The Flowserve Valtek Compressor Anti-Surge Valve

The Flowserve Valtek Compressor Anti-Surge Valve is a groundbreaking approach to anti-surge control by combining accurate control with exceptional responsiveness in a simple, reliable package. It is designed to address common challenges seen in compressor applications, where the surge of compressors can cause equipment failure and downtime. 

By providing rapid response, driving the valve open when required, and providing steady-state positioning when recycling, the Valtek Compressor Anti-Surge Valve solution protects the compressor from catastrophic surge damage. The Valtek Compressor Anti-Surge Valve also provides the benefits of fast and simple set-up as well as easy maintenance. In addition, to existing installations, the Logix 3800JF positioner is easily retrofitted.

For more infomration about Flowserve Valtek products in Florida, contact Instrument Specialties. Call them at 407-324-7800 or visit their website at https://isisales.com.

Inside Look at Multichannel Refractometer User Interface

K Patents, globally recognized manufacturer of process refractometers for liquid analysis, offers a multichannel user interface providing connectivity for up to four refractometers. The model MI provides environmental protection and industrial computing and intelligence to deliver maximum performance and ease of use. The company provides this list of primary features.

• High-performance, industrial computing system
• Expandable system and connectivity for up to four (4) PR-43-G refractometers and eight (8) I/O modules
• Environmentally sealed IP67, Type 4X (door closed), IP 66 (door open), rugged 316 stainless steel enclosure. Also for demanding field and outdoor conditions (-40−50°C, -40−122°F)
• Prism wash diagnostics and control
• Trend display that shows one or two graphs over a selected period of time.
• Embedded measurement apps: The apps are small programs that give different types of measurement data and functionality
• Modules, e.g. mA-output and mA-input module
• 10” graphical touchscreen color display
• 21 CFR 11 compliant user identification and management, electronic data records and data-logging, event log/audit trail.

The video provides a visual tour of the interface and behind the panel layout. Share your industrial liquid process analysis challenges with process measurement experts. Leverage your own knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.

Signal Splitter Solves Multiple Device Connection Challenge

Selecting the right I/O modules can solve signal
transmission challenges.
Image courtesy Acromag

Industrial process measurement and control requires the transmission of signals from point to point with no significant distortion. Even with the growing prevalence of wireless signal transmission, over-wire transmission of signals is still a primary means of connecting one device to another.

In the cabled process measurement and control world, the 4 to 20 milliampere signal is generally considered the standard for transmitting analog control and measurement signals over any distance.There is an immense array of instrumentation and controllers available for use with 4-20 mA signals, so expertise in routing and delivering those signals should be part of your process measurement and control skill set.

Like just about everything else, routing 4-20 mA signals presents its own set of challenges that require some thought and planning to overcome. Electrical interference is always a concern and must be prevented from impacting the operation of measurement and control devices. Additionally, there must be sufficient power in the signal loop to accommodate the resistance load of connected devices. There are other considerations, but I'm going to focus on these two.

One scenario that can present significant issues is multiple devices requiring connection to the same signal, but with great distance between them. A simple solution can be implemented using an isolated signal splitter.

Features of these units making them an attractive, single box, solution:

• One 4-20 ma input channel for the measuring or controlling device.
• The input signal is retransmitted as identical isolated 4-20 ma signals
• Galvanic isolation from input to output
• Isolation between channels for safety and increased noise immunity. Fault in one output channel does not impact the operation of the other channels.
• Reliable operation in industrial environments, with protection from RFI, EMI, ESD, and surges.
• Low radiated emissions in accordance with CE requirements. 
• DIN-rail mounting of the unit
• Plug-in terminal blocks

If you have a very long signal loop, connecting multiple devices, consider breaking the devices into two groups that may allow for a substantially shorter cable length for each group. Connect each group to one of the isolated outputs of the splitter, giving each group of instruments the identical signal without the risks or impractically of an excessively long cable run.

There are other devices available that may combine special characteristics that solve your signal transmission and processing challenges. Contact a product specialist and discuss your existing or anticipated project requirements. Combine your process knowledge and experience with the extensive product knowledge of a professional sales engineer and produce the best possible outcome.

Loop Powered Isolated Signal Transmitters and Splitters from Instrument Specialties, Inc.

Instrument Specialties is Ready to Help Hurricane Impacted Partners

 

Industrial Instrumentation, Valves

and Municipal Equipment

Instrument Specialties is Ready to Help

As our Florida industry partners rebuild, ISI offers special emergency services for your plant. 

As we Floridians begin to recover from the damage of Hurricane Irma,  ISI Technicians & Field application support engineers, are available to you.  We have support personnel located in all major metropolitans areas including: Orlando, Miami, Ft. Myers, Tampa, Lakeland, and Jacksonville.

During September ISI will waive most emergency and expedited service fees, related to our products, for hurricane related issues. These include:

• Technical Field Support
• Emergency Onsite Field Support
• Evaluation and Testing Fees

We are here for you, and ready to help get your plant up and running ASAP.

Contact Info: Instrument Specialties Inc.: 3885 St. Johns Parkway Sanford, FL 32771 Phone: 407.324.7800 Fax: 407.324.1104 Email: Click Here

Make Good Use of Technical Sales Representatives

Technical sales representatives bring outside expertise

Process and control equipment is most often sold with the support of sales engineers working for the local distributor or representative. Realizing what these specialists have to contribute, taking advantage of their knowledge and talent, will help save time and cost, contributing to a better project outcome.

Consider these contributions:

Product Knowledge: Sales engineers, by the nature of their job, are current on new products, their capabilities and their proper application. Unlike information available on the Web, sales engineers get advanced notice of product obsolescence and replacement. Also, because they are exposed to so many different types of applications and situations, sales engineers are a wealth of tacit knowledge that they readily share with their customers.

Experience: As a project engineer, you may be treading on fresh ground regarding some aspects of your current assignment. You may not have a full grasp on how to handle a particular challenge presented by a project. Call in the local sales person - there can be real benefit in connecting to a source with past exposure to your current issue.

Access: Through a technical sales engineer, you may be able to look “behind the scenes” with a particular manufacturer and garner important information not publicly available. Sales reps deal with people, making connections between customers and manufacturer's support personnel that may not normally be public facing. They make it their business to know what’s going on with products, companies, and industries.

Of course, sales engineers will be biased. Any solutions proposed are likely to be based upon the products sold by the representative. But the best sales people will share the virtues of their products openly and honestly, and even admit when they don’t have the right product. This is where the discussion, consideration and evaluation of several solutions become part of achieving the best project outcome.

As an engineer who designs or manufactures a product or process, it's highly recommended you develop a professional, mutually beneficial relationship with a technical sales expert, a problem solve. Look at a relationship with the local sales engineer as symbiotic. Their success, and your success, go hand-in-hand.

New Electronic Pressure Switch With Continuous Output Signal

The new 805QS electronic pressure switch
Courtesy SOR, Inc.

SOR now has an enhanced version of their popular pressure transmitter, model 805PT. The new 805QS provides a continuous output signal corresponding to pressure, but also incorporates a failsafe adjustable pressure switch into the same device. The switch can be configured in the factory or field to operate in one of three ways:

• Switch is closed when pressure is above a low setpoint and below a high setpoint. This is referred to as a "window" setting.
• Switch is closed when pressure is above a setpoint.
• Switch is closed when pressure is below a setpoint.

In all variants, the switch will open on loss of power. The loop powered unit is designed so that the switch and output signal operate independently. Other features include a five millisecond response time, full range temperature compensation, and global certifications.

Learn more from the video, and share your process instrumentation and control challenges with application experts. Combine your own process knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop an effective solution.

Hot Tap Removal of Insertion Magmeter

This short video, produced by Seametrics, outlines the procedure for removal of their insertion magnetic flow sensor from an active line. The flow sensor has been installed in conjunction with a full port ball valve that allows isolation of the sensor from the pipe once the sensor has been properly positioned. The capability to remove the sensor for inspection or other operations without disturbing the contained process can be advantageous to certain applications.

Magnetic flow measurement instruments are effective in applications with sufficiently conductive liquids. A magnetic field is produced by the sensor. As liquid flows through the magnetic field, a small electric current is produced. The polarity of the magnetic field is rapidly reversed by the unit electronics, and the resulting output signal from the sensing unit is a rapid pulse, proportional to the flow rate. The pulse can be counted by electronic devices and used for monitoring, totalizing, or control. The signal is also easily converted to a 4-20 mA or other analog signal for transmission to other instruments or devices.

Share your flow measurement requirements and challenges with process measurement instrumentation specialists. The combination of your own process knowledge and experience with their product application expertise will foster the development of effective solutions.

New Company Logo for Instrument Specialties

Instrument Specialties Inc. (ISI), is a long-standing, premier manufacturer's representative and distributor of industrial instrumentation in the Georgia and Florida areas of the US. The company has recently changed its logo, trade name, and website URL. We wanted to share them with you here.

The company is the same, but the new logo and trade name of ISI Technical Group will be used going forward. There is also a new website address.

www.ISI.group

Be sure not to tack ".com" onto the end of what is shown above. Try it out.

Share your process instrumentation and control challenges with the specialists at ISI Technical Group. Combining your own process knowledge and experience with their product application expertise will yield an effective solution.

Purging Differential Pressure Sensor Lines

Differential Pressure Transmitter
Courtesy Krohne

In a fluid system, differential pressure measurement can be utilized in conjunction with a known restrictive element in the flow path to produce a flow measurement. Manufacturers of process measurement and control apparatus often produce application notes that reflect their experience or knowledge about specific circumstances that may create problems for users and operators. The application notes outline the circumstances that create the potential for trouble, then go on to show a method of prevention, mitigation, or elimination of the problem condition.

Brooks Instrument, globally recognized innovator in precision measurement and control of flow and pressure, has produced an application note that deals with differential pressure transmitter sensor lines and how to prevent them from being fouled by accumulation of media residue. The application note is included below and also appears in the Brooks Instrument blog.

Share your process measurement challenges and requirements with product application specialists, combining your own process knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.

Differential Pressure Transmitter Sensor Line Purge Setup from Instrument Specialties, Inc.

Refractometry in Industry

In-line Process Refractometer
Courtesy K-Patents

Refractometry, a combination of physics, materials, and chemistry, is the process which measures the composition of known substances by means of calculating their respective refractive indexes (RI). RIs are evaluated via a refractometer, a device which measures the curve, or refraction, resulting when the wavelength of light moves from the air into and through a tested substance. The unitless number given by the refractometer, usually between 1.3000 and 1.7000, is the RI. The composition of substances is then determined when the RI is compared to a standard curve specific to the material of the substance. There are also four separate types of refractometers: digital, analog, lab, and inline process. Although refractometry can measure a variety of substances, including gases and solids, the most common category of known substances to calculate are liquids; the inline process refractometer is used to quantify the makeup of liquids.

The ultimate focus of industrial refractometry is to describe what is in a final product or output of a process step. A field which relies directly on the results of refractometry is gemology. Gemological refractometry is crucial for accurately identifying the gemstones being classified, whether the gemstones are opaque, transparent, or translucent.

Other common examples of industrial refractometry uses are measuring the salinity of water to determine drinkability; figuring beverages’ ratios of sugar content versus other sweeteners or water; setting eye-glass prescriptions; understanding the hydrocarbon content of motor fuels; totaling plasma protein in blood samples; and quantifying the concentration of maple syrup. Regarding fuels, refractometry scrutinizes the possible output of energy and conductivity, and for drug-testing purposes, refractometry measures the specific gravity, or the density, of human urine. Regarding food, refractometry has the ability to measure the glucose in fruit during the fermentation process. Because of this, those in food services know when fruit is at peak ripeness and, in turn, also understand the most advantageous point in the fruit’s “lifetime” to put it on the market.

The determination of the substance composition of the product examples listed above all speak to the purpose of quality control and the upholding of standardized guidelines; consumers rely on manufacturers not only to produce these products but also to produce these products consistently and identically every single time. Therefore, the success of commercialism, etc. is dependent on maintaining the standards for the composition of substances, i.e. industrial refractometry.

Equipment manufacturers have developed numerous refractometer configurations tailored to specific use and application. Each has a set of features making it the advantageous choice for its intended application. Product specialists can be invaluable sources of information and assistance to potential refractometer users seeking to match the best equipment to their application or process.

Process Refractometer For Concentration Measurement of Liquids from Instrument Specialties, Inc.

Video Shows How to Install a Portable Ultrasonic Clamp-on Flowmeter

Krohne Optisonic 6300 P
Portable Ultrasonic Flowmeter

Ultrasonic flowmeters, being capable of operating from outside a pipe, are well suited to field measurements and other portable applications in industrial process measurement. Krohne, a globally recognized manufacturer of flow, pressure, temperature, level, and other instruments for process measurement and control, has produced video instructions for field installation and operation of their portable ultrasonic clamp-on flowmeter. The video is included below. Though the presentation is based upon the Krohne product, there is good general knowledge about portable ultrasonic flowmeters to be had from the video.

Watch the video and build your knowledge. Share your process measurement challenges with application specialists, combining your process knowledge with their product application expertise to formulate effective solutions.