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Toxic Gas Detection with Enhanced Laser Diode Spectroscopy

Posted by TechStar on Jul 16, 2019 10:46:00 AM

A common problem in the oil and gas industry is unreliable readings causing false alarms that cost millions of dollars in lost revenue annually. Safety systems triggered by the detection of potentially hazardous gases typically shut down processes and facilities to prevent a potential catastrophe. But when a false alarm triggers the safety system, productivity is lost while the alarm origin is investigated, false alarm status is verified, and processes are slowly brought back online.

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A Review of the Gas Detection Technologies Available to You

Posted by TechStar on Jun 10, 2019 3:00:00 PM

This blog was originally posted by MSA Safety.

You’ve decided that your facility would benefit from the installation and implementation of a gas detection system. Congratulations on a big step in the right direction toward improving the overall safety of your facility and your workers. Now comes the fun part, selecting the right technology to meet the needs of your application. While it might seem like an overwhelming task, you’re not in it alone as there are experts in the field who can help you understand exactly what you need, and why.

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Topics: MSA, Gas Detection Solutions

Fox Thermal Case Study: Thermal Flow Meter Calibration for Natural Gas Services

Posted by TechStar on Feb 12, 2019 10:00:00 AM

A study of the importance of gas composition and calibration and their effects on flow meter accuracy.

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Topics: Flow Meter Solutions, Fox Thermal, Thermal Gas Mass Flow Meters

Technical White Paper:Thermal Mass Flow Meters for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Monitoring

Posted by TechStar on Feb 4, 2019 9:46:19 AM

The U.S. EPA sets national ambient air quality and greenhouse gas emission standards to ensure public health. State agencies, as well as regional and metropolitan Air Quality Management Districs are responsible for...

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Topics: Fox Thermal

Best Practices for Gas Sensor Placement and Installation

Posted by TechStar on Feb 3, 2019 9:50:00 AM

You’ve done your homework and purchased the right gas detectors for your facility. Now it’s time to install them. But how do you decide where the sensors should be placed?

You already know gas sensor placement is tied to the particulars of your unique facility. But beyond that—because you must take so many variables into account—you have no hard-and-fast rules to follow. However, in this post we’re highlighting some best practices you can consider when you’re ready to install your gas detectors.

We’ve identified three steps involved in the gas sensor installation process. 

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Topics: MSA, Fixed Gas Solutions

Five Benefits of Wireless vs. Wired Remote Monitoring Systems

Posted by TechStar on Jan 28, 2019 8:18:00 AM

When first introduced to the industry, remote instrumentation was based on wired systems. Today, wireless remote monitoring and control solution systems can simulate the architecture of wired systems using links to transmit data. Offering substantial operating and cost advantages over wired systems, wireless systems are becoming more prevalent in different applications. Here are five reasons why:

  1. No Wiring or Trenching

A wired system may require thousands of yards of cable to connect to different endpoints. As installed costs fluctuate from $10 to $20 per foot, a wired system can be expensive if connections are thousands of feet away. Powered by battery, solar, local power, or a power-scavenging device, wireless systems have no conduit requirements, eliminating the need for hardwiring instrumentation.

  1. Reduced Installation and Retrofit Cost

While a wired system using 50 to 75 feet of installed conduit can cost as much as $1500, a comparable wireless system can costs just a few hundred dollars per measured point, depending on vendor and application specifications. If repaired or reconfigured, a wired system can require new cables, involving trenching, hardware and labor. A wireless system is easily scaled without adding new hardware. After initial installation, wireless systems can easily add new wireless instruments to meet changing and expanded requirements. In addition, a wireless system can be configured in the shop, reducing on-site labor by 50% to 75%.

  1. Operate in Different Terrains

In some cases, wires can’t run on property not owned by the company such as roads, streams or other structures. The industrial transceiver nodes of a wireless remote monitoring system provide powerful, long-range transmission of data in the unlicensed ISM bands that sustains signal strength through terrain, structures, or weather. Even when operating in hostile and dangerous environments, a wireless system can operate unattended for years without being affected by environmental conditions such as snow, rain, dust storms and ice.

  1. No Data Loss

Should a wired system fail due to cut wires, corrosion, dirt or another adverse condition, operators are not alerted to the problem, resulting in sub-par operations or failures until instrumentation is back online. Programmed with a communications link alarm, a wireless system provides an alert when data is not in transmission. Most problems are avoidable by preventative maintenance linked to wireless diagnostics.

  1. Integrate With Different Sensors

Wireless remote monitoring systems with an open architect allow users to integrate many types of sensors to monitor assets.  As a result, a variety of sensors can be added or subtracted as needed to measure parameters such as pressure, temperature, level and flow. Users can choose the best sensor for each application and bring all that data from different sensors to a single point with a single data interface. In addition, robust gateways can accommodate up to 10,000 transceiver nodes, enabling the network to cover a geographic range of hundreds of square miles.

More cost effective and versatile than traditional manual gauges and wired instrumentation, wireless control systems meet different challenges that wired systems just can’t address. Read about the rationale for investing in a wireless tank level system by downloading the article Justifying the Move to Wireless Tank Level Monitoring.

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Topics: Wireless and Telemetry Solutions

Why Manage Alarms?

Posted by TechStar on Dec 26, 2018 1:02:00 PM

This blog was originally posted by Yokogawa.

Alarm management has increasingly become a hot topic over recent years, not least because of a number of high-profile accidents where alarms have been implicated. It often requires significant investment in time and resources when applied to an existing control system and there is a need for continuing review for it to remain effective. Yet an increasing number of companies are embracing alarm management for one or more reasons. So what are these reasons, why manage alarms given all the other conflicting pressures on time, and what are the benefits for those who make the journey?

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Topics: Yokogawa

Regular monitoring of your SIS – are you doing it and is it effective?

Posted by TechStar on Dec 12, 2018 3:02:00 PM

This blog was originally posted by Yokogawa.

The monitoring of safety instrumented systems (SIS) is becoming more relevant to organizations in today’s process industries. Most are actively gathering some form of measurement to record and assess safety system performance. However, is this information accurate, reliable and fully inclusive to have real certainty to monitor safety system performance?

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Topics: Yokogawa, Safety

Bridging the Gap between HART Devices and IIoT, the Industrial Internet of Things

Posted by TechStar on Dec 5, 2018 10:03:00 AM

One smart instrument communication protocol has outlasted and outsold all of the alternative digital instruments and protocols introduced to market over the last thirty years -- HART and the devices that use it.  With over 40 million installed HART devices worldwide, HART is not only here to stay but unlike other protocols, it also continues to get updated revisions that enhance data exchange capacity, speed, number of devices on a network, support over Ethernet, and wireless capability. 

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Topics: Moore Industries

A game-changing approach to furnace safeguarding

Posted by TechStar on Nov 21, 2018 8:43:00 AM

This blog was originally posted on Hydrocarbon Processing and is a follow-up article to “Automate furnace controls to improve safety and energy efficiency,” which was published in the June 2014 edition of Hydrocarbon Processing. That earlier article described how automatic controls could be used in furnaces to enhance both safety and efficiency at the basic process control system (BPCS) level.

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Topics: Hydrocarbon

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