £38,000 was required in legal fees to finance the outcome, which parted the waters for future schemes to flow more smoothly.

Their talks spawned a community project which became the inspiration for others across the world. With scarcely any other forerunners in terms of the technology or the legal and administrative set up for the scheme, Steve

Extensive liaison with the Environment Agency undoubtedly helped shape their policy and improved their way of working with similar schemes that followed in the wake of the Settle team’s endeavours. At the same time,

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Settle Hydro was among the first small scale community hydro schemes in the country to be connected to the National Grid.

As renewable energy entrepreneurs, the team - who had never considered themselves to be ‘green warriors’ - unwittingly became the go-to experts for other water power projects across the globe, with hundreds of visitors tapping into their experience. From Australians, Kenyans, Canadians and representatives from Obama’s administration through to Germans working on wave turbines, the unassuming Settle Hydro provided inspiration, expertise and a benchmark for development.

Naturally, the scheme attracted its share of media interest and a string of awards. It’s a fairytale come full circle in heritage terms – the original site was thought to have been a mill for ‘fulling’ woollen cloth in the sixteenth century before becoming the water-mill building featured in a sketch by J M W Turner in 1816. Now, that ‘dark satanic mill’ has had a new lease of life as a home to eighteen residents whilst it continues to use that same rushing Dales watercourse to power a brighter future.

Nine years and several re-developments on, such as an improved control system and a hydraulic drive for the automated sluice gate, the unsuspecting volunteers who first conceived the project are now looking forward to helping the scheme to reach its full potential. With the original bank loan

and hefty annual interest remaining as its only barrier to financial success, a new share opportunity is being made available to funders looking for truly green credentials in their investments.

While the target figure to raise is £120, 000, with a minimum outlay of just £250 to become a voting Member, it’s a realistic prospect for almost anyone wanting to be a part of this historic venture with its earth-friendly future.

At the corporate level it’s a chance for corporate social responsibility to flow freely, with the option for the Settle Hydro to be renamed in honour of the right significant sponsor.

Ann Harding, who has been at the forefront of the team since its inception, explains “This is not just about green electricity, but something that has genuinely changed the world. The Settle Hydro project has contributed hugely to education and environmental issues, not only in accessing low carbon sustainable energy, but in empowering communities with long term stability as they take responsibility for their own future. We look forward to meeting some interesting new shareholders in this the final stage of our pioneering venture.”

If you think you may like to join the Hydro Team please contact Steve Amphlett 01729 824431 steve@settlehydro.org.uk www.settlehydro.org.uk

8

News & Events

Agenda announced for PROFINET, PROFIBUS and IO-Link seminar Free seminar - June 26, Manchester Covering key application areas such as control systems and energy management, pulp & paper, chemical, utilities, pharmaceutical, mechanical handling and logistics, robotics, automotive engineering, electrical and electronics assembly, packaging and printing, this freeto-attend event focuses on the practical aspects of using PROFINET, PROFIBUS and IO-Link, from system design and safety considerations through to fault-finding and maintenance.

Draft Agenda Time

Item

Presenter

09:15 – 09:30

Welcome and introduction to exhibitors

Andy Smith, E+H

09:30 – 10:00

PROFIBUS International and basics of PROFIBUS & PROFINET

Mark Freeman, Siemens

10:00 – 10:30

PROFIBUS network design for Process Industries

Andy Smith, E+H

10:30 – 11:00

PROFINET network design

Andy Williams, Siemens

11:00 – 11:30

Coffee and exhibition

11:30 – 12:00

Industrial network commissioning and testing

Dave Tomlin, Hitex and Xing Ye, Ideal Networks

12:00 – 12:30

PROFIBUS and PROFINET device configuration tools.

Phil Waterworth, Endress + Hauser

12:30 – 13:00

IO-Link for the “last metres” communication

Derek Lane, WAGO

13:00 – 14:00

Lunch and Exhibition

14:00 – 14:30

Industrial networks safety & security

Peter Brown, CSA Group

14:30 – 15:00

Update on Industry 4.0, IIoT, TSN and APL

Derek Lane, WAGO

15:00 – 15:15

Summary, questions & close

Andy Smith, E+H

Spaces are limited, so don’t delay, register today!

More information and registration ...

12949 TCO Leaflet A5 2pp AW.qxp_Layout 1 04/10/2018 15:53 Page 2

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A proven management tool to help keep track, allocate and improve efficiency

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

News & Events

NDC Technologies Announces New Website website feedback, signing up for NDC news and accessing the company’s social media sites »» Flexible Menu Navigation – lets you find measurement information based on the way you search such as by industry solution, by measurements, by products or via the site’s search engine »» Informative Product Information – industry solutions, measurements and product pages provide helpful, informative details to guide you in selecting the right product for your process application »» Interactive Contacts -- an interactive contacts map for each NDC business enables you to quickly identify a local NDC sales representative for help with your unique measurement needs

New Design Increases Visitor, Customer Engagement

NDC Technologies, a leading global provider of precision measurement and control solutions, announces the launch of its newly redesigned website. Created with the user experience in mind, the new website provides a highly visual, intuitive interface and includes many features to help visitors quickly and easily access essential information about NDC’s extensive product and service offering.

“We are thrilled to launch the new website and feel it will serve as a useful, informative portal for customers, partners, media and other stakeholders to better understand NDC and all we have to offer,” says Jay Luis, Global Marketing Communications Manager at NDC Technologies.“We want our visitors to have an engaging user experience as we continue to amplify our brand and increase our market presence.”

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

The new website welcomes visitors with vivid imagery and a clean modern design, and highlights content focused on the company’s non-contact measurement solutions for the Food and Bulk, Tobacco, Cable and Tube, Film Extrusion and Converting, and Metals industries.

Features include: »» Instructive Graphics -- the site contains video and a range of striking imagery to visually communicate NDC’s solutions across various industries and applications and how they help customers produce products better, faster and more cost effectively »» Floating Help & Support Menu – help is just a click away on every page with a floating menu and quick access to the myNDC service and support cloud, requesting a quote, submitting

»» Featured Content – throughout the website, pages display “featured content” and “featured products” to help you learn how NDC is helping manufacturers solve their most challenging measurement applications »» News and Events – visitors stay informed with the latest NDC news on company products, accomplishments and events »» Responsive Design -- delivering a fully responsive experience, the new website gives users a seamless transition from desktop to mobile browsing »» Testimonial Galleries – read what customers are saying about their success with NDC products and services “We will be constantly updating our content with helpful information, articles, news items, company announcements, events and customer success stories,” adds Jay Luis.“We look forward to the continual growth of our brand.”

To learn more, visit: www.ndc.com.

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You Tube

Sean Moran Intro

Introducing PII’s new regular columnist

Sean Moran

The Voice of Chemical Engineering We’re delighted to introduce our new columnist, Sean Moran, who is well known throughout the industry, and we’re really looking forward to reading Sean’s perspective on industry

Here’s a quick introduction from the man himself and a sample for what’s to come…

I’ve been asked to write a regular column for PII, so I suppose I won’t just launch into it. Let’s start with introductions. For those of you who don’t know me, I am a Chemical Engineer who also writes (mostly about Chemical Engineering). I’ve been writing for quite a while now, mostly on LinkedIn and also for Elsevier as their “Voice of Chemical Engineering”.

I’ve also written some longer pieces as well as three books to date on process plant design (mainly for Elsevier and Wiley), and articles, mostly for Chemical Engineering, The Chemical Engineer and Chemical Engineering Progress magazines.

Writing is however a side-line for me. I’m a ‘proper’ chemical engineer. I’m not a chemical engineer in the sense used in academia - that I once did a degree in the subject, (or one vaguely related to it).

I’m a chemical engineer in the sense that this is what I have done for a living since I graduated, for almost thirty years now. I’m a freelance, presently working for part of the week in Holland, in an infant formula plant, as well as having several projects on the go in the UK and elsewhere, all to do with effluent treatment problems.

I mainly work as a trouble-shooter, process designer and expert witness nowadays, though I used to do a lot of training (mostly in the Middle and Far East) before the oil and gas market collapsed. I also worked as a university lecturer for a few years, hoping to bring some real-world engineering into Chem Eng teaching. I even made professor before I quit in disgust. I also quit the IChemE on similar grounds around the same time after being elected to its ruling council. I have a low opinion at an institutional level of both academia and most engineering institutions founded in inside knowledge, though I recognise that even the worst institutions can contain good people.

If you have already come across my writing then you will probably have gathered that I am not afraid to share my opinions on the parlous state of our institutions, the failure of engineering education to produce useful graduates, and the massive oversupply of engineering graduates. You will also know that I am no fan of cant, hypocrisy, greenwash, or corporate bullshit.

I’ve had a lot of opportunities to travel in this profession, though I only ever seem to travel East with work. Apart from Europe, I’ve worked in various locations in the Far and Middle East, even Pakistan.

I’ve also worked in many different sectors. There isn’t much of chemical engineering for which water (my specialist subject/substance) is not a Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

main feedstock. Why does it matter that I’ve been around?

Because it supports my belief that chemical engineering is about what is common to all sectors and countries. The narcissism of small differences can prevent homebodies and sector specialists for seeing this.

The last of my hobby-horses is related to this. I found in writing my first three books that my reviewers from different countries and sectors seemed to be disagreeing with each other, until I understood that they were actually using the same words to mean different things and different words to mean the same things. I often could not get them to see this though, and the narrower someone’s experience, the more likely they were to insist that the usage of a word or term was the only correct one. I was however intrigued by these differences, which led me to my latest book project. I’m currently writing a dictionary of chemical engineering, to be published by Elsevier, which tries to break down some of these linguistic misunderstandings.

(As an aside, I’ve been very disappointed to discover that some of the big institutions which issue standards expect enormous sums of money merely to quote the definitions of words contained in their standards (with attribution of course). They clearly have a rather inflated idea of how much a textbook author makes for their books: the fees each of the institutions wanted, per book, represented rather more than I earn per book. But that’s institutions for you.)

I suppose my dislike of institutions and my preference for freelance work are strongly correlated.

Other than my four years at the University of Nottingham, I haven’t had a staff job since 1996. I’ve done some agency work, but mostly it’s been proper freelancing. I’m basically not as interested in people as I am in problems. As I see it, once the problems are solved, there are others better suited to hanging around and watching nothing happen.

I don’t know about you, but I love engineering. If I didn’t think it would mess up my next fee negotiation, I’d tell you that I’d do it for free. I don’t really know what people mean by work-life balance and at 56 years old, I still find few things in life as exciting as my work. For me there is little as satisfying as figuring out what is wrong with something and how it can be put right, then seeing my solution work.

So that should give you an idea of my background and viewpoints.

Currently I’m in campaigning mode, so here’s a quick taster of what’s to expect:

I see lots of “STEM” promotion activity by well-meaning engineers, persuaded to address a supposed “STEM shortage”.

Why anyone would need to promote STEM is a mystery to me, I was always fascinated by how things work, just like all real engineers. What use are reluctant engineers? That aside, how can the unemployment and underemployment of engineering graduates (and even highly experienced engineers) be so high if there is a STEM shortage?

The answer is simple. There is no STEM shortage. There are forecasts of shortages, just as there have been for decades. But there is no actual STEM shortage.

There are complaints from employers that they cannot get a particular kind of employee on terms which favour the employer.

But there is no STEM shortage.

There are complaints from universities that they only have nine applicants for each place on engineering courses. But there is no STEM shortage, just as there was not in 1957, 1982, or 2014, times when we were also told there was supposedly a STEM shortage. What there is (and will always be) is a shortage of good engineers willing to work for peanuts.

Next time, I’ll get more into it…

12

Process Measurement, Control & Instrumenation focus

Feature Article

Neculai Moisoi, PhD Senior Metrologist, Druck

Ian Abbott, BEng Industrial Product Manager, Druck

A world under pressure:

pressure measurements for process industries Introduction Pressure is the second most measured parameter after temperature in process industries. It is often important to measure accurately to control the quality of the final product and quickly to control dynamic processes. Other important considerations are the challenging environments of many applications, the safety requirements of use in explosive atmospheres and the cost of maintaining calibration records. The choice of suitable pressure measurement products can be daunting. This article considers the different technologies that are available and what advantages each brings, as well as how those performance advantages suit particular applications.

Within this article the typical uses of pressure sensors in process industries and what challenges users face will also be depicted.

Fundamental types of pressure sensors The pressure sensors industry underwent a rapid development after the initial invention in 1938 of the strain bonded gauges by E. E. Simmons of the California Institute of Technology and A.C. Ruge of Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Whilst many form factors are available, a generic appearance of a pressure sensor is presented below.

Figure 1: A generic pressure sensor with an isolation diaphragm

Types by sensing principle Piezo-resistive sensors are the most used type of sensors, due to the variety of applications that they suit high levels of accuracy, and their normally robust construction. Most piezo-resistive sensor are based on a Wheatstone bridge on a silicon substrate, where each resistor in the bridge changes its value with the applied strain/ pressure and then this signal can be modified into a variety of electrical outputs. There are few applications where parameters are required that are outside of the capabilities of piezo-resistive sensors, however for most industrial applications piezo resistive sensors are the preferred choice.

Capacitive sensors come also in a big variety of shapes and forms, with generally very simple shapes where a thin diaphragm is one plate of a capacitor and the applied pressure will cause the elastic deformation/ movement of the diaphragm and hence a change in the electrical capacity. Due to their high sensitivity, they make good sensors for pressure measuring lower than 20 mbar (20 hPa), but caution should be used as they are typically sensitive to vibrations and shocks.

Inductive sensors have a similar approach to capacitive sensors, where a sensing (elastic) capsule is moving a core element inside of a linear variable differential transformer, hence the change in induction is proportional with the applied pressure.

A large variety of sensing capsules can be used with inductive sensors; meaning that they can be used for different ranges, but care must be taken with electrical noise and/or shock and vibrations.

Resonant pressure transducers are some of the most accurate silicon-based sensors on the market and the functioning principle is based on the change in frequency of a resonator as the stress is applied to it, generally through a silicon diaphragm, connected to the ends of the resonator. They

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

are generally robust sensors and come in different form factors with various degree of protection against the environmental factors. However, their mechanical principle could make them vulnerable to mechanical waves, especially if these mechanical waves activate different frequency modes of the resonator.

Types by output The main two types of pressure sensors are continuous quantities output or discrete (digital) output.

The continuous types are mV, V, mA and Hz) and each type has its own advantages and disadvantages. With this in mind, each should be chosen based on the application and environment. As an example, a mV output is desirable if the signal has to be modified in a bespoke application without the need to send it for long distances, while a V output or mA output can be sent over relatively long distances, as it is less likely to get affected by the operating environment than a mV output.

Digital output pressure sensors are becoming more popular as they can be easy integrated into computerised systems, using the same set of wires for multiple sensors (Modbus, Profibus, Canbus) and that they can also be used as a “plug & play” configuration (RS232, USB) or even connected without wires (Wireless, Bluetooth).

Pressure sensors metrological characteristics Pressure sensors’ metrological characteristics can vary substantially from manufacturer to manufacturer and it is very important to understand these characteristics to ensure a suitable sensor is chosen for the intended application. From a pure metrological perspective, some of the parameters (e.g. repeatability, precision, accuracy) have a qualitative definition, however through the years they have been used as quantitative parameters, hence we will use them in the 14

Feature Article same way. Below we will focus on the main metrological parameters: Signal Offset Signal offset is the error of the sensor at the minimum pressure (Figure 2 shows the signal offset for a pressure sensor with a range of 0 to 1000 mbar and an output of 0 to 5 V). From a practical point of view, it is important to know if the sensor offset can be adjusted (“re-zeroed”) as many sensors could drift over time and the ability to “re-zero” would be desirable. Together with the offset adjustment, many sensors have the capability to adjust the span (output at maximum pressure minus output at minimum pressure), which also will help to correct drift over time. Measuring and resetting such offsets requires a calibration and maintenance plan to ensure performance remains within required limits.

sumes linear behaviour of the sensor. Figure 3 represents the linearity error for a BSL case and in order to characterise the sensors, the maximum error is chosen (as the worst-case scenario).

»» Stability of a measuring instrument is the property of a measuring instrument, whereby its metrological properties remain constant in time »» Instrumental drift is the continuous or incremental change over time in indication, due to changes in metrological properties of a measuring instrument Figure 3: Pressure sensor linearity error Pressure or temperature hysteresis error is the difference between two separate measurements taken at the same point, but one where the is increasing and one where the value is decreasing. The hysteresis size varies based on both the pressure sensor technology and the physical construction of the sensor.

Figure 2: Pressure sensor offset Sensitivity The sensor sensitivity is the ratio of the output signal change and the pressure change.

If we consider the graph above where the output changes by 5 V, while the pressure changes by 1000 mbar, then the sensitivity is 5 mV/mbar. This an important parameter for the way we would use the signal in the application, as well as determining how sensor performance will be affected by electrical noise.

Precision Precision is generally the term is used to describe sensors’ behaviour in terms of its repeatability, linearity error and signal hysteresis. Traditionally some manufacturers have used the term “accuracy” to describe this parameter. However, as a rule of thumb, whatever the name for this parameter, the best approach is to understand what its constituent parts are. Precision as a parameter does not tell us how accurately we are measuring pressure, but more how the sensors itself behaves. For example - is it repeatable? is it linear? is there pressure or temperature hysteresis?

Repeatability is the closeness of the agreement between the results of successive measurements of the same pressure carried out under the same conditions of measurement in a relatively short period of time. Often the repeatability is determined as the standard deviation of the repeated measurements or the amplitude (maximum – minimum).

Linearity error is determined as the difference between the measured value by the sensor and the theoretical line (which is either determined as BSL- best straight line fit or TSL – terminal straight line fit), which as-

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Long Term Stability (Drift) Long term stability of an instrument is often referred by its opposite quantity - namely the long-term drift, as per the following definitions:

Figure 4: Pressure hysteresis error Generally, the 3 parameters described above are included in one specification, which defines the acceptable limits for precision (example: precision is +/- 0.1 % of full scale).

Accuracy Accuracy should be associated with the specified measurement error, including the impact of systematic error, random error and drift (in cases where accuracy is specified over a period of time). The accuracy of a pressure sensor or of a measurement is obtained as part of the measurement uncertainty evaluation and includes many factors, including the standard and/or the Unit Under Test (UUT) uncertainties, precision, etc. Evaluating the uncertainty of measurement/calibration requires specialist knowledge, hence here, we will focus how to interpret accuracy.

Every measurement should have the measurement uncertainty with it (either through an accuracy statement in the data sheet or uncertainty in a calibration certificate).

Most of the time, the accuracy is evaluated as Expanded Uncertainty, which is assumed of following a normal distribution and the coverage factor = 2. In simple terms as per the example below: the true value of the measured quantity x is found with a 95 % probability within the range (x-U, x+U).

Most of the time, the drift of an instrument follows a given mathematical model over time, but due to the variation from part to part for any given model, the drift is expressed as a tolerance range, D=+/- 10 Pa, hence it should be included in the overall accuracy of the instrument. Generally, the pressure sensor exhibits some form of drift over time, hence it is important that systems are designed with the potential to be adjusted for both: offset and span drift and that a calibration and maintenance program is adopted.

Influence quantities Influence quantities are any external (i.e. not included in the input/output) quantities, which can influence the performance of a pressure sensor. Most of the time, the pressure sensor manufacturers provide the range for the influence quantity and its effect on the metrological characteristics of the sensor.

The influence of external factors is mostly given as a tolerance range, which should be taken in account when evaluating the instrument accuracy. For example, when considering the temperature effect for a pressure sensor, the influence quantity (temperature) is defined -10 to +50°C and then its effect is defined as a tolerance range ±0.75% of full scale.

The influence quantities and their effect should be supplied by manufacturers through their datasheets and they differ based on what the measured quantity is and the type of sensor., The most common influence quantities are: temperature, humidity, atmospheric pressure, electromagnetic fields, vibrations, noise.

Based on the application, the stated specifications for influencing quantities should be closely examined, as in some cases the effects induced are much greater than the claimed precision and/or accuracy.

Figure 5: Accuracy representation for a pressure value X

When comparing precision with accuracy for a pressure sensor: precision tells us how the sensor behaves, while accuracy (and it will include the precision factors) tells us how accurate our measurement is, or which are the boundaries containing the true value of the measurement.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Feature Article

Figure 6: Remote calibration of a pressure sensor by using a modular calibrator

Calibration of pressure sensors In years past, pressure sensors would be taken out of the system into which they are incorporated and calibrated in a metrological laboratory. However, this will come with an associated cost, as either spare sensors will be need to be installed to prevent downtime or the system would simply stop and the asset would be down until the sensors are returned from calibration/testing.

In modern times, most of the sensors are calibrated “on the spot” using pressure calibrators, some of which have the capability to

generate and measure pressure at the same time and the output (in mV, V, mA, etc). Also, many of the calibrators can evaluate the calibration uncertainty (many times referenced as “accuracy”) and store/transmit the data automatically through a data management system. It is always advisable to have such a system as it keeps all calibration data securely, which make it easier to manage the assets, reduces reporting errors and helps to conform with ISO certifications.

The method of calibration is a direct method and beside the operational checks that needs to be performed prior to selection (choosing the right fittings for the pressure connections, ensuring a leak free system, safety precautions, etc), the calibrator should be chosen as a rule of thumb to be 4 times more accurate than the sensor calibrated.

Choosing the right sensor for the application Choosing the right sensor for an application is about matching the requirements of the application to the particular parameter that the user is interested in.

For example, in a leak test application absolute accuracy is a secondary consideration to noise. Whether the reading has changed is key and thus if the sensors misreads 10 bar as 9 bar the consequences are not profound, as high

Chell Unveils Impressive Multichannel Blender

resolution is of greater importance, in order to see a small change in pressure.

As another example in a control loop speed of response is critical. If the sensor is outputting the pressure that was present 100 ms in the past it will be very difficult to optimise a dynamic process.

Of course, there are some applications, like fiscal transfer and delivering a mass of gas to a process, where the overall accuracy is the most important factor. There is a 1:1 relationship between pressure error and the error on the mass, or to put this another way, a 1% error in the pressure reading is a 1% error in the bill. In this situation it is important to take not only the headline “accuracy” figure into account, but also the performance over the operating temperature range and then to include the stability figure to set a recalibration period in order to maintain the overall accuracy at all times.

Manufacturers tend to put as much detail as they can on their technical and marketing literature, but must balance the amount of information given with making the information easily accessible and understandable.

For increased certainty of best matching requirements to a particular application, it is often necessary to engage a pressure sensor supplier’s design engineering team and in some critical cases, it is possible to engage in a partnership in order to design a custom solution for a specific application.

This unique and innovative multichannel gas mixer will solve a variety of challenges in a wide range of industries. The Multichannel Blender is available with two, three or four customer specified channels for impressive gas mixing capability and rangeability.

“We’re always proud to be developing new solutions,” comments Nick Broadley, Managing Director at Chell Instruments. “We’re pleased this important and innovative product will improve ease and accuracy of gas blending for customers in many sectors.”

World-renowned gas flow measurement specialists Chell Instruments have developed a new Multichannel Blender as a dedicated solution for highly accurate mixing of gases.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

The Multichannel Blender ensures gases are fully mixed before leaving the unit with a custom blend chamber. A Purge function also makes sure there are no residual gases remaining within the blender manifold on completion, to ensure the purity of the next blend is never compromised. The custom manifold is orbitally welded and manufactured in stainless steel, ensuring excellent leak integrity.

Chell’s new design makes configuring gas mixes simple with a high resolution LCD front panel and intuitive menu, and an on-board web server allows connection via an Ethernet cable for performing read, control, set up and diagnostic/calibration functions via a standard web browser.

“It’s another important innovation for Chell and our customers” says Nick.“Accurate gas mixing is a very involved process and engineers need to know they are using the very best equipment for the job. We’re thrilled to be introducing the new Multichannel Blender, one of the most accurate off-the-shelf gas mixing solutions on the market.”

The Multichannel Blender is available in several variants including models suitable for corrosive gasses.

For more information about Chell instruments and the Multichannel Blender visit www.chell.co.uk

16

Process Measurement

The New UF D5500 Fixed Clamp-on Flow Meter The New UF D5500 from Micronics is a “Best Value” easy to use, non-contact flow meter for the measurement of pumped, full pipe Wastewater and other solutions, suspensions or aerated liquids including: Raw Sewage, Viscous Liquids, Sludge & Slurries, Solvents, Pulp Stock, Food Products, Lubricating Oils & Crude Oil.

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It’s a non-contact, non-invasive, Doppler flow meter with the facilities to measure, display, totalise, log and provide control functions from outside the pipe i.e. no need to drain-down systems or cut pipes and easy maintenance with the following benefits: No blocked flow sensors, obstruction to flow, system pressure drop, sensor corrosion or contamination of the liquid being measured.

A New integral 26 million point data logger is now a standard feature and the meter now supports Industrial Automation Protocols: Modbus RTU via RS485 or HART (field selectable).

The meter is suitable for pipe sizes from 12.7mm to 4500mm, the enclosure is watertight (IP 66) and it has Intrinsic Safety Barriers for mounting in hazardous locations.

For further information regarding this exciting New product and its application visit www.micronicsflowmeters.com or call Micronics today on +44(0)1628 810456

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Efficiency matters.

Reliability matters.

Safety matters.

In your world, it all matters.

This is why

level matters.

Rag layers, foam and mud tanks. Scrubbers, shakers and steam.

There are no excuses when you need the toughest level measurements.

That’s why Magnetrol® matters. We have the deepest experience in your applications and the broadest portfolio of level instruments for your industry. Our experts will help you identif y ef ficiencies, lower costs, improve production and reduce downtime. It all mat ters.

Because in your world, level matters.

©2019 Magnetrol International

Connect with the level measurement experts at magnetrol.com

Process Measurement

Dual Input Temperature Allows for Uninterrupted Process Monitoring Temperature sensor failure can wreak havoc on processes where maintaining temperature is critical and monitoring must be continuous. Whether it’s a runaway temperature that spoils a batch or a process interruption when an alarm shuts down the process due to a sensor failure, you lose time and money.

Dual input temperature transmitters with built-in backup and failover protection such as the THZ 3 and TDZ3 Dual Input Smart HART Temperature Transmitters from Moore Industries allow you to designate either of the sensors or inputs as the primary measurement and the secondary input acts as a backup sensor in case of a primary sensor failure.

One real world example involves the monitoring of critical temperatures in a chemical batch processing vessel (see Figure 1). It’s important to have the ability to maintain your temperature measurement in case of sensor failure.

Single input temperature transmitters would require redundant sensors and transmitters that add to installation and maintenance costs. The THZ3 and TDZ3 with dual sensor input automatically switches to the backup sensor when the transmitter senses a primary sensor failure. This means that process monitoring can safely continue without interruption until the problematic sensor is replaced.

Multidrop Networks Save Time and Wiring Costs The dual input capability also means that you can increase your temperature measurement points in a multi-dropped HART network. HART version 5 and 6 allow up to 15 THZ3 or TDZ3 transmitters to be multi-dropped on one digital HART loop to monitor up to 30 temperature points. This saves substantial time and lowers wiring costs.

Any combination of THZ3 and TDZ3 transmitters can be connected in parallel onto a HART digital communication link (see Figure 2).

Figure 2. Multi-dropping several Smart HART transmitters onto a single digital data link saves time and money. Utilizing THZ3 or TDZ3 transmitters with dual inputs allows for cost-effective monitoring of several temperature points on one HART input channel. HART 7 allows digital multidrop addresses of 1-63.

This means you can use a single loop, instead of separate loops, to connect multiple transmitters. In a multidrop network, the transmitter’s measured process variable is output digitally, so the 4-20mA signal (locked at 4mA) is not used.

A HART-based control system uses each transmitter’s individual address (0-63 in HART 7) to configure, poll and view the transmitter’s data. A HART Communicator or other HART master with programming capability can be used in this configuration to access information from, or transmit configuration information to, the transmitter from anywhere on the HART loop.

Additional Dual Sensor Input Benefits • Average and Differential measurement can be utilized to average the two input measurements or select either the differential (A-B or B-A) or absolute difference between the two inputs.

Figure 1. When reading critical temperatures in a chemical batch processing vessel, failover protection allows the secondary input of the Dual Input TDZ3 to act as a backup sensor when the primary sensor fails.

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• High-Select and Low-Select features which enable the transmitter to continuously monitor two separate inputs and designate either the

highest or lowest input as the source for the analog output or PV. • Dynamic Variable Mapping that permits the user to assign either the input or the calculated result of the inputs to any of the four HART variables (PV, SV, TV and QV) that can be read by any HARTcompatible host system.

Device Intelligence for Smarter Monitoring and Control The THZ3 and TDZ3 come with Device Intelligence, a series of features for smarter control and monitoring including: • Sensor drift and corrosion detection that checks and alerts users when the sensor is drifting out of a preset range or when the resistance due to corrosion exceeds set parameters.

• Smart range alarms with four HART alarms – set to any input or calculated input – that detect when the variable is within or outside of user preset limits.

• A High Availability option that enables the selection of how the

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Process Measurement AO behaves when there is an input failure or outof-range value detected by the transmitter. This prevents nuisance alarms on startups or batch process shutdowns.

• Input simulation capability allowing manual input of a direct or calculated value. This essentially simulates a real input, allowing users to test the AO or any HART diagnostic and range alarms.

Dependability and Accuracy Users can rely on the accuracy and dependability of the THZ3 and TDZ3. Their input-to-output analog accuracy of up to ±0.014°C (±0.025°F) utilizing sensor matching and trimming over a 100°F span is the absolute best in the industry. The transmitters feature 20-bit input resolution and deliver exceptional input accuracy for all sensor types.

Plus, Moore Industries’ patented continuous sensor diagnostics feature can save you from costly lost production and hours of troubleshooting. Advanced RFI/EMI protection and ambient temperature compensation guard against environmental factors that can quickly degrade measurement accuracy, while long-term stability provides up to five years between scheduled calibrations.

SIL 3 Capable STZ for Safety-Related Applications End users who need a dependable and accurate temperature transmitter for use in Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) where dangerous processes occur can turn to the SIL 3-capable STZ Functional Safety Dual Input Smart HART Temperature Transmitters. Part of the FS FUNCTIONAL SAFETY SERIES, the STZ has been certified by exida after rigorous evaluation to ensure conformance with strict IEC 61508:2010 standards for safety-related applications.

As with the THZ3 and TDZ3, the STZ has a dual sensor input that provides Backup and Failover Protection to reduce process interruptions. For example, temperature is often a critical measurement in reactors, especially processes with the potential for thermal runaways due to exothermic reactions.

Utilizing the failover/backup feature with dual sensor input on the STZ can help a Safety Instrumented System (SIS) mitigate potentially dangerous situations (See Figure 3).

Figure 3. Temperature is often a critical measurement in reactors, especially processes with the potential for thermal runaways due to exothermic reactions.

Utilizing the failover/backup feature with dual sensor input on the STZ can help Safety Instrumented Systems (SIS) mitigate potentially dangerous situations.

Learn more about Dual Input Temperature solutions from Moore Industries at www.miinet.com/HART-Temperature

Advanced Platform for Water Leak Reduction Management Titan Enterprises has been working with leading players in the UK water industry to develop a next generation device for water leak management within properties and within the immediate vicinity.

The aims of this innovative new device are to monitor customer water usage at an individual appliance level, offer the ability to detect leaks and pipe bursts and automatically isolate the supply if a catastrophic event occurs and provide data suitable for operation of smart water networks.

Neil Hannay Business Development Manager at Titan Enterprises commented “The world domestic water flowmeter market is estimated to reach over 125 million units this year. Around one third of these will be “smart” meters requiring power to operate.

Drawing upon our proprietary Atrato ultrasonic flowmeter

technology we have developed, with our partners, the industry’s most advanced platform for water and leak reduction management.

This product ‘Waterfall’ was showcased at the recent WWT Water Industry Technology Innovation Conference in the UK where it was enthusiastically received”.

Mr Hannay added “We are also very keen to hear from other water industry integration companies interested in utilising our Atrato ultrasonic flowmeter technology as part of their water leak detection / management system” For further information contact Titan Enterprises on +44-1935812790 / sales@flowmeters.co.uk.

To learn more about ‘Waterfall please visit www.waterfall-iws.com.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

20

Process Measurement

New Testo 340 analyser kits ceramic probes for high temperature applications.

There’s even a heated probe option.

Test 340 analysers also come with a built-in dilution feature to enable measurement range extension, which is essential when there are high emission concentrations.

New to market are three Testo 340 analyser kits for commercial and industrial flue gas analysis. The kits make it easier to buy a Testo 340 for a particular application.

Whether it’s standard combustion analysis, true NOX measurement, or SO2 and NO measurement, these preconfigured kits are available through all Testo flue gas analyser distributors.

Each kit includes a hard carry case, mains charger and analyser carry strap. Probes can be chosen from a comprehensive set ranging from standard probe with thermocouple, to engine probes with built in particulate filters and

For recording measurements there’s an optional IR printer or EasyEmission PC software. The analysers all have Bluetooth with connection to the Testo Combustion App allowing the display of measurements on Android devices.

Testo 340 is an advanced industrial analyser, approved to EN50379, and can be used for service jobs or emissions spot checks.

Testo Ltd +44 1420 544433 info@testo.co.uk www.testo.co.uk

Level Measurement Solutions for Clean-in-Place Skids Clean-in-place (CIP) is a method of cleaning the interior surfaces of pipes, vessels, process equipment, filters, and associated fittings without disassembly. Industries that rely heavily on CIP are those requiring the highest levels of hygiene, and include: dairy, beverage, brewing, processed foods, pharmaceutical & biotech, and cosmetics. Using a clean-in-place system is a highly efficient way of ensuring cleanliness and safety while maintaining process equipment.

This article, part of the Magnetrol® series on modular skid systems, discusses how clean-in-place systems can be configured as skids, and level measurement instrumentation that can be used to ensure these systems run more smoothly.

Skid Configurations and Applications CIP skids clean and sterilize process systems to the highest hygienic standards. A sterilization-in-place (SIP) process (attained by steam, hot

21

water, or chemical means) is typically included, as is a chemical dosing system, tubular heat exchanger, chemical reclamation, and rinse water recovery system. Water is pumped into rinse and detergent tanks, is dosed with detergent and chemicals, then heated and pumped to applications. Spent wash returns to the recovery tank for caustic reclamation. Typical CIP/SIP phases are: pre-rinse, alkaline wash, primary air-blow, rinse, acid wash, secondary air-blow, water for injection rinse, sterilization, and final air-blow.

Level Measurement Solutions Below are common level measurement applications for clean-in-place skids and their corresponding level measurement solutions: • Rinse Tank: Water is pumped from the rinse tank in pre-rinse and subsequent rinse phases that follow the wash cycles. Level controls maintain water level in the rinse tank. For continuous level, the Eclipse® Model 706 guided wave

radar transmitter is recommended.

• Detergent Tank: The bulk cleaning liquid and water are pumped to the detergent tank before each cleaning cycle to make up a batch of detergent. The detergent is typically pumped through a plate heat exchanger for more effective cleaning. For continuous level, the ECLIPSE Model 706 guided wave radar transmitter is recommended.

• Recovery Tank: A CIP caustic recovery system reclaims useable caustic solution from spent caustic streams. The spent CIP caustic solution is collected in a recovery tank and is processed through a membrane system in batch or continuous modes. For continuous

level, the ECLIPSE Model 706 guided wave radar transmitter is recommended.

• Chemical Tanks: The most common basic cleaners metered from storage tanks are potassium hydroxide and sodium hydroxide.

A base wash is often followed by an acid wash of phosphoric acid, acetic acid, or citric acid.

For continuous level, the ECLIPSE Model 706 guided wave radar transmitter is recommended.

More Information For more information on clean-inplace skids and other modular skid system applications, download the modular skid systems brochure.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Feature Article

By Ian Webster, Hygienic Processing Segment Manager at BĂźrkert

Process control valves making the right choice Modern process control valves offer a wide range of features and benefits for industries that require precise control over fluids, steam and other gases.

With so many control valves on the market, it is important to establish the features that will deliver the most cost-effective design for a particular application.

Ian Webster, Hygienic Processing Segment Manager at BĂźrkert, looks at some of the basic differentiators as well as some recent design developments.

Control valves are used to manage the flow rate of a liquid or a gas and in-turn control the temperature, pressure or liquid level within a process. As such, control valves are defined by the way in which they operate to control flow and include globe valves, angle seat, diaphragm, quarter-turn, knife and needle valves, to name a few. In most cases the valve bodies are made from metal; either brass, forged steel or in hygienic applications 316 stainless steel.

Establishing the parameters Actuators use an on-board system that measures the position of the valve with varying degrees of accuracy, depending on the application. A contactless, digital encoder can place the valve in any of a thousand positions, making it very accurate, while more rudimentary measurements can be applied to less sensitive designs.

One of the main areas of debate when specifying control valves is determining the size of the valve required.

Quite often process engineers will know the pipe diameter that is used in an application and it is tempting to take that as the defining characteristic for the control valve. Of greater importance are the flow conditions within the system as these will dictate the size of the orifice within the control valve. The pressure either side of the valve and the expected flow rate are essential pieces of information when deciding on the valve design.

Improving efficiency Inside the valve body,

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

the actuator design is predominantly either a piston or a diaphragm design.

The piston design typically offers a smaller, more compact valve which is also lighter and easier to handle than the diaphragm designs. Actuators are usually made from stainless steel or polyphenolsulpide (PPS), which is a chemically resistant plastic. The actuator is topped off by the control head or positioner.

Older, pneumatically operated positioners had a flapper / nozzle arrangement and operated on 3-15 psi, so no matter what the state of the valve, open closed or somewhere in between, the system was always expelling some compressed air to the atmosphere.

Compressed air is an expensive commodity, requiring considerable energy to generate and when a manufacturing line is equipped with multiple process control valves all venting to the atmosphere, this can equate to a considerable waste of energy. It is important then to establish not only the most appropriate valve design, but also a cost-effective solution that takes account of annual running costs.

Modern, digital, electro-pneumatic valves that use micro solenoid valves 22

Feature Article to control the air in and out of the actuator have introduced significant improvements for operators. This design means that while the valve is fully open, fully closed or in a steady state, it is not consuming any air. This, and many other engineering improvements, have made substantial advances in both economy and precision.

Flexible designs Valve seats can be interchangeable within a standard valve body, which allows the valve to fit existing pipework and the valve seat to the sized to the application more accurately. In some cases, this can be achieved after the valve has been installed, which would enable a process change to be accommodated without replacing the complete valve assembly.

Selecting the most appropriate seal materials is also an important step to ensure reliable operation; Steam processes would normally use metal-to-metal seals, whereas a process that included a sterilisation stage may require chemically resistant seals.

Having installed a new valve, setting it up is now comparatively easy and much less time-consuming. In-built calibration procedures perform the initial setup procedures automatically, measuring the air required to open and close the valve, the resistance of the piston seals on the valve stem and the response time of the valve itself. Once complete, the valve is ready for normal operation.

Improving safety Control valves should be specified so that they operate in the 40-85% range so if the valve is commanded to a 10% setting, it can detect that something has potentially gone wrong with the control system and the best course of action is to close the valve completely. If the valve is commanded to a position of 10% or less this can cause very high fluid or gas velocities, which have damaging effects on the system and cause considerable noise and damage to the valve itself.

Modern control functionality can offer a solution that acts as a safety device to prevent damage to the process pipework and components. By building in a failsafe mechanism, any valve position setting below a pre-set threshold will result in the valve closing completely, preventing damage to the surrounding system.

Control inputs can also include safety circuits to ensure safe operating conditions within the process equipment. For example, if an access panel on a vessel containing steam is opened, an interlock switch will open and the valve controlling the steam supply to the vessel can be closed automatically helping to mitigate any risks.

Improving reliability Many process control environments offer less than ideal conditions for long-term reliability. Moisture-laden atmospheres, corrosive chemicals and regular washdowns all have the capacity to shorten the service life of a process control valve.

One of the potential weaknesses of the actuator is the spring chamber where atmospheric air is drawn in each time the valve operates.

Capanivo ® Compact & flexible

Clever capacitance level detection of liquids, pastes, foam & interface measurement Use in non-metallic containers possible!

CN 7000 The pocket-sized one Compact design Enclosure version or integral cable version Synthetic version available Chemical resistance Optional PVDF probe SensGuard protective sleeve 2-wire instrument ” tivity ensi y S p i g “T nolo Tech

CN 8000 The allrounder Pipe and cable extension Range of process connections High safety standard Hygiene versions Very high sensitivity Digital version with LCD

One solution is to use clean, instrument air to replenish the spring chamber, preventing any contamination from entering. This offers a defence against the ingress of airborne contaminants by diverting a small amount of clean control air into the control head, maintaining a slight positive pressure, thus achieving a simple, innovative solution. This prevents corrosion of the internal elements and can make a significant improvement to reliability and longevity in certain operating conditions.

Ultimately, choosing the most appropriate process control valve can be a complex task that is often best achieved with the assistance of expert knowledge. Working directly with manufacturers or knowledgeable distributors enables process control systems to be optimised for long-term reliability as well as precision and efficiency.

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UWT (UK) Ltd • 01743 718883 •

sales@uwtuk.com www.uwtuk.com

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Process Measurement

Introducing the Mobrey Hydrastep Electronic Gauging System Exclusively Distributed by Delta Controls Delta Controls, based in Farnham, UK, announced last month it has signed an agreement to purchase the Mobrey line of measurement products manufactured in Slough, UK from Emerson, the U.S.headquartered global technology and engineering company.

A key product in the Mobrey product range, which is now exclusively distributed by Delta Controls, prior to full acquisition, is the for steam drum level measurement.

Hydrastep technology was a customer-led development and its history spans a little over five decades. Nowadays the Hydrastep 2468 is seen by many as an industry standard and its reliability

is second to none. Hydrastep has become the preferred choice for steam drum level indication as the display is separate from any monitors and gives an immediate and clear level indication within the control room. Outputs are often used for alarms and trips for emergency shutdown.

To date, the Hydrastep 2468 has been installed in over 6,000 critical applications globally. A key feature of the system is the electrodes which are comprised of exotic metals brazed with high-quality ceramics. The proprietary processes used are the result of decades of development which makes leaks practically unheard of.

Delta Controls is delighted to be the exclusive worldwide distributor of the Mobrey Hydrastep 2468 Electronic Gauging System and would welcome the opportunity to talk you through this product or any of the other products in the newly acquired Mobrey range

Fieldbus Displays

Field or panel mounted models for use with FOUNDATION™ fieldbus and Profibus PA systems > FF ITK 6 compliant > 6 Optional local alarm outputs > Zone 0, 1 and 2 plus Div 1 and 2 certified for gas & dust. > Bus powered > ATEX, FM, cFM and IECEx certified > IP66 enclosures > Dot matrix backlit display > Shows up to 8 process variables > Choice of 11 standard screen formats, including bargraphs.

www.beka.co.uk

Hitchin, Herts. SG5 2DA,UK sales@beka.co.uk Tel +44 (0)1462 438301

ABB launches highly accurate, non-invasive temperature sensor New NiTemp non-invasive temperature sensor opens unprecedented opportunities for temperature measurement in process plants worldwide ABB’s new NiTemp non-invasive temperature sensor offers a simpler and safer way of measuring process temperature without the need to shut down a pipeline, drill a hole, or install a thermowell. With its innovative double sensor architecture and specially developed calculation algorithm, NiTemp greatly enhances safety and reduces installation costs without sacrificing the quality of the measurement.

The device is designed for surface measurement and eliminates the need for a thermowell, avoiding process intrusion altogether and greatly increasing the safety of people, plants, and the environment. As such, it can be used in a range of applications, including processes with hazardous media, special hygiene requirements and/or stringent cleaning require-

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

ments and high-pressure processes with high bending loads or use with abrasive media.

The NiTemp approach is inherently safe, compliant with safety standards, and simplifies environmental aspects. With the sensor able to be installed and maintained without shutting down a process, plant availability is improved and system costs are lowered, helping to reduce CAPEX costs by at least 30%.

The new temperature sensor uses innovative technology with proven components, such as standard in-sets widely utilized in industry. It has been developed through direct testing and feedback from key customers in the oil and gas, chemical, and food and beverage industries. Moreover, the handling of NiTemp is easy and straightforward, from ordering to maintenance, and the common ABB look and

feel with text display makes commissioning and handling easy.

The device is suitable for different media and pipe diameters and can be used in all areas of the process industry and power generation. NiTemp has global approvals for explosion protection up to zone 0. Its use with liquid media with low viscosity, high thermal conductivity and/or turbulent flow in metal pipes is particularly advantageous.

For more information, email enquiries. mp.uk@gb.abb.com , or call 0870 600 6122 ref. ‘NiTemp’

24

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Monitoring the world

Feature Article

By C.N.Shukla, Consultant (Training & Development), Pune Techtrol Pvt. Ltd.

Detailed Review of Level Measurement and Control instrumentation A) Importance Smarter measurement supports safer, more efficient and more sustainable operations, improving uptime and extending service life, whatever the industry sector. In any process industry, measurement and control of following parameters is required to be done extensively and is very important for satisfactory operation of the process.

solid inventory is essential.

• Custody transfer:- Accurate measurement of level of liquids and solids facilitates transaction of the items with trust and confidence to ensure faster settlements of deals.

Estimation of volume of costly liquids like petroleum products can always be done more accurately by measurement of level rather than by flow metering.

• Human safety:- Spillage of hazardous liquid can cause harm to personnel working in the area and potentially may create safety and environmental hazards resulting in financial losses. Hence overfill protection is very vital. Also disproportionate mixing of two or more ingredients can generate harmful products.

• Temperature • Pressure • Level and • Flow The importance of level measurement in this context cannot be overstated whether be it for Industrial Process Measurement & Control or in Inventory Tank Gauging.

Significance of Level measurement and control is mainly on account of following factors…

• Safe and efficient control of the process:- A manufacturing process can go haywire, if the levels of relevant liquids and solids are not measured and controlled properly.

It can also severely damage production equipment and result in undesirable change in the quality of product or loss of production.

(Example – In case of steam generating boilers, measurement & control of water level in the boiler drum is very critical. Loss of water level or excessive level of water are detrimental for the life of boiler and related auxiliaries) • Monitoring and control of inventory:- Economic efficiency of any operation depends on adequate control of inventory.

This is particularly important for high value items, since excess storage of such items adds to the “inventory carrying cost”. However low levels of inventory can starve production activity. Hence accurate measurement of level of liquid /

B) Measurement Technology The technologies deployed for measurement and control of liquid / solid level are broadly classified as follows.

1) Contact Type instruments - These instruments make direct contact with the liquid/solid whose level is being monitored. They are based on various principles such as Archimedes principle, Magnetism, Hydrostatic pressure, Capacitance, Conductivity and Piezo electric vibrations. While making use of contact type level measuring instruments, compatibility of the Material Of Construction (MOC) of the instrument must be taken into account. Also adequate attention must be paid to the operating pressure and temperature.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

1.1 Archimedes principles:• A body, whose density is less than that of a liquid, will float in that liquid and the weight of liquid displaced is equal to the weight of the body.

• A body submerged in the liquid will

displace volume of liquid equal to the volume of the body and the buoyant force experienced by the submerged body is equal to its loss of weight.

1.2 Magnetism:Magnetic force can be used to actuate reed switches and microswitches without physical contact.

Also magnetic force can be transmitted through non-magnetic materials.

1.3 Conductivity The current flows through the conductive liquid to complete the circuit between reference electrode and sensing/control electrode.

1.4 Hydrostatic pressure:This method depends on measurement of pressure exerted on pressure sensor by liquid column when placed at the bottom of the tank. The pressure exerted by the column of liquid is equal to the height of liquid column, h, times the specific gravity, sg, of the same.

(P = h x sg.).

Thus from this we can calculate the level of liquid, ‘h’ in a tank, if we know the pressure of the liquid at the bottom and the specific gravity ‘sg’ of the liquid.

1.5 Capacitance principle:The capacitance relationship is expressed by the following equation: C = 0.225 K (A / D) where: C = Capacitance in Pico Farads K = Dielectric constant of material A = Area of plates in square inches D = Distance between the plates in inches Capacitance type switches & transmitter make use of this principle where liquid between two electrode acts as dielectric constant.

1.6 Piezo electric effect:Piezoelectric Effect is the ability of certain materials to generate

an electric charge in response to applied mechanical stress. One of the unique characteristics of the piezoelectric effect is that it is reversible, meaning that materials exhibiting the direct piezoelectric effect (the generation of electricity when stress is applied) also exhibit the converse piezoelectric effect (the generation of stress when an electric field is applied).

All vibrating fork switches make use of piezo electric crystal and works on this principle.

2) Non-contact type instruments – They do not make physical contact with the liquid/solid whose level is being measured. These instruments are mainly based on ultrasonic, radar and laser principles. Also adequate attention must be paid to the operating pressure and temperature.

2.1 Ultrasonic principle:Sound travels through air at velocity of 343 meters / sec. at 20 0 C. Echo of ultrasonic pulses at frequencies 30 KHz and above is used to calculate the distance between sensor and target. The range from the sensor to the target is computed by:R(t) = Ct/2 where: R(t) is the distance to the target c is the speed of sound t is the time from the transmission until the echo received.

2.2 Radar principle:This non-contact radar technology has two different versions: Pulse radar and Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) radar.

The pulse radar - An electromagnetic wave having frequency between 1 and 100 GHz is sent from the antenna toward the process surface in search of a change in impedance, which will reflect the signal back 26

Feature Article to the transmitter. The intensity of pulses reflected back depend upon dielectric constant of the product. The transit time of electromagnetic pulse is used to calculate the distance and in turn the level of process liquid/solid.

The FMCW radar – It uses high frequency RF signal upto 100 GHz and transmitted towards the target and reflected from the target surface at time delayed frequency. The difference in transmitted and received frequency of signal is directly proportional to the distance of target from the antenna which is then converted into level signal of 4-20mA DC. C) Types of level measuring instruments 1) Visual indication: – It is achieved using mechanical level gauges which do not depend on electricity for their operation.

• They are used for continuous level indication of liquids. Broadly level gauges are classified as glass gauges and float type gauges.

• The glass gauges are based on principle that “liquid seeks its own level” whereas float type gauges are based on Archimedes principle.

• Level gauges are available in wide variety of materials such as PP, CS, SS304, SS316, PVDF, PTFE lined SS304 or Hastalloy C to suit the type of liquid and operating conditions.

• In several applications, provision of direct reading level gauges is mandatory as statutory requirement.

Advantages:– • ‘Seeing is believing’, hence reliable and do not depend on electricity.

• Glass gauges provide direct indication of liquid level.

• Easy to install and operate.

• Suitable for high temperature and pressure applications.

Limitations: – • They are suitable for free flowing liquids not containing heavy suspended particles.

• Glass gauges have a fragile element like glass tube or flat glass.

Following are the types of level gauges which are commonly used in industry.

1.1 Tubular Level Gauge:– The gauge is mounted on the side of a tank so as to form close loop with the content of vessel. Liquid level can be observed in the glass tube of the gauge. Guards are provided to protect the glass from accidental breakage.

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Suitable for maximum temperature 200 ⁰C and pressure 10 Kg/cm2 Generally these gauges are used for low pressure application, and in general, for ‘open to atmosphere’ tanks.

1.2 Reflex / Transparent Glass Gauge: – Liquid level is observed in flat reflex or transparent gauge glass.

Reflex type glass has prismatic corrugations on its front face by virtue of which liquid portion appears as black and portion above it white.

1.5 Float & Tape Gauge :– This is the most accurate gauge, which measures liquid level upto ± 2mm accuracy. It consists of perforated tape wound on drum. Float follows liquid level and tape is wound /unwound on drum through sprocket wheel.

The motion of sprocket wheel is transferred to pointer through gear mechanism to indicate level on the dial.

Transparent gauge is similar to reflex type, except that the gauge glass is smooth finished and a pair of glass is fitted on front and rear side.

tube and a magnetic float moves freely along it. Float follows the liquid level and actuate the reed switch. The output reed contacts have low power rating (40, 60, 120 VA) but nevertheless can be directly connected PLC/DCS. Suitable for max. temp. 150 ⁰C & pressure 10 kg/cm2 2.2 Float Pivoted Switch – It is single point switch generally side mounted to the tank wall.

The switch operates through a glandless magnetic coupling to provide micro switch changeover contacts of 5A, 230VAC. The switch is ideally suitable for tanks which are inaccessible from top & bottom. Suitable for max. temp. 300 ⁰C & pressure 20 kg/cm2

Suitable for maximum temperature 400 ⁰C and pressure 200 Kg/cm2 1.3 Magnetic Level Gauge:It consists of a magnetic float inside a chamber made up of nonmagnetic material and indicator is clamped externally on the chamber.

Indicator is available in two types, follower capsule or bicolor flapper. Float follows liquid level and links with capsule/ flapper to indicate liquid level. This gauge is multi-purpose, as it can be provided with switches and transmitter which are clamped externally on the chamber. It is suitable for corrosive, toxic and hazardous liquids where glass gauges are considered unsafe.

Suitable for max temp 400 ⁰C and pressure 100 Kg/cm2 1.4 Float & Board Gauge:– It is the simplest gauge consisting of float connected with wire rope and the other end of rope is connected to pointer outside the tank. Float follows the liquid level and pointer moves on the scale board attached on side of the tank. It is suitable for bulk liquid storage tanks under atmospheric pressure.

2) Level detection or control at preset points: This is done by using level switch, which provide on/ off contact for operations such as alarm annunciation, start/stop of pumps/ auxiliaries, interlocks etc.

• Used to detect liquid / solid level in the tank. Single point or multi point level switches are available.

• Available in wide variety of materials such as PP, CS, SS304, SS316, PVDF, PTFE lined SS304 to suit the type of liquid and operating conditions.

• Weather proof or flameproof protection for outdoor installation and installation in hazardous area are provided.

Advantages: • The switches, based on Archimedes principle do not require electricity for their operation. But they provide potential free electrical contacts, which can be used for further actions.

• Since the electrical switch is magnetically coupled with the float, there is complete isolation between the liquid and the electrical portion of the instrument.

Limitations – • Some switches may not be found suitable for direct operation of higher loads.

• In such cases, use of intermediate relays/contactors may be required.

Following are the different types of level switches generally used in industry.

2.1 Float Guided Switch – It can provide single or multi point switching. It consists of one or more hermetically sealed reed switches located inside the guide

2.3 Displacer Switch – It is single or multipoint switch. The displacer, is suspended from a wire rope is connected to actuator rod. With rising level, when displacer is submerged in the liquid, it experiences a buoyant force and actuates the micro switch of 5A, 230VAC rating.

The level set points are site adjustable. Suitable for maximum temperature 300 ⁰C and pressure of 100 Kg/cm2 2.4 Conductivity Switch – As the name suggest, it is suitable for conductive liquids only. In this, a small AC signal is passed through a reference electrode and same is detected at control electrodes at various set points. The current flowing from reference electrode to control electrode is used to operate relay which can handle more power.

Suitable for max. Temp. 100 ⁰C & pressure 5 kg/cm2 2.5 Capacitance Switch – It measures capacitance formed by two electrodes of the switch where liquid forms the dielectric.

Variation of level results in change in capacitance which is measured and relay is operated. Suitable for max. temp. 60 ⁰C & pressure 5 kg/cm2

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Feature Article 2.6 Vibrating Fork Switch – In air its fork vibrates at its resonance frequency created by means of piezo electric crystal. When material touches to the fork, its damped vibrations are sensed in electronics to operate relay.

It is single point switch and is available for liquid and free flowing granular /powder. Suitable for max. temp. 250 ⁰C & pressure 10 kg/cm2 2.7 Rotating Paddle Switch – It is solid level detection switch.

It consists of synchronous motor which rotates at 1 RPM. The shaft of the motor is extended to the required length and paddle is attached to it. In absence of material paddle rotates and when solid level reaches to the paddle it stops rotating and operates a micro-switch lever to provide changeover contacts.

3) Continuous level measurement and monitoring: – • Level transmitters are used for quantitative measurement of liquids/solids which help in inventory control and custody transfer. They generally provide an electrical output of 4 to 20 mA DC corresponding to 0 to 100 % of the level, which in turn can be expressed in terms of various units of measurement including volume/weight.

Transmitters are available in material of PP, SS304, SS316, PVDF coated SS to suit process liquids. Inventory control and custody transfer can be effected by using the transmitter.

Advantages• Exact quantitative measurement facilitates continuous level monitoring.

• Output is also available in RS485 MODBUS or HART. Fieldbus compatible.

• Multiple alarm points can be assigned from indicator PLC/ SCADA system.

Limitations • Contact type level transmitters are not suitable solid applications • Indicator/SCADA system is needed to display level in meaningful unit.

Following are the main types of transmitters available for different applications in the industry.

3.1 Float guided transmitter :It consists of magnetic float

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

moving along the guide tube, containing a chain of resisters & reed switches placed across it. Float moves on the guide tube according to liquid level to actuates reed switch and corresponding voltage across the resister is converted into current output of 4-20mA. It can be used for max. temp. 150 ⁰C & pressure 10 kg/cm2 3.2 Hydrostatic transmitter:- 10 meters of pure water column corresponds to 98.1 Kpa of pressure. Piezo-resistive sensor fitted at bottom of the probe measures liquid column pressure at the bottom of the tank. Sensed pressure is converted into mv output which is processed to provide 4-20mA output. Suitable for atmospheric pressure and temp. 70⁰C

3.3 Capacitance level transmitter:The construction and working is similar to the capacitance switch except the change in capacitance is converted into 4-20 mA output signal. Suitable for max. temperature 60⁰C and pressure of 5 kg/cm2 3.4 Magnetostrictive level transmitter:It is high accuracy (< 1mm) float type level transmitter A pulse of current sent over the wave guide wire, creates a circular magnetic field which interacts with magnetic field generated by the float, to produce twist in the wire.

Time delay between starting of pulse and its return is measured and converted into 4-20mA o/p, which corresponds to float position / liquid level. It can be used for max temp 100⁰C & pressure 10 kg/cm2

Reflectometry (TDR) principle. Low power electromagnetic pulses are sent along the probe length down to the product surface and partially reflected back to the electronics.

Transit time of emitted and reflected pulse is proportional to distance, which is then converted 4-20 mA signal. This transmitter is suitable for max temp. 250⁰C & pressure of 10 kg/cm2

3.8 Non-contact Ultrasonic level transmitter:It transmits a short burst of ultrasonic sound toward a target, which reflects the sound back to the sensor. The system then measures the transit time of transmitted & reflected signal which is proportional to the distance to the target. The same transducer can be used to both transmit and receive the sound, or separate transducers can be used to transmit and receive. Suitable for max. temp. 70⁰C & pressure < 1bar

3.6 Displacer type level transmitter:It consists of a displacer suspended from an operating lever, the other end of which is connected to a torque tube and further to a lever assembly fitted with magnetic system. The change in liquid level causes the operating lever to rotate torque tube proportionately to the change in buoyant force acting on displacer. This rotation is transferred to lever assembly causing angular displacement to change the magnetic field, which is sensed by sensor and converted into 4-20 mA o/p through signal processing electronics. Suitable for max temp. 300 ⁰C & pressure 60 kg/cm2

3.7 Differential Pressure Transmitter :These transmitters are based on piezo-resistive principle or capacitance principle and are extensively used for level and flow measurement applications.

They are ideally suitable for level measurement in highly pressurized vessels like boiler drum. Transmitter can be connected to the vessel by means of impulse pipes. Remote diaphragm seal type transmitters are also available for hazardous, viscous fluids.

3.5 Guided wave radar level transmitter:This is a contact type transmitter based on Time Domain

28

Feature Article 3.9 Non-contact radar level transmitter:As explained earlier, these transmitters can be either “pulse type” or based on “FMCW principle”.

Transmitters are programmable at site. Higher the frequency of operation, lower is the range of the transmitter but better is the resolution and viceversa. Different types of antennas such as Horn Type, Wave Guide, Parabola Type, Patch Antenna or Drop Antenna are available to suit the applications.

Suitable for max temp.

300⁰C & pressure of 35 kg/ cm2 Combinations of level gauge, switch and transmitter can also be used. All float type gauges can be provided with switches and transmitters.

Magnetic level gauge can be provided with twin chamber i.e. one for level gauging and other for radar transmitter.

D) Selection Criteria

E) Advent of Digital Era:-

Level measuring instrument is selected with reference to following criteria/conditions.

Similar to other walks of life, advancements in digital technology has beneficially impacted level measurement technology as well.

In addition to the conventional 4 to 20 mA DC output from the transmitters, MODBUS RTU output is also available which can be directly monitored from the computer. ‘Tank Farm Management System’ which is essentially a SCADA system, facilitates centralised monitoring and inventory control of chemicals, solvents and petroleum products.

1. Chemical compatibility with liquid 2. Physical property of service material – Density, conductivity, dielectric constant, viscosity & suspended particles 3. Operating temperature & pressure 4. Foaming /fuming conditions 5. Agitation /turbulence in liquid 6. Angle of repose and particle size 7. Area classification as hazardous/non-hazardous 8. Mounting position & process connection on the tank/vessel 9. Desired accuracy

Also several functions related to monitoring of level, such as on/ off operations of pumps, open/ close operations of valves, alarm annunciation etc. can be executed from remote by making use of GSM/ GPRS network.

Not only selection but also proper installation and commissioning of the instrument is equally important for achieving accuracy in level measurement.

Graphic display and animation of level indications on the DCS/ SCADA screens makes it convenient for the operator to monitor several parameters at a glance.

There is not universal instrument for level measurement of liquids/ solids. However appropriate instrument is selected with given criteria as above.

Recently level measurement & monitoring is done using wireless technology for various IIoT applications

Schematic outline of how & what all is monitored

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Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Process Measurement

Introducing New Generation of Portable Dewpoint Hygrometers Playing to its strengths, Alpha Moisture Systems launches a feature packed powerful Dewpoint Hygrometer which offers fast & accurate measurement of dewpoint & trace moisture content in industrial gases.

For over 25 years, Alpha Moisture Systems has developed, manufactured, supplied and serviced portable dewpoint hygrometers for laboratories, industrial process, power, semi-conductor, pharmaceutical, aerospace, nuclear and many other industries.

The latest development, in the form of SADPmini2 & SADPmini2-Ex, offers fast, accurate & reliable measurements consistently ensuring superior process control.

The recently launched analysers have been designed using the latest technology offering many useful features, including on-board datalogging, wireless Bluetooth connectivity and very easy to operate menu driven interface.

• Full colour screen displaying simultaneous multiple units • Desiccant Dry-Down Chamber for fast response

• Automatic Calibration • Units selectable in °C, °F, ppm(v), ppm(w), g/m3 or lb/ MMSCF • Display in choice of 10 languages • Full data logging capability • Real time logging with screenshot feature • Wireless Bluetooth & USB connectivity • View display screen on smart phone or tablet • Wireless printing to dedicated printer • Integral pressure calculator to display pressure dewpoints • Easy to use with icons and intuitive control • Strong, durable and rugged, IP66 construction • Rechargeable batteries, 150 hours use in continuous operation • Certificate of Test & Calibration • Generous 2 Year Warranty

SADPmini2 shown

SADPmini2-Ex Intrinsically safe for use in hazardous areas. Certified to ATEX, IECEx & is cULus listed.

Alpha House, 96 City Road, Bradford, West Yorkshire, BD8 8ES. www.amsystems.co.uk

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Call us on +44 (0)1274 733 100 or email: SADPmini2@amsystems.co.uk for further information.

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Process Measurement

EMERSON INTRODUCES NEW 2-WIRE CORIOLIS FLOW METER Micro Motion 4200 delivers accurate, reliable measurement without the need for additional wiring

Emerson has released the Micro Motion 4200 2-wire looppowered Coriolis transmitter, a new design that makes it possible to replace existing 2-wire flow devices with minimal effort and without incurring additional power or cabling costs.

The device can accommodate the largest line size (4 in) of any 2-wire flow meter on the market and is the only such product to offer an onboard real-time clock for improved diagnostics.

The unit is available in a remote-mount option for applications that require the transmitter to be located separately from the sensor.

The 4200 transmitter provides a viable migration path where Coriolis meters were previously not practical as a 2-wire solution, either due to restrictions on running additional wiring or a lack of power sources. By using existing wires and eliminating the need for AC panels and transformers, the 4200 shortens engineering and planning time and reduces installation safety hazards. The unit is also an ideal solution for greenfield applications where it is necessary to minimise wiring costs without compromising on measurement performance.

The new meter provides highly accurate and repeatable mass flow and density measurements, which enables users to optimise production, improve safety by preventing spill hazards due to overfilling, improve cost allocation and product usage, improve throughput and optimise reaction time. To ensure reliability, the device comes standard with Smart Meter

Verification, the only 2-wire Coriolis meter diagnostic tool on the market that checks the structural integrity of the tubes. The data historian, with up to 14 days of storage and a real-time clock, facilitates troubleshooting by time-stamping process data, audit trails and reports. A touch control display provides a simplified user experience and reduces commissioning time. The 4200 is also SIL 2-capable with single use and SIL 3-capable with multiple meters.

“Coriolis 2-wire flow meters offer an accurate and repeatable flow and density measurement that can maximise plant efficiency and reduce waste,” said Anthony Gentile, product marketing manager at Emerson Automation Solutions.“By replacing unreliable legacy 2-wire flow meters with Coriolis 2-wire, the existing wiring can be reused, lowering planning, engineering and installation costs.”

For more information, visit www.Emerson.com/ MicroMotion4200.

How non-invasive sensors are opening new possibilities for industrial temperature measurement Steve Gorvett, Product Manager DP Flow and Temperature, ABB Measurement & Analytics Temperature measurement is one of the most important parameters for industrial processes. As a key indicator of system safety, product quality and overall process efficiency, temperature measurements provide operators with the information they need to ensure their plant is running at optimum performance. As such, it should ideally be measured as widely as possible to help achieve the best possible overview of process conditions.

To date, classic temperature measurement in industrial applications has entailed directly inserting a temperature sensor with or without a thermowell into a measuring medium typically contained in a vessel or piping. This often requires adding flanges or fittings to help maintain pipeline integrity and satisfy safety requirements. While these devices have typically offered accurate and reliable performance, the time, cost and disruption associated with installing them has tended to restrict the number of temperature measurement points in a process.

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One challenge has been complications imposed by the characteristics of the medium being measured. Substances can be liquid, gaseous or in viscous or semi-viscous states, or, in some cases, a combination of these, flowing at different rates.

These substances can vary in their characteristics, ranging from benign liquids such as water, through to aggressive chemicals or abrasive mixtures. In each case, the design of the temperature device used needs to be able to withstand the rigours of the application in order to provide reliable and safe operation.

Where thermowells are used to protect temperature sensors, they must also be designed for the characteristics of the medium being measured to help safeguard the temperature sensor against chemical and mechanical stress. An example is abrasive components suspended in a process. When moving through piping at high speeds, abrasive particles can subject the thermowell to scouring that can reduce

its operational life over a prolonged period. While using special thermowell materials can help to tackle this, it can also add substantially to the overall price tag. To protect against the effects of abrasive and chemically aggressive media, thermowells must be regularly inspected and replaced if necessary.

Where thermowells are used, inspecting and exchanging them involves at least a partial shutdown, usually requiring a complete emptying of the system.

This also applies if additional measuring points need to be installed. Furthermore, the use of thermowells in a pipeline can increase the cost of cleaning.

As well as increased costs, using thermowells can also have safety implications. A thermowell placed in flowing media, for instance, can begin to vibrate due to vortex formation. In extreme cases, this vibration can lead to the thermowell breaking, which can have dramatic consequences, not only for the system, but also for the whole operating environment.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Process Measurement Consequently, the norms and standards governing the stability of thermowells such as ASME PTC 19.3 TW-2016, have become more restrictive over time, increasing the cost of front-end engineering and, in some cases, restricting the ability to use conventional thermowells.

The non-invasive solution All the safety risks and cost factors mentioned above have been eliminated by ABB’s new NiTemp TSP341-N non-invasive temperature sensor. Suited for low viscosity, liquid media with medium to high flow rates, including turbulent flow, the sensor can be used in a variety of industrial applications from −40 °C to 400 °C (−40 °F to 752 °F) on pipelines up to DN2500 (2,500mm).

Designed to be mounted on the surface of a pipe, the NiTemp completely removes the time, cost and disruption associated with fitting a conventional temperature sensor. Two clamp collars are used to fasten the retaining plate on the foot of the sensor to the pipeline, avoiding the need to drill into pipelines or shut down processes.

Key to the NiTemp sensor’s design is its combination of innovative double sensor architecture and specially developed calculation algorithm. The sensor has two temperature sensors, one measuring the surface temperature at the measuring point and the other measuring the ambient temperature in its vicinity. The calculation algorithms built into the transmitter firmware calculate and output the process temperature in real time. By also factoring in the ambient conditions during the measurement, the transmitter significantly increases the accuracy of the surface measurement.

Non-invasive temperature sensors can offer significant cost savings compared to conventional invasive methods. high pressure or high velocity media. It is also ideal for applications in the food and beverage and pharmaceutical industries, where maintaining hygienic conditions throughout the production process is key to product integrity.

By removing the need for the sensor to be in direct contact with the medium, the NiTemp eliminates many of the factors that can either impair the performance of an invasive device or increase the cost of an installation. Able to be fitted and ready for operation in under ten minutes, the NiTemp greatly reduces the time and effort needed to set up a measuring point from scratch.

Mechanical considerations that can restrict the performance or application of invasive devices are also overcome. Taking the device out of the pipeline means that there is no risk of damage or deteriorating performance that can arise where an invasive sensor is in prolonged contact with abrasive or high particle flows. The result of this is a much-reduced maintenance requirement, with no wear and tear due to stress, no need to remove and exchange damaged sensors, and no risk of potential contamination of the process medium caused by parts becoming detached or destroyed during service.

By eliminating the need to shut down processes and interrupt pipelines, the option of using a non-invasive temperature device presents an ideal solution for potentially dangerous applications handling hazardous,

Another benefit of the NiTemp’s surface mount design is its flexibility. In contrast to a fixed-in-place temperature sensor, a surface mount non-invasive temperature sensor can be readily moved to any

The fast response and high accuracy achieved allows the NiTemp to match or even exceed and the measurement performance of a thermowell.

location where a measurement needs to be made, presenting new opportunities for plant optimisation.

This inherent portability makes it especially ideal for energy monitoring projects, enabling measurement at different locations to help identify potential areas for improved energy efficiency.

All round cost savings As a ‘ready to use’ temperature instrument, the NiTemp offers significantly lower CAPEX costs compared to a conventional invasive temperature sensor.

Savings of at least 30 percent can be achieved by either minimising or eliminating much of the time and effort required to plan, design and install a conventional invasive temperature sensor.

Much of the effort during the specification and planning stage, for example, is reduced by the availability of a universal sensor option, which removes the need to select from multiple models for different pipe sizes and temperature ranges.

Added to these are the cost savings arising from removing the sensor from direct contact with the measured medium, including avoiding the need to carry out wake frequency calculations; purchasing and installing pipe fittings made from special materials, or shutting down the pipeline to install the sensor.

Summary – opening new possibilities in temperature measurement As this article shows, the benefits offered by non-invasive temperature sensors help address many of the traditional hurdles that have hitherto prevented temperature from being measured more widely across process plants. Coupling high performance and the flexibility to be deployed anywhere non-invasive temperature sensors promise to help process operators find new opportunities for enhanced plant efficiency.

For more information about non-invasive temperature measurement, email enquiries.mp.uk@gb.abb.com or call 0870 600 6122 ref. ‘NiTemp’.

The ability of non-invasive temperature measurement to match or even outperform a thermowell offers scope for both improved control and energy savings

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

ABB’s Measurement & Analytics business unit (www. abb.com/measurement) is among the world’s leading manufacturers and suppliers of instrumentation and analyzers. With thousands of experts around the world and high-performance technology, ABB’s team is dedicated to making measurement easy for its customers.

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SOMETIMES THE CHOICE IS DIFFICULT …

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â&#x20AC;¦ THE CHOICE FOR LEVEL 80 GHZ RADAR!

One sensor for liquids.

MEASUREMENT IS EASY: One sensor for bulk solids.

Sounds simple, is simple!

RADAR LEVEL MEASUREMENT WITH 80 GHZ Industrial processes are becoming increasingly customized and complex. Now it’s even easier to select the right level transmitter for your needs. For a reliable non-contact level measurement solution, just choose VEGAPULS 64 for liquids or VEGAPULS 69 for bulk solids.

DYNAMIC RANGE

120 dB

Poorly reflecting media? Dust, condensation, or buildup? Radars with best-in-class dynamic range deliver constant visibility of your process levels.

PROCESS FITTINGS FROM

¾"

With small connections and a compact design, VEGAPULS 64 is the perfect fit in the smallest liquid containers.

FOCUSING

3°

No interfering signals from internal installations. A radar beam angle from 3° for liquids and 4° for bulk solids.

ACCURACY

+/-1 mm

Every drop counts with VEGAPULS 64.

It really scores points for accuracy, especially with high value liquids.

ADJUSTMENT 80 GHz radar sensors can be adjusted wirelessly with a smartphone or tablet. Did you know? All VEGA level sensors since 2002 can also get Bluetooth. Just click-in a new PLICSCOM display and adjustment module and it’s done!

More information: www.vega.com/radar Phone +44 1444 870055 | E-mail info.uk@vega.com

Feature Article

By Jonathan Humphrey, Product Marketing Manager – Flow, Endress+Hauser Ltd.

Concentration measurement using Coriolis flowmeters It is well known that Coriolis flowmeters are a very accurate method of measuring the mass flow of liquids, gases and vapours. However, what is sometimes overlooked is that they simultaneously measure the density too. This is a very useful variable which can be used for both product quality and concentration.

The measuring tubes in the flowmeter are oscillated at their natural frequency, which is dependent on the specific meter and the product within it. The frequency is measured and is directly proportional to the density of the fluid.

The electronics convert this into a density value, which can be shown on the display or made available as an output.

A Coriolis flowmeter will typically measure density to an accuracy between ±1kg/m3 and ±20kg/m3 with some specialist meters offering even better performance. Due to the low density of gases, using Coriolis meters to determine the density is not usually possible. However, this measurement technique offers some excellent benefits when dealing with liquids.

Coriolis meters also measure temperature to provide all the variables needed for density-based concentration measurement. When two products can be mixed to form a homogeneous liquid, the density and temperature information can be used in a table or formula to determine the concentration. This has many applications such as Brix (sugar in water) or ABV (alcohol by volume) in the food and beverage industry, acid concentrations in the chemical industry and, with advanced meters, can even be applied in the oil

and gas industry to determine water cut (oil:water ratio).

Some Coriolis meters on the market have concentration software built in; others are used in conjunction with a separate controller. This makes concentration information directly available over a wide range of industrial protocols including 4–20mA HART, PROFIBUS, PROFINET and Ethernet/IP. Using digital communication also provides greater diagnostic information, such as flowmeter status, electronic faults and build-up detection. This can help to minimise any unexpected downtime by enabling predictive maintenance The advantages are simple: accurate in-line measurement concentration measurement that can save time and cost vs typical lab-based techniques.

The risk of a lost batch is reduced due to continuous measurement, and human error is removed from the equation. Because the density and concentration information is instantly available, tighter process control can be achieved. At the same time, the instrument is measuring the flow rate and temperature, so a wealth of process information can be transmitted. It is also possible to use the meter to record the total flow of a specific component of a mixture (e.g. alcohol).

A Coriolis flowmeter has no moving parts in the flow stream, so maintenance costs are dramatically reduced compared to more traditional flow measurement techniques such as positive displacement meters or differential pressure devices. Depending

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on the criticality of the measuring point, it is worth considering a calibration schedule which is typically determined by the user or regulatory authority. Some flowmeters can self-verify which can help to qualify the performance between calibrations and, in some cases, even extend the time between calibrations.

Coriolis flowmeters are manufactured in a wide range of pipe diameters so the density, and thus concentration, can be measured in very small pipes DN01 (1/24”) all the way up to large line sizes of DN350 (16”).

To minimise capital expenditure, it is even possible to install a Coriolis meter in a bypass line, providing the product in the bypass is representative of the main line. When using a volumetric flowmeter, such as a positive displacement meter, it is sometimes necessary to compensate for a change in product density (e.g. after a change in temperature). In this instance, a Coriolis meter can be used to measure the density and convert the volumetric flow reading into a mass flow reading. As above, this could be done in a bypass, which is a technique often used for large hydrocarbon pipelines.

For concentration measurement, it is important to appreciate that including additional components to the mixture increases the error unless these can be accurately compensated for. In the event of three or more changing products, it can become difficult, even impossible, to measure the concentration accurately. An example of this is using Brix to measure orange juice. Brix is exclusively a measure of sugar (typically sucrose)

in water, which is often applied to measure orange juice concentration.

Orange juice contains acids, phenolic compounds and sometimes solids that affect the measurement and make comparison difficult. This also applies to other techniques such as refractometry which is why the two methods may not agree. It is sometimes possible to configure the Coriolis flowmeter to compensate for the additional components if they are very consistent. If this is not the case, then accuracy will be lost but the measurement will be repeatable.

Another important factor is the consistency of the products. If the density of the components changes, the density for a given concentration will be different, which will impact upon the result.

This can often cause a problem in the dairy industry when measuring milk fat concentration. Different seasons, herds and grass can all have an impact upon milk fat density, so it becomes very challenging to measure accurately.

To overcome this, the density of the individual products must be known or measured. This could be done in a main line before the product is diluted or reduced.

A highly accurate and flexible instrument, a Coriolis flowmeter offers precise mass flow measurement of liquids, vapour and gases with very low operating costs, even in tight installations.

Furthermore, the additional measured variables – density and temperature – provide a wealth of process information and facilitate indirect variables such as volume flow and concentration (for liquids). The live concentration measurement can help to drive down costs and increase productivity on plant.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Inspection & Vision Systems

Detecting Leaks from Electrical Circuit Breakers FLIR Systems has published a new application spotlight that addresses the challenge that electrical power stations face in detecting gas leaks from their Sulfur hexafluoride (SF6) circuit breakers.

Sulfur hexafluoride circuit breakers protect electrical power stations and distribution systems by interrupting electric currents, when tripped by a protective relay. Advantages of sulfur hexafluoride circuit breakers over other media include lower operating noise, no emission of hot gases, and relatively low maintenance.

The longer a leak from a SF6 circuit breaker is left undetected and not repaired, the more revenue is lost, and the greater the carbon footprint on the environment from the electrical power station. Consequently, it is crucial to rapidly locate SF6 circuit breaker leaks to minimize downtime and revenue loss. Using traditional leak detection methods such as gas sniffers or soap bubbles this is not always possible as they require close access to or even shutdown of the electrical power plant.

By using a portable, non-contact FLIR GF306 optical gas imaging camera you can visualize SF6 and other gas emissions without the need to shut down operations. You can also quickly scan substations for leaks while maintaining a safe distance from high-voltage equipment. Using a FLIR GF306 you can catch leaks early, reducing revenue lost from breakdowns and repairs.

Crystal Display Systems is Proud to Introduce its First Embedded Controllers Built for the Industrial Automation and Machine Vision Market

Doing so will also help reduce emissions so your company can meet environmental regulations and avoid potential fines.

For a copy of this application spotlight please visit here. For more information about using optical gas imaging cameras for leak detection in electrical power substations / transmission please visit www.FLIR.com/substation-transmission or contact FLIR Systems on +32-3665-5100 / gasimaging@flir.com.

The new Fluke ii900 Sonic Industrial Imager pinpoints compressed air leaks in minutes to reduce utility bills and maximise productivity Compressed air systems can lose a significant amount of air through leakage. For example, according to the United States ‘Compressed Air and Gas Institute’ (CAGI), the average compressed air system loses 30 percent of its air through leaks. Locating those leaks has been a time-consuming and tedious process. The new Fluke™ ii900 Sonic Industrial Imager enables maintenance teams to quickly, and visually, pinpoint the location of compressed air, gas, and vacuum system leaks even during peak production periods. Leaks can be detected in a matter of minutes.

Displays, Touchscreen and embedded specialist CDS has partnered with Embedded specialist Company Taicenn to promote and support its products in the UK and Europe including Industrial and rugged embedded Boxed PCs and Industrial Touch Panel PCs, as well as other industrial products such as rugged IP65 Stainless Steel keyboards. All designed specifically for systems and applications that

require; excellent performance, high-level reliability and stability, long supply period and support.

For more information on this range please visit - www.crystal-display. com/products/embedded-systems/

With minimal training, technicians can identify compressed air leaks considerably faster than using traditional diagnostic methods.

Now checking for air leaks can be performed during the typical maintenance routine.

Or to discuss any projects please contact the team via email info@ crystal-display.com or call the UK main office +44 (0) 1634 327420.

Featuring an array of microphones combined with the new SoundSight™ technology, the handheld Fluke ii900 Sonic Industrial Imager filters out

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

background noise so maintenance teams can accurately locate leaks in compressed air systems, even in the noisiest environments.

Inspect an entire plant in hours The seven-inch LCD touchscreen overlays a SoundMap™ on a visual image for quick leak location identification. The straightforward, intuitive interface allows technicians to isolate the sound frequency of the leak to filter out loud background noise.

In a matter of hours, the team can inspect the entire plant – during peak operations. Images can be saved and exported for reporting purposes.

More information can be found at www.fluke.co.uk/ii900

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Drives & MoTors

Planetary Gearboxes designed for rugged use and dependability Complete range of multi-purpose planetary gears. Input can be via electric motor, hydraulic motor, air motor or bare input shaft, be it either a splined or parallel keyed input shaft. jbj Techniques can accommodate gearbox inputs to suit your own bespoke requirements, even for a one off!

Designed for rugged use and dependability. The gear case is made of nodular iron, whilst the planet carriers, are made out of steel or hightensile nodular iron. All gearing is heat treated with full addendum modification, as well as lead and profile modification in order to obtain the best performance, efficiency, and low-vibration. The close tolerances in all of the gears and floating planet carriers allow the load to be evenly shared by all the components.

Spline profiles on the gears allow them to handle even larger loads. The all-roller bearing design for the planet gears allows for greater efficiency and superior start-up torque.

For further details please visit www.jbj.co.uk/ planetary-gearboxes.html

BG series of Dunkermotoren matches perfectly with SIMATIC MICRO-DRIVE servo drive system

With the brushless DC motors (24 to 48 volts) of the series BG 45, BG 65(S), BG 75 and BG 95, Dunkermotoren has been the market leader in the 20-1100 Watt power range for years. As part of a product partnership with Siemens, the motors are now also available in specific versions compatible with the new SIMATIC MICRODRIVE servo drive system.

The simple integration of the SIMATIC MICRO-DRIVE servo drive system into the SIMATIC world significantly shortens the engineering time. The integration into Siemens automation technology is possible via the TIA portal and simplifies commissioning and service.

Communication takes place via PROFINET IRT with PROFIsafe and PROFIdrive profiles. The new Safety Integrated Function SLT (Safely Limited Torque) ensures a limited torque by monitoring the motor current during operation.

Smart components in the motor, together with a patented data transmission system, set the controller to a preset state after it is connected to

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the motor. Cumbersome drive tuning and parameterization of the controller control loops are a thing of the past.

Further information can be found in the product flyer here A sophisticated modular system allows the motors to be individually adapted: Matching planetary and right-angle gears and brakes complete the comprehensive portfolio.

Dunkermotoren UK AMETEK (GB) Ltd. Steyning Way Bognor Regis PO22 9ST Phone: +44 124 3833-418 Sales.uk@dunkermotoren.com Dunkermotoren GmbH AllmendstraĂ&#x;e 11 D-79848 Bonndorf / Schwarzwald www.dunkermotoren.de Janina Dietsche Phone: +49 7703930546 Fax: +49 7703930102 janina.dietsche@ametek.com

Process Industry Informer â&#x20AC;˘ June - July 2019

Feature Article

By Rheal Caron, ABS Group

How ISO 55000 Asset Management Benefits Process Industries Leading organisations are following or gaining certification to ISO 55000, the internationally recognised standard for asset management. The benefits of applying the ISO 55000 Asset Management standard’s best practices include: better management of risk, breaking down organisational silos, increasing alignment around asset lifecycle management, structured training and retention of key skills, and the effective prioritisation of investment documentation for key processes and procedures.

Process industries seeking certification to the ISO 55000 Asset Management standard must consider which tools are most effective in obtaining alignment with an Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) system and EAM program to maximise the full benefits of the standard’s best practices.

Asset Management Standard Overview ISO 55000 was developed in recognition that asset-intensive enterprises, specifically oil, gas and chemical, pharmaceutical, paper mills, food and agribusiness, and other process industries must manage their assets effectively and efficiently in order to obtain maximum profitability while maintaining compliance. The Asset Management standard has three main chapters: • 55000 - Overview, principles and terminology • 55001 - Management systems – Requirements • 55002 - Management systems –

Guidelines for the application of ISO 55001 ISO 55000, 55001 and 55002 are international standards that provide requirements and specifications for an integrated, effective management system for managing assets. Prior to ISO 55000, PAS 55 was published by the British Standards Institution in 2004 to promote optimal management of physical assets. As an international standard, the ISO 55000 series was launched in January 2014.

There are seven elements contained in the ISO 55000 standard. These include context of the organisation, leadership, planning, support, operations, performance evaluation and continuous improvement.

EAM Systems and Processes An effective asset management tool is an organisation’s computerised maintenance management system (CMMS), or EAM system, which is designed to help an organisation maintain and prioritise its critical assets. Alignment to ISO 55000 begins with structuring asset data.

An EAM program involves managing the maintenance of an organisation’s physical assets throughout each asset’s lifecycle. EAM is used to develop, optimise, execute, and track the needed maintenance activities with priorities, skills, materials, tools, and information. EAM compliments ISO 55000 by providing valuable tools to

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

manage the maintenance of assets, in planning the work that must be done in order to maintain these assets, and in providing information to make life-cycle cost decisions and to measure asset performance.

The heart of the ISO 55000 standard is the Asset Management System (ASM).

Some organisations utilise EAM as part of the ASM to structure data and help improve an organisation’s profitability.

An example of structuring data in the EAM system begins with the CMMS database. Equipment data is structured by developing a master asset list (MAL).

From the MAL, an Asset criticality ranking (ACR) is developed to prioritise the equipment requiring maintenance and monitoring. From the ACR list, preventative maintenance optimisation (PMO) is developed.This is a very important step that determines what work needs to be performed on the equipment. From the ACR list, a spare parts analysis (SPA) is also performed to determine which critical parts are required to maintain the assets. Information required from the assets is identified for reliability analytics monitoring (RAM) to determine the condition of the equipment identified in the ACR list.

Finally, to address equipment that is operating out of conformance or has had an unforeseen breakdown, a root cause analysis (RCA) process is used to identify the root cause of the problem. Failure mode and effects analysis (FMEA) and RCA are valuable tools to support the ISO 55000 asset

management system. RCA is a process to control nonconformities through the identification of deficiencies in the performance of assets. The results of the RCA can identify the root cause of an asset’s nonperformance, and based on these results, the organisation determines what changes will need to be made to the assets. Change(s) made to the assets to correct nonperformance issues promotes a process of continuous improvement.

Implementing Strategic Asset Management In addition to the CMMS to achieve alignment with ISO 55000, organisations must develop a policy and objectives which inform the strategic asset management plan (SAMP). The SAMP incorporates corporate objectives in the AMS. Asset management plans (AMPs) are then developed and designed to meet the corporate objectives outlined in the SAMP. Altogether, the policy, SAMP, and AMP form the framework of the AMS. Asset information from performance monitoring is an input to the asset management framework. Life-cycle activities that support the assets are a central theme of the framework. The organisation’s employees manage the life-cycle activities of the portfolio of assets, and organisations can develop their own framework using the ISO 55000 standard as a guide.

Implementing the requirements of ISO 55000 begins with the assessment of an organisation’s policy, SAMP, AMP and

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Feature Article AMS.This is typically performed by a third party in an assessment gap analysis to determine the maturity of an organisation’s compliance with the requirements of the standard.The assessment provides information as a “road map” as to how to close the gaps discovered in the assessment.The road map identifies the tasked required to be performed over a period in order to achieve compliance with the standard requirements.The tasks developed in the road map are assigned to the organisation’s employees and many organisations utilise a third-party consultant to execute these road map tasks.

The final stage after implementing the road map is the ISO 55000 certification process. There are three stages to ISO 55000 certification. First is preparing for certification. Second is assessing certification readiness. The third stage is planning and conducting an audit.

The auditor conducting the certification must be accredited by a recognised body such as the ANSI National Accreditation Board (ANAB). The ISO 55000 certification is valid for three years and to renew the certification, an organisation must complete an audit.

More Effective and Efficient Production Asset-intensive organisations would benefit from adopting an ISO 55000 asset management system. The standard provides a

clear framework and increases transparency for regulators assessing these organisations for compliance.

In addition, asset management best practices help organisations reduce maintenance costs due to a decline in service callouts and improved workforce productivity. Following this standard, organisations can make more informed decisions about asset maintenance and replacement.

Additional benefits to better asset management practices include: • Justifying new capital requests more effectively • Demonstrating better projected rate of returns • Increasing consistency of business practices • Reducing risks to organisations through risk-based decision making Organisations which are ISO 55000 certified also report that they are experiencing an improvement in reputation with the public, services and outputs, making better informed asset investment decisions, financial performance, demonstrating compliance with regulators, managing risk, and demonstrating social responsibility.

The structured defined process identified in the ISO 55000 standard incorporates many of the elements that have been tried and proven over many

years. First with PAS 55 and now ISO 55000, organisations have a clear path in structuring data associated with their assets, utilising a CMMS as a database, collecting information, and making decisions that will improve asset management. Some companies such as food providers are already realising the benefits of ISO 55000 certification, which validates to the public and regulators that they are adopting a world-class approach to managing their assets.

Facilities Management Case Study A multinational food services and facilities management corporation

needed to implement an enterprise asset management program to optimise efficiency and reliability for over 30,000 sites in 80 countries.

The company implemented the ISO 55000 asset management standard best practices in May 2016 and within two years has realised the following benefits: • Operational efficiency through improved asset management planning of 20% • Total cost of operation reductions of 12% per annum • Increased reliability of asset infrastructure by 25%

Compliance Management

Modern Society is Forcing a Culture Change across Quality & Compliance Management Quality and Compliance no longer treated as a ‘tick-the-box after thought’, says industry expert Modern society is resulting in quality and compliance management no longer being looked upon as an afterthought for businesses.

Globalisation, competition for choice – coupled by the explosion of social media in the last decade –means that businesses need to be operating to the upmost standards under immense scrutiny.

Paul Hastings, a Quality and Compliance Consultant with software firm Ideagen, is well placed to discuss the changes that are forcing a cultural movement across quality and compliance.

Paul, who has over 20 years’ experience and has advised some of the largest companies in the world on quality standards and regulatory requirements, will present at the upcoming Total Supply Chain Summit in London in May on ‘Quality and Compliance in the Digital Age’.

41

He believes, due to the developments of modern society – including the explosion of social media and general consumer and business awareness – that quality and compliance are becoming more inclusive.

He said: “Quality is becoming a focus of modern day society because people are now more aware of the choices out there. If you look back to quality as it was in years gone by, there were limited choices – or limited knowledge of choices – and so businesses weren’t under as much competition for market share. For example, if you were buying a computer, you bought an IBM or Compaq or if you’re going to get soft drink you bought a Pepsi or a Coke.

“But now, when you look at the competition, there is so much choice and knowledge for consumers that any business not maintaining consistent quality levels or operating to the appropriate standards will struggle. It is literally forcing every single business to do things better to stay ahead of the game. In terms of quality and compliance, this in turn is forcing organisations to look at both areas

more seriously, introducing dedicated software systems and electronic processes to help. No longer is it the responsibility of the Quality Manager or the Quality Department – it is becoming much more inclusive and involving everyone from the C-suite down.”

Paul added: “Businesses are being forced to modernise. They need to become more productive, more efficient and more streamlined and to be able to respond faster as well. It’s a good time for quality and compliance within the global business space.”

Volkswagon etc, all have a global market for their brand.

Looking at companies such as Pepsi and Coca Cola again, as well as the likes of McVities and Walkers – all of them have global brands. If their standards slip – it could be catastrophic for them.

Throughout a career spanning more than two decades – ten with Ideagen – Mr Hastings has provided strategic guidance, advice and training to some of the world’s largest and most complex organisations.

“Solid productivity and efficiency processes have to be in place to help these companies manage their global operations and this is where society is playing its part. You can’t have a global brand operating different quality processes in Paris than they do, in say, Sydney. Social media and the interconnectivity of the modern world means that simply isn’t possible now – the scrutiny is too much.

He added:“Globalisation and the impact of social media have played a huge part in helping quality and compliance become more mainstream.

“The interconnectivity of the world is a mega trend across all industries now every company has a global market. For example, if you look at the car industry the likes of Honda, Mitsubishi, BMW and

“People and businesses now have an understanding that quality and compliance management should be at the forefront of business’ strategy and, therefore, the responsibility of everyone.

That can only be a good thing for global business and, in turn, the consumer.” www.ideagen.com/solutions/qualitymanagement-software

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Fluids & Liquids Handling

Hydra-Cell Metering Pump Shows its Versatility.

To call Wanner’s new Hydra-Cell® MT8 a low flow high pressure metering pump would do it a serious injustice.

This amazing triplex diaphragm pump can achieve a minimum flow rate of 0.227 litres per hour with the accuracy, linearity and repeatability demanded by API 675, but is capable of generating a maximum flow of 30.28 lph. The Hydra-Cell MT8 is designed to perform at pressures, up to 241 bar, while generating a smooth virtually pulse-less flow for homogeneous metered injection.

With no cups, packing or seals to leak and its ability to handle a wide range of aggressive and abrasive liquids and even run dry without damage, new uses for the

Dixon Quick Release Couplings Quick release couplings from Dixon comprises of a full range of interchange couplings for both hydraulic and pneumatic applications, engineered to the highest specification in order to flawlessly fit existing hoses and couplings.

The range of manual quick release couplings is ideal for applications where full and smooth flow paths need to be maintained. Dixon specialise in the bespoke design of speciality couplings to meet the requirements of our customer including miniature and high pressure automatic connect couplings.

A wide selection of materials including Steel, Aluminium, Brass, 316 & 303 Stainless Steel are available; thread configurations including BSP & NPT and body sizes ranging from 1/8” through to 2” ensure compatibility in a variety of installations.

New to the range are our Correct Connect™ colour coded ISO 16028 Interchange HT Series couplings

MT8 are surfacing daily. Applications to date include methanol injection in the oil and gas industry, personal care products and pharmaceuticals, food and beverage processing and additive injection in polyurethane foam production, highlighting the pump’s flexibility.

The use of PTFE diaphragms, along with the availability of a wide range of pump head materials (including Hastelloy® C, 316 SST Alloy 20, PVC and PVDF) make the MT8 the ideal choice for metering hazardous liquids.

These compact, fully enclosed, bunded units have already proved themselves in hundreds of situations, and now offer even better performance. Designed primarily for rapid plug-and-play deployment in emergencies, or for planned temporary use, they can be quickly installed to dose chemicals from IBCs and other existing storage vessels. They will also serve as an interchangeable modular solution for permanent dosing set-ups.

Dixon also offer Dry Disconnect and Safety Breakaway Couplings and Adapters; to find out more about the Dixon range head to dixoneurope.co.uk or ask us for our Quick Couplings brochure today by contacting our customer sales department on 01772 323529

Easy to carry and attach, DosingCube E is protected by an IP54-rated polyethylene enclosure which is weatherproof, chemicalresistant and secure. It features a clear inspection window, as well as a secondary spray shield to safeguard the operator when opening the unit.

Contact Gill Platt @ Dixon Group Europe Ltd T: +44 (0) 1772 323529 E: marketing@dixoneurope.co.uk

There are four standard DosingCube E models, with maximum dosing rates between 5.0 and 120.0

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

www.hydra-cell.co.uk

Portable chemical dosing convenience is cube-shaped Continuous product improvement has led to the launch of DosingCube E, the latest iteration of WES Ltd’s distinctive and highly flexible portable dosing system.

ideally suited for overcoming the challenges associated with product cross contamination, wasted time identifying connections and equipment damage caused by incorrect connections. The HT-Series Correct Connect™ colour bands provide a solution by helping to easily identify seals, materials or sizes for an application and helps with preventative maintenance schedules.

The replenishment valve system in every piston ensures optimum actuating oil on every stroke for continuous accuracy and protects the pump from damage in the event of a blocked suction line.

With suction and discharge ports on either side of the pump for installation flexibility and range of electronic and manual control options, the Hydra-Cell MT8 opens up many new possibilities for chemical metering and injection.

litres per hour and turndown ratios of 500:1 or 300:1.

While providing standardisation for maximum system compatibility, WES can also readily create bespoke DosingCube E configurations to solve specific problems for customers.

Business Growth Manager, Fletcher Roche, says:“It’s great that in addition to the more technical customisations and options, units can be supplied with enclosures in a range of chemical-specific colours. The choices are green, grey, yellow and violet, in addition to standard blue. There’s also scope to apply corporate branding to them.”

DosingCube E is on sale now and is also available via the extensive WES dosing system hire fleet.

For further information on WES products and services, visit www.wes.ltd.uk.

42

Fluids & Liquids Handling

Chemical plant enjoys large gains in hose life following switch to Bredel pumps

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Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) reports that a leading European company pumping PCC (precipitated calcium carbonate), has benefited from much extended production uptime thanks to switching to Bredel pumps and abrasive resistant hoses.

PCC has the same chemical formula as other types of calcium carbonate, such as limestone, marble and chalk: CaCO3. The substance is manufactured in the form of nanoparticles and used for products such as PVC, paints and cigarette papers. The waste from PCC production can be recycled, which is where optimised pump technologies can make a real operational difference.

Repeat failures The company began experiencing issues with its PCC recycling operations within months of the installation of their previous transfer pumps. Repairs at a cost of €1500 were needed, together with long periods of downtime.

With frustration levels rising, the company turned to WMFTG, and its renowned Bredel hose pumps and the well documented benefits they bring in abrasive duties. The expert team of Bredel engineers therefore worked closely with the PPC manufacturer to ensure the pumps (and hoses) were optimised with regard to both reliability and output.

Bredel pump provides solution The first Bredel 65 (65mm hose diameter) was installed at the company’s plant with a high level of support, to ensure the correct pipe runs, suction and discharge pressure. Suction is 9m long and 3m high, while discharge takes place at the same height over a length of 30m, with a pressure of between 2 and 7 bar.

The PCC waste contains sand and water, producing a slurry of between 100 to 1000 cPs viscosity (1070% dry content is pumped to an oven). All the Bredel 65 pumps now installed at this site feature 3kW motors and run at 17 rpm over a 24/7 duty cycle. Flow rates range from 6 to 10 m3/h.

In terms of hose life, the first Bredel 65mm diameter standard natural rubber hose lasted for 3,360,000 occlusions, or around 83 days

(2000 hours). Bredel engineers were present when the hoses were changed to ensure customer confidence and pump reliability.

Further hose life improvements were then sought by checking pump speed, heat, back pressure and product dilution. As a result, hose life increased to 4,468,800 occlusions, which is equivalent to 110 days or 2660 hours, a 32% improvement. At this point, the company was encouraged to participate in the new Bredel NR Endurance hose trials. Running under the same conditions, the NR Endurance hose lasted 7,056,000 occlusions, approximately 175 days or 4200 hours, a further 57% gain.

Hoses such as Bredel’s NR Endurance material are constructed from high-quality compounded rubbers, reinforced with individual layers of braided nylon. The inner and outer layers of the hose are extruded and importantly, after construction, every hose is machined over the entire length, to ensure critical tolerances are maintained.

The hose element is critical to ensure Bredel peristaltic hose pump performance, durability and efficiency. Careful hose material selection, combined with correct pump installation, means that pump users benefit from much less downtime, less cleaning and reduced spares inventory.

Huge rewards This European manufacturer’s decision to replace its previous pumps has proved hugely rewarding. In the first instance, downtime has been reduced from 24 hours to just 2 hours, providing a return on investment within a 12-month period. In the five years that Bredel hose pumps have been installed, the company has saved around €100,000 TCO (total cost of ownership) in this rugged and abrasive pumping application.

www.wmftg.com 44

Fluids & Liquids Handling

QUICK RELEASE COUPLINGS The Dixon Family of Quick Release Couplings offers complete Interchanges to all major manufacturers

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Better biogas feed as Borger’s pump solves rectangular tank mixing headache more consistent product to feed the AD process, Borger and Panks have effectively helped us solve a problem without needing to install a new tank”.

He added: “Mixing sludge in a rectangular tank is always a difficult task, but a paddle mixer at the deep end had difficulty coping with the solids, while the vortex pump at the shallow end of the tank (20m by 10m, 550m 3) kept air-locking”.

An innovative new Borger pump at Cliff Quay Wastewater Treatment Works is significantly improving the blend of liquified sludge and cake for Anglian Water’s anaerobic digestion (AD/biogas) process.

Working closely alongside Anglian Water and long-stablished

45

engineers, Panks, Borger have also helped meet the challenge of mixing a rectangular tank that was proving far too difficult for existing equipment.

Jon Hooper, Cliff Quay Treatment Manager for Anglian Water, said: “As well as bringing about a better,

To put the Borger EL rotary lobe pump to the test – and ensure that a new set-up would work for Anglian Water - Panks first tried pumping through the existing pipework, but there was too much pressure at the jet end.

Chris Bone, Contracts Manager at Panks, explained: “We then tried with some temporary pipework in a different configuration and this mixed the tank much, much better.

“Despite the considerable limitations of a rectangular tank, there was no doubting the capability of the Borger pump, so together with Anglian Water, we agreed to install additional stainless-steel pipework with three injection points at strategic locations”.

Now, with cake that comes in at 17% solids, with the surplus activated sludge (SAS) at approximately 3% to 4%, Anglian Water are able to achieve the optimum level of 8% solids – without the previous airlocking and burn-out issues.

Anglian Water’s Jon Hooper added: “The mix of cake and liquified sludge is quite gritty, but since the installation by Panks of the new Borger pump, we’ve successfully improved the blend – which is quite an achievement with it running 24/7 and dealing with such high volumes – around 35 tonnes per day”.

Börger UK Limited 01902 79 89 77 uk@boerger.com

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Fluids & Liquids Handling

Amarinth secures first order from Terra Energy for API 610 pumps for Kerteh Refinery, Malaysia Amarinth, a leading company specialising in the design, application and manufacture of centrifugal pumps and associated equipment to the Oil & Gas, petrochemical, chemical, industrial and power markets, has secured its first order of API 610 pumps through its new Malaysian agent, Terra Energy Sdn.Bhd, for Petronas Penapisan.

The order, for API 610 11th edition OH2 pumps, is to replace existing API 610 8th edition, Japanese manufactured, Shin Nippon pumps at the Petronas Penapisan operated Kerteh Refinery.

Located in Terengganu, Malaysia this plant refines indigenous crude oil into high value petroleum products for domestic and export markets.

The new pumps are a bespoke design with a reduced size baseplate to provide a direct fit into the existing plant and pipework thereby reducing downtime during installation. The D1 Duplex pumps will be used in one of the caustic processes and are designed to hazardous area compliance Ex nA II T3 X. They will be completed

on a 24-week delivery schedule. Terra Energy are delivering all associated pipework modifications and extended support.

Oliver Brigginshaw, Managing Director of Amarinth, commented: “We are delighted to receive this first order from our new agent Terry Energy in Malaysia. Over the past few years we have provided pumping solutions to various Petronas companies, but Petronas Penapisan is new to us and we look forward to receiving more orders with Terry Energy for both the Kerteh Refinery in addition to other projects in Malaysia.”

Amarinth Limited Bentwaters Park Rendlesham Woodbridge IP12 2TW United Kingdom

Tel: +44 (0)1394 462131 www.amarinth.com

σ Modular approach minimises on-site time

and system costs, improves health and safety

σ Mount actuator controls locally or remotely

from the gearbox and valve for accessibility

σ Pre-build subassemblies to reduce site time σ Improve control with variable speed options,

minimise water hammer and linearise flow

σ Manage assets better and plan maintenance

with remote diagnostics.

INTELLIGENT VALVE ACTUATION MODULAR CONTROL & OPEN PROTOCOL COMMUNICATIONS Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

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Fieldbus capability

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Contact AUMA to discover more...

Tel: +44 (0) 1275 871141 mail@auma.co.uk www.auma.com

46

Fluids & Liquids Handling

POME Dome success for Landia’s biogas digester mixing system in Malaysia As a growing number of countries move away from lagoon-based systems for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME), Landia has gained an important new order to supply nine of its acclaimed GasMix digester mixing systems for the generation of green energy in Malaysia.

Situated less than an hour from Kuala Lumpur International Airport, the digesters at Seri Ulu Langat Palm Oil Mill now benefit from externally-mounted GasMix systems that are low on maintenance, with no moving parts inside the tanks.

Working in close conjunction with civils works and tank supply specialists YMC, Landia has also supplied the complete pipework package for the three Epoxy Coated 28m (diameter) by 12m (high) digesters (each 7500m3).

Speaking for the plant operator Dolphin Biogas Sdn. Bhd., Mr Teoh Kah Lean said: “There were much cheaper options than Landia, but when switching on the GasMix mixing system, we have never seen a biogas dome inflate so quickly”.

He added:“We are proud of our new above-ground biogas plants, which are much better for the environment. Landia has helped us achieve our goals every step of the way, with first-class knowledge

and communication. Processing POME through an AD process with a project-specific, highly efficient mixing system is a big step in the right direction. Even though there are cheaper alternatives we will not be looking to change anything in our design for future projects”.

Landia chopper pumps draw thick liquid from the bottom of the tank, where all solids are further chopped to accelerate the digestion process and prevent clogging of pipes and nozzles. Liquid is injected into the upper half of the tank, while biogas is aspirated from the top of the tank and mixed into the liquid through the same ejector/diffusor.

Then, in the second stage of the mixing process, the settled liquid sludge is recirculated through the bottom mixer and is injected into the lower half of the tank, which creates powerful, comprehensive mixing of the tank’s contents and stops any sedimentation build up. The system in Malaysia is low on energy, operating for just 40 minutes in every 2-hour period.

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www.lutz-pumpen.de/en 47

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Feature Article

By Richard Lockwood, Pharmaceutical Sales Director, Matcon Ltd

Future Proof your

Pharmaceutical is that the facilities were old, with ageing pharmaceutical equipment.

New technologies, embracing sealed, containment solutions are encouraged by pharmaceutical inspectors to mitigate contamination risks. Those that are quickest to adopt these technologies are outperforming their competitors and navigating regulatory landscape with ease.

What You Can Do to Stay Ahead of the Curve Pharmaceutical businesses need to prepare themselves now by implementing new cost-effective, flexible, modular manufacturing systems such as the introduction of IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Containers) enabling multiple products and larger batches to be manufactured.

Here’s a selection of just some of the benefits a shift to IBC manufacturing can yield: Today’s Pharmaceutical Manufacturing landscape is seeing a change with companies moving away from having large-scale plants producing a small number of products.The increasing number of Generic alternatives to Patented products means facilities are producing a significantly higher number of products which in turn requires an ever-increasing level of flexibility.

the way these drugs are delivered multi-layer products, micro tablets and other multi-particulate formulations.

These new systems improve patient practicality, but from a manufacturing perspective, facilities will need to initiate more flexible equipment solutions to cater for these higher complexities in the production processes, if they are to remain competitive.

With this market shift there is a growing need for manufacturers to update and adapt production and business processes.There’s never been a better time to future proof pharmaceutical manufacturing. But where do you start? In this article we’ll explore the technologies and strategies you need to consider when future proofing your business in this market.

Volume is No Longer the Primary Concern One of the principle challenges in Pharma Manufacturing has been that quality, safety and regulatory compliance has often been of greater importance than volume & efficiency. As manufacturers now need to compete in a price sensitive arena, volume and efficiency is key to profit and downtime is now a big problem. Unfortunately, there have been many regulatory actions taken against pharmaceutical OSD facilities in recent years. The foremost cause

New Drugs Evolving on the Pharmaceutical Market It is not only the range of drugs on the market that is growing, but also Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

• Less production space needed • Less manual handling, quicker loading and unloading of granules & tablets • Prevent segregation and promote flow of difficult material • Time saving, less downtime • Numerous size variants • Hygienic Design – sealed, contained and dust tight • Ability to automate • Gentle handling of tablets & capsules either coated or not (of batches up to 650kg) How to Ensure You Remain in Control of Your Ingredient Discharge To meet the pressures of consumer and supplier demand, of specific and smaller order quantities and the specialist new formulations forecast, you must become agile if you’re going to compete. Assess your current facility processes by asking yourself: • are you using updated technologies and flexible

equipment?

• are these methods cost and time effective?

• are you able to cope with fluctuating future industry changes and demands?

Now is the perfect time to reevaluate your pharmaceutical manufacturing operations and start preparing for your future. It’s better to start small incremental changes now than a wholesale change when it’s too late.

This may all sound like the pharmaceutical industry is in turmoil, but it’s quite the opposite.

It represents a great opportunity for manufacturers prepared to innovate and change their production processes.

Following on in the pharmaceutical manufacturing process, would you like to speed up your pharmaceutical tablet manufacturing and increase production without compromising on quality? Could your tablet manufacturing equipment be working harder for you? Could you improve the quality of your products? The chances are your competitors already are! There are new pharmaceutical facilities opening all the time and they are implementing the latest technology and equipment that the industry has to offer.

Below we look at some of the best options to enable you to make changes that will not only increase production efficiencies but future proof your manufacturing facility.

The key pinch points that slow down your tablet manufacture are detailed below, alongside solutions to these issues.

Collecting tablets Most of the factory’s that request 48

Feature Article

advice typically start with the same issue. They have two or more operators continually filling and tagging, which uses countless drums, that need to be cleaned. The whole process is extremely time consuming and cost inefficient.

The solution is simple. If you swap operations by using an IBC (Intermediate Bulk Container), only one operator is required. There is no tagging and the collection stage can be prepared ahead of time.

Additionally, as there is no need to clean, all those drums and bags do not need to be disposed of and therefore the process is considerably more efficient and waste free.

Feed to Coater Stage Savings Traditionally, the standard method

for feeding tablets to coating stage takes about 30 minutes to manually fill, if repeating the same process of tipping drums. An IBC-based solution at this stage in the process can reduce this by at least 50%.

Empty Coater Stage Savings Some tablet manufacturers may take about 50 minutes to discharge their product after the coating stage.

It doesn’t sound a lot, but when you consider that with an IBC this will only take about 10 minutes, considerable periods of time can be saved during a whole day’s production shift (if tagging and labelling 20 kilo bags).

Cleaning Savings From the drums to the conveying equipment, traditional tablet

production methods create multiple cleaning points. By comparison, with an IBC system only one IBC needs to be cleaned per batch.

We’ve identified the key areas where tablet manufacturers can realise efficiencies in costs and time, but there are more benefits that can be fulfilled by moving to IBC based tablet manufacturing.

IBCs (Intermediate Bulk Containers) Designed for Tablet Pharmaceutical Production • Polyethene IBCs protect tablets, expertly designed to

Purity through innovation

Pharmaceutical supplier opts for innovative hygienic flowmeter Specialist process machinery manufacturer, L.B. Bohle, has developed a cleaning system for the pharmaceutical industry using Bürkert’s innovative FLOWave flowmeter for a compact, hygienic and very accurate process. Incorporating the latest in flow measurement technology has minimised equipment footprint and reduced operating costs as well as maintenance time.

Rigorous hygiene standards, such as those required in pharmaceutical production, are required to avoid contamination and ensure optimum conditions for the manufacturing process. Using either clean-in-place (CIP) or sterilisation-in-place (SIP), production machinery and vessels must undergo thorough cleaning in accordance with precisely regulated procedures at regular intervals after each product change, sometimes involving very complex processes.

In the food, beverage, pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries, flowmeters need to

49

reduce breakages, marks or dents • Cone Valve IBCs and Discharge Stations allow for a soft, slower discharge to protect tablets.

• IBCs are contained and sealed which reduces contamination/ hygiene risks.

Global sieving and filtration specialists

deliver high precision feedback while also meeting hygiene standards. Bürkert’s FLOWave flowmeter uses patented surface acoustic wave (SAW) technology to deliver precision measurements from a very compact unit, with no in-line flow restrictions, even in turbulent or contaminated flow.

The Russell Compact Sieve® ...

• Improves product quality • Increases screening capacity • Reduces maintenance costs

Read the full article here For further information, contact: Kirsty Anderson Bürkert Fluid Control Systems Tel: +44 (0)1285 648761 Fax: +44 (0)1285 648721 Web: www.burkert.co.uk Email: kirsty.anderson@burkert.com

What makes us specialists..?

Customized solutions - Applying innovation to meet your requirements Comprehensive customer service - Technical support & global stocking Specialized testing facilities - Trial your products for total peace of mind

Call us on: +44 (0) 20 8818 2000 Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Pharmaceutical & Hygiene focus

Hygienic Process System Design and Fabrication for Multinational Pharmaceutical Company materials of construction, recording heat numbers at every phase and maintaining up-to-date weld maps throughout the entirety of the project.

EPIC designed and fabricated ten sanitary process systems for a multinational pharmaceutical company that recently announced a $2-billion expansion of their medicine-manufacturing operations.

EPIC provided design-build services for two solvent recovery hygienic process systems and eight mixing sanitary process systems. All sanitary and hygienic process systems were designed at EPIC and subsequently fabricated, inspected and Factory Acceptance Tested (FAT) in EPIC’s isolated sanitary fabrication shop.

• Inspection – 100% of hygienic welds were visually inspected by EPIC’s CWI weld inspectors to ensure that they met BPE requirements. When required, the interior welds were inspected using a borescope.

• Physical Design Restrictions – Because of the tight space constraints required by the customer, meeting the requirements for system maintainability, accessibility and Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) was a challenge. EPIC’s engineers solved this challenge by conducting continuous onboard reviews of 3D models with the client personnel to ensure that the modular skid design fit within production plant space constraints.

All 10 skids were designed modularly, making them easy to disassemble after offsite FAT and reassemble before onsite startup and commissioning.

BPE welding requirements were applied to the SCH 10 piping systems for the eight mixing sanitary process systems.

CLIENT: A multinational pharmaceutical company INDUSTRY: Diabetes and Obesity Medicines

AN EPIC IMPACT EPIC was able to install and commission the hygienic process systems fast and efficiently. The modular design-build construction methods and offsite Factory Acceptance Testing (FAT) condensed the timeline compared to traditional stick-build construction methods.

Project management was simplified by designating a single point of contact for the customer. EPIC’s project management team had industryspecific experience that allowed them to oversee EPIC’s in-house design, fabrication and quality assurance teams. This was important to ensure the process was kept sanitary and on schedule.

CORE CONSIDERATIONS • ASME BPE – EPIC’s in-house quality assurance team ensured that each hygienic process system was designed and fabricated in accordance with ASME BPE standards. EPIC’s process and mechanical team collaborated with the customer to develop welding procedure specifications (WPS) that exceeded the requirements set forth by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. EPIC’s quality assurance team also provided welder performance qualification (WPQ) records for every craftsman who worked on the project.

KEY SYSTEM FEATURES

• Materials of construction – All materials of construction were verified using Material Tracking Reports (MTR) and Certificates of Conformance (COC).

• Traceability – Qualified craftsmen maintained stringent documentation while receiving and implementing

All sanitary and hygienic process systems were pre-assembled in EPIC’s isolated sanitary fabrication shop.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

The 2-skid solvent recovery hygienic process system included three 40-cubic-meter tanks and two 30-cubic meter tanks.

With the services EPIC provided, this customer was able to safeguard the production and availability of important diabetes and obesity medicines by doubling the company’s plant operations. Contact EPIC to speak with an engineer about your hygienic process system project or call 001 314-272-4149.

50

Feature Article

By Matthew Watson, Sales Manager Temperature Control Northern Europe at Aggreko

chillers:

the perfect medicine for pharmaceutical manufacturers these additional drugs is an additional headache.

Where to store additional product

Whenever pharmaceutical manufacturers stockpile drugs, one of the biggest challenges they face is to find storage which has the exact temperature control that is required for the product or drug.

As companies make more, additional capacity is required, especially with the uncertainty surrounding import, as well as growing demand from government.

Pharmaceuticals and stockpiling In the first three months of 2019 the UK economy picked up, with growth at 0.5%, compared to 0.2% in the previous three months. The Office for National Statistics also revealed that the manufacturing sector had grown at its fastest rate since 1988 in the period, with stockpiling ahead of Brexit helping to boost growth.

Deciding to stockpile batches of product is by no means an easy decision.

As manufacturers increase their production line, their itinerary will also start to grow and storage becomes ever more challenging. Here, Matt Watson, temperature control specialist at Aggreko, explains how manufacturers can create suitable storage with the correct temperature, without the need to purchase permanent facilities.

51

Stockpiling in pharmaceutical manufacturing is by no means new.

The demand in flu season, for example, means manufacturers often resort to making the drugs in large batches. These products, which tend to have a shelflife of around five years, require strict temperature control, but we will come on to that later.

With manufacturers in a race to fulfil orders before the original Brexit deadline of 29 March, the pharmaceuticals industry was one of the sectors most affected, expanding 9.4% between January and March. As uncertainty in industry continues to grow, manufacturers may feel pressure to continue to stockpile goods, in the case that the UK leave the EU without a deal.

News of manufacturers stockpiling ahead of the Brexit deadline has been circulating since the back-end of 2018, with UK government asking pharmaceutical companies to maintain drug stockpiles for six weeks back to ensure a continuous supply in the circumstances of a no-deal Brexit.

With the UK’s deadline to reach a deal extended, it means this period of uncertainty and, therefore, stockpiling, will likely continue for the foreseeable future. It leaves pharmaceutical manufacturers with the headache of preparing for both stockpiling ahead of Brexit and its usual busy winter season. As manufacturers already face the challenge of over-production, where to store

Temperature control is an absolute necessity for any pharmaceutical manufacturer. If the warehouse doesn’t have the correct ambience, it can significantly reduce the shelf life of the products being stored and cause drugs to be unusable.

Where there is insufficient storage available in existing facilities, many manufacturers look to store in empty warehouses, yet these spaces don’t come fit and ready to store the products. There is lots of ambient storage in the market place, but converting these facilities and investing in a large cold store plant can take up to a year and cost more than £1 million.

Manufacturers simply don’t have this option available to them, especially given the long gestation period acquiring the additional capex budgets. Therefore, looking into temporary options, such as rental equipment, should be considered.

Is renting the answer?

Stockpiling in pharmaceutical manufacturing is not going to go away; even after Brexit. That’s because pharmaceutical manufacturers have to

react to the seasons, with temperature fluctuation impacting the production line and requirements for cooling or heating equipment.

Those working in the manufacturing, retail and warehousing sectors should consider temporary cooling systems and chillers, which allow ambient temperature warehousing to be transformed into chilled and cold storage.

Chillers, which range in modules from 50kW to 1500kW, can be maintained as low as (minus) -40°C. This helps provide companies that are either considering or have already taken action to stockpile, with convenient, effective cooling for all applications, ensuring warehouses meet the required temperatures for the stored materials.

Additionally, manufacturers should also look at temporary contingency plans.

Sector specialists Aggreko, for example, visit facilities and complete a thorough audit which assesses the circumstances facing manufacturers in the event of a power outage. This is a very real issue facing pharmaceutical companies, especially with an increase in production and storage.

Emergency generators are just one part of a wider contingency plan, helping to run the existing cooling plants and ensure no product is spoilt. Being proactive and thinking of the worst-case scenario puts manufacturers in the best possible position. What’s more, this back-up power can be supplied within 24 hours of a power outage, as the audit ensures the Aggreko team understand the exact requirements and where it needs to be installed.

Final thoughts

The necessity of stockpiling materials doesn’t appear to be reducing and pharmaceutical companies need more efficient and trustworthy storage quickly.

As we await more clarity on the impact Brexit will have on industry, the utilisation of temporary chillers allows storage to be increased where extra capacity is required.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Feature Article

By James Taylor, Marketing Director EMEIA – Specialties at Berry Global

Poor floor hygiene can harm your processes Rigorous floor cleaning and maintenance processes including steam cleaning, pressure washing, hot water washdowns, and the use of aggressive cleaning agents. All of these, however, can place a significant amount of stress on the floor, which can impede the effectiveness of the cleaning regime.

Safeguarding the hygienic integrity of processing facilities is becoming an increasingly complex task. As processing challenges evolve, so too do the cleanliness and quality standards aimed at ensuring that contaminants, unwanted microbes and harmful bacteria don’t creep into manufacturing and production processes, says James Taylor, Marketing Director EMEIA – Specialties at Berry Global.

Hygiene in processing industries is vital since product contamination, which may occur through the introduction of unwanted materials, substances or microorganisms into a manufactured good or process, can result in substantial financial losses.

Aside from this, contamination also has the potential to damage the relationship between manufacturers and customers, and to harm the health of employees and the public.

Obviously, different industry sectors have different hygiene requirements depending on the nature of the products being processed. While requirements may differ, the fact remains that good hygiene practices are vital as it reduces the likelihood of the introduction, spread and multiplication of potential pathogens and other organisms in the processing environment.

Potential problem areas Quality control testing ensures that finished products meet all required specifications and are of suitable quality for release. Quality checks occur at different processing stages, all of which have different hygiene requirements. To meet these requirements, appropriate procedures are established and monitored.

However, two areas where hygiene is difficult to implement effectively,

despite having the appropriate procedures and monitoring systems in place, are personal hygiene and building and equipment hygiene. This is because people and equipment can cause cross contamination and foreign particulate contamination.

Cross contamination occurs when particulates of one product or ingredient are inadvertently mixed with another, while foreign particulate contamination takes place via the unintended introduction of a foreign substance, such as dust, dirt, rust, or metal particulates, into the process.

Because harmful contamination can occur at any point during processing, no single step can be taken to eliminate the risk of contamination entirely. However, stringent sanitation procedures should be in place for people and equipment moving from one area of a facility to another, all with the goal of reducing the risk of contamination.

Contamination at floor level Unwanted bacteria, mould, fungi, dust, and grime can enter a processing facility at a variety of stages and from a plethora of sources, however few areas are as at risk as floors – shoe soles and floors are notorious for aiding and abetting the transfer of contaminants.

Compounding the issue is that gravity will cause most contaminants to end up on the floor at some point, meaning that unwanted materials, substances or microorganisms can be spread under the shoes of employees or on the wheels of equipment.

Therefore, to keep floors from serving as a vector of potentially infectious materials, floor cleaning should be an essential component of any environmental hygiene programme.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

A simple solution When thinking of the dirt on processing facility floors, a variety of liquid spills, sand, mud, and solid debris may spring to mind; dust rarely makes the top of the list. But dust is more than an innocuous substance – it is a breeding ground for bacterial growth and may even contain a variety of toxic chemicals such as phthalates, volatile organic compounds, flame retardants and heavy metals, making it dangerous to human health.

Reducing exposure to dust is therefore critical to stop harmful substances from spreading, ensure a safe and healthy work environment, and maintain product quality and integrity.

It may seem like an obvious solution, but sweeping floors with a broom to get rid of dust and other particulates is not recommended because particles become airborne and can be transferred throughout the facility.

Similarly, traditional wet mopping is not ideal as mop water could contain a toxic blend of chemicals and contaminants. In fact, industrial mop water holds a number of hidden dangers. It not only contains air pollutants, but also certain toxic items, all of which eventually end up in our rivers, streams and municipal wastewater systems. In addition, mop water provides the moist warm temperatures bacteria needs to grow.

There are, of course, electronic cleaning tools, but it is often not possible to use these effectively in processing facilities as there is constant activity and foot traffic.

or microorganisms are concerned, the mop head picks up the smallest traces from the floor before it can be tracked into other areas.

Considering the benefits of dust mopping, it is easy to see why this method is increasingly considered a vital step in any environmental hygiene programme. The benefits offered by dust mopping include: • Reduced health risks: It can reduce allergens and bacteria build-up.

• Reduced cross contamination: As the products used are disposable, there is no risk of cross contamination.

• Lower injury risk: It leaves floors completely dry, avoiding the risk of slips, trips and falls.

• Less disruption: The process is cordless and silent, making it less disruptive.

• Enhanced cleaning power: It is ideal for hygiene critical areas where electronic machine cleaning is not possible.

• Less water and chemical usage: There is no need for cleaning solutions or water. Even when combined with damp floor mopping (instead of wet floor mopping), it results in up to 80% less water being used and reduces chemical consumption.

• Increased productivity: Cleaning effectiveness is enhanced while time spent on cleaning tasks is minimised.

• Versatility: Dry mopping is not only useful for cleaning floors, but can be used for all environmental surfaces to maintain and improve hygiene. In addition, it can be used with adjustable handles and extensions, allowing for efficient cleaning in difficult to reach spaces and corners.

That said, extraordinary attempts to keep facility floors hygienic are unnecessary. In fact, the solution is quite simple – dust mopping.

The right tool for the job Maintaining hygiene in a processing environment doesn’t have to be overly complex, especially when it comes to floors. There are several tools available to assist in executing an effective cleaning regime that will integrate with the specific hygiene requirements of a specific industry.

Dust mopping is a vital part of any floor maintenance programme as it sweeps away miniscule specks of dirt, dust and debris. Regular dust mopping in high traffic areas removes surface dirt before it can be ground into the floor and require a much deeper clean.

Where unwanted materials, substances

Implementing dust mopping as part of your processing facility’s environmental hygiene programme will not only improve hygiene standards and reduce the risk of cross or foreign particulate contamination, but will also ensure that your facility’s integrity, your reputation and your profit margins remain intact.

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Consultancy and Short courses for the Process Industry: Bulk solids handling technology

We support industries that are seeking to resolve process problems, develop design schemes for plant expansion, or simply improve product quality.

Consultancy services

Some of our Consultancy services include advising on: Storage and Discharge of bulk materials Pneumatic Conveying of bulk solids Spoiling of materials in storage and in transit Plant and Equipment design/redesign Ship Unloading/ quayside operations Control of plant wear Dust control Bulk Materials characterisation ATEX/DSEAR compliance Expert Witness services

• • • • • • • • • •

Short courses for Industry

We also provide a range of short courses to help delegates identify potential bulk materials handling problems and advise on how to avoid and/or overcome these issues.They fall under 4 main categories Pneumatic conveying:

storage of bulk materials:

•Pneumatic Conveying of Bulk Materials • Pneumatic Conveying System Design • Rotary Valves; Design, Selection and Operational Issues • Commissioning and Troubleshooting ‘Hand’s On’ Pneumatic Conveying Systems

general bulk materials handling:

• Storage and Discharge of Powders and Bulk Solids • Design of Equipment for Storing and Handling Bulk Materials • Biomass Handling, Feeding and Storage (can be adapted to

other materials such as waste, recycled goods, pellets)

sPecialist areas of concern:

•Overview of Particulate Handling Technology • Dust Explosions - How to demonstrate DSEAR/ATEX Compliance • Port and Terminal Operations for Bulk Cargoes Measurement of the Properties and Bulk Behaviour of Particulate Materials • Introduction to Processing Dry Solid Materials

• Caking and Lump Formation in Powders and Bulk Solids • Undesired De-blending and Separation in Processes and Equipment • Electrostatics in Powder Handling • Numerical Modelling of Solids Handling and Processing • Dust Control in Processes Powder Handling and Flow for Additive Manufacturing

bulksolids.com

Health & Safety

ONLINE WORK FLOW SYSTEM SUITS PCB MANUNFACTURER DOWN TO A ‘T’ Rustington based Photronix Ltd manufacture high quality printed circuit boards and despite being a relatively new to the market, have become one of the leading PCB suppliers to the UK electronics market.

Photronix Managing Director Alan Millard believes that managing the progress of jobs simply and effectively is essential and with this in-mind invested in the T CARDS ONLINE workflow system to help them run their office more efficiently. Among the important benefits of the T Cards Online system is its simplicity and ease-of-use. Once the virtual board

has been configured, T Cards designs can be easily tailored to requirements.

There are standard templates for various applications to make it even easier.

Status and communication can be enhanced by using the Alarm, Signal, and email notification functions.

There is also a facility to attach external documents to help collate documentation. Since a number of cards will appear on the same chart, they can be colour-coded for easier identification and as work progresses the cards are simply dragged and dropped into a new column.

Reusable industrial wipes from MEWA now available online The world’s leading reusable industrial wipes are now available online at www.mewa.co.uk in the company’s first e-commerce store.

degree of cleaning and the presence of other contaminants.

For first-time customers, the company offers a, one-month payable trial for all products to allow businesses to see the benefits for themselves.

MEWA, the global leader in textile management, has launched a simple and easy way for customers to access the company’s reusable industrial wipes and mats online.

The new e-shop includes a simple analyser tool (named ‘the cloth finder’) that guides users through a set of questions to determine which type of industrial wipe is suitable for them. This is based on the type of waste to be removed, the level and

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

MEWA’s reusable industrial wipes are so absorbent, they are proven to considerably reduce cleaning times for businesses. Unlike paper rolls, they can be washed and reused up to 50 times. The Multitex oil-trapping mat can absorb up to 3 litres of engine oil or other liquid, while keeping it safely trapped in its absorbent core; it is also fully washable and reusable. Included in the rental price is the company’s end-to-end service.

Photronixs’ experience in using the innovative T Cards Online system is another example of how an increasingly wide range of companies are exploring and benefitting from a simple, yet highly effective online management tool. The result is more efficient job management where ever you may be thanks to on-line access, along with more

detailed financial information which is invaluable to cost-control.

More information from: T Cards Online, Addington, West Malling, Kent, MER19 5BP, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 1732 871417 email: philip@tcardsdirect.com www.tcardsonline.com

UNIGLOVES ENHANCES ITS PRO. TECT RANGE WITH NEW HEAVY DUTY ADDITIONS Hand protection specialists Unigloves has enhanced its highly popular PRO. TECT range of latex and nitrile disposable gloves with the launch of four new Heavy Duty (HD) products.

Joining the existing range of PRO.TECT silicone free gloves are the PRO.TECT Green HD and HD+ and the PRO.TECT Black HD and HD+, the HD+ being an extended cuff (300mm) version.

Ideally suited to the automotive, maintenance and engineering sectors requiring protection against chemicals, the new disposable gloves provide a range of wearer benefits including: • Chemical resistance • Ultra-Heavy Duty Construction • Textured palm and fingers • Silicone free formulation means no finger marks on metal or glass surfaces • Ambidextrous fit • High Wearer Comfort • Beaded Cuff • Meets AQL 1.5 Designed to be stronger and as a result offer even greater durability and lifespan compared to traditional gloves in the market, the new PRO.TECT HD and HD+ models join the existing PRO.TECT

Orange HD, PRO.TECT Blue and PRO.TECT Black in addition to PRO.TECT Latex HD.

Available in a range of sizes from X Small to X Large, the new models are also available in two different lengths – 240mm or the longer, 300mm versions (HD+).

As part of the launch of the enhanced PRO.TECT range, Unigloves is offering free HD and HD+ samples to enable companies to experience first hand, the benefits offered.

For more information and to secure your free sample/trial of PRO.TECT gloves, please visit here call 0800 049 6602, or email enquiries@unigloves.co.uk.

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Feature Article

By David Keay Export Sales Manager, Amazon Filters

How to ensure that you size

system

to give the best compromise between initial capital outlay and low running costs It is easy to imagine that the smallest filter that can handle the flow rate of a liquid would be the best choice for a filter system. However, this is only the case if you solely consider the initial purchase costs and ignore the operating costs of replacing filters each time they block. On the other hand, having a filter system that is so large that the filters never need changing, so operating costs are negligible might seem a better solution.

In practice the optimum situation for the majority of customers is one where the initial purchase cost is balanced against operating costs to give the most cost effective life time solution, also known as total cost of ownership.

Within this article, we will discuss how you achieve this and provide tips on how to ensure you optimise your filtration system. Finally, we will cover the optimum sizing of gas filters, which is different to liquids. Although both liquids and gases are fluids, they are different types of fluids. Liquids are non-compressible, whereas gases are compressible and this leads to them having to be treated differently.

What are you optimizing for?

The three main considerations for selecting the optimum sized continuously running filtration system are: • Low initial capital cost – This often happens when the end user is asking a supplier (e.g. building contractor) to provide a system that includes the filtration system.

Such a supplier may just want to minimise the initial purchase price as will not be around to pay the running costs.

• Low operating cost – if your system is going to be installed for a long time 55

then the annual cost of replacing filter cartridges multiplied by the number of years of use can be many times the initial cost.

• Available budget – Sometimes you cannot buy the filter that is the optimum size because you to do not have the necessary capital budget available at the time (See Figure 1). In such a scenario, you purchase the filter that you can afford and accept what the running costs may be high!

Understanding differential pressure is key to understanding sizing The key measurement for sizing a filtration system is the initial clean differential pressure (dp). Differential pressure is the measurement of the pressure loss that occurs across a filter system.This is easily measured on a system using pressure gauges placed upstream and downstream of the filter housing.

The lower the initial unused filter (clean) dp, the larger the initial capital cost of the filter system. Conversely, the higher the initial clean dp the smaller the initial capital cost of the filter system. However, as shown in figure 2, operating costs are inversely impacted by changes in dp. Doubling the size of the filters increases their life by a factor of four, therefore reducing operating costs.

By comparison if you half the size of the filtration system you significantly increase the operating costs. Our recommendation would always be to invest in the lowest initial clean dp that you can afford.

So what is the correct initial clean dp to use? The answer is that it will always be a trade-off between capital costs and running costs. For a liquid filter system in continuous use, we would

recommend choosing a value around 200 mbar as a starting place and revise, either upwards or downwards, as you see the initial cost of this solution.

Another important reason for installing pressure gauges, on your filter system, is that you then can measure exactly when the cartridges need to be changed, allowing you to maximise their lifetime and achieve the highest throughput per filter set change out. The typical changeout dp for a cartridge filter system is 2.5 bar and the closer to that dp when you change your filters the better you cost effectiveness becomes.

What is different about sizing for batch operation?

The main assumption above has been that we are running a continuous operating filtration system. However, there is another common operating scenario - batch operation. The key difference with batch operation is that your filtration system is going to be used intermittently to process a specific volume of liquid product.

Because of this difference, we can design with a far higher initial clean pressure drop, such as 0.5 bar or even 1 bar. Filter cartridge life only needs to last the duration of the batch and capital cost is driving the overall cost effectiveness of your installation.

Knowing this can lead to significant savings on the initial capital outlay of a project for the end user.

Differences between sizing for liquids & gases Although liquids and gases are both fluids, they are fluids of very different nature. The main difference that impacts filter sizing is that gases are compressible whereas liquids are not.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Feature Article Therefore, when sizing gas filtration systems it is key to know the line pressure of the system. With a gas, if the line pressure doubles from two to four bar then the size of the filter system can be halved. The same change in pressure on a liquid system would have negligible impact on its size.

not possible to carry out a like for like comparison to ensure that you make the best selection for your application.

Buyer beware. The “cheapest” offer quoted is not always the “right” choice!

The lifetime cost of your system is determined by your initial capital costs and your ongoing annual operating

Differential pressure has far greater impact on the running costs of gas filtration systems, therefore they need to be lower than liquid systems. It is common to design gas filter systems with a clean dp of tens of millibar.

What do you need to know to size filters correctly? Is there an optimum way to size?

It goes without saying that the more information that you have regarding the process conditions the better the choice of filter that can be made to meet your selection criteria.

Figure 3 shows the typical minimum requirements and other beneficial data that it is best to provide.

However, the importance of knowing the initial clean pressure drop cannot be understated. To leave this unspecified is to leave yourself open to confusion when you are trying to compare different filter options. It is important because you need to be aware of the initial clean dp used to size systems from different suppliers.

If you don’t know initial clean dp it is

costs (see figure 4).

The benefits of prefiltration Even when you get the sizing of a filter system correct, due to the types of final filters required in critical applications (where membrane filters are often used) then running costs can still be very high.

Prefiltration of the final filter is a solution that can improve the overall economics of a filtration system used in a critical application. Using a prefilter will remove the greater part of the loading on the final filter extending its life significantly. Prefilters are normally 50% or less the cost of the final filter

and should be expected to increase the final filters life by 2.5 to four times. This is shown in figure 5 Often the easiest way to tell if a filtration system has been correctly optimised is by determining the ratio of prefilters to final filters. If that ratio is not greater than 2:1 then there is still scope to improve the economics of your filtration system.

Conclusion In the above discussion it has been explained how important it is to know the initial clean differential pressure of your filtration system, its impact on the initial capital cost and your on-going operating costs. To help you here are a few do’s and don’ts: • Invest in the lowest initial clean differential pressure that you can afford.

• For liquid filtration, systems add height not width to a housing. Take the longest cartridges available, as this will minimise clean initial dp leading to longer filter life, lower operating costs and improved cost effectiveness.

• Whenever you are asking more than one supplier to quote,

always ask them to specify the clean initial pressure drop that their filtration system has been sized upon in their proposal and confirm the absolute rating of their filter cartridge. This is the only way that you can get a true direct comparison of initial capital costs.

• Always fit upstream and downstream pressure gauges, so that you can accurately measure the filtration installations dp. This allows you to confirm that the initial clean dp quoted is achieved and allows you to accurately measure the change out dp.

• If using membrane filters to sterilise or stabilise liquids or solutions, then prefiltration is essential. As a rule of thumb, your use of prefilters to membranes should be 2:1 or greater. If not you are wasting money.

Filtration

Hilltop Honey Think Axium’s Filters Are The Bees Knees Axium Process recently supplied a number of 316L stainless steel Pure-Screen filters to award winning honey producer, Hilltop Honey, who are buzzing with success, distributing their products in swarms throughout the UK’s major supermarkets, independent farm shops and delicatessens.

Founded in 2011 by young beekeeper, Scott Davies, Hilltop Honey has a passion for delivering the most exceptional tasting honey from all corners of the world. The recent implementation of Axium’s wedge wire filters is to remove hive debris, which includes wort and fragments of wax, that occur naturally during the extraction process.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

“Axium’s Pure-Screen Filter is ideal for viscous products and offers a large surface area that results in lower frequency cleaning“ states Hilltop Honey’s General Manager, “a Technical Sales Engineer helped us select the best option for our application from a wide range of stainless steel filters and they have proved very effective in operation.

The filter is adaptable allowing the use of interchangeable elements with different micron ratings, making it a very flexible solution for a number of operations throughout our process.

The use of Axium’s filters ensures that we can effectively remove any debris whilst retaining the world-renowned properties that naturally occurs within honey”.

Axium’s filters range from 5 micron up to 8000 microns as standard and can be customised to suit site specific or process requirements, from pump and instrument protection to critical applications where filter failure or collapse is not an option. The range, which includes standard, compact, 90° and in-line options, is available with interchangeable stainless steel

wedge wire, sintered mesh and perforated tube screens.

For further information please contact: Gale Rudd Axium Process Ltd, Hendy Industrial Estate, Hendy, Swansea, SA4 0XP Tel: +44 (0) 1792 883 882 Email: info@axiumprocess.com www.axiumprocess.com

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Filtration

Ensuring Low Turbidity Drinking Water Supply Amazon Filters has published an application study that describes how two major municipal water suppliers are using their SupaSpun II R31 filtration cartridges to mitigate the risk of their boreholes delivering drinking water with high turbidity.

risk to health if the water reaches households but there are also significant financial consequences and the subsequent public relations challenges that will inevitably damage company reputation, value, trust and credibility.

One of a municipal water suppliers’ primary jobs is controlling turbidity.

Turbidity is caused by particulates in the water and is synonymous with cloudiness. The consequences to a water company of producing water with high turbidity can be severe. Not only is there a genuine

Consequently today - turbidity is one of the critical measures of water quality and is used by both water supply companies and industry regulators to ensure the water clarity is acceptable to the consumers.

European Water Quality Directives, the World Health Organisation and

New EconPLUS Perforated Filter Range designed with simplicity and security in mind

the UK Drinking Water Inspectorate specify what is required to ensure the water supplied is ‘wholesome’ and turbidity limits are typically set at <1 NTU (Nephelometric Turbidity Units) and often set at <0.5NTU. Available in absolute ratings from 0.3 to 180µm, the unique construction of SupaSpun II R31 filters provides long trouble-free operational life and consistent reliable performance. These highperformance depth cartridge filters have a precision graded porosity that provides absolute ratings,

Axium Process’ has recently introduced the EconPLUS perforated filter to its range of Certified 316L stainless steel filters providing a low-cost, reliable and versatile solution for process pumps and equipment protection.

Designed with simplicity and security in mind, the EconPLUS filter range, has been manufactured as a two piece construction internally, has no loose parts and has a mechanical sealing area eliminating the need for a polymer seal with the inherent possibility of failure and replacement. The filters which are suitable for both CIP (clean-in-place) and SIP (steam-inplace) duties are simple and easy to maintain requiring no tools for element extraction.

EconPLUS perforated filter screens are fully interchangeable and are available from 2000 micron up to 8000 micron. Manufactured with a 4”, 316L stainless steel housing to ensure maximum screen surface area and designed for filter flows either out-to-in or in-to out, this versatile and dependable

57

unmatched dirt holding capacity and excellent flow rates. SupaSpun II R31 cartridge filters are proven to comply with a range of potable water regulations.

To read the application study in full please visit here.

For further information on regulatory compliant filtration systems to ensure your water supply clarify please contact Amazon Filters on +44-1276-670600 / sales@ amazonfilters.co.uk.

protection filter is providing a costeffective solution for many process applications.

Axium Process is a filtration specialist and manufactures a comprehensive range of 316L stainless steel filters that include Wedge-Wire, Sintered Mesh and Perforated Screen options. The filters which are manufactured in the United Kingdom at the company’s Swansea based manufacturing facility can be customised to suit site or process requirements.

For further information please contact: Gale Rudd Axium Process Ltd, Hendy Industrial Estate, Hendy, Swansea SA4 0XP Tel: +44 (0) 1792 883 882Email info@axiumprocess.com Web: www.axiumprocess.com

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Filtration

Excessive heat build-up caused the blower rotors to seize.

A lot of

The blower pump unit as received at the service center.

hot air

Water treatment facilities rely on filtration systems to remove waste products as part of the process to recycle the water before it returns to the river. These filters are periodically cleaned by backwashing them with air bubbles produced by large blowers. Following two unexpected blower failures, Sulzer was asked to investigate the cause and improve the reliability of the system.

The refurbished blower pump ready to be reinstalled.

In the UK, one of the regional water companies has an agreed framework contract with Sulzer for the repair of the blowers on its sites. The contract came about through a need for the company to have a single source for blower repairs, rather than having to deal with numerous original equipment manufacturers (OEMs).

Fortunately, Sulzer has engineers at its Bristol Service Centre that previously worked for blower manufacturers and can offer considerable expertise to the customer.

Matt Knight, blower repair engineer at Sulzer, explains: “We have a contract to repair blowers from any manufacturer.

All the work that Sulzer carries out is done in-house, which means that the customer always knows how a repair is progressing and they can come and see for themselves.”

Unexpected problems In this case, the water treatment works operates three blowers as part of a complex cleaning cycle for the media in its filtration system, but two of them had failed in quick succession and been sent to Sulzer’s service centre. The repairs were completed, and the assets returned to be installed by the site’s own engineers.

The maintenance team on the water treatment works had only just reinstalled the two repaired blower units and shortly after they were commissioned, they failed again. This left the aeration process with only one blower, the bare minimum for operation, but there was also considerable concern for the reliability of the remaining unit.

The units were removed once again and returned to Sulzer’s service centre. Once they had been stripped down, it was clear that they had both suffered from

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

overheating which had caused the rotors to expand and become seized.

The intensity of the heat build-up in the blowers was evidenced on one of the units by the fact that the plastic cabinet extraction fan had melted. Once the blowers had been disassembled, it was found that the rotor had friction-welded itself to the housing.

The fact that both blowers exhibited the same failure mode, suggested that the cause of the problem was not related to the unit itself, it was more likely to be a restriction, either on the inlet side or in the discharge line.

Investigation resolves issue with blowers overheating Matt continues: “We have a very good working relationship with this customer and the blower repairs are just one aspect of the service we provide. The fact that we complete all of our repairs in-house gives us complete confidence in the quality of the repairs that we deliver. It also means we can give progress updates whenever they are required and return the repaired equipment with minimal delays.”

As soon as the blower repairs got underway, Sulzer offered to carry out an

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Filtration

investigation at the treatment works to find the root cause of the problem. The engineers inspected the inlet filters along with the discharge pipework, using a borescope, but no obstructions were found.

Attention then turned to the pressure relief valves (PRVs), which were situated inside the acoustic cabinets, and should have lifted in the event of the blowers operating against a restriction or excessive load. Both PRVs were removed and found to be seized, however, while this accounted for the failure of the blowers, these valves were not the cause of the restriction.

Understanding the application The blowers operate on a 24-hour cycle, producing scour air that backwashes the filter media. During the cleaning cycle, the blowers are not required to operate all of the time, and they are regulated by an unload valve, which vents excess air to the atmosphere. This avoids stop/starting of the blowers during the cleaning cycle.

All three blowers are regulated by this valve, and closer inspection found that the diaphragm chamber was full of water, preventing it from operating. This, combined with the PRV failures, had led to the blowers becoming distressed very quickly; only the proper function of the remaining PRV had prevented the last blower meeting the same fate.

The unloading valve was stripped and cleaned, but the recommendation was to replace all of the PRVs as well as the unloading valve to be sure the blower circuit would continue to function reliably.

With over 15 years of service, these valves

had performed well, but without a regular maintenance schedule, their operating condition remained unchecked.

Delivering the solution While the on-site investigation was completed, the engineering team at the Bristol Service Centre removed the damaged rotors and, using OEM drawings, machined the rotors and the casing back to original dimensions, ensuring the correct clearances were provided. The blowers were reassembled and returned to site, where they were reinstalled.

The Sulzer engineers compiled a field report for the customer that detailed the findings of the investigation and recommended implementing a maintenance routine for the PRVs, the unload valve and the non-return valves, to ensure continued, reliable operation.

Units are returned without oil, as per the customer’s request.

Matt concludes: “Without the on-site investigation, we could have just repaired the blowers and they would have continued to fail. The combination of our technical expertise and application knowledge has been invaluable in resolving this issue and ensuring long-term reliability for our customer.”

The unload valve that proved to the root cause of the issue.

Sulzer’s engineers refurbished the rotors and casing to OEM dimensions.

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Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Heating & Cooling

EXPERTLY PACKAGED SOLUTIONS Benefits of Fulton’s skid mounted and plant room heat transfer solutions include: · Higher productivity · Reduced construction timescales and year-round construction (not constrained by weather) · Increased build and quality assurance · Design flexibility · Minimised on-site disruption · Reduced wastage · Improved Health & Safety · Built in a controlled environment with designers and fabricators under one roof · High cost benefit against site work

www.fulton.co.uk Home of the award-winning

+44 (0)117 972 3322 sales@fulton.co.uk

The World’s Best Steam Boiler

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FULTON’S VSRT CONTINUES TO IMPRESS THE JUDGES

16/01/2019 13:41

Launched in 2018, Fulton’s VSRT steam boiler is unlike anything the industry has seen before. And because of its radical, worldfirst design that is durable, long-lasting and boasts the highest efficiencies and ultra-low NOx emissions as standard, it’s also catching the eye of those judging product and innovation awards.

At the recent Institute of Gas Engineers and Managers’ (IGEM) Gas Industry Awards 2019 at the London Hilton on Park Lane, Fulton’s VSRT continued its winning streak by claiming the Product of the Year award, the vertical steam boiler’s third award in six months.

Commenting for Fulton, managing director Carl Knight says: “The double-award-winning VSRT becomes a multiaward-winning steam boiler and we couldn’t be more delighted with this Product of the Year award. It was up against

some stiff competition, which we hope proves just how impressive this next-generation boiler is and how much hard work has gone into developing the VSRT.”.

With over 15 patents pending in three continents, the VSRT’s spiral-rib heat exchanger is a world first. It attains industry-leading heat transfer rates thanks to its unique spiral design, which achieves low stack temperatures by passing the flue gases through a spiral-wound heat exchanger that is fully immersed in water.

“The PURE Technology approach adopted for the VSRT aims to enhance heat transfer, provide class-leading efficiencies, improve steam quality and reduce NOx emissions.” says Carl.“Rather than simply try to improve existing products to achieve these goals, PURE Technology challenges the industry status quo on conventional boiler design by engineering solutions that are fit-for-purpose and fully-optimised for all applications.”.

Further information on Fulton’s VSRT can be found on their website, by calling +44 (0)117 972 3322 or emailing: sales@fulton.co.uk.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

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Feature Article

By Professor B.K.N. Rao

Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic Engineering ManagementThe Way Forward Since the dawn of industrial revolution, maintenance is regarded as a “Cinderella function”. Even today maintenance is regarded by many as a “necessary evil” rather than “a profit/wealth generation activity”.

It is a well-known fact that dangerous maintenance practices have resulted in many human sufferings, business closures and bad reputations. As our political boundaries are rapidly changing, globalisation and international competition is on the increase.

Insatiable international customer’s demands are becoming increasingly stringent.

With this trend modern systems are becoming increasingly sophisticated, complex and intelligent based.

Reliability, health, safety, risk, standardization and security have become high priority issues by both public and private sectors.

Terminologies such as, Continuous Improvement, Zero Maintenance, Total Quality Management, Total Productive Maintenance, Condition Based Maintenance, Reliability Centred Maintenance, Life Cycle Costs, Preventive Maintenance, Predictive Maintenance, Six Sigma, Overall Equipment Effectiveness, Asset Management, Prognostics Health Management, eMaintenance, Diagnostic Engineering, etc. are becoming more familiar. Rapid advances are being made in Sensor Technology, Signal Processing Technology, Nanotechnology, Information Technology, Computer and Computing Technology, Artificial Intelligence methodologies; Knowledge based reasoning methodologies, Data Acquisition and Management, Communication and Networking Technology.

A number of maintenance models and algorithms have been successfully developed. Many 61

intelligent based hardware and software are now commercially available to maintain and manage valuable industrial assets reliably, safely, securely and profitably.

The ISO Sub Committee (SC5) on Condition Monitoring and Diagnostics of Machinery has published a number of standards on this topical discipline.

The number of maintenance societies, international conferences, academic programmes, handbooks/ text books and collaborative funded research and development projects covering various aspects of maintenance engineering and management are on the increase.

Trade associations and Open System Alliances exist to help end users to aim for maximum benefits.

Many industries are now reaping maximum benefits by employing the latest tools, techniques, strategies and knowledge in this profitable multi-discipline and the future looks very promising. There is a growing demand for integrating condition monitoring with other operational and business systems so that condition monitoring and diagnostic engineering management is now regarded as a proactive and profitable multidiscipline.

Worth $1.92 billion in 2017, the condition monitoring market (according to the recent Frost and Sullivan Report) are expected to reach $4.8 billion by 2025 at a compound annual growth rate of 12.4%, although revenue trajectory varies among different service segments. Improved customer appreciation of the benefits of

condition monitoring, wider leverage of standards and certifications, reduced condition monitoring equipment prices, and demand for analytics will underpin growth.

Customers are looking to drive actionable insights from their condition monitoring data and require assistance with integrating disparate data and leveraging analytics. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT) or Industry 4.0 and changing customer requirements will lead to the adoption of new business models.

Bruel and Kjaer has developed a handy condition monitoring Benefits Calculator for condition monitoring of wind turbines. It provides early fault detection technique and expert diagnostic services that avoid costly catastrophic failures. The net savings can offset the cost of investment for the monitoring systems faster than expected.

Digital Twin is an exact replica of a product with all its operational features generated using its physical system’s real information collected via several smart sensors. Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence, Data Analytics, increased data storage capabilities, simulation and visualization techniques, etc. are making this unique innovation possible.

Maintenance teams can leverage this animated visual representation for systems performance monitoring and process optimization. This technology is adaptable to any scale and highly flexible without dimensional constraints. Today we can make a digital 3D copy

an inflight aero gas turbine, a physical twin, based on physical data of the turbine and visually see on the computer on the ground how it is working in real time. Any malfunctions in the operational turbine can be easily identified and corrected in real time in this large data driven process using suitable artificial neural networks.

Extending this new digital twin concept, one can test, design and improve a new product in a virtual environment before its launch at much less development cost. In addition, maintenance professionals will have a better understanding of the product life cycle and can even prepare better maintenance schedules as part of their predictive maintenance strategy for extending equipment life and reducing costly downtime.

The University of Huddersfield (UK) and COMADEM International are delighted to invite the worldwide condition monitoring, maintenance and asset management communities to the 32nd International Congress and Exhibition on Condition Monitoring and Diagnostic Engineering Management to be held during 3rd to 5th September 2019. The main conference theme is “Digitally Enabled Asset Management”, however the Congress will cover a wide range of subjects in the field of asset management: i.e. maintenance, condition monitoring, structural health monitoring, nondestructive testing and related subjects. The Congress will be a premier international event proving ground for maintenance engineers, scientists and exhibitors.

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Maintenance

Into the breach: new whitepaper questions how far we need to go when it comes to containment risk One of the UK’s leaders in chemical and biochemical engineering design has published a new whitepaper looking into the lengths manufacturers and researchers need to go to when assessing containment risk.

BPE’s paper investigates what’s required when it comes to high potency materials users meeting risk reduction obligations. It focuses on the company’s work with a high potency biological facility, which had recently been subject to a routine inspection by the Health and Safety Executive.

The report of the body’s Biologicals Investigation Group found areas for improvement in risk reduction and BPE

was called upon to lend its process safety expertise.

Gary McRobbie, life sciences consultant at BPE and author of the whitepaper, said:“The layers of protection that were currently in place to prevent a breach of primary containment resulting in a release likely to cause an infection of laboratory staff were considered insufficient to meet the required risk target.

“The principle cause of the shortfall in protection was due to reliance on containment being provided by the cabinet extract fans within the facility.

Also, the reliance on a pressure alarm.

Neither of these were considered to have sufficiently high integrity.”

BPE used SWIFT and LOPA approaches to make engineering and maintenance recommendations to improve the level of containment. This formed the basis of an action plan.

Gary explained: “The action plan and the record of the SWIFT and LOPA Analyses formed part of the overall Basis of Safety File for the high containment laboratory for presentation to the regulatory authorities.

“Before LOPA activities were started a structured ‘what if’ technique was selected to brainstorm the possible hazardous scenarios. This technique was considered more appropriate for this laboratory application where there was an absence of detailed design piping and instrument diagrams. Importantly, this was a multidisciplinary team exercise and the team members were separate from the LOPA team.”

While the whitepaper focuses on an example with biological materials, BPE says that the ideas and processes are of significance to non-biological and chemical manufacturers.

Gary says: “There are lessons we can all learn and apply across a variety of sectors. Ultimately, it’s about looking at every angle and brainstorming every

possible hazardous scenario. People should be thinking about applying a structured ‘what if’ technique before they even begin LOPA activities.”

BPE’s SWIFT ‘what if’ technique involves: • Systematic examination • Questioning to discover deviations • Encouraging personnel to think imaginatively • Identifying hazards and assessing the appropriate course of action The whitepaper, entitled ‘LOPA & High Containment – The Basis of Safety Methodology’ goes on to explore the technique and case study in detail.

BPE is making the whitepaper available to anyone for free as part of its mission to share best practice with the industry.

The company is looking to hold an event later in the year, bringing together people from across the process engineering world to explore and discuss the topics highlighted.

To get hold of a copy of the latest whitepaper and any others visit here

Compressors

New High Performance Aerosol-Delivered Coating to Combat Corrosion

Mehrer Compression GmbH presents its latest product innovation – the new high-pressure compressor TRx 400.

Corrocoat, the Leeds based leader in anti-corrosion coatings, announce the release of an aerosol-delivered high performance surface tolerant coating system.

Supplied in a convenient, easy to use, single pack 400ml aerosol, application is as simple as breaking the internal seal, shaking the contents and you’re ready to go. No need for scales, mixing containers, mixers, cleaning solvents, brushes or spray equipment.

Based on Corrocoat’s proven Plasmet ZF materials and specially formulated for this application technology, the aerosol contains a high performance glassflake and MIO filled two pack epoxy, with both passivating and rust conversion properties.

With a useable life of many hours and free, easy to change additional nozzles supplied with each kit, the

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Mehrer Compression GmbH Introduces New High-pressure Compressor TRx 400

Plasmet ZF aerosol offers a tough, durable coating, ideally suited for small areas of coating damage, rust spotting, small areas of corrosion damage, repairs where a coating has been removed for inspection and many more.

Substrate protection and coating maintenance/repairs, made easy.

For Product Enquiries contact: Patrick Bowes, Corrocoat +44 (0)113 2760 760 patrickb@corrocoat.com www.corrocoat.com

With this air-cooled piston compressor the specialists from Southern Germany offer an ideal solution for applications that require high final pressures of up to 200 bar combined with high suction pressures of up to 35 bar. The TRx 400 therefore is perfectly suited for the compression of H2, N2 or O2, for the filling of gas cylinders as well as for the storage of synthesis gases.

Like all solutions from Mehrer the TRx 400 operates absolutely oil-free.

Due to the modular design of the cylinder block, the compressor can be adapted according to individual compression requirements.

The high-pressure compressor can be supplied as one- or two-stage version and allows the compression of any process gases and gas mixtures, whether wet or dry.

The TRx 400 operates absolutely oil-free. Due to the modular design of the cylinder block, the compressor can be adapted according to individual compression requirements.

Typical applications for example are the compression of hydrogen after electrolysis, the compression of nitrogen or oxygen for gas generators as well as the recovery of inert gases. Furthermore the TRx 400 allows the compression of toxic and flammable gases.

The TRx 400 can be deliverd as a compressor block, compressor unit or compressor plant. Because of its extremely robust construction and crosshead design it ensures a very high plant and process reliability.

Further information can be obtained from: www.mehrer.de 62

IIot

Haltian Launches 5G-Ready Smart Factory Solution with AWS Greengrass Edge Computing Haltian’s new end-to-end Smart Factory Service reduces factory costs up to 90% - compared to traditional automation techniques, by providing a straightforward and secure asset and process digitalisation for industrial enterprises. This solution sees Haltian combine their Thingsee IoT platform and industry-grade retrofit sensors with AWS IoT Greengrass Edge Computing, and private LTE technology and paves the way for 5G.

Haltian Oy is the first vendor on the market to offer industrial enterprises a complete and fully integrated wireless Smart Factory solution with on-site infrastructure.

The innovative product development and global IoT company, has just launched its end-to-end Smart Factory solution, based on its Thingsee IoT platform. This includes new industry-grade retrofit sensors with a Gateway device, coupled with an Edge Computing platform based on the AWS IoT Greengrass technology, and optional Private LTE for secure, local wireless connectivity.

McKinsey Global Institute has conducted a study that predicts that the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is expected have an enormous efficiency boost in factories globally – and that the annual economic value of this can reach up to USD 3.7 trillion by 2025.

The Survey of 301 IoT practitioners by McKinsey&Company in 2018 however, also identified several challenges, which can slow down the adoption of digital transformation and industrial IoT in factories. These include a lack of reliable and mature IoT platforms, insufficient application of these and a lack of analytics development and unsuited data communication and connectivity technologies.

Haltian’s Smart Factory solution addresses these main market challenges with a secure and cost-efficient, end-to-end approach. Haltian’s sensor devices use Wirepas IoT Mesh networking to transmit data to the

local Thingsee Gateway device, which then relays it to the Thingsee Edge on-site solution based on AWS Greengrass Edge Computing. The Private LTE technology complements the solution with flexible and secure wireless connectivity. This end-to-end infrastructure then enables factories to process all IoT applications and collect sensor data on-site, without having to transmit data through the public Internet.

“No production breaks are needed for installation and digitalisation investment is reduced by 90% per data point, compared to the traditional automatic valves”, Pasi Leipälä, CEO and co-founder of Haltian explains.“This Smart Factory solution has been developed hand-in-hand with large industrial customers and leading connectivity partners, to deliver a true fit-for-purpose solution”.

Leipälä continues,“Our Smart Factory uses leading IoT technologies including the fastgrowing Wirepas Mesh, which is the most reliable technology for connecting thousands of wireless sensors in a demanding radio environment.

AWS’s Edge Computing technology and Private LTE complement the onsite solution with unprecedented edge scalability, and a robust data collection infrastructure”.

“Thingsee is the most flexible IoT platform in the market and these new technologies takes secure onsite solutions a decade further. The 5G-factory era is approaching fast and Haltian will be amongst the first vendors to get it right,” he concludes.

New IoT Sensors and Gateway Devices

frugal Thingsee Angle sensor has

The new retrofit sensor devices included in the Haltian Smart Factory solution are Thingsee ANGLE and Thingsee ENVIRONMENT RUGGED sensors, and Thingsee GATEWAY LAN.

Thingsee ENVIRONMENT RUGGED sensor monitors, and wirelessly reports all conditions in the factory - including the temperature, humidity, luminosity, the machine run-time data and more. The sensor is equipped with a rugged IP67 casing, and its replaceable battery can operate up to five years depending on the set transmit interval.

The sensors are delivered to the customer as ‘plug-and-play’ – the firmware is customer specific and operational out-of-the-box. After the sensors are installed and powered on, they automatically connect to the local Thingsee IoT Platform by using the Wirepas Mesh IoT connectivity protocol.The smooth and thought-through installation process does not require a production break at the factory.

Thingsee ANGLE is a unique, retrofit sensor device, which is attached to manual valves. It has magnetic and mechanical angle sensors to monitor the valve’s position and reports any dispositioned valves to the Cloud to allow for a rapid fix by the maintenance staff. The power-

up to ten years of battery life.

Thingsee GATEWAY LAN collects data from the sensors through the Wirepas Mesh IoT connectivity and aggregates it to the local Thingsee IoT Platform over the ethernet. The Thingsee LAN Gateway is easily installed by just plugging in the LAN and power cables. After this, it automatically connects to the customer´s local IoT network. If the LAN cable is left unplugged, the gateway operates as a Wirepas Mesh router node, enabling indoor positioning and offering more reliable local Edge infrastructure applications.

For more information, visit: www.haltian.com and www.thingsee.com or contact Pasi Leipälä, CEO & Co-Founder, Haltian Oy tel. +358405434579 pasi.leipala@haltian.com

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Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

Water analysis

Flexible water analysis solution saves time and money for clean water monitoring Maintaining clean water quality is extremely important for both consumers collecting it from the tap and for manufacturers that rely on it as a key constituent part of a process. Efficient measuring and monitoring of parameters such as pH, iron content and turbidity, is a constant challenge for many water utilities and food & beverage producers.

Now there is a flexible, modular system that uses smart cube technology to save space, time and money.

Traditionally, clean water analysis equipment has been bulky and time-consuming to install, not to mention the resource required to monitor and calibrate it regularly. Due to the importance of quality standards and compliance with statutory regulations that are applied for the safety of the general public, these short-comings have been unavoidable - until now.

Experts in flow control technology at Bürkert have been applying some innovation in this field and as a result the company’s Type 8905 Online Analysis System is setting new standards in terms of flexibility, ease of use, installation time and reduced operating costs. As a compact, modular system it is far easier to integrate into an existing control infrastructure than typically in-line alternatives and can be adapted almost instantly for individual applications.

Smart cubes The secret to its success is plug-and-play sensor cubes that are capable of measuring pH, reduction potential (ORP), conductivity, free chlorine, chlorine dioxide, iron, and turbidity. Each cube, irrespective of its capabilities, has the same dimensions and connections and can be plugged

in, or removed, from the unit while it is operational, thus providing a ‘hot swap’ facility.

Each cube holds all the calibration data and mapping data that is required for it to operate without additional input from the operator. This onboard ‘intelligence’ means that any cube can be installed in a base unit and it will automatically configure itself and make its presence known to the rest of the system.

This benefit is enhanced when it comes to ongoing calibration because now a process that was rather drawn out and time-consuming, can be completed in a matter of seconds. All cubes can be calibrated in a cleaner environment using a laptop and the associated calibration equipment. The ‘hot-swap’ function of the cubes means that an operational cube can be replaced with a recently calibrated cube from another sampling station. This allows a spare cube to be rotated across any number of sampling stations, all the time carrying its calibration with it.

Looking at the individual sensor cubes and their calibration processes in detail it is possible to gain a better understanding of the advantages they have over more traditional monitoring systems. Bürkert’s sensors, which operate with much smaller volumes of sample fluid than traditional equipment can offer more accurate data and greater operating life.

Read more here

Process Industry Informer • June - July 2019

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