Wireless Monitoring System detects gas leaks at source.
Share:
Press Release Summary:
Wireless System consists of fully integrated sensors and battery-operated field transceiver; base radio transceiver, capable of communicating with up to 250 field units/sec and offering several output options including RS 485, Modbus, 4-20 mA, or both digital and analog; and data management and exception reporting. System provides range of 3,000 ft and is certified by FCC for license-free use in ISM frequency. Components are individually calibrated between -40 and +185°F.
Original Press Release:
Wireless Monitoring of Gas Leaks, Right at the Source
No wires. No permits. No licenses. A turnkey, leak monitoring and identifying package for refineries is announced by Accutech, a division of Adaptive Instruments, LLC.
Hudson, MA - June 2, 2003 - Described by company executives as completely wire-free - a standalone technology requiring absolutely no wires - the new system is designed to provide a cost-effective solution to the challenge of continuously monitoring process variables in remote, hard-to-access, or hazardous locations. The Accutech self-powered package pinpoints internal process gas leaks of devices that are supposed to be closed; it also reports "everything is OK" status, as well as any communications errors, 24/7. According to Adaptive Instruments CEO, Angelo Firenze, "Wireless is a proven enabling technology, and it's only natural that wireless communications has made its way to the refinery and petrochemical industries, where it can save significant amounts of money while improving safety and increasing productivity."
Pointing at the high cost of process gas, the environmental impact of gas leaks, and the expensive price tag of unscheduled or unnecessary downtime, Firenze remarks that the wireless system developed by Accutech can identify process leaks that are not detectable by any other technique - and it identifies them right at the source.
Accutech executives quote a three-year study at a major European refinery, where relief valve monitors were used to save 11,000,000 pounds of process gas per year - a $1,100,000 per year benefit, on a one-time $38,000 leak-detector investment.
The main differences between the Accutech wireless method and other wireless systems are summarized by Accutech General Manager, Wallace Lueders - "First of all, this is a complete package, everything you need, ready to go with minimal installation effort. The field units bolt on to installed valves using simple brackets." In addition, Lueders emphasizes that the Accutech system requires no wires; no permits, and no licenses.
With a range of up to 3,000 feet, the system consists of fully-integrated sensors and battery-operated field transceivers with a five-year battery; a base radio transceiver, capable of communicating with up to 250 field units per second and offering several output options including RS 485, Modbus, 4-2OmA, or both digital and analog; software for data management and exception reporting; and full integration to legacy systems. "It's a non-intrusive solution, very versatile, and extremely cost-effective," explains Lueders; and he continues, "The use of transceivers provides added reliability, as every message from the field is both acknowledged and validated by the base radio." Lueders emphasizes that transceivers also add efficiency and ease of use to the Accutech wireless monitoring package, since they make it possible for the field unit to be remotely re-configured. "A transceiver allows you to receive and to send communications, and our system takes full advantage of this feature - we really put transceivers to work!"
Accutech qualifies their wireless technology as robust, designed to withstand harsh, even hazardous industrial environments. The components are individually calibrated between -40° and +185°F, all instruments are certified by the FCC for license-free use in the ISM frequency, and FHSS (frequency hopping spread spectrum) is employed for added reliability. "It has an easy interface to the existing infrastructure," comments Lueders, "so trials are convenient." Emphasizing that their system is designed to monitor internal process leakage through devices that are supposed to be closed such as pressure relief and shut-off valves, Lueders states that the Accutech wireless technology provides advantages that are not available through other methods - "It monitors leakage right at the source, and it measures the duration of the over-pressure events, as well."
A supplier of embedded microprocessor-based electronics for private label companies and Original Equipment Manufacturers, (OEMs) in the telecommunication, electronics, plastics and process industries, Adaptive Instruments LLC, is one of the most successful independent producers of "Smart Transmitters" in the world. Accutech is the end-user division of Adaptive Instruments, providing reliable, cost-effective pressure and temperature instrumentation to petrochemical plants and refineries around the world.
Accutech can be found online at savewithaccutech.com.
