Article written by Marianne Williams, Jim Cahill on 13/12/2021 – Read the Original Article
Advanced functionality in the latest level measurement devices enables them to meet the demands of even the most challenging chemical industry applications. Increasing level measurement accuracy and reliability helps to enhance plant and worker safety while maximizing production efficiency, helping organizations to make substantial cost savings.
Chemical processing plants tend to be harsh environments that place arduous demands on level measurement instrumentation. Production processes can involve materials that are toxic, corrosive, flammable or explosive, usually with extreme temperature and pressure ranges, and challenging media characteristics that can affect measurement accuracy and reliability. To support process engineers, Emerson has produced a comprehensive white paper entitled ‘Smarter, safer chemical operations: How advanced level measurement devices solve chemical production challenges’, that focuses on a number of typical chemical industry applications and explains how Rosemount™ advanced level measurement devices provide the ideal solution.
Level measurement applications in chemical process plants can present a broad array of challenges, which can be met by a number of different technologies. These include electronic devices such as guided wave radar (GWR) transmitters, non-contacting radar (NCR) transmitters and vibrating fork switches, which offer increased diagnostics and reliability, plus lower lifecycle costs.
A Rosemount 5408 Level Transmitter installed on a reactor at the Perstorp Specialty Chemicals plant in Sweden
Reactors and mixer vessels
The paper outlines the level measurement challenges faced in reactors and mixer vessels, and explains how Rosemount 5408 NCR Level Transmitters are providing a successful solution at the Perstorp Specialty Chemicals plant in Sweden. The plant’s reactors and mixer vessels contain central shaft agitators, running at 30-80 revolutions per minute, at multiple levels. This makes the process material surface extremely turbulent and therefore difficult to accurately measure. Some of the vessels also contain a thick layer of dense foam and can be prone to condensation.
The white paper states: “The high sensitivity and unique software features of the Rosemount 5408 enable it to handle the foamy environment, while advanced signal processing allows the device to accurately measure the process material surface despite the extreme turbulence within the tanks. In addition, the device’s process seal antenna is a good solution for dealing with the heavy condensation that can be present in the tanks.”
The company now has accurate and reliable continuous level measurement in these vessels, despite the challenging process conditions. This has resulted in fewer lost batches and reduced downtime, maintenance requirements and costs…
