Coker Valve Monitoring in a Refinery

CLEVELAND - Feb. 15, 2022 - PRLog -- Measurement & Control Solution for a Manufacturer

CAS DataLoggers and Delphin Technology provided the measurement system for a large manufacturer of valve systems used in many different industries. The company produces ball, needle, choke, control, gate, and other types of valve systems with many different diameters. One of its customers was a refinery using a custom 3-way switching valve in order to direct the flow of tar sand into different coking towers. However, the operation of the valve was not always reliable, and when it failed it resulted in costly shutdowns in the refining process.

Installation

The manufacturer installed a Delphin Expert Transient Data Acquisition & Control System close to the valve control unit in order to capture all data describing the valve's operation and movement. The Expert Transient features 8 fast (up to 50 kHz) synchronous sampled analog inputs. The DAQ system was placed into an explosion-proof enclosure in the hazardous zone; its compact design allowed it to fit neatly into the small space inside the enclosure. Real-time communication to the control room was enabled by a wireless spread spectrum radio link connected to the Ethernet port of the system.

The ProfiMessage system measured the 3-phase motor current and voltage plus the force required to open or close the values. The installed sensors included:

1. One strain gauge with signal conditioner for torque measurement
2. One motor voltage transducer
3. Three motor current transducers
4. Two control circuit voltage transducers

Usage for Coker Valve Monitoring

The Delphin Expert Transient provided a modular and scalable system capable of highly accurate measurements with up to 24-bit resolution. The system measured all the data from each valve cycle, only recording data when while the valve was in operation. At the end of the valve movement, an event triggered automatically to upload data from the system to a PC in the central control room via the wireless Ethernet link for analysis.

Benefits

The manufacturer benefited in several key ways after installing the Delphin Expert Transient system in its customer's refinery. The system was highly accurate and reliable, with the programmability to allow it to record only relevant data. The high-speed, synchronous measurements made it easy to capture the specific data of coker valve monitoring, which would indicate a pending failure. The net result was that the customer was easily able to continually monitor the valve to check its performance and schedule maintenance before its operation could fail, preventing unscheduled interruptions in processing.

For more information on Delphin data acquisition system, or to find the ideal solution for your application-specific needs, contact a CAS Data Logger Applications Specialist at (800) 956-4437 or visit us at https://www.dataloggerinc.com.