Chemical Engineering May 2022 - 43

sessing the health of a sensor. Advanced applications
can use this information to develop models and create
alerts when a calibration or maintenance intervention is
required.
For those instruments used in sterile applications, the
digital head can store the history of clean-in-place (CIP)
and sterilize-in-place (SIP) cycles. The frequency of these
cycles affects calibration optimization, as well as expected
life.
All these benefits are only available from digital pH sensors,
which store information in the digital head so that it
can be accessed by software applications or maintenance
technicians for improved maintenance and better accuracy.
Future
trends in pH sensors
There have been significant advances in the design and
construction of pH sensors since the original glass electrode
pH sensor was invented by Beckman. New junction
designs using high-quality ceramic or Teflon materials
offer much better and durable performance than former
designs and materials. Glass membranes have also improved.
They are optimized for different applications, with
each one having its own advantages and disadvantages.
The ion trap is the high point of design innovations for pH
sensors and has played a major role in increasing their life
span.
Current developments focus on the digitalization and
the use of information to improve predictive maintenance
and reduce the safety risk for personnel. For example,
equipment-health monitoring applications are becoming
more sophisticated and more accurate at predicting
problems before they affect the quality of results.
In the near future, pH sensors are likely to store even
more information about their use and their operating conditions.
Availability of this information in cloud-based applications
will enable higher-level monitoring and analysis
to improve their performance. These systems will enable
users to optimize their maintenance intervals, reduce their
costs and extend the life span of their sensor.
References
1. American Chemical Soc., Development of the Beckman pH Meter, www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/beckman.html
2.
Siwek, Nik, The Importance of pH Measurement, Water Technology, December 15,
2020,
www.watertechonline.com/industry/article/14185604/the-importance-of-phmeasurementprint
3.
Siwek, Nikodem, Select the Proper pH Sensor, Chem. Processing, October 26, 2021,
www.chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2021/select-the-proper-ph-sensor/
Author
Colin Ziegler is product manager for pH and ORP Sensors at
Endress+Hauser
Liquid
GmbH+Co. KG,
Analysis
(Endress+Hauser
Conducta
Dieselstrasse 24, 70839 Gerlingen, Germany;
Email: colin.ziegler@endress.com; Website: www.ehla.endress.
com). He started his career at Endress+Hauser as a service engineer,
where he was in charge of different areas. After moving into
product management, he was first responsible for the global portfolio
of conductivity sensors, later moving to pH and ORP, where he
now focuses mainly on the chemical, power and energy, oil-andgas,
mining, minerals and water/wastewater industries. He holds
a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.
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http://adlinks.chemengonline.com/82581-20 http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/beckman.html http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/education/whatischemistry/landmarks/beckman.html http://www.watertechonline.com/industry/article/14185604/the-importance-of-ph-measurementprint http://www.watertechonline.com/industry/article/14185604/the-importance-of-ph-measurementprint http://www.chemicalprocessing.com/articles/2021/select-the-proper-ph-sensor/ http://www.ehla.endress.com http://WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM

Chemical Engineering May 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Chemical Engineering May 2022