An informative and educational resource specializing in process control instrumentation, analytical instruments, and related industrial equipment. Content includes technology basics, how-to's, new product developments, and application notes. Blog is courtesy of Alliance Technical Sales, a leading Manufacturers' Rep headquartered in Clarendon Hills, IL and serving customers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.
The BriskHeatSilver-Series insulators are a configurable insulation system made of durable, high-temperature cloth that allows for very easy installation and removal. The Silver-Series provides 1” thick, needle-punched fiberglass insulation with hook & loop closures. The innovative design applies very efficient thermal insulation for hot or cold pipes, valves, instrumentation, tanks and vessels in industrial and commercial environments. Custom designs can be manufactured for unique requirements.
It's winter and it's cold outside. Pipes will freeze. Processes will stop. Maintenance costs will rise.
Facilities that use or process chemicals, gasses, or even water must maintain them above 55°F (17°C) to prevent them from solidifying, freezing, or becoming too viscous to move. A few examples of these materials include varieties of diethylene (resins and polyurethanes), DMSO (solvents), paraffin’s (petroleum product), #6 crude oil (for asphalt), and many more. Often these materials travel through unique cone, funnel, or bowl-shaped vessels and then through a series of pipes, tubes, hoses, pumps, valves, metering devices, level transmitters, and more. During a cold season, if not protected, these systems can fail to operate efficiently or even freeze causing significant damage and downtime.
Not your typical heat tracing cable.
Often the complex nature of these systems, having many twists and turns, makes them difficult to install traditional heat trace cable to protect against the cold. Also, limited access or difficult to reach areas have their own unique challenges. Traditional semi-flexible self-limiting heat-trace cable is simply too rigid for many of these installations and does not provide adequate surface contact to be effective enough.
XtremeFLEX RKP by BriskHeat
makes it easy to heat difficult shapes and sizes.
BriskHeat’s new XtremeFLEX RKP silicone heating tapes are the perfect solution for these challenging applications. The RKP tapes have an ultra-thin profile with a super- flexible 1/4” (6mm) bend radius. No additional temperature controller is required because a built-in pre-set thermostat continuously monitors and controls the temperature output of the heater. The complete unit is fully encapsulated in silicone rubber to provide an extremely flexible, durable, and moisture resistant heater. The unique flexibility provides exceptional surface contact for maximum heat transfer and effectiveness around systems that have complex curves, bends, and contours. The heater is also pre-terminated with a power cord and electrical plug to provide quick and easy power connection. RKP silicone heating tapes are a true plug-and- play heater that is both easy to install and easy to maintain. This design makes the RKP an extremely versatile heater for a wide variety of indoor/outdoor installations.
It is always recommended to insulate any heating device to provide a safe and energy efficiency system. BriskHeat offers an Insul-Lock®DS foam pipe insulation that is perfect for use with RKP heating tapes.
At-line batch TOC measurement can only provide snapshots of your water quality every six minutes or more. But alot can happen in six minutes. With true continuous TOC analysis you have real-time data to tell you exactly when an excursion starts and ends. This helps demonstrate compliance and gives you complete control of your water system. The Mettler-Toledo6000TOCi provides real-time TOC compliance.
For more information, contact: Alliance Technical Sales https://alliancets.com 630-321-9646
Swissfluid SIV Series are inline, fully lined or stainless steel sampling valves for safe and representative sampling of corrosive and aggressive process media from pipelines, pressurized or under vacuum. SIV Sampling Valves are available as wafer-style or flanged valves. The valves are distinguished by its deadspace-free design as well as the extremely short outlet way for the representative sample. The sturdy bodies are made of stainless steel casting 1.4408 (CF-8M) or optional with resistant linings
Gaseous samples can be provided by means of the Piston Injector. This video demonstrates how the Piston Injector is used.
Here is an Alliance Technical Sales product catalog for industrial electric heating and freeze protection solutions. The products contained herein are used for temperature maintenance or to prevent freezing of flowing fluids or gases in tanks, pipes, vessels, and lab equipment. Contact Alliance Technical Sales for any electric heating requirement.
The METTLER TOLEDO Process Analytics division concentrates on analytical measurement solutions for industrial manufacturing processes. The division consists of two business units: Ingold and Thornton, both recognized leaders in their respective markets and technologies.
Ingold is a worldwide leader in pH, dissolved oxygen, CO2, conductivity and turbidity solutions for process analytical measurement systems
in chemical, food & beverage, biotech- nology and pharmaceutical industries. Its core competence is high quality in-line measurement of these para- meters in demanding chemical process and hygienic and sterile applications.
Thornton is the leader in pure and ultrapure water monitoring instrumentation used in semiconductor, microelectronics, power generation, pharmaceutical, and biotech applications. Its core competence is the in-line measurement of conductivity, resistivity, TOC, bioburden, dissolved oxygen and ozone in determining and controlling water purity. The division recently expanded into Gas Analytics with a series of TDL analyzers offering unique in situ solutions.
The 6000TOCi is a new, continuous measurement, TOC (total organic
carbon) sensor manufactured by METTLER TOLDEDO Thornton. The sensor provides
continuous, real-time measurements in pure and ultrapure waters. It uses
advanced UV oxidation technology that provides a very rapid response time.
Total Organic Carbon monitoring is vital for the measurement and control of organics contamination in pure and ultrapure waters used in industries such as pharmaceuticals, microelectronics and power generation.
To ensure changes in TOC levels are not missed, constant results are required. The 6000TOCi sensor uses conductivity measurements before and after oxidation of organic material via ultraviolet light to provide continuous, real-time determination of TOC.
Flexibility of the 6000TOCi allows installation anywhere on a water system, with the option to display results at the point of measurement or at a more convenient location for operators.
The METTLER TOLDEDO Thornton 6000TOCi Total Organic Carbon sensor has a response time of less than one minute and provides continuous monitoring, which is a huge advantage over batch measurement systems that take six minutes or longer to deliver just a snapshot of water quality.
This pencil appears to bend when it enters the water because of the change in the light ray speed as the medium changes.
Refraction is the directional change of wave propagation caused by a change in the light beams transmission medium.
Light rays travel through space in a straight line at approximately 300,000 km/s. As light passes through a transparent medium, such as water or glass, its speed is decreased.
For glass, its reduced to 200,000 kilometers per second, and for water the speed is 225,000 kilometers per second.
If the light enters into a medium perpendicular to the surface, it passes straight through but at a slower speed. However if the light beam arrives at the medium surface at an angle, not only will it speed be reduced, but it will bend due to a process called refraction.
As a beam of light reaches the surface of a medium the lower portion enters first and is slow down. However, the upper portion is still traveling at the speed of light until it arrives at the surface and enters. This speed difference at the top and bottom aspects of the light path causes it to pivot, bending toward what is referred to as the normal. This is an imaginary line drawn perpendicularly to the surface of the material.
Transparent materials have what is called a refractive index. This is the speed at which light travels in a medium compared to like traveling in a vacuum.
For example, typical glass has a refractive index of 1.33. This is calculated by dividing the speed of light in a vacuum (300,000 km/s) by the speed of light in glass (225,000 km/s).
The refractive index of air is 1.0003. Anytime a light beam travels from a medium with a low index of refraction, like air, to a medium with a higher index of refraction, like glass, the beam of light will bend toward the normal.
Likewise when the beam of light exits a highly refractive medium into a medium with the low index of refraction, the process is reversed.
The bottom portion of the beam of light exits first, and resumes at the speed of light, with the top portion still at the speed determined by the medium. This causes the beam to pivot away from the normal line.
Instruments used to measure the refractive index are called refractometers. Refractometers used in industrial automated systems are referred to as inline refractometers.
Jogler is a manufacturer of process control instrumentation specializing in level control devices: site flow indicators, sight glass level indicators, magnetic level gauges, magnetostrictive transmitters, laser level transmitters and specific gravity analyzers. Jogler, LLC is a certified ASME boiler code facility and carries the U, UM and S stamps that are required via ASME boiler code section B31.1 and B31.3.
While the public considers municipal water to be “pure”, the pharmaceutical market considers municipal water (feedwater) just the starting point in producing pure water. Water is the most widely used excipient in pharmaceutical manufacturing, and pharmaceutical water is a multi-functional resource, crossing all disciplines in the pharmaceutical industry. Water is used as a raw material, solvent, ingredient, reagent, and clean-ing agent, and is produced in a variety of “pure” forms.
Purified Water (PW), Highly Purified Water (HPW), and Water for Injection (WFI) used in pharmaceutical processes are produced on site from the local potable water, which has been produced by the treatment of the feedwater.
Electric surface heating for
analytical and scientific
applications. (BriskHeat)
In many research & development and laboratory applications, surface heat is required to successfully conduct experiments and tests. The heat may be required for a number of reasons:
Temperature Compensation - Varying results due to temperature fluctuation are eliminated when the temperature is constant over several repetitions or tests.
Vacuum Bake-out - Heat helps release moisture and impurities/particulates in a closed system to allow the test results to be more accurate and consistent.
Temperature Elevation - A higher temperature may be required to generate the desired results.
As the video below will show you, Mettler Toledo Thornton's UniCond sensors provide three significant advantages over other conductivity sensors:
1) Unmatched Accuracy - a self-contained measuring circuit which produces a robust output digital signal that is reliable over very long cable and certified factory calibration and temperature compensation with ASTM traceability stored in the sensor's internal memory to ensure highest installed accuracy out of the box.
2) Widest Rangeability - A single 2-electrode UniCond sensor can measure from ultrapure water all the way up to sea water with high accuracy. This significantly simplifies the specification, installation and spare parts inventory for water treatment systems. 4-electrode UniCond sensors cover the higher conductivity ranges of acid and base ion exchange regeneration chemicals.
3) Maintenance-free Performance - Mettler Toledo Thornton conductivity sensors for pure water provide high accuracy measurements with widely spaced electrodes that do not trap ion exchange resin particles, corrosion particles or bubbles, and yield more reliable, maintenance-free operation than with other sensors.
The JoglerILT-6000 Direct Insertion Magnetostrictive Level Transmitter is a loop powered non-contact level measurement device that can be installed directly into a process vessel. Utilizing the magnetostrictive principle and time-of-flight calculations allow the ILT-6000 to provide a fast and accurate measurement of float position and, ultimately, liquid level in the gauge. The ILT-6000 is installed in an isolation well assembly allowing the transmitter to be removed, serviced, or replaced with no process interruption.
The video below briefly explains how it operates:
ILT-6000 FEATURES
2 wire, loop powered (24VDC nominal)
LCD Display (4-20mA, %, in, and/or cm)
Generic HART communication
Quick-Cal function for simple recalibration
Isolated from process pressure
Long Measuring Lengths (up to 35ft)
Isolation Well assembly
Dual level outputs (total level and interface)
Epoxy-Coated Aluminum Enclosure
Class I, Division 1, Groups A, B, C, D
Class II and Class III, Division 1, Groups E, F, G
Class I, Division 2, Groups A, B, C, D
Class II and Class III, Division 2, Groups E, F, G
Intrinsically Safe Class I / II / III, Division 1, Groups A, B, C, D, E, F, G
Technician adjusts process refractometer in plant.
(Electron Machine)
Process refractometers provide the analysis to quickly, reliably, and very accurately identify a sample and determine it's concentration and purity levels. They measure the refractive index and temperature of flowing liquids, and apply mathematical functions to determine the concentration of dissolved solids.
Part physics, part material science and part chemistry, refractometry is the process which measures the composition of known substances by means of calculating their respective refractive indexes (RI). Light bends and changes velocity as it travels from one media into another through the media interface. When light traveling through air enters liquid, the light rays change direction by an amount determined by the liquid's density. RIs are evaluated via a refractometer, a device which measures the curve, or refraction. 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. Standard tables are available that correlate RI to a variety of materials. These same tables also correlate RI to varying concentrations of particular liquid media at a particular temperature. Take corn syrup for example. Different refractive indexes are observed for different corn syrup samples of different concentrations. Therefore, by using a process refractometer to observe the RI of a particular corn syrup sample, a determination of the concentration of that particular sample can be made. By referring to the table or scale that correlates the RI to concentration at a particular fixed temperature, liquid concentration can be determined.
Common industrial refractometer applications are:
Process refractometer with flanged spool adapter.
(Electron Machine)
Calculating amount of sugar dissolved in juices and beverages.
In commercial food applications such as juice production or tomato processing, refractometers are used to measure degrees Brix (the Brix scale relates refractive index to sugar concentration, and is a key way to maintain consistency).
In the pharmaceutical industry, process refractometers are used to monitor and control concentration levels during supersaturation, a critical process in crystallization.
In pulp and paper production, process refractometers for measuring dissolved solids in black and green liquor during the chemical recovery process.
Equipment manufacturers have developed numerous refractometer configurations tailored to specific each use and application. Each has a set of features making it the advantageous choice for its intended application. Product specialists are invaluable sources of information and assistance to potential refractometer users seeking to match the best equipment to their application or process.
Industrial heating applications are numerous and varied. Heating requirements can range from freeze protection to precise maintenance of process temperature in piping, equipment, or vessels. Two commonly employed heating sources are electric resistance heaters and plant steam. While each has certain advantages, steam may not always be available or practical. Electric heat offers a number of positive attributes.
Ease of design and installation
Precise control
Uniform heating across surfaces
Low maintenance requirement
Portability
Economical to purchase and install
Wide array of shapes, sizes, and configurations
Standard and custom products for every application
Cloth heating jackets are one of many electric heater variants. Formed to fit specific valves, fittings, or other items, these reusable heaters are comprised of an exterior of rugged fabric, a layer of thermal insulation, a heating blanket, and an electrical connection point or fitting. Hook and loop fasteners facilitate the unwrapping or opening of the jacket to allow for installation and removal. The surface remains cool to the touch for most applications. Control can be provided by any type of temperature controller, with prewired options available for inclusion with the heating jacket.
Construction of cloth heating jacket (click for larger view).
Liner and Facing Material (Inside and Outside cloth material)
PTFE - Standard facing material. Exposure temperatures up to 500°F (260°C). Up to Class 10 environments.
BriskClean - For cleanroom class 10. Exposure temperatures up to 600°F (315°C).
Silicone Cloth Adds a degree of moisture and chemical resistance. Exposure temperatures up to 500°F (260°C).
Samox® -High temperature cloth. Exposure temperatures up to 1100°F (593°C). Up to Class 100 environments.
Aluminum- Facing material option. Exposure temperatures up to 450°F (232°C).
Fiberglass cloth - Liner material option. Exposure temperatures up to 900°F (482°C). Up to Class 100 environments.
Closure Options
Hook and loop fastener
Hook and lace
Grommets
Insulation (placed in between liner and facing)
Fits your application based upon process temperatures. BriskHeat's industry leading engineers will design your system with the correct amount of insulation. Insulation will make your system energy efficient and touch-safe.
MTOL+ is the next generation of online turbidimeters from HF scientific. The MTOL+ Online Process Turbidimeter has been specifically designed to meet regulations of EPA 180.1 and ISO 7027.
Benefits:
Fast and Easy Calibration - Primary calibration can be completed in less than 5 minutes.
Stages of brewing and areas for process measurement.
The beer market is currently experiencing an intense globalization process, reflected in escalating competitive and cost pressures. In addition to this, there is growing diversification into new, innovative beverages that demand maximum production flexibility. The time to market is becoming ever shorter, and product quality has to be guaranteed at a consistently high level, accompanied by an increase in productivity.
In-line Measurements in the Brew House
Proper process control plays a vital role in determining the flavor, foam stability, and color of the finished beer. The relative measurement sensors are exposed to high temperatures, and solid particles and turbidity constituents, and must be capable of surviving multiple CIP cycles.
Measurements in the Fermentation and Storage Cellars
At standard fermentation temperatures, propagation of microorganisms is detrimental to the beer. In order to prevent this from occurring, hygienic plant design and use of materials resistant to CIP solutions are important criteria, as they are for in-line sensors.
The economic use of fresh water, as well as the multiple use of cleaning solutions, present a further basis for achieving overall cost reduction in line with the strive for greater efficiency of the brewing process. Here also, in-line systems are of help in monitoring and optimizing the relative sub-processes.
Measurements in Wastewater Treatment Facilities
Fouling of sensors in wastewater leads to uncertainty about the measurement results and can even result in measurement system failure. METTLER TOLEDO provides efficient and practical solutions in the wastewater treatment areas as well.
Established in 2000, Alliance Technical Sales, Inc. is a manufacturers’ representative agency providing numerous process control instrumentation solutions to customers across a wide range of industries.
Intermediate Bulk Containers (IBCs), also known as IBC totes, or pallet tanks, are reusable industrial containers designed for the transport and storage of bulk liquid or granulated chemicals, food ingredients, solvents, pharmaceuticals, or other material.
Often, to maintain optimum viscosity, there is need to apply heat to the contents of a tote to raise and maintain it's temperature. This ensures the material remains ready for production and is easy to dispense. Without external heat, increased production cost or damage to equipment can occur. Heaters are also used to protect temperature sensitive material inside the IBC tote from cold or freezing, thus reducing the possibility of loss due to ruined materials.
The most effective way to heat IBCs are with specialized electric heaters referred to as "wrap-around IBC tote tank heaters". These heaters are adjustable to fit many size totes, provide the required wattage to maintain a temperature between 50 deg. F and 160 deg. F. and also include built-in 1/4” fiberglass insulation for thermal efficiency. They can be used with caged, plastic, or metal IBC tote tanks. Installation and secure fit are accommodated with adjustable nylon straps and buckles.
As the contents of the tote empties, there is no reason to continue to heat it's upper zone, so IBC heaters include independent, dual zone temperature control that separately controls the upper and lower zones of the bottle. A built-in high limit thermostat and a grounded heating element prevents overheating and worry-free operation. A standard 120 volt, grounded 3-prong plug is provided for easy power connection (240V models have bare wires).
An alternative design are silicone rubber IBC tote tank heaters, for use on totes with removable bottles. Placed inside the IBC cage, directly under, and in direct contact with the bottle, they provide very fast and efficient heat-up. Made from fiberglass reinforced silicone rubber and 1/2” thick foam padding, these heaters provide outstanding durability. This design comes complete with a grounded heating element, thermocouple temperature sensor, and digital temperature controller, and is approved for use indoors and outdoors.
Magnetic level gauges, also known as magnetic level indicators, are routinely used to provide a display of liquid level in tanks and other vessels. Their popularity stems from their high visibility from distances and non-invasive design which reduces the possibility of leak points and the risks of fugitive emissions.
"Mag Gauge" construction is fairly simple. A magnetic float, designed for the specific gravity of the material being measured, rides inside a vertical pipe on top of the process media. A gauge with magnetically coupled visual indicator is fastened to the pipe. As the media inside the pipe rises and falls, the visual indicator moves in the same fashion.
Magnetic level gauges are often employed in tandem with magnetostrictive, guided wave radar, or other measurement means to provide a reliable local display of liquid level, as well as an electrical signal that can be transmitted to recording instrumentation or controllers.
The features of magnetic level gauges include:
Low maintenance.
Wide operating temperature and pressure range.
Visual tank level indication.
Continuous level measurement.
Easier to read from greater distance than glass sight gauges.
Can be applied to wide fluid level ranges with a single instrument.
Break resistant, sturdy.
Wide range of construction materials available.
External mounting of ancillary indicators, switches, and transmitters with isolation from process media.
No electric power required for operation.
There are a number of options available so you can customize the level indicator for each specific application. The best way to proceed is to combine your process knowledge with that of a product specialist. Collectively, you'll be able to achieve an effective solution to your application challenge.
