44 Measurement and Testing
Major Refinery Prevents Downtime and Improves Bottom Line by Monitoring Oil Viscosity
Machinery failures, downtime and maintenance labor costs can kill a refiner’s bottom line profits. A major US oil company with refinery installations in North and South America has installed several Cambridge Viscosity (USA) VISCOpro 1600 viscometers to monitor oil viscosity, providing engineers with real-time information on oil quality. The viscometers utilise Cambridge’s 392 process sensors and are Class 1 Div 1 Group B, C, and D certified.
Each viscometer is mounted on a skid where the refiner mixes gas and lube oil for a screw compressor. When the gas/oil mixture leaves the compressor, it is recycled. Three separation filters on the compressor skid remove 97-98% of the gas out of the oil. Over time, the remaining 2-3% of the gas can cause the lube oil to lose its lubricity or lubrication quantities, and as this happens, the viscosity of the oil drops. When the oil viscosity drops to a certain
level, the oil must be changed to protect the equipment and keep process uptime on target.
“This precautionary maintenance operation saves thousands of dollars in machinery failures, downtime and maintenance labor costs for a refinery, which represents positive profits to their bottom line,” says Cambridge Viscosity President Robert Kasameyer.
Reader Reply Card No 128 High Temperature, High Pressure, and Corrosion Resistant Viscometers
With new, high-pressure capabilities working up to 500 bar, Sofraser (France) continues to broaden the application field of its MIVI viscometer, of which the key technology is a rod, vibrating at resonance frequency.
Used by many process industries, the MIVI sensor combines technological expertise with enhanced performance features. The standard MIVI sensor is regularly used for continuous product measurement of viscosity range from less than 2 mPa.s and up to 1 000 000 mPa.s. in process conditions up to 300°C and 150 bar.
In order to address increasingly extreme requirements in a wide range of applications, Sofraser offers the high-pressure MIVI sensor that operates at up to 500 bar. Extremely high pressures represents an even more interesting challenge for Sofraser, as they are developing a technological innovation that will obtain reliable viscosity measurements at pressures up to 1500 bar. Performance such as this is especially useful in drilling applications.
Thanks to its thin vibrating rod immersed in a small-volume measuring chamber (less than 15 ml), the sensor is capable of handling expensive or rare samples. The MIVI sensor can be used for small batches as well as lab-scale experiments.
It is also suitable for process installations and can be mounted either in-line, on-line, or on reactor. The MIVI is available with Exproof ATEX agreement for use in explosive areas and with Hastelloy®
wetted parts for corrosive products. Even in the most severe environments, the MIVI remains rugged, robust, and reliable.
Combined with Sofraser’s new range of electronic devices ( the 9600 Series of viscosity and temperature processors, the 9610 multi-sensor processor, and the 9200 transmitter), the MIVI’s high-capability features are engineered to enable the best production efficiency results.
Reader Reply Card No 129
Dedicated, On-Site Biofuels Measurements in 60 Seconds!
New, Improved Gas Analyser System
With the successor GMS800, Sick (Germany) has notably enlarged the field of application of the approved extractive all-rounder S700. An example of the new series is, the multifunctional Defor photometer module for measurements in the UV range. With this device even the smallest
concentrations of NO, NO2 and SO2, – for example in the exhaust of gas turbines – can be detected. The very latest in evaluation electronics and the Ethernet connection for data transfer and remote control makes the GMS800 even more interesting for equipment and system manufacturers. The S700 extractive gas analyser belongs to the widely spread products of Sick process automation. The successful series has been completely revised and enlarged. The successor
InfraCal Blend Analyzers and InfraSpec VFA-IR Spectrometers provide the accuracy, reliability & ease of operation necessary for on-site measurements to ensure biofuels product quality. Proven technology in use by petroleum terminals, regulatory agencies, nuclear power plants and biofuels manufacturers.
They feature: • Easy operation by non-technical personnel • Portability for field/mobile use (under 6 lbs - 6” footprint) • Low cost and minimal consumables
Typical analyses include: • Biodiesel (FAME) in diesel fuel • Percent ethanol in gasoline • Low level biodiesel detection • Biofuels QC production
To learn more, visit our web site:
www.wilksir.com or call: 831-338-7459 or email:
srintoul@wilksir.com
Reader Reply Card No 131 August / September 2011 •
www.petro-online.com
GMS800 uses NDIR thermal conductibility measuring principles, O2 measurement as well as UV resonance absorption spectrometry (UVRAS) and non dispersive UV photometry (NDUV) in a flexible way. With currently six analyser modules, one gas module, I/O modules and different housing types, the low-maintenance system can cover a huge range of extractive measurement tasks and situations. Thanks to the very latest in software, the GMS800 now offers all necessary interfaces to facilitate the connection with a process control system or a remote control. The use of the device in facilities subject to approval is no problem thanks to the qualification test according to EN 15267-3. The GMS800 can measure individually over 60 gas components in process gases found in chemical
and petrochemical plants. It can detect for example the concentration of hydrogen sulphide (H2S) in reactive or sour gases. By monitoring CO the system can be set to perform the early detection of fire in coal mills and silos and monitor the danger of explosion by stack gas in furnaces or coke
ovens. In hydrogen production the GMS800 records even the smallest concentrations of CO in H2. The new all-rounder is suitable for the monitoring of lowest toxics in power, cement and waste incineration plants as well as in the pulp and paper industry. With the UV Defor analyser, the GMS800 is ideal for gas turbines, in power plants, DENOX plants or desulfurisation plants to
measure the smallest concentrations of SO2, NO and NO2. NOx is controlled by measuring NO and NO2 directly and by adding it up to NOx in the analysing device. This way CLD analysers or NO2 converters become unnecessary.
Reader Reply Card No 130
Online Monitoring of Chlorine in Raw and Desalted Crude
On-line monitoring of chlorine levels in both the raw and desalted crude is a valuable process control tool for the refining industry. Historically refinery testing is done on a spot basis and operating history would suggest that continuous analysis would be beneficial in many plants. The ability to monitor on a continuous basis for chlorine content in desalted crude can be used to optimise desalter operation and significantly enhance crude unit overhead corrosion control programs.
With the added benefit of measuring total chlorine including chlorine in organic form, the CLORA On Line Analyser from XOS (USA) addresses one of the ongoing concerns within the industry; that on occasion, organic chlorides are present in crude and that these can hydrolyse to hydrochloric acid within the crude tower distillation unit. The use of an instrument capable of detecting organic chlorides in crude will help resolve this issue. The use of the CLORA On Line Analyser in the desalter wash and effluent water is also of relevance to refiners since the latter is usually composed of multiple water sources collected within the refinery.
Reader Reply Card No 132
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