Level Measurement Solutions for Makeup Water Treatment
Makeup water treatment is a critical component of steam generation. It is the means to resupply the system with water suitable for boiler and other operations that, for whatever reason, was lost in the cycle.
Unlike the previous applications discussed in the Magnetrol® blog series on the steam generation cycle, level control for the water treatment process is not necessarily about efficiency, but rather, accuracy, reliability and safety, while providing proper inventory management to ensure chemical and makeup water supply meets demand.
In this post, the focus is on the chemical component of the makeup water treatment since it presents difficulties for level technologies that may work perfectly on non-chemical applications related to the water treatment process or those with limited variations in the contents of the vessel’s vapor space. Although important measurements such as ammonia, acid, caustic and other chemical storage tanks are not difficult level applications by any stretch, small nuances in how the vessels are monitored relative to level technology can have a dramatic effect on the day-to-day practicality and reliability of the type of instrument(s) used.
此外，在補充化學品以及短期和長期維護成本時，存在安全注意事項，這可以通過對儀表包的一些簡單，經濟有效的修改實現庫存監測同時解決。
Level Measurement Challenges and Considerations
化學儲存，脫礦質化和水頭罐中的各種形狀和尺寸，通常是橫向/高度六至10英尺的橫向/高度，氨儲存和脫礦物罐是最大的。看到某種類型的變送器（超聲波是最普遍的）並不罕見，安裝在罐底座上的局部顯示器，串聯顯示到控製室的控製室，其中包含4-20 mA發射器輸出或從控製室重複。控製室的信號跟蹤庫存，充當溢出保護的高報警，並建立再補給間隔。本地顯示有助於監控供應商的卡車的化學物質的卸載。
Accuracy, reliability and visibility in dynamic vessel environments and operational scenarios are a level technology’s best attributes when addressing chemical storage applications. Cost is always an upfront consideration on these seemingly less complicated measurements. Nonetheless, performance in these two areas can have a measurable impact on the “real” cost of ownership for a plant.
Level Measurement Solutions
Any number of level technologies can and have been used to address chemical storage. Adhering to the principles of minimizing the number of variables (e.g., vulnerability to process dynamics, calibration, hardware complexity, etc.) that can affect a technology’s ability to perform as intended is a key step in reducing the total cost of ownership.
Guided wave (contact) radar, as well as its through-air (non-contact) radar counterpart, excels in these areas. Magnetic level indicators (MLI) operating in conjunction with either type of radar technology or coupled with a magnetostrictive level transmitter offer redundancy and technology diversity while enhancing visibility for improved safety during resupply operations. There is also the added benefit of redundancy when verifying the primary transmitter’s performance during periodic inspections on scheduled outages or while troubleshooting.
這並不意味著非接觸式超聲波液位變送器或其他技術不受任務。簡而言之，雷達對整個當前血管的蒸氣空間內容的變化漠不關心。通常，這些變化影響了一種技術，導致可以稱為滋擾警報，例如間歇信號丟失或僅當級別的指示變得不穩定時，隻能恢複技術人員到達場景時的時間。由於它們間歇性的性質，這些類型的問題難以隔離，並且它們不能與安裝，配置或硬件異常鏈接的事實。
Accuracy, reliability and visibility in dynamic vessel environments and operational scenarios are a level technology’s best attributes when addressing chemical storage applications. MAGNETROL’s guided wave radar transmitter, the Eclipse® Model 706, excels at providing accurate readings even in vapor-heavy and high-temperature settings.
As simple as some of these level applications appear, there is no shortage of instances where they contribute disproportionately to the commissioning and maintenance budgets simply because they cannot accommodate the full breadth of the application dynamics.
選擇以技術為中心的與單尺寸合適的方式 - 整個水處理過程中的所有應用方法都減少了短期和長期所有權成本。This allows for the implementation and realization of the cost benefit of entry-level technologies for less strenuous applications, while minimizing cost on those with variations in the vapor space (e.g., steam, chemical composition, excessive condensation, etc.), all of which can wreck havoc on an instrument’s performance as well as a plant’s maintenance budget.
More Information
For more information on level measurement solutions for makeup water treatment and other steam generation applications,download the steam generation landing page.
