Expand the Capability of Your Process Instrumentation Calibrator
Instrumentation & Controls technicians are the unsung heroes of the industrial plant, charged with the daunting task of keeping the instrumentation that keeps everyone safe working and calibrated. It is a thankless, often overlooked, job. Calibration reports are critical to the team. Aside from ensuring quality data and measurements these reports help plants pass critical OSHA safety and insurance audits.
Courtesy: Beamex, Inc.
The surge in popularity of the 4-20 mA vibration transmitters- which allow plants to monitor the health of critical pumps, motors and compressors using existing process control PLC or DCS systems - presents a new challenge to the I&C team:
How are 4-20 mA vibration transmitters calibrated? Actually, is "calibration" even the right term? For I&C technicians there is good news and bad news...
Helpful Links from Around the Industry...Just for You!
A welder's insulation blanket nearly cost an American petrochemical company $630,000 in downtime, repairs and parts. Learn how they used vibration to detect the problem right away in Plant Services.
Rehana Begg in Canada's MRO Magazine provides an excellent case study on how an instrumented hammer was used to determine resonance of a centrifugal pump with frequent bearing failures. The article discusses how condition monitoring solutions like IMI Sensors' Bearing Fault Detector provide excellent protection. But when failures are chronic, a more advanced analysis is required.
ISO 9001 has a new revision and Beamex explores the changes in this white paper. For ISO 9001 companies, vibration sensors used in quality tests are required to be calibrated per the standard. Also, read about how the Beamex MC6 can be used to calibrate 4-20 mA vibration sensors by clicking on the article above.
Plant Services chronicles how the J.M. Smucker Company cut downtime by 70%, saving an estimated $63,000 by adding vibration monitoring and laser alignment.
Sound & vibration emissions criteria may be in the future for wind turbines in Europe. Read about the "TremAc Project" in Clean Technica.
Tip of the Quarter
Before purchasing or renting any portable shaker, ask the manufacturer for the shaker's payload information. As mentioned in our feature article, 4-20 mA sensors should be driven to alarm state during field testing. This practical test is the most safety-critical element and some 4-20 mA sensors - especially those that are approved for hazardous areas - weigh nearly 500 grams.
Max velocity vs. test speed and sensor weight for The Modal Shop's 9100D and 9110D shakers
Question of the Quarter
Truth be told, we do not know much about Safety Integrity Levels (SIL). Does testing the vibration instrumentation improve the SIL for a machine, system, or area? Email us and clue us in!
