Time is a True Measurement of Success.
Yokogawa
"We haven't had to calibrate or re-zero any of the new Yokogawa transmitters. We check the zero and span calibration with our calibrator and every single transmitter is within spec, the process of calibration stops when the transmitter is within spec and we can move on to the next."
Natural gas is arguably the most important deliverable utility in certain regions of the country. Rain, snow, polar vortex, or sunshine, natural gas is necessary to heat our homes, cook our food, and keep our businesses operating. There is little tolerance for operational mishaps or down service.
A local Midwest gas company operates gas storage, gas transmission, and tap stations across the Chicago land area with hundreds of pressure measurement points all throughout the process. Pressure measurement is critical for monitoring and controlling various processes from extraction to customer delivery. With so many critical pressure measurement points to maintain and calibrate, these I&E technicians are extremely busy performing regular zero and span adjustments and calibrations 2-3 times a year on hundreds of transmitters while also maintaining other critical process equipment. Experience and history has shown this company that the pressure transmitters they were using tended to drift with changing climates and/or over pressure events normal for gas transmission throughout the seasons. For example, transmitters that were calibrated and zero adjusted in January needed to be re-adjusted in May when the weather got a little warmer and then again in November when the weather got colder. Also, whenever a normal over pressure event occurred, they would deploy an instrument technician to re zero and calibrate the transmitter. All of this activity to maintain proper pressure measurements coupled with other routine equipment maintenance was perceived as normal operating procedures and had been the way of life for almost 25 years. When approached with active digital sensor pressure transmitter technology available exclusively from Yokogawa, the promise of drift free operation in all real-world conditions offered a solution to a problem they didn't even know they had. Some test units were installed in various applications throughout their operations and a close eye was kept on performance for 1 year through all 4 seasons. The active digital sensor technology performed extremely well without any change in zero or span stability through a frigid winter and scorching summer transition. Hundreds of transmitters were installed throughout the region to take advantage of this technology in operations.
Soon after installing hundreds of transmitters, this local Midwest gas company noticed that their I&E technicians were spending 75% LESS time on their instrument calibration routes! One technician reported; "We haven't had to calibrate or re-zero any of the new Yokogawa transmitters. We check the zero and span calibration with our calibrator and every single transmitter is within spec, the process of calibration stops when the transmitter is within spec and we can move on to the next." This tremendous saving of time not only helped the technicians complete their transmitter checks quicker but also allowed larger time-consuming projects to be completed within or ahead of schedule as the time historically spent on calibrations could be spent achieving operations upgrades and optimization. 8 years later, the same active digital pressure transmitters installed all throughout the area are still in service and still have never needed any zero or span adjustment.
Overall, the entire operational procedure for this company had changed and become more efficient, profitable, and safer, all because they fixed a problem they didn't know they had.
Want to know why? Check out the video on the DPharp sensor technology below, another Yokogawa innovation.
If you to take advantage of this technology in your operations, contact your local AI representative to discuss how we can help.