Remote sensing technology delivers process properties in hazardous areas in real time and in agreement with laboratory results. Remote process analytics (RPA) provides a solution for safe and accurate measurement of physical properties in Ex-Zone areas by using a NIR process analyser based system. The concept of this technology allows the analyser to be connected by standard telecommunications fibre optics to a multiple set of different field units. These field units are installed at a distance of up to 3 km from the analyser, close to the process. The measuring probes are EX-Safe, free of electricity, without moving parts, and without any material able to generate static electricity.
Modcon is pleased to announce its most recent article “Remote sensing for process optimisation” published in the PTQ Q2 2016 issue of “Petroleum Technology Quarterly”, which gives an overview of an advanced technology to achieve this goal.
Good remote sensing for process optimisation starts with reliable process information and a clear understanding of how that information will be used. In continuous industries, laboratory data remains important, but it represents a sample taken at a particular moment. Online analysers add a different capability: they show how the process is changing between laboratory samples and provide the frequency of information needed for control, optimisation and early detection of abnormal conditions.
In process analysis, the analyser specification is only part of the job. Reliable results also depend on how the measurement is installed and operated. That means checking sample representativeness, pressure and temperature, phase behaviour, stream composition, response time, hazardous-area requirements, calibration method and integration with the plant DCS or control system. Even a good analyser can give misleading results when the sample arrives late, changes phase or is conditioned in a way that alters the property being measured.
Our engineering work brings together online process measurement, automation, process safety and industrial optimisation around the actual process objective. The right arrangement may use direct in-situ measurement, an engineered sample conditioning system, optical or thermal-conductivity sensing, NIR analysis, or integration of several measurements into a wider optimisation strategy. Live analyser data can also improve the quality of information available to APC, digital twins and industrial AI by giving these systems current composition and quality data instead of relying only on inferred values.
For remote sensing for process optimisation, the final configuration should be checked against the project datasheet and the full operating envelope. The aim is straightforward: a measurement that works under real plant conditions, can be maintained without drama and gives operators information they can use.
Optimization is an important part of the application context considered when selecting and integrating the measurement solution.
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