Safety is often underestimated when planning, operating and maintaining process-measuring equipment. Sensors with SIL certification, alone, do not make the process safe. It is important to avoid systematic errors during planning, installation and operation The correct installation of a temperature…
Manufacturing is becoming more advanced as companies adopt new technologies to stay competitive and to help achieve newer sustainability goals. The Covid-19 pandemic and issues, such as supply-chain shortages, have accelerated this adoption, particularly of digitalization. The shift to advanced…
A routes-by-exception reliability strategy helps improve safety and efficiency, while preserving competitive advantage in a changing marketplace In recent years, maintenance and reliability experts have often talked about the massive wave of retirements leaving chemical plants, creating a shortage of…
With proper design, installation, monitoring and maintenance, chemical plant operators can increase the lifecycle of fluid systems — and the bottom line Replacing a fluid system component costs more than just the price of the part itself. It also includes…
The MC-COS multi-control valve (photo) is a fully integrated device consisting of this company’s COS pressure-reducing valve, a separator, steam trap and a motorized actuator. It is designed for steam conditioning, as well as to control either the steam pressure…
This company’s SLA Series mass-flow controllers (MFCs; photo) and meters now have new global certifications, including those covering the cure dates and shelf life of the elastomers used in the assembly and the surface roughness of the flow path, as…
Production of ammonia by the Haber-Bosch process not only requires a lot of energy for the high-temperature (300–500°C) synthesis of NH3 itself, but the recovery of ammonia takes place by condensation at –20°C. As a result, large changes in both…
This company’s new digital pressure-temperature sensor (DPTS; photo) is designed to measure subcooling for HVAC-refrigeration applications. The DPTS is a self-contained device that measures pressure and temperature and calculates subcooling based on refrigerant type. It is compatible with safety-group A1,…
Process equipment is usually connected by pipelines through which, if an explosion occurs, fire and pressure can spread very rapidly. Propagating explosions pose increased risks of secondary explosions. The intensity of the explosion in connected vessels is increased by pressure…
Japan’s National Institute for Materials Science (NIMS; Ibaraki, Japan; www.nims.go.jp), along with Harvard University (Cambridge, Mass.; www.harvard.edu) and the University of Connecticut (Storrs, Conn.; www.uconn.edu), have designed a new imaging device that uses structural colors — visible colors that change…