Process Analyzer Sampling System Common Challenges
Process analyzer sampling systems are essential for obtaining accurate, reliable measurements in refinery, chemical processing, and oil and gas applications. In this video, industry experts Tony Waters and Phil Harris draw on more than 80 years of combined experience to discuss the most common sampling system challenges they encounter in the field. Learn how issues such as sample transport delays, improper heating, liquid carryover, and poor system design can affect analyzer performance and process reliability. Discover practical insights and best practices that can help technicians, engineers, and operators improve sample integrity, troubleshoot recurring problems, and achieve more accurate analytical results.
Video Transcript
Oftentimes, some of the installations that we see have caused customers to experience problems that require maintenance technicians to go and work on the device frequently, over and over. Perhaps they’re called out in the middle of the night or on a weekend because there has been an issue with the analyzer.
One that comes to mind, and that we see all the time, is that when a line is supposed to be heated, we find that it’s only half heated, not heated at all, or everything is turned off. Sometimes, it’s just the opposite: the line is so hot that it’s causing the samples to polymerize or decompose in some way.
We commonly find that there is liquid carryover into places where they didn’t want liquids and where they weren’t expecting liquids, and that’s causing problems with the equipment that’s there.
A process analyzer can look like it’s working but actually be doing nothing that’s valuable to anybody. For instance, the time delay that we see on systems is quite enormous sometimes. Sometimes, we’re talking about hours or even days of delay before they actually get the measurement.
The measurements are working, and they’re getting the answers, but it’s totally useless having knowledge about what happened yesterday.
So, you get a fresh set of eyes on something that may have been a problem for them for years, sometimes even decades. We get a fresh group of eyes on there to look at their installation and try to understand what their problems really are.
We go back and look inside the process because, by just looking at one instrument like a process analyzer, you’re not going to see everything. So, it’s best to go back and really look to see where the samples are coming from and what might have happened to them before they even got to the instrument itself.
In many cases, we actually get the analyzers to work, sometimes for the first time ever.
