Problems and Solutions

PROBLEM: The safe and cost effective inerting/blanketing of manufacturing processes containing potentially explosive mixtures uses large quantities of an inert gas, typically nitrogen, and requires accurate, reliable and above all, fast measurement of the residual oxygen to ensure that it is always low enough to prevent catastrophic explosions.
SOLUTION: The <%=company%> paramagnetic transducer, as used in the Xendos 1900 hazardous area oxygen analyzer, easily fulfills these requirements providing excellent accuracy with long intervals between calibrations. Temperature compensation and cell heating deliver an extremely stable reading, complementing the fast speed of response inherent in the transducer design.

Thermal Crackers & Process Heaters —Process Efficiency

PROBLEM: Thermal crackers and process heaters used extensively in refineries and petrochemical plants are major consumers of fuel, making them prime candidates for optimization of the combustion process.
SOLUTION: Servomex flue gas analyzers continuously monitor combustion efficiency by taking fast and accurate measurement of oxygen and trace combustibles in the very hot and dirty combustion gases. The 2700 analyzer, available for standard or hazardous area installation, uses the unique Servomex zirconia transducer in an extractive sensing head with a low flow requirement. This allows continuous optimization of the air-to-fuel ratio. This results in major fuel/operating expense savings.

Ethylene Production—Process Efficiency

PROBLEM: The optimization and control of the ethylene production process requires fast, extremely sensitive and very selective measurements of carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide in difficult backgrounds comprising various hydrocarbon mixtures.
SOLUTION: Of all the technologies available, the Servomex gas filter correlation measurement technique excels in these circumstances. It is used in the Xendos 2510 infrared gas analyzer which has been proved over thousands of hours of on-line use, and provides sensitivity and selectivity for these measurements, together with much faster response than traditional Gas Chromatographs.

Air Separation—Product Quality

PROBLEM: To ensure a high quality product, the operator of an air separation plant needs reliable and accurate measurements of the purity of the oxygen and of the nitrogen produced, with fast response to any contaminant in the product streams.
SOLUTION: The Xentra 4100, designed to meet the specific needs of this demanding application, uses Servomex's paramagnetic and zirconia transducers to make the required measurements. The paramagnetic transducer, with its temperature control and pressure compensation features, is used to measure oxygen purity beyond 99.5%. The zirconia transducer measures trace oxygen in nitrogen product, even in the presence of low levels of combustibles. It gives fast and precise reading of this contaminant in nitrogen and other gas product streams down to parts per million levels.

PTA Production—Plant Safety & Process Efficiency

PROBLEM: Fast, precise measurements of oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide are essential to ensure economic and safe operation of plants manufacturing PTA (an essential feed stock used in the manufacture of PET). If too little oxygen is available the process efficiency and productivity will suffer. Too much oxygen and the reactor could explode.
SOLUTION: The world's major manufacturers of PTA use Servomex's 1100, Xendos 2500 and Xendos 2550 process gas analyzers to monitor oxygen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. These measurements are made in hazardous areas and in the presence of flammable and corrosive solvents in these processes. Servomex analyzers require minimal calibration and maintenance, ensuring that process uptime is maximized with a low cost of ownership.

PVC Manufacture—Plant Safety & Process Efficiency

PROBLEM: The manufacture of PVC involves many stages, all of which require the accurate analysis of either the feedstock or intermediates to maintain the efficiency of the plant and ensure that plant safety is never compromised.
SOLUTION: Moisture in EDC (a process intermediate) is extremely corrosive to the thermal crackers even at trace levels, so its level is monitored using special filters and a liquid sampling cell in a Xendos 2500 infrared analyzer. Oxygen is monitored in the oxychlorinator stage by the Servomex 1100 to prevent the risk of explosion by giving reliable fast and accurate measurements.