SSE has extended the use of Emerson Process Management’s Smart Wireless technology at its Slough Heat and Power energy facility in the U.K. The new Rosemount Analytical wireless conductivity transmitters are being used to detect changes in boiler condensate conductivity which could be caused by cooling-water leaks in the turbine’s condenser. If left undetected the contaminated feedwater will cause hydrogen embrittlement of the furnace tubes that will result in tube failures.

The 80MW combined heat and power (CHP) plant had previously relied on manual sampling and laboratory analysis of turbine condensate.  However, this method caused delays in detecting leaks and as a result the boilers had to be shut down while repairs were made.

“Emerson’s Smart Wireless conductivity transmitters allow us to continuously monitor the condensate extract lines,” said Emma Wilcockson, electrical, control and instrumentation technician at SSE. “If we detect a change in conductivity, maintenance can be scheduled before the problem leads to an unplanned shutdown or damage to the plant.”

Emerson had previously supplied a Smart Wireless Starter Kit for the boiler house, and SSE’s excellent experience with this application was a major factor in selecting wireless for this latest project. In addition, the costs and time required to run power and signal cables to each instrument made a conventional solution impractical.

Emerson recommended the best positioning for the conductivity probes, transmitters and gateway, and SSE installed the Rosemount Analytical Model 6081C Conductivity Transmitters in the condensate extraction lines.

The conductivity transmitters send data to the PLC-based control system via a Smart Wireless Gateway. Emerson’s AMS Device Manager predictive maintenance software is used to manage the Smart Wireless network. With an established wireless network at the plant, “plug-and-play” technology meant that it was very easy and quick for SSE engineers to install and configure the new wireless conductivity devices in the turbine basements.

Despite the difficult environment of the turbine basement, which is surrounded by metal structures that can obstruct wireless signals, the wireless network was quickly established. The system has been operating for more than six months and during that time the transmissions between transmitters and the wireless gateway has been extremely reliable.

What approaches do you use in your plant to prevent unplanned shutdowns?

Francis Ang here for Emerson Rosemount. I’m contributing this week’s blog discussing a local gas manufacturing plant here in Singapore.

For most manufacturing plants, the addition of a new measurement requirement after the plant is constructed is a source of huge expense and inconvenience … unless they have wireless. Such was the case with the world scale hydrogen manufacturing plant of Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide Pte Ltd, the subsidiary of Air Liquide in Singapore on Jurong Island. In 80 countries, Air Liquide supplies gases and solutions for its customers in diverse industries such as steel, food and beverage, electronics and pharmaceuticals.

New requirements for degassed conductivity measurements emerged and the plant wanted to add these instruments to their existing facility.

That is when Emerson Process Management came into the picture. Emerson engineers proposed the use of three 6081C wireless liquid analyzers with a contacting conductivity sensor, the Model 400. These were used in combination with a Smart Wireless Gateway. The wireless technology not only satisfies the need for conductivity measurement in the process, it also provides access to diagnostics which significantly reduce the cost and time of maintenance. This idea was well received by SOXAL as a try-out of the wireless diagnostics for the degassed conductivity measurement.

The analyzer was installed in a portable panel design that allows it to be easily moved around the plant as needed. The entire wireless system was installed in two days – a savings of weeks over the wired installation. From a cost benefit perspective; there is about 15 percent savings over the wired installation. Cost of ownership will significantly lower due to the reduced cost of AC power and maintenance and operation. In addition, system upgrades in the future will be fast and low cost.

Another advantage is that the Smart Wireless Gateway allows the liquid analyzers and any other additional products, such as pressure, pH or temperature measurement to be added in the future as part of a self-organizing network wherein each system becomes a wireless transmitter for all other systems.

For Singapore Oxygen Air Liquide Pte Ltd, as for other plants requiring retrofit around the world, wireless technology significantly reduces costs while improving operations.

Hello everyone. I’m Stéphane Canadas, Analytical Specialist at Emerson Process Management. A customer of ours in Europe has an application that demonstrates the importance of having a wireless technology that can meet the need of demanding field networks. The company performs sugar processing. While your application may be different, if you have a demanding application, there are lessons to be learned from this example.

As part of this company’s production process, clean, sliced beet is pumped into one of three rotating drum diffusers and then mixed with water at approximately 85^o C to extract the sugar. pH levels of the solution must be monitored within the drums to optimize the soaking period and ensure it has the correct pH level before it passes through the next stages of purification. In the past, the company performed the pH measurements manually with solution samples taken every hour and analyzed in a laboratory. As you can imagine, this was very time consuming and did not provide immediate or continuous information as needed. Collection of the sample was difficult, requiring an operator to open a valve on the rotating drum, fill a bottle from the port and close it, all in a few seconds while the drum was on the lowest part of its rotation. At times, the port would be blocked by beet fibers preventing a sample from being taken for several hours forcing the process to run blind. Has your plant ever experienced anything similar? If so you know how unsatisfactory such a procedure can be.

The customer wanted to install a continuous automated monitoring system. They first tried a wired installation using a slip ring but the connection points for both power and data proved to be very unreliable causing data signals to be lost. They next set upon a wireless solution to solve the problem but wanted any wireless system they purchased to perform a number of tasks across the plant. It was important, therefore, that they selected an open standard technology that would not lock them into a single vendor.

After reviewing a range of systems, the customer settled on the Rosemount Analytical Model 6081-P wireless pH transmitter. The transmitter, along with a 3500 SMART pH sensor, was installed on the rotating drum. Because of the inherent ease-of-installation of the Emerson field network system, the wireless devices began transmitting data the minute they were attached to the drum. Since the sensor is preconfigured in the lab by Emerson, it received its specific setup through the wireless network and began immediate operation. Measurement data from the device is transmitted every sixty seconds from the sensor to a Smart Wireless Gateway and then transmitted to the customer’s DCS providing the much-needed continuous measurement.

Initially, the wireless system just provided continuous pH measurements to be viewed by the operator who then made manual adjustments to control the pH levels. However, since the initial four-week trial period proved so seamlessly integrated and reliable, they are now using the wirelessly transmitted data to control the pH level in the diffusion drums automatically.

The bottom line is that with the selection of a field network wireless system with the configuration, security, reliability and simplicity required by demanding applications, this company was able to significantly improve productivity and process quality while reducing energy use, water and rework. These results were achieved in a highly demanding rotating drum application. The decision to move from monitoring to control is strong testimony in the company’s confidence in the Model 6081-P and Emerson Smart wireless field network solution. We might call that a sugar of a deal.

 In what demanding applications have you used or considered using wireless technology?

Snehal Shah here for this week’s blog post. As you may know, steam and water analysis systems in power plants present challenges common to many industrial plants in harsh environments. Finding a cost-effective way to predict maintenance requirements without excessive personnel time was one of the requirements when a Power Plant in India set out to select an analysis system for two new power plants. Their choice was Emerson and their system is wireless. Why did they choose wireless and why should you consider wireless?

The total system includes fifty-six Model 1056HT analyzers each using the Smart wireless THUM adapter to provide a highly flexible, self-organizing network. In addition, the Indian Power Plant is using four units each of the Rosemount CFA Silica and Sodium analyzers and four sample conditioning systems. The Power Plant in India chose the Model 1056 because all the units were panel-mounted and by using the Model 1056, the wet chemistry units in the system could also be configured for wireless signal transmission.

While we often think of wireless as a way to save wiring and installation costs in an existing industrial facility, in fact, this project clearly shows that there are other drivers for the choice of wireless. The wireless plants are brand new Green Field projects and the cost of installing a wired system was not the primary factor in the selection of Emerson. Rather it was the quick commissioning made possible by wireless. The time savings involved will allow for early project completion. If you have any questions about how wireless can work for you, please do let us know! We’d be happy to provide you with answers.

Another reason for selection of the wireless technology for the SWAS was the ability to get vital diagnostics from all the measurement points. Analyzer diagnostics such as pH cracked glass are important to maintenance scheduling. Temperature is always measured in the pH, conductivity and DO analysis but typically it is not used in wired systems because it consumes analog input at the DCS. Using wireless, this Power Plant customer in India is able to get sample temperature as required – a significant indicator of the “health” of the sample conditioning system.

Emerson has pioneered wireless steam and water analysis systems for the power industry. With this Indian Power Plant customer, the application clearly demonstrates that there are many important reasons to consider wireless technology in industrial plants of all types. Let us know if you’re considering wireless. We’d be happy to answer any questions you might have.

For years, Emerson has promoted our Smart Wireless protocols to extend our solutions to areas that were previously out of physical reach. We believe the only limits to the benefits of SmartWireless exist in our technology-driven imaginations.

Emerson’s Analytical group has pushed our imaginations even further by embracing Smart Wireless to develop our own innovative wireless solutions. Rosemount Analytical’s wireless solution consists of two key components added to our standard analytical system – the Smart Wireless Gateway that connects WirelessHART™ self-organizing networks with host systems and data applications, and the Smart Wireless THUM Adapter, which is added to the Rosemount Analytical Model 1056 intelligent four-wire transmitter to enable wireless transmission of measurement and diagnostic information.

Singaport Cleanseas is embracing the potential of wireless with their new wireless CEM solution from Rosemount Analytical. Until this project, wireless CEMS didn’t exist. Rosemount Analytical examined the challenges that Singaport Cleanseas faced and developed a unique wireless CEMS configuration that could help not only Singaport Cleanseas, but also other process plants throughout Asia. (It is important to mention that a wireless CEM solution wouldn’t be a good solution in the United States, due to restrictions set by the Environmental Protection Agency.)

In a typical wireless CEM system configuration, Rosemount Analytical engineers a standard CEM system using a sample probe to extract gas from the smoke stack, which is then conditioned to remove contaminants using a sample handling system.  The process gas analyzers that make up the CEM system can include the X-STREAM, X-STREAM Enhanced, or MLT process gas analyzer, or a combination of each, as well as Rosemount Analytical oxygen and combustibles analyzers, Rosemount Analytical opacity monitors, and various third-party analyzers that may be required to fit the specific needs of each customer. Then, Rosemount Analytical uses the Model 1056 analyzers to convert the analog signals of the data acquisition system into HART digital signals used in wireless communications. The data is then transmitted to the control room via SmartWireless THUM Adaptors installed on each Model 1056 analyzer. With this wireless configuration, every device in the network can pass information along for its neighboring devices, so if something disrupts communications between two devices, the network automatically provides an alternate path.

With a smart wireless CEM solution, customers meet their country-specific requirements for emissions reporting while containing project costs and operating costs. It also offers an inherently flexible system that offers mobility, in case future growth requires moving the control room or other facilities.

If you could apply wireless to any kind of application, what would it be?

Hi, my name is Jim Gray. I am the application manager at Rosemount Analytical in Irvine, California and now blogging about wireless for the Rosemount Analytical Group.

Purpose

The purpose of this blog is to discuss the application of liquid and gas analyzers and systems. It will also serve to introduce new approaches to these applications made possible by new developments in analyzer hardware and software.  It is hoped that we can begin a conversation that will provide you with new insights that will make it possible to apply analyzers more effectively, reliably, and at a lower installed cost.  Because we cover a large range of topics, the blog will not always be written by the same person as we want to include experts to comment on their own subjects. You will get to know all of us over time. We want to hear from you with comments and suggestions on what you would like us to cover.

Words on a Wireless Trend

Rosemount Analytical Vice President, John Wright, has advised me that one of the first places industrial and municipal plants are putting wireless analytical technology to work is for remote effluent monitoring. Being able to put pH and conductivity analyzers into the “no man’s land” beyond the fence without the need for wiring is a huge boon. I agree and in addition, since the analyzers are based on WirelessHART™, they send back a full complement of diagnostics, meaning plant managers can schedule maintenance only when it’s needed while assuring they stay in compliance. It’s a trend worth considering.

Wireless Story about Cost Savings

John Wright also told us about a customer who had an emergency when they accidentally cut a bunch of analytical wires with a backhoe. They discovered they could replace the whole installation with wireless for less than the cost of replacing the wires that had been destroyed. Now that is cost effective.