SensAlarm FLEX All-in-1 Universal Fixed Point Gas Detection System

Turn-Key Solution for Wide Range of Critical Safety Applications

SensAlarm FLEX is a complete gas detection system in a single enclosure. The system includes built-in LED strobes, a horn, and a highly visible 7" color LCD screen. SensAlarm FLEX is built around an advanced Intelligent Sensor platform that includes non-volatile memory for all key application variables and sensor data. A non-intrusive user interface allows for operational customization as well as access to sensor life parameters, TWA alarms, calibration data, and other data with date and time recording.

SensAlarm Plus is the ideal gas monitoring solution for labs, gas cylinder storage, industrial work areas, control room protection, or other applications where users benefit from a packaged gas detection system that works with all SensAlert Plus sensors.

All Sensidyne Plus Series sensors are supported by the SensAlarm FLEX sensor interfaces. Remote mounting the sensor up to 100 feet away simplifies monitoring in high, low, or adjacent locations. When a sensor is plugged in, the automatic uploading of variables, alarm values, and sensor information greatly simplifies installation and maintenance. Transportable calibration enables sensor calibration at the point of installation or in a workshop, followed by sensor hot-swapping in the field.

For more information contact Ives Equipment.
610-768-1600
https://ivesequipment.com

An Advanced, Single Housing, All-In-One Gas Detection System

SensAlarm Plus is a complete, turn-key gas detection system preassembled in one housing. The system comes standard with strobe lights, horns, high-visibility four-digit LED display, and LCD display/interface. At the heart of the SensAlarm Plus is an advanced Intelligent Sensor platform with non-volatile memory for all critical application variables and sensor data. A non-intrusive user interface enables easy operator customization and a quick review of sensor life parameters, TWA (Time Weighted Average) alarms, calibration data, and other information with date and time recording.

The SensAlarm Plus sensor head is universal in that it accepts all Sensidyne Plus sensors. Monitoring in high, low, or adjacent locations is simplified by remote mounting the sensor head using a four-conductor cable. With a sensor connected, the automatic uploading of variables, alarm values, and sensor information dramatically simplifies installation and maintenance. Transportable calibration allows sensor calibration at the installation location or in a workshop, then hot-swapping the sensor in the field.

SensAlarm Plus is the ideal gas monitoring solution for many applications. Most laboratories, gas cylinder storage facilities, industrial work areas where gases are present, control room protection or other applications where users benefit from a packaged gas detection system are common areas that need SensAlarm Plus.

DOWNLOAD THE SENSALARM PLUS DATA SHEET FROM THIS IVES EQUIPMENT WEB PAGE

For more information about Sensidyne Fixed Gas Detection products, contact Ives Equipment. Call them at 877-768-1600 or visit their website at https://ivesequipment.com.

White Paper: Predicting Cavitation Damage in Control Valves

Cavitation can occur in control valves handling fluids, causing loud noise as well as damaging valve components and ultimately leading to additional costs in process plants. A standardized procedure to evaluate the destructiveness of cavitation-induced still does not exist whereas noise emission can reliably be predicted with the international EN 60534-8-4 standard. This white paper, courtesy of Samson Controls, describes a method to solve this problem by evaluating structure-borne noise in the ultrasonic range.

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DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER HERE

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For more information on the application of control valves, contact Ives Equipment. Call (877) 768-1600 or visit https://ivesequipment.com.

New 2018 United Electric Controls Short Form Product Catalog

United Electric Controls is a premier manufacturer of safety, alarm, and shutdown equipment, and is a a global supplier of pressure and temperature switches, transmitters, sensors, and controls for the process, discrete, semiconductor, aerospace, and defense industries.

The UEC short form product catalog has been updated and can be downloaded here.

United Electric 2018 Short Form Product Catalog from Ives Equipment

Advanced Safety Integrity Universal Gas Transmitter

The Sensidyne SensAlert ASI provides enhanced protection and dependability for critical safety applications where personnel, processes, and facilities are at risk. The third-party certified SIL-2 SensAlert ASI offers dependability and versatility while remaining the easiest to install, commission, operate, and maintain.

SensAlert ASI is third-party certified to IEC61508 Level 2 (SIL-2) for both hardware and software with certification to global hazardous area and performance standards. The Test-on-Demand feature with on-board gas generator provides remote functionality checks with generated gas while Predictive Sensor End-of-Life Indication provides advanced warning of impending sensor failure.

For your convenience, we have posted the SensAlert ASI Users Manual below.

SensAlert ASI Advanced Safety Integrity Gas Transmitter from Ives Equipment

Instrumentation and Controls for the Grain Industry

Instruments and control for grain producers.

Abstracted with permission from the Siemens "For the Love of Grain" article.  View the complete document at  the bottom of this post or download it from Ives Equipment here.

A successful grain merchant during the 1840s is considering expansion in the coming years. Recent years have been fruitful, but there are rumors of a new invention on the market: a grain elevator. Claims are that this elevator is able to unload more than 1,000 bushels each hour! Compare this to current operations where workers carry sacks of grain on their backs from wagons to waiting ships. Our grain merchant has seen firsthand the hazards of this process – everything from suffocating and explosive grain dust to the daily stresses on workers’ bodies. Will this new technology be able to increase the merchant’s profits as well as make a safer working environment for employees?

Over a century and a half later, mechanized equipment is now an essential part of the grain industry, from planting and growing to harvesting, handling, and milling grain. Your challenges are still the same as those of nineteenth century grain operators, though – how can you improve processes and cut costs while also increasing safety?

Promoting a culture of safety

Working with grain has the potential to be deadly, especially when grain is in motion. Similar to ‘quicksand,’ moving grain can bury a worker in seconds. In 2010, U.S. grain operators reported that fifty-one workers had been trapped in grain, more than in any year since Purdue University began collecting data on grain entrapments in 1978. Sadly, almost half of these entrapments led to fatalities.

Increasing automation

To prevent deadly occurrences such as these, the grain industry is increasingly taking steps to reduce grain handling and storage hazards. Improving efficiency in grain facilities through automation is becoming a growing industry trend. A concern for safety is one driver behind automating operations, as a reduction in human interactions with grain decreases the occurrence of accidents.

Another reason for the push towards automation is that owners are constantly looking to increase production and reduce expenses while still producing a high quality product. A solution is to invest in automated processes in a facility. Many facilities have moved to complete automation of production, termed Totally Integrated Automation (TIA).

Refining inventory management 

Tracking inventory in grain silos is a significant component of a successful grain operation. Managing raw materials and finished products is essential for keeping processes efficient and optimizing inventory ordering and shipments. By knowing where materials are located, companies can use these resources more effectively, decreasing human intervention and increasing efficiency. As well, checking bin levels on a regular basis requires substantial labor costs. To make inventory track-ing faster and more streamlined, the industry is continually moving towards automated inventory management.

Read complete article below:

Instrumentation, Automation and Control Solutions for the Grain Industry from Ives Equipment

Examining the User Interface of the SensAlert ASI Gas Detector

The Sensidyne SensAlert ASI provides enhanced protection and dependability for critical safety applications where personnel, processes, and facilities are at risk. The third party certified SIL-2 SensAlert ASI offers dependability and versatility while remaining the easiest to install, commission, operate, and maintain.

The video below demonstrates the setting menu and the operator interface.

The product is third-party certified to IEC61508 Level 2 (SIL-2) for both hardware and software with certification to global hazardous area and performance standards. The Test-on-Demand feature with on-board gas generator provides remote functionality checks with generated gas while Predictive Sensor End-of-Life Indication provides advanced warning of impending sensor failure.

SensAlert ASI is a universal instrument platform for toxic & combustible gas detection and oxygen monitoring. Intrinsically safe or explosion proof installation configurations with options for remote sensors and gassing, duct mount, and sample-draw maximize application versatility. Intrinsically safe or explosion proof installation configurations for remote sensors and gassing, duct mount, and sample-draw maximize application versatility. The sensor head accepts all Plus Series sensor technologies – infrared, catalytic bead, and electro-chemical. Assignable and configurable relays together with communication options provide broad flexibility. The SensAlert ASI I.S. sensor head can be remote mounted up to 100 feet (30m) from the transmitter providing a useful option to position the transmitter in a personnel-accessible location while positioning the sensor closer to potential hazards.

Pressure and Temperature Transmitters/Switches - Safety Right Out of the Box

UEC Safety Transmitter

Many process safety experts are looking for sustainable ways to help their personnel improve their safety critical loops, do it in the most cost-effective way possible, and with a minimum of complexity. The problem is the traditional approaches to deploying a full blown safety system are expensive and very complex, and still may not deliver the needed risk reduction for some safety critical systems and loops.

In the sensor subsystem for example, United Electric’s certified safety transmitter for pressure or temperature has opened up a new, less costly, less complex path for designers, I&C engineers, and maintenance personnel. It has something very unique. In addition to a 4-20 mA output, is has an embedded programmable high-capacity relay which exida has certified as a safety variable output. Now you have a device that provides designers the option of a hard wired trip in less than 100 milliseconds, with a tenth of a percent repeatability, while still providing the monitoring functions of a traditional continuous analog output.

For equipment under control, like pumps and compressors that require protection, or processes where rapid excursions can initiate dangerous events, this unique pressure and temperature transmitter, (certified for use in SIL2 safety instrumented functions, with SIL3 capability)  is addressing process safety time constraints, coupling issues with PLC and DCS’s, and adding diversity to the safety instrumented function.

The safety transmitter has a safe area fraction of 98.6% with breakthrough, automatic, self diagnostics and is one-third the cost of typical certified process transmitters.

Series One Safety Transmitter, Pressure and Temperature Switch from Ives Equipment

High Performance, Low Cost, Industrial Safety Device

Safety Transmitter

Sadly, There are too many recent examples of catastrophic industrial accidents. New safety technologies exist today that can prevent or mitigate future disasters. The philosophy of safety is changing - the focus on plant safety has changed from reactive to a proactive approach. End users have a new sense of urgency toward safety processes.

The United Electric Controls (UE) Series One is a SIL-certified (SIL stands for safety integrity level) transmitter designed solely for safety, alarm, and shutdown applications, with reliability, speed, and fewer nuisance trips. It is also designed for both greenfield and brownfield installations, and is cyber secure.

A typical safety loop consists of sensors (such as a pressure transmitter), controllers, and final control elements. Most SIL-rated pressure transmitters require 300ms to communicate with the controller and up to 500ms for the controller to send a signal to the final control element (such as a valve). This may not be fast enough for critical applications. By connecting the One Series Safety Transmitter directly connected to the final control element, the signal speed is reduced to 100ms - a huge time savings when you're in the midst of a disaster. When used with blowers, pumps and compressors, the One Series makes up a complete safety system with a self-contained sensor, controller, and final control element (the switch) capable of SIL2 without additional safety instrumented function (SIF) components.

The below document provides detailed information about the Series One.

Series One Safety Transmitter, Pressure and Temperature Switch from Ives Equipment

For more information, contact:

Ives Equipment
877-768-1600

www.IvesEquipment.com

Simplifying Plant Safety instrumentation

White paper courtesy of United Electric Controls

Safety implementation typically is done by a group that includes plant instrument engineers and technicians, who are charged with finding simple and reliable solutions. Often, these situations involve the question of when to shut a process down. Such decisions frequently hinge on key process variables such as flow, level, temperature and pressure. these must be in a specified range at various locations within chemical and petrochemical plants, refineries and power plants, including everything from critical process vessels to eye wash stations.

For such point safety applications, a properly designed and implemented digital switch with self-diagnostics can be an important part of the answer. As an element of a multiple technology solution, a digital switch-based approach can help eliminate common-mode failures, significantly improve response time, achieve needed safety integrity levels (SILs), and simplify plant safety instrumentation.

To read the entire white paper, see the embedded document below:

Simplifying Plant Safety Instrumentation from Ives Equipment