The Monitor

Industrial steam plants and combined steam and power facilities, also known as cogeneration plants, commonly use boilers to provide high-quality steam and electric power. As the heart of the plant, these boilers are crucial to efficient energy creation. If impurities enter the boiler feedwater or corrosion develops inside the boiler, equipment can be damaged, the plant can experience unexpected downtime, and energy creation can be extremely ineffective. It’s critical to limit impurities and corrosion in a boiler system to maximize boiler output and prevent these challenges.

Read More

Topics: Any Application, Steam & Water

Numerous types of heat exchangers cover a broad range of applications, and specialty heat exchangers are often found in many kinds of industrial applications, such as downstream refineries. When a heat exchanger is used to cool a representative sample within processes for accurate analysis, it is commonly referred to as a sample cooler.

Read More

Topics: Downstream, Steam & Water

Cycle chemistry management is the best way to help prevent, recognize and minimize potentially devastating water chemistry events in a facility. A well-planned and designed sampling system with the right instrumentation can help provide the critical insights you need to monitor cycle chemistry, protect equipment and ensure safe operation.

Read More

Topics: Power, Steam & Water

Read More

Topics: Power, Steam & Water

The thermal management of sample coolers is critical to the proper function of a steam and water analysis system (SWAS). Extreme temperatures can lead to erratic or unreliable data, equipment damage and unscheduled downtime. As the EPRI standard states, the goal of a sample system is to “transport and condition a sample without altering the characteristics of interest. The system parameters which need to be controlled are velocity, pressure and temperature.”

Read More

Topics: Power, Steam & Water

By analyzing and monitoring chemical properties of steam and water, a steam and water analysis system ensures you are protecting the generation assets in your plant. Maintaining this system is critical to ensuring accurate results from grab sample and sample panel data. Here’s what you need to know about implementing a regular maintenance schedule for your utility’s SWAS.

Read More

Topics: Power, Steam & Water

Chemical analysis of water and steam samples in utility plants requires precise control of flow and pressure. A common element of the steam and water sampling system is a pressure reducing valve to control the pressure of the sample. However, using an incorrect valve can not only damage plant and sampling equipment, but possibly injure operators. That’s why it’s essential to match plant applications with the correct pressure reducing valves. 

Read More

Topics: Power, Steam & Water

 

The goal of a steam and water analysis system (SWAS) in power generation is to properly condition the sample so that it is representative of the process. Secondary sample cooling provides a way to eliminate measurement uncertainty issues by removing the variable of temperature from the measurement. Secondary cooling also provides a temperature “cushion” when primary cooling systems are undersized or underperforming.

 

Read More

Topics: Power, Steam & Water

A well-planned and designed steam and water analysis system (SWAS) with the right instrumentation can help provide the critical insights you need to monitor cycle chemistry, protect equipment and ensure safe operation.

Read More

Topics: Power, Steam & Water

Sample flow is a primary factor that affects the results from a steam and water analysis system (SWAS) in a cycling power plant. When sample flow is inconsistent, so are analyzer measurements – which can lead to catastrophic equipment failures. Controlling flow in a SWAS requires the appropriate equipment to eliminate analysis compensation and sources of error in measurements to improve chemical feed accuracy and cost savings.

Read More

Topics: Power, Steam & Water