The Monitor

Production Process Insights

How many sample cooler types does it take to meet your needs?

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 10/28/15 10:00 AM

The answer currently is 154. The leading brand of sample coolers – Sentry – supplies more than 6,000 per year to customers around the globe.

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Topics: Power, Cement, Food & Beverage, Downstream, Mining, Upstream & Midstream, Pharmaceutical, Liquid & Slurry, Any Application, Steam & Water, Gas

Two Coffee Customers, Two Different Sampling Solutions

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 10/21/15 10:00 AM

As sure as a cup of morning joe, food processors need to conduct representative sampling to gain the insights they need to ensure process control and product quality and safety, and determine product characteristics. Two coffee producers recently purchased different Sentry® samplers specific to their applications to help them meet those needs.

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Topics: Food & Beverage, Solids & Powder

How Power Plants Can Save Valuable Time, Resources

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 9/23/15 10:00 AM

More and more, power plants must cycle to fill in gaps caused by disruptive power generation and in response to the need to bid on and dispatch electricity at certain times in the competitive marketplace. This means plants cycle based on demand and market prices for their energy production.

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Topics: Power, Steam & Water

Ways ISOLOK Samplers Help Treatment Plants Automate Messy Job

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 9/9/15 10:00 AM

A wastewater treatment plant treats sewage or industrial wastewater before discharging it. Typically, the plant will remove solid materials in the primary treatment. The remaining liquids then are treated for dissolved and suspended organic material in secondary treatment, and finally, disinfection treatment kills disease-causing microorganisms.

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Topics: Steam & Water

For Petrochemical Sampling, Safety Is First In Sampler Design

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 9/2/15 10:00 AM


In the petrochemical industry, representative samples of liquid petroleum gas and other high vapor pressure gases and liquids are needed for process monitoring, quality control and regulatory compliance. However, in this industry, process fluids and gases are volatile or could be harmful to the operator and the environment, or they could be dangerously altered through a chemical reaction when exposed to the atmosphere – so exposure must be avoided. Because each sample collected may pose a physical or health hazard, and operators may take hundreds of samples per year, samples must be taken safely and correctly using the appropriate equipment and containers.

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Topics: Downstream, Upstream & Midstream, Gas

Four Tricky Industrial Sampling Applications – Solved

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 8/12/15 10:00 AM


Sampling can be used to identify process variations and for process control, environmental monitoring, product quality assurance and custody transfer. Following proper steps reduces sample to sample variation. Characteristics of one representative sample are the same of that of the entire lot or batch – and the sampling methods and results should be consistent, accurate and repeatable.

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Topics: Downstream, Mining, Solids & Powder

Top Five Factors In Preventing Pipeline Corrosion

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 8/5/15 10:00 AM

Metal corrosion is inevitable, and has the potential to cause catastrophic pipeline and assets failure, damaging the environment and communities, injuring field operators, and causing costly downtime and waste in productivity.

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Topics: Downstream, Upstream & Midstream, Gas

Why Does Employee Ownership Matter?

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 7/29/15 10:00 AM

In 1985, Sentry Equipment Corp owners Dick and Mary Henszey had the vision and foresight to ensure the company and employees would continue to thrive. They did this by beginning the process of shifting ownership of the company to employees through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP).

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Topics: Company News

Customer Reduces Maintenance Costs With Power Plant Sample Panels

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 7/22/15 10:00 AM

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.

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Topics: Power, Steam & Water

Protect Power Plant Operators & Water Chemistry Instruments From Harm

Posted by Sentry Equipment on 6/24/15 10:00 AM

Imagine this scenario: A power plant’s primary coolant pump loses power and is no longer providing coolant to the primary coolers. A steam sample in excess of 250°F continues to flow. In the chemistry lab, an operator works at a computer. A pipe hisses as the room begins to fill with dangerous steam. At the end of the sample tubes are costly analyzers about to be destroyed. The operator realizes what's happening and hurries to shut down the sample lines. The analyzers suffer minor damage but the operator is able to repair them. But, what about next time?

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Topics: Power, Steam & Water