Chemical Engineering March 2016 - 86

Instrumentation and Control 2016 Special Advertising Section
In-process viscosity measurement and control
Affordable costs and increased reliability makes online viscosity measurement a good
option for many routine quality control tasks, says Brookfield AMETEK
uality control (QC)
labs generally run
single-point viscosity
measurements for
simple pass/fail tests
on fluids and soft solids,
notes Brookfield
Q
AMETEK. The rotational
viscometer is
the instrument of choice for
quick and efficient measurements.
Today's instruments
offer automated
testing and data
transmission
to a PC or central
database.
Laboratory
viscometers like
this Brookfield
DV3T are the
usual solution
Purchase price is
usually under $5,000.
Grab samples of the
product are taken from
the production floor and
brought to the QC lab
for evaluation. Turnaround time can range
from minutes to hours, depending on the
backlog in the lab. Samples that fail established
control limits for acceptable viscosity
are cause for concern and require immediate
attention. Possible actions include re-testing
the same sample, grabbing a new
sample and repeating the test, or in the
worst case stopping production until the
problem is rectified.
Online viscosity measurement is an alternative
approach that has been available
for many years, but not widely practiced by
manufacturers. Concerns range from the initial
expense of purchasing and installing the
instrument to ongoing maintenance requirements.
Improvements in instrument design,
however, have yielded process viscometers
with no moving parts, thereby eliminating
one major concern. Purchase prices below
$5,000 for a sensor and controller mark another
breakthrough that gives manufacturers
reason to revisit this choice. The reliable
performance offered by the new generation
of process viscosity sensors is giving manufacturers
confidence in this approach.
Corporate justification for a process
viscometer depends
on evaluating the
inefficiencies related
to the sampling
practice currently
in use. If lost
material
and production
-downtime
could be
improved by measuring
viscosity
online, then the process
viscometer is
worth considering.
If process adjustments
can be made
automatically by
linking a controller
to the process viscometer, then there is no
question that the investment will pay back
within the first year of operation, often within
a few months.
www.brookfieldengineering.com
Online viscometers
like this Brookfield
AST-100 can quickly
pay for themselves
Measuring and imaging reformer tube temperatures
The latest thermal imager from AMETEK Land is designed for continuous skin temperature
measurement of reformer and ethylene cracker tubes, and furnace optimization
METEK Land has launched the Near
Infrared Borescope (NIR-b) 3XR for reformer
and ethylene cracker tube continuous
temperature measurement and furnace
optimization and monitoring. ATEX and
IECEX approved to Ex nA IIC T4 Gc for use in
Zone 2 hazardous atmospheres, the NIR-b
3XR provides a high-resolution thermal
image with real-time high-accuracy temperature
measurements of both the tube skin
and the refractory surface.
Building on AMETEK Land's long history
with the Cyclops portable pyrometer
in the syngas industry, the NIR-b 3XR thermal
imager has been designed to improve
accuracy through automation and reduce
personnel risk at the same time. It uses the
shortest wavelength possible to minimize
errors associated with varying emissivity,
http://www.brookfieldengineering.com http://www.landinst.com http://www.Chemengonline.Com
Chemical Engineering March 2016

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