A North American coal-fired electrical power station was implementing a strict maintenance and calibration procedure for their new steam and water sample panels. This procedure included weekly removal, cleaning, calibration and reinstalling of 22 conductivity probes – which are used to find the concentration of total dissolved solids, or TDS, in a sample of water.
With industry-standard stainless steel cell holders for the probes, this process was very labor intensive, taking well over an hour just to remove and reinstall all the probes. Because the probes were threaded into the cell holders, cords often got twisted, increasing the possibility of breaking the wires.
Thread galling, or seizing, which is common with stainless steel and involves wearing and transfer between metal surfaces, also occurred relatively frequently, requiring replacement of either or both the probe and the holder.
Solution
A Sentry® Twist-Lock Cell Holder (TLC) was developed to provide quick release of the probe holder. It can be used in place of the threaded stainless steel version, requiring much less labor and preventing thread galling and needed replacement of the probe and/or holder.
With the Sentry TLC, an adapter threads onto the probe, which allows the operator to remove the conductivity cell from the TLC and replace it easily with a quarter turn of the wrist. Stop pins allow this insertion and removal without the operator needing to see the process or visually align the threads. The end fittings are standard 1/4-inch NPT fittings, so they fit any system.
The adapter never has to be removed, as it does not interfere with cleaning or calibration, and there is no cord twisting. Removing and reinstalling a probe with a TLC holder takes only about five seconds.
For a sample panel with 22 conductivity cells, using the Sentry TLC holder saves our customer a significant amount of labor hour costs each year and eliminates the possibility of damage to the sensitive conductivity cells. The advantages of this new, simple solution are now catching on with customers globally.
Learn more about the innovative Sentry Twist-Lock Cell Holder (TLC) here.
This article was originally published on our website.
