Instrument Specialties, Inc. - ISI Technical Group

Instrument Specialties is in the business of helping customers improve and implement their processes and applications. A professional agency with a focused, creative, and aggressive staff, ISI takes a long term relationship approach to business.

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Use Electronic Pressure Controllers in Your Research Process Loop to Eliminate Droop, Boost, and Hysteresis

(re-blogged with permission from Brooks Instrument)

Gas pressure control is critical in many applications like life sciences and chemical/petrochemical research where flow is an integral part of the process. Brooks Instrument electronic pressure controllers can be used as they require flow to function. Compared to using a mechanical pressure regulator, electronic pressure controllers eliminate droop, boost and hysteresis, offering stable pressure control.

There are two configurations available for pressure control – upstream and downstream. This terminology is somewhat unique to Brooks Instrument electronic pressure controllers.

Downstream vs. Upstream Pressure Control

Downstream pressure controllers maintain the pressure downstream of the device itself, increasing flow to increase the pressure and decreasing flow to decrease the pressure. For this reason, this is called direct acting. This configuration is commonly called a standard pressure regulator. A downstream pressure controller acts very similar to a typical mass flow controller because they are both direct acting.
Upstream pressure controllers maintain the pressure upstream of the device itself, increasing flow to reduce the pressure and decreasing flow to increase the pressure. For this reason, this is called reverse acting. This configuration is commonly called a back pressure regulator in the industry.

Selecting and Sizing an Electronic Pressure Controller

The following information is required to select and size a Brooks Instrument electronic pressure controller:

• Process gas
• Maximum flow rate being used to maintain pressure -The “sweet spot” for pressure control is between 100 SCCM and 5 SLPM.
• Calibration pressure (maximum pressure to be controlled)
• Reference pressure (for upstream controllers the reference pressure is the downstream pressure and for downstream controllers the reference pressure is the upstream pressure)

As long as flow is present in a process you will typically find the need for some type of pressure control. Vessel sizes up to 30 liters commonly use flow rates up to 3 SLPM during their process steps. Brooks Instrument pressure controllers are a perfect fit for these services, offering stable pressure control with no droop, boost or hysteresis, which are commonly experienced when using a mechanical pressure regulator.

Typical Bioreactor Process Using an Upstream Pressure Controller

Magnetic Level Gauge Innovativation Solves a Potential Problem and Provides Accurate Indication Under Adverse Conditions

Magnetic Level Gauge
Courtesy Jerguson / Clark Reliance

We, as engineers, industrial process operators and stakeholders, recognize the necessity and value of a continuous stream of accurate and timely information about our processes. Our experience has also taught us that the environment and activities surrounding our installations can have a significant impact upon our ability to continually gather accurate process measurements. Some of our concerns include:

• Weather - An element whose impact cannot be understated....or easily predicted.
• Physical Contact - Equipment and measurement devices must be protected from damaging impact.
• Security - Vandalism, cyber invasion, and other external threats are possible

Our responsibility, as operators of machines and handlers of materials that can produce hazardous or life threatening conditions in the case of failure or error, is to foresee every reasonably probable event that could adversely impact the safe and proper operation of our industrial processes.
One manufacturer has developed an innovative solution to a potential problem in the application of magnetic level controls.

The short video below outlines the source of the potential failure and the way in which the product design change successfully overcomes a potentially adverse impact on process measurement. Invest less than three minutes of your time to watch the video and build your application knowledge by learning from the experience of others. Do not hesitate to contact a product application specialist for more detail, or to discuss your process measurement needs.