Analytical Instrumentation
(IHT), which uses an industry standard ISO 15693 compatible RFID (radio- frequency identification) equipment on the heater tube that can be accessed wirelessly or be read via a USB connection to the instrument. The IHT is manufactured to the same high precision and tight dimensional tolerances as the regular heater tube and the only difference is that an RFID is inserted at the bottom of the heater tube where a plastic rivet was once placed (See Image 3). The IHT provides detailed traceability of tests and easy access to stored data.
Laboratory Case Studies
Laboratory procedures can vary significantly from company to company and from location to location based on their objectives and the market needs they seek to fulfill. In several major oil companies, we found that the benefits of the IHT helped to address multiple issues: traceability, data integrity, audit accuracy, and testing specifications.
Refineries
A large refinery in India with several laboratory analysts found that not all of their jet thermal oxidation test data was being properly entered to the instrument and it varied from technician to technician. Sometimes, even the heater tube serial numbers were left off reports because this information was not entered at the start of the test. This was leading to mismatching the report data and heater tube. The IHT helped correct these issues since, in order to save the data onto the IHT, the serial number of the heater tube had to be entered on the instrument and matched to the IHT.
Image 3: RFID device (left), Intelligent Heater Tube (center), and Traditional Heater Tube (right)
Outsourcing to Independent Labs
Being able to match data printouts with the actual heater tube can be challenging, particularly when testing is contracted to an independent laboratory. One US Midwest terminal outsources their jet thermal oxidation testing to an independent laboratory and when a particular test result was questioned, the terminal lab asked for the heater tube used to produce the certificate of analysis. Some of the original data was lost so it was difficult to match the heater tube with the report and the certificate of analysis. The terminal now requires their supplier to use IHTs and return the IHT along with the final report. The terminal has its own RFID reader and will review the test data directly from the IHT.
Since there are several manufacturers of heater tubes, independent labs may have more than one brand of heater tube in house. A refinery in the Northeast US was required to use Alcor heater tubes for a customer’s product. Although the refinery screens their product internally, the final product certification is performed by an independent laboratory as required by the final customer. During a spot audit, it was thought that an Alcor heater tube may not have been used since the test data could not be matched with the corresponding heater tube serial number. Using an IHT would have prevented this since the original jet thermal oxidation test data and the heater tube serial number is stored permanently on the IHT’s RFID.
Even with quality processes in place, these scenarios still happen since laboratories are under more pressure to do more with less, particularly with regard to labour resources. As seen in the examples above, mounting a memory device, such as an RFID, on to a heater tube greatly increases the traceability of jet thermal oxidation results. Laboratories are no longer spending valuable time and resources searching for the heater tube that is associated with a certain result, whether it was recorded on paper or in a LIMS. Audits, whether conducted by external quality standard accreditation organisations, customers, or internal groups, are now able to be performed quickly and accurately.
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Te Right Analytical Sensors can Improve Gas Scrubber Efficiency
In chemical plants, oil refineries and steel mills wet gas scrubbers play a significant role in preventing pollutants being released to the atmosphere. However, use of inappropriate analytical sensors compromises their efficiency potentially leading to breaches in regulations and damage to the environment. In a new white paper, Mettler Toledo (Switzerland) explains the importance of choosing the correct sensors in scrubber applications.
Many chemical and petrochemical processes produce gaseous emissions that contain polluting substances such as sulphur dioxide and hydrogen chloride. If released into the atmosphere these compounds would violate regulations and cause serious environmental damage as both are components of acid rain. They also may lead to corrosion and scaling of plant equipment, and hence costly maintenance. Therefore, units called wet gas scrubbers are used to remove them.
The principle of wet gas scrubbing is to bring the polluted gas into contact with a solution that contains reagents that absorb or "scrub" the unwanted compounds from the gas. This creates cleaner emissions that can be safely released. Efficiency of the process depends largely on the quality of the scrubbing solution. The liquid must contain a sufficient quantity of reagents to effectively absorb pollutants, but not an excessive amount as this would simply be a waste of chemicals. Monitoring the quality of the scrubbing solution is achieved with process analytical sensors that measure pH, oxidation reduction potential or conductivity, depending on the exact gases to be scrubbed.
Wet gas scrubbers are usually supplied with analytical sensors already in place. Unfortunately, it is often the case that the sensors are not robust enough to operate reliably in the harsh gas scrubber environment. Regular sensor replacement in order to maintain an accurate measurement can be very inconvenient, but this is a less severe problem than those caused by false readings from sensors. An erroneous measurement could result in gas not being sufficiently cleaned, meaning pollutants are being released and regulations breached. Alternatively, unnecessary amounts of costly reagents might be being used.
Mettler Toledo's white paper "You're Scrubbing, but Are You Clean?" discusses the above issues and outlines analytical sensor technology called Intelligent Sensor Management which, as a feature of Mettler Toledo's highly resilient analytical sensors, results in increased scrubber efficiency and reduced scrubber operating costs.
Reader Reply Card No 97 Innovating Aviation Fuel Conductivity Measurement
Conductivity is an important parameter for safe and economic handling of fuels which have the potential to accumulate static charge.
Aviation fuels are highly refined with very low conductivity. To help ensure safe fuel storage and distribution, Airlines and regulatory bodies have established ASTM D2624 for Electrical Conductivity of
Aviation and Distillate Fuels and ASTM D1655 for specifying permissible levels of fuel conductivity. Static Dissipative Additive (SDA), or conductivity improver, is often added to fuel to achieve specification levels. The electric charge from the fuel dissipates into the walls of the storage tank or pipeline thereby reducing the potential for sparking to occur.
Traditional fuel conductivity measurements rely on Direct Current (DC) based electrical sensor instruments which have considerable limitations. DC voltage measurement requires the fuel test sample to be absolutely still, are time dependent and temperature sensitive which compromises precision and repeatability. In addition DC sensors cannot be used for conductivity measurement of fuel directly flowing in pipelines.
Seta (UK) D-2 Technology has launched a range of new Alternating Current (AC) Handheld Fuel
Conductivity Sensors which offers the aviation industry a totally new dimension in fuel conductivity management to ASTM D2624. AC sensor technology does not require the fuel sample to be static and the measurement is not as temperature sensitive. This provides improved repeatability and reproducibility with less opportunity for measurement errors, the sensors are also easily calibrated in the field. Significantly this technology also permits reliable real time in pipeline conductivity measurements. The SETA D-2 in-line Conductivity Sensor provides real time measurement in the product line with 24/7 recording capability that can be integrated directly with fuel management systems. Upstream in-line conductivity measurement allows monitoring of incoming fuel quality before additive injection occurs which greatly reduces the risk of under or over injection and with potential for significant cost saving.
The in-line Sensor is suitable for long-term immersion in fuels. It is easily fitted and retracted from the pipeline via a retractable mount which operates through a full-port stainless ball valve. The sensor is ATEX/FM/FMc rated explosion-proof and intrinsically safe for 2-Wire loop (4-20 mA) operation in hazardous locations, a high pressure version is available. In-line conductivity measuring forms the nerve centre of D2’s Precision injection systems, skid mounted process control systems which monitor and control neat additive as it is blended directly into the fuel stream eliminating the need to mix additives before injection and preventing potential for incorrect additive volumes.
Reader Reply Card No 170 Reader Reply Card No 171
APRIL / MAY 2013 •
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