Time to replace your analyzers?
Replacing old process analyzers could save you money — or keep you within the law

Are your process analyzers still up-to-date? Economics, new safety regulations and the onward march of technology are making many systems obsolete. In particular, new safety regulations for analyzers operating in hazardous areas will soon make it costly to maintain systems installed before July 2003.

In many process industry plants — including the oil and gas sector, refineries, petrochemicals, chemicals and pharmaceuticals — process analyzers and analyzer systems have been used for many years to monitor plant safety and product quality, and to optimize processes. Many of these systems operate in harsh environments and hazardous areas, and many of them are more than 15 years old. Do these systems still meet today’s requirements for effective process control and optimization?
Over the years, most processes have been optimized, specifications have tightened and product quality has improved. Hand-in-hand with this increasing sophistication have come more stringent specifications for the performance of analyzer systems, to the point where some of the equipment still in use is no longer capable of fulfilling these requirements.
At the same time, analytical technology itself has been advancing continuously. Higher-performance analyzers are now available characterized by sturdier design, improved reliability and reduced maintenance needs. New measuring methods such as NIR spectroscopy have found their way from research and development, via laboratory applications, to the world of on-line process measurements, where they have demonstrated their advantages.
For both operational and economic reasons, therefore, it’s a good idea to conduct a periodic audit of analyzers. Points to consider are:
-Analyzer age and availability of spare parts.
-Process-related measuring requirements placed upon the analyzer.
-Analyzer availability and the costs of operation and maintenance.

Staying safe in hazardous areas
One important reason for considering an analyzer upgrade is a legal one, whose full consequences are not yet clear to every analyzer user.
On October 2, 2002, Section 2 (Regulations for Work Equipment) of the European Occupational Safety Regulations came into force. On January 1, 2003, this was followed by Section 3 (Special Regulations for Systems Needing Monitoring). Both of these documents affect explosion protection.
The Occupational Safety Regulations stipulate that a hazard assessment and an explosion protection document must be available for all plants that use process monitoring systems and that start operation after July 1, 2003. Operators must also ensure that all “new” devices, components and protective systems are in conformance with the 94/9/EC directive. This part of the requirements usually does not cause any problems, since in most cases the requirements of the Occupational Safety Regulations have already been considered at the plant’s planning, construction and commissioning stages.
However, the Occupational Safety Regulations also stipulate that all plants which started operating before July 1, 2003 must also have hazard assessment and explosion protection documents by December 31, 2005. For the first time, the Regulations also require regular verification of equipment safety, including “old” systems.
The Regulations do not require non-CE-conforming devices in categories 1, 2 or 3 to be replaced by CE-conforming devices. Such devices must, however, be verified by a qualified person to see that they meet the basic requirements of the Regulations. These verifications must be documented and repeated every three years, or more frequently. Any modifications or replacements must be done by an authorized person in accordance with the Regulations. The documentation relating to inspections must be kept with the system’s explosion protection documentation. For analyzer systems, non-electrical ignition sources or equipment must also be considered. This applies, for example, where pressure booster pumps are used for sample conditioning.
The implementation experts can help
In many cases, companies will find it useful to hire external experts to implement the requirements of the Occupational Safety Regulations.
One such source of expertise is Bartec Benke GmbH, based in Reinbek, Hamburg/Germany. The company is young — it was founded after the takeover of Benke by the Bartec group in March 2003 — but its staff combine many decades of experience in safety technology and explosion protection with a profound knowledge of process analyzers and analyzer systems, including the installation and maintenance of such systems. This know-how allows Bartec Benke to audit analyzer systems in terms of both performance and economics, and if necessary to carry out the detailed checks required by the Occupational Safety Regulations.
First, experts from Bartec Benke check each analyzer system for its operational and economic performance. If necessary, they can then prepare a manufacturer-neutral proposal, including basic engineering and budget planning, for replacing all or part of the analyzer system with a new one. At the same time, the experts check whether any analyzers or individual components must be replaced to meet the hazardous-area requirements. If the customer decides on renewal, Bartec Benke can also carry out the necessary procurement, system building, installation and commissioning.
If the analyzer does not need to be renewed, the experts develop a plan for any retrofitting and inspection needed to satisfy the occupational safety regulations and the 94/9/EC directive. In this case the explosion protection documentation for the analyzer in question will be prepared and, if necessary, help with the documentation for the complete plant is provided.