Safety, Quality, Productivity: Rethinking Gas Analytics Across Process Industries

GPro® 500
Mettler Toledo Process Analytics designs analyzers and sensors based around a simple concept – how can the design, handling, and maintenance of their products help you improve quality, productivity, and safety? This led to their rethinking gas analytics and the development of a unique portfolio of gas instruments that offers you faster measurements, greater process availability, and unequalled ease of use.

The Mettler Toledo GPro® 500 TDL O2, CO, CO2 and moisture analyzers are designed for ease of installation and low maintenance operation in a wide variety of process applications in the refining, petrochemical, and associated process industries.

The GPro® 500 oxygen gas analyzer is a unique tunable diode laser spectrometer designed for safety applications. It uses a folded-path laser beam design for simple installation and measurement.
GPro® 500 Overview:
  • Ideal for applications such as: flare safety control, combustion control, chlorination and oxychlorination, process control, ESP filter production, vent headers, inertization and vapor recovery.
  • Is installed in situ, so you get a quick response without the need to extract and condition a sample. This provides a fast response time so that you can make real-time reactions to out-of-spec conditions.
  • Is configurable, enabling the oxygen gas analyzer's measurement system to be paired with a variety of process adaptions to meet a wide range of installation requirements.
  • Uses Intelligent Sensor Management (ISM®) technology to offer predictive diagnostics on analyzer condition, including informing you when cleaning of the optical path will be required.

Applications covered in the eBook include:
  • Direct Chlorination
  • VCM Waste Gas Recovery
  • FCC Units
  • Electrostatic Precipitators
  • Formaldehyde Production
  • Formaldehyde Production
For more information about GPro® 500 TDL O2, CO, CO2 and moisture analyzers, contact Alliance Technical Sales by calling 630-321-9646 or by visiting https://alliancets.com

Industrial, Inline, Process Refractometers

Industrial inline refractometers
Industrial inline refractometers use of the principle of refractometry to assess the physical qualities of fluid. Using the device, the refractive index of the fluid is measured, which indicates whether the product is according to specification. The fundamental physical property helps in determining the purity and composition of fluids. 

Refractometers: An Overview


Refractometers are based on the principle of refractometry. The device measures the speed of a ray of light as it crosses from one medium to another. When light travels across two different media, its density and direction change. The change in direction is known as refraction. 
Every material has a different refractive index (RI) that refers to the ratio of the velocity of light in a vacuum to the velocity in a specific medium. 

Light travels faster in a medium with a lower optical density, resulting in a low reflective index. The lower the optical density of the medium, the lower will be the refractive index due to the higher speed of light. This principle of refractometry is used in various industrial processes for measuring different characteristics of a fluid such as: 
  • Hydrocarbon content 
  • Salinity
  • Sugar concentration
  • Protein concentration

Application of Refractometry in Industries 

Refractometry is used in many different industries. Let’s look at the application of the technique of different industrial processes.

Food and Beverage Industry 

Industrial inline refractometersRefractometry is commonly used in the beverage and food industry for quality control purposes. The technique helps in determining the purity and consistency of processed foods such as vegetables, jams, coffee, and dairy products.

The three important parameters that are assessed by refractometers in food processing. They include sugar percentage, acidity, and gelling agent concentration. These parameters are assessed to ensure the right mix that results in maximum shelf life.

The device is used for the measurement of percentage by weight of sugar in fruit juice. The measurement is also known as Brix. Accurate Brix measurement is critical for quality and cost control. The measurement can be carried out by assessing the density and refractive index. Both the parameters provide valuable insight into the content of the fruit. 

Chemical Industry 

Refractometry is also used for assessing the concentration of a range of chemicals in industries other than food and beverage. Sensors on refractometers installed on large tank, pipes, and reactor can determine the concentration of dissolved solids by optical measurement of the refractive index. The measurement is not influenced by bubbles, particles, temperature changes, or color of the liquid. 

Oil Refineries

Oil refineries also rely on refractometers to determine the quality of the oil. Refractive index is used to know the identity of the oil immediately. This method helps in quickly checking the oil that is transferred to the storage facility. 

Fertilizer Industry

Fertilizer industry also uses refractometry for assessing the quality of fertilizer solution. Density and refractive index are analyzed to find out the nitrogen concentration in the fertilizer. The method can help in assessing the quality of fertilizers easily, safely,  and cost-effectively as compared to the manual method. 

Pulp and Paper
Industrial inline refractometers

Pulp and paper mills use industrial refractometers for green liquor and black liquor processing. Green liquor and black liquor are both part of the Kraft Process whereby wood chips are broken down into their chemical constituents and wood pulp.

Other Users of Refractometry 

Refractometry is used in many other industries such as the perfume industry, coolants, lubricants industry, and the milk industry. The process helps in determining the quality and concentration of fluids in different industries. 

Contact Alliance Technical Sales with any questions about the application of process refractometers. They can be reached by phone at 630-321-9646 or by visiting https://alliancets.com.

Old Pharmaceutical Reactor Brought Back to Life with New Control System

A bioprocess control system update helped a leading manufacturer of USDA-licensed biologicals improve batch consistency. The pharmaceutical manufacturer had an 800 liter, 30+ year-old stainless steel, steam-in-place (SIP) reactor that was mechanically sound but in desperate need of a new controller. They needed to replace the production capability and required flexible controls for the varying products their customers produced. Of foremost concern was the cost to replace the idle system. ILS Automation came to their rescue.


Alliance Technical Sales
630-321-9646
https://alliancets.com

Alliance Technical Sales Products


By combining world-class products, application expertise, and unsurpassed customer service, Alliance Technical Sales enables its clients to increase manufacturing efficiency, reduce production costs, and improve product quality and value. Each of the manufacturers we represent has extensive experience solving critical service applications with the products they manufacture.

Alliance Technical Sales, Inc.
https://alliancets.com
630-321-9646

Hazardous-area Approved Silicone Rubber Heating Blankets For Electrical Surface Heating in Hazardous Locations

Hazardous-area approved silicone rubber heating blankets for electrical surface heating in hazardous locations are available from BriskHeat. They provide a low profile heater design and are ideal for heating surfaces like tanks, hoppers, conveyors, silos, etc.

Silicone rubber heaters provide exceptional durability and longevity, plus moisture, chemical and radiation resistant. They are composed of heavy duty, extra thick silicone rubber which provides exceptional durability and longevity. Available with industrial strength pressure sensitive adhesive backing for easy installation and a patented grounded heating element for your safety meets NEC 427.23.

The resistance heating element is laminated between 4 layers of heavy duty fiberglass reinforced silicone rubber; two layers of 23mil and two layers of 25mil fiberglass reinforced silicone rubber. Optional built-in high-limit thermostats designed to keep blanket below NEC article 500 T-Rating are available.


METTLER TOLEDO's GPro 500 Series Tunable Diode Laser Gas Sensor

The use of Tunable Diode Laser (TDL) gas sensors is becoming more and more common in industrial processes. This is because they measure directly in the process gas stream without drift or cross-interference and are far more economical to purchase, install and maintain than other gas analyzer types. TDLs use a measurement technology called absorption spectroscopy: they output a beam of laser light at the same frequency that the gas to be measured absorbs light. The TDL analyzes the light after it has passed through the gas stream and calculates the quantity of the target gas in the stream.

Most TDLs are comprised of two parts: the laser source unit and a receiving/analyzing unit. These parts must be installed directly opposite each other, which is not always easy and misaligned can often occur. METTLER TOLEDO's GPro 500 Series solves this by combining both parts in a single unit. A probe attached to the GPro 500 sensor protrudes into the gas stream. A three-sided mirror at the end of the probe directs the beam back through the probe to the receiver, so alignment is always perfect.

The series is available with a wide range of different probes and adaptions that allow the GPro 500 to be placed wherever required in a process. These include: 
  • a probe with a filter to prevent dust ingress
  • a wafer probe for narrow (2") pipes
  • an extractive cell for use with sampling and conditioning systems
  • a White cell for trace level detection
Using a modular design, the GPro 500 tunable diode laser gas analyzer allows you to select the process adaption that fits your application, and match it with the parameter that you need to measure. We offer sensors that measure  a variety of gases including Carbon Dioxide (CO₂), Carbon Monoxide (CO), Hydrogen Chloride (HCl), Hydrogen Sulfide (H₂S), Moisture, Ammonia (NH₃), Methane (CH₄) and Oxygen (O₂). 

The GPro 500 does not require maintenance-prone extractive and conditioning systems. This means that you receive consistent performance from your tunable diode laser gas analyzer without the downtime and cost associated with these traditional systems. You achieve reliable uptime, critical in safety applications, at a reduced cost of ownership.

For more information on METTLER TOLEDO Gas Analysis, contact Alliance Technical Sales.
630-321-9646