Emerson Drives Ahead on CHARMS and Wireless Innovations

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Wireless Gas Detection

In listing some of the recently introduced Emerson wireless products, Hesketh included a Thum adaptor integrated with “a hydrogen sulphide (sulfide) detection system from Net Safety”, which triggered my interest, following the Honeywell activity in this area. Maybe there had been similar interest triggered in Emerson, because Net Safety Monitoring, the gas and flame detector company . specialising in the oil and gas industry . was acquired by Emerson back in July this year. The side panel has the full story, such as it is, but note that Net Safety are also based in Calgary, Canada. Steam trap monitoring The second innovation described by Hesketh was a Rosemount wireless acoustic transmitter, typically used to monitor and analyse the sound emitted by a high pressure gas, such as steam, when escaping from a faulty steam trap or pressure relief valve. The transmitter is a listening device, which is strapped to the pipework close to the potential escape point, which of course could be a steam trap, valve or seal that needs monitoring.

The immediate question is where did this new product come from, and why? Maybe this is from customer pull, with users asking for a wireless sensor to monitor steam traps, because energy costs and waste from losses has become a significant problem for customers recently. It is also a major opportunity for Emerson to further expand their wireless portfolio, ahead of other people. But where did the Rosemount steam noise analysis expertise come from? Surely the closest you would expect Emerson to get to steam control hardware is with Fisher valves, if we ignore Rosemount vortex and Annubar flowmeters?

Security Technology From Armstrong

The answer was provided by sub-titles on the Rosemount software, and the examples of steam traps, all on display in the press event, which came from Armstrong International, a major Michigan, USA based family run and fiercely independent company, which has been providing energy management solutions for industry for the past 110 years. Armstrong in fact launched their own SteamEye WirelessHART based steam trap leakage monitoring sensors and systems nearly five years ago. Emerson has benefited from a significant input of Armstrong expertise in designing this Rosemount 708 Wireless Acoustic Transmitter (that seems to be the product name being used, not the Rosemount WAT), and as the press release says, the product is “Backed by Emerson’s proven experience in Smart Wireless field instrumentation”.

The Rosemount 708 press release also mentions that about 20% of the steam leaving a boiler is typically lost through faulty steam traps. In refineries, and other process plants, this is a major on-going problem, and these represent the target for Emerson’s new 'Smart Energy Initiative', offering efficiency services for steam systems across industry. More of this will be reported next month.

• As an aside, in the UK there is a well established commercial boilerhouse servicing operation dealing with the maintenance of steam boiler level controls, relief valves and other steam equipment, which provides the regular 3-monthly servicing required for industry to conform with UK Health and Safety Guideline PM5. This is the Mobrey On-Site Boilerhouse Service, operated by Mobrey since 1923. It was 37 years ago that your editor joined Mobrey and spent two weeks learning about steam boiler control, climbing over steam pipes alongside one of these service engineers! Mobrey is now a business within......Emerson Process Management!

Also visit Nick Denbows website and blogonwww.iainsider.co.uk! Industrial Automation INSIDER is published 12 times each year and is available only on subscription as an Adobe Acrobat PDF file, delivered by e-mail, at a rate of £270 per annum. To subscribe send an email to subscriptions@iainsider.co.uk stating the email address to which you would like your issues to be despatched and the name and postal address of the organisation to which the invoice should be addressed.

* Nick Denbow is the editor of Indsutry Automation Insider

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