Calibrating analytical instrumentation.

The International Society of Automation (ISA) and its corporate partner, Beamex, will co-host a free webinar 30 March 2017 on calibrating analytical instrumentation.

Ian Verhappen

The webinar, which will be held from 12 p.m. to 1:30 p.m., Eastern Daylight Time, will feature three automation experts: Ian Verhappen, Senior Project Manager at CIMA+ (right); Ned Espy, Technical Director at Beamex; and Roy Tomalino, Calibration Engineer at Beamex.

This is the first of a series of webinars on maintaining analytical instrumentation. Common applications and challenges relating to analytical instrumentation as well as calibration best practices will be explained. The webinar will provide examples of how to document “one-sided” calibrations, such as pH/ORP and gas sensors/analyzers. This approach can apply to other instrumentation as well, such as meters, DCS and PLC inputs.

As Tomalino, Beamex Calibration Engineer, explains, “calibrating analytical devices is often times one-sided. Not to say it’s not fair but you tend to have a calibration standard on one side of the test and a display of numbers on the other. The display needs to be entered or keyed in somewhere. This manual entry on the input or output is why we call it a one-sided calibration. It’s still legitimate. It’s just not automated.”

The webinar, Tomalino continues, will focus on “the most common analytic calibrations. We’ll start with pH. Testing for pH is just about everywhere. Whether you are checking the cooling water discharge back to the river, the pH balance of your favorite beverage or the neutrality of your eye drops, this test is critical. It must be done right. What’s the best way to handle this test? We’ll cover that. What are the most common mistakes made testing pH? We’ll cover that, too.”

“Analytical instruments are relied upon to monitor critical control processes in wide variety of industrial settings,” emphasizes Jennifer Infantino Halsey, ISA's Director of Marketing & Communications. “By collaborating with Beamex to conduct this free webinar, we can ensure that our members, customers and the automation community as a whole receive expert guidance and recommendations on calibrating these important devices.”

@BeamexGlobal @isaexchange #PAuto

Environment management standard

Analytical Technology has been awarded the ISO 14001 environment management standard, recognising the company’s commitment to minimising its impact on the environment. As the supplier of water and gas monitoring instrumentation to the majority of Britains largest utility companies and leading food and beverage, metal finishing and pharmaceutical manufacturing companies across Europe, Analytical Technology is leading by example in matters relating to environmental protection. 

The ISO 14001 standard assists companies who want to minimise how their processes and operations negatively affect the environment and also provides guidance on how to comply with applicable laws and regulations. In order to obtain this certification, Analytical Technology is monitoring its consumption of fuel, gas, electricity and water in an attempt to reduce waste and energy usage and improve its overall environmental performance.

Analytical Technology manufactures both water and gas monitoring instrumentation to help companies demonstrate compliance with the strict regulations outlined by the Environment Agency (EA) and EU Directives. Industrial companies in the food and beverage, pharmaceutical and metal finishing sectors employ Analytical Technology’s instrumentation to monitor trade effluents to ensure that only safe levels of chemicals are released into the environment. The company’s wide range of water monitors includes dissolved hydrogen sulphide, pH, ammonia, dissolved oxygen, hydrogen peroxide, residual sulphite and several chlorine monitors.

Mike Strahand, General Manager Europe at Analytical Technology, commented: “We are committed to protecting the environment in whatever way possible and everyone in our team has an enhanced awareness of our company environmental policy. As we help companies on a daily basis to minimise their impact on the environment through the use of our water and gas monitors, we are delighted to have received recognition for our continual commitment to operating in an environmentally conscious manner.”

Reliable water monitoring makes money!

Analytical Technology has gone from strength to strength since its inception in 1998, culminating in a record month for the business in June 2011. This spectacular achievement demonstrates the buoyancy of the current market for water monitoring instrumentation, despite the present economic recession. It is also a demonstration of the ongoing and imperative need for reliable water monitoring in the water utility industry to ensure a safe and continuous supply of water.

This year the company had its strongest first half ever and this culminated in June sales being the highest on record. A large component of the June sales, which peaked at £1.2 million for the month, can be credited to the recent contract signed by Analytical Technology with Severn Trent Water, involving the purchase of 250 Analytical Technology residual chlorine monitors in June alone. They are also supplying Yorkshire Water with more than 450 chlorine monitors and has enjoyed repeated success in recent years, providing instrumentation to other major utility companies such as United Utilities, Scottish Water, Thames Water, Anglian Water and South West Water.

Analytical Technology is a Britsih and European specialist electrochemical sensor manufacturer. The company was set up in 1998 and from then on has enjoyed increasing success. Analytical Technology provides both water and gas monitoring instrumentation, which help companies abide by strict regulations outlined by the British Environment Agency, the Drinking Water Inspectorate and EU Directives. Analytical Technology’s wide range of water monitors include peracetic acid, hydrogen peroxide, residual sulphite and several chlorine monitors, along with various toxic gas detectors. The company’s products aim to provide simpler installation, easier operation and lower cost, all combined with first class customer service. Analytical Technology now supply instrumentation to 7 out of the 10 major utility companies in Great Britain, along with many food and beverage, industrial and pharmaceutical companies such as AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Coca Cola and Britvic.

The increasing success of Analytical Technology can largely be attributed to the high standard of customer service delivered by the company. Specialist product-specific customer training is provided at the company’s head quarters in Manchester. The extensive after-sales support also includes maintenance services and in-depth training workshops provided at customers’ premises and at councils. Analytical Technology are committed to providing superior analytical sensing systems combined with an industry leading standard of customer support, and will go the extra mile for their customers.

Dr. Michael Strahand, General Manager at Analytical Technology, comments: “Our record turnover in June 2011 is testament to matching the needs of our customers with a team excelling at service. Top class customer service is essential in this industry, where rapid response times to situations such as water treatment issues are hugely important to maintain a safe supply of water in utility, food and beverage manufacturing and pharmaceutical plants. We have invested in a successful future by providing our team with industry leading customer service training, by Gustav Käser Training International. This, combined with our first-rate instrumentation means Analytical Technology is unique and a leader in the UK market.”

Facility for comprehensive training in water and gas monitoring

Analytical Technology now offers specialist customer training at its state-of-the-art premises in Saddleworth, Manchester (GB). The new training facility is part of their extensive after-sales support, which also includes maintenance services and in depth on-site training. The customised sessions educate customers on all aspects of chemistry relating to the company’s complete range of water and gas monitoring equipment, while also providing practical hands-on training on working instrumentation.

With the launch of its dedicated training sessions, incorporating leading technologies and industry experts, Analytical Technology has responded to industry demand for increased training to deal with disinfection issues and other emergencies that can occur at water treatment plants. As a leading provider of water and gas monitoring instrumentation to major utility, manufacturing and processing companies in Britain and Europe, Analytical Technology is ideally positioned to offer professional training on the use of key technologies. Experts provide personalised, practical training to small groups of customers aimed at educating them on the use of the latest, most advanced water and gas monitoring technologies. The customised training is ideal for customers looking for very detailed training on the chemistry of disinfection and overall water quality and how their monitors can be applied.

The training facility is fully equipped with Analytical Technology’s breakthrough water monitors for dissolved oxygen, residual chlorine, dissolved ozone, pH, conductivity, dissolved ammonia, dissolved sulphide and residual sulphite measurements. The company’s innovative toxic gas leak detectors are also available on site. By providing this specialist training, companies can now benefit from trained employees that are well equipped with the knowledge and skills to overcome problems or emergencies that may occur on site.

In addition to the training offered at the Saddleworth facility, Analytical Technology also offers on-site and free-of-charge product specific customer training, as well as in-house training workshops at its customers’ premises and at councils. The workshops are designed to provide advice on implementing processes and instrumentation to ensure environmental safety and compliance with regulatory requirements, all while minimising costs.

Garry Tabor, Sales Manager Europe at Analytical Technology, comments: “At Analytical Technology, we are committed to offering first class customer service and extensive after sales support to our customers, which has led to the opening of a state-of-the-art training facility. These personalised training sessions are part of our dedicated service and demonstrate our willingness to go ‘the extra mile’ for our customers.”

DO2 in Thames waste!

Analytical Technology  has been awarded a new three-year framework agreement by Thames Water, seeing off eight competitors during the bid process. The new agreement will see Analytical Technology installing its optical dissolved oxygen monitors across multiple Thames Water wastewater treatment works in order to improve process control. This new framework builds on the existing relationship between the organisations and demonstrates Analytical Technology’s commitment to servicing the British water industry.

During the bid, which involved nine competitive instrumentation providers, Thames Water was impressed by Analytical Technology’s Q45D-ODO monitor’s capability as well as the commercial services offered by the vendor. Analytical Technology was required to meet a rigorous vendor assessment standard which showed that the company had provided excellent customer support for their disinfection monitors already installed within Thames Water. Analytical Technology also demonstrated capital cost savings as well as project and whole-life savings, which will be achieved through lower maintenance and reduced cost for spares.

Dissolved oxygen (DO) is one of the most critical parameters in the activated sludge process and tighter consent targets now mean that utility companies including Thames Water need to review instrumentation to ensure that all wastewater treatment works are fully compliant. Analytical Technology’s optical dissolved oxygen monitor has been designed to provide reliable DO control while keeping maintenance to a minimum. The monitor is based on fluorescence quenching technology and provides continuous monitoring with virtually no servicing required.

Conventional oxygen sensors are often affected by process coating and any material that slows the diffusion of oxygen into the reaction cell will cause an error in the oxygen reading. Unlike traditional dissolved oxygen monitors, Analytical Technology’s Q45D-ODO contains an Auto-Clean function which generates a series of high pressure air blasts to remove contaminants from the face of the sensor and eliminate errors caused by fouling. The Q45D-ODO’s Auto-Clean capability will enable Thames Water to achieve continuous and reliable DO measurement without the risk of sensor fouling.

Garry Tabor, Sales Director at Analytical Technology, comments: “Dissolved oxygen monitoring is an essential process for water utility companies such as Thames Water. Analytical Technology supplies all Thames Water disinfection monitors, and its proven supply record over the years of the successful partnership means this new agreement reinforces our strong position as leading instrumentation providers within the UK water industry.”

Communications standard

Profibus available across full range of monitors

Analytical Technology has added 24VDC powered and digital options of the Profibus DP (Decentralised Peripherals) standard across its full range of monitors, including its extensive chlorine range, in response to customer demand. The addition of Profibus DP standard to Analytical Technology’s monitors enables water and wastewater treatment plants to optimise maintenance and achieve a high level of confidence in chlorine measurements.

Profibus is a standard concerning fieldbus communication and was first introduced in 1989. The most commonly used application is Profibus DP, which is employed to operate sensors via a centralised controller in production environments. Profibus DP aims to offer better plant control through improved instrument output. Monitors and instrumentation equipped with Profibus DP offer more information by communicating sensor state and calibration needs, enabling operators to make judgements on the efficacy of measurements.

Demand for Profibus-enabled instrumentation in the water and wastewater industry is increasing. Analytical Technology works closely with customers to anticipate new requirements and as a result the company has added Profibus DP to its range of chlorine monitors, including free and combined chlorine, reagent free, clean water variant and unique non contact gas phase dirty water variant. Analytical Technology’s monitors are now available as 24VDC with relays or 85-260VAC with relays with optional digital communications. The Profibus-enabled monitors share the same sensor and processor, offering customers a common platform approach to measure all forms of residual chlorine in all applications. Installation costs are also reduced as Profibus-enabled monitors can run from one cable.

Dr. Michael Strahand, General Manager Europe at Analytical Technology, comments: “We are pleased to be able to offer our full range of monitors with Profibus DP. We aim to be at the forefront of researching and providing new technology and we look forward to working with our customers to further enhance our monitoring instrumentation.”

Water training workshops for Ireland

Specialist electrochemical sensor manufacturer Analytical Technology is hosting a number of water training workshops in Ireland. The free-of-charge sessions, which are aimed at councils and contractors in Ireland, will include advice on clean water processes including static mixing and chlorine dosing points, as well as training on the full range of Analytical Technology instrumentation.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Ireland has stressed that parameters such as chlorine and turbidity should be measured in all Irish councils, which will require the installation and maintenance of new monitoring instrumentation. It is therefore essential that councils understand these requirements and how to achieve compliance. Analytical Technology's workshops will provide advice on implementing processes and instrumentation to comply with new requirements, particularly focusing on how to minimise costs in the current economic climate.

As one of the largest suppliers of water and wastewater monitors to the Irish market, Analytical Technology is ideally placed to advise the industry on best practice in light of new requirements. The sessions will cover portable measurement of chlorine and other parameters within a network, battery-powered instruments using solar power, static mixing and 'contact' time for dosing HOCL (chlorine), advice on best points for chlorine injection, checking filter efficiency with a turbidity monitor, reducing power by keeping sensors clean, reducing water/power & pollutants when monitoring and eliminating the need to use buffers.

Dr. Michael Strahand, General Manager Europe at Analytical Technology, comments: "Our presence in Ireland has grown significantly, thanks to strong support from councils and contractors. We are pleased to be able to use our expertise to advise companies in the water industry on adapting to changing requirements from the EPA."

Analytical Technology's training workshops will be held throughout May and June 2010.

Mine's an orange!

Britvic Soft Drinks has selected the A15/81 monitor from Analytical Technolog(ATI), to accurately test Hydrogen Sulphide (H2S) levels in finished bottled products. The innovative A15/81 is the only system that can monitor soluble H2S in water on a real time basis and enables Britvic to monitor their water bottling facility for hydrogen sulphide accurately and in compliance with strict legislation.

Bottled water in Britain is strictly controlled by The Natural Mineral Water, Spring Water and Bottled Drinking Water Regulations (England) 2007. The regulation specifies that bottled water should not contain any micro-organism, parasite, property, element or substance at a concentration or value which would constitute a potential danger to human health. The World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates the taste and odour threshold for H2S in water to be as low as 0.05 mg/litre. Although WHO has not set a health-based guideline value of H2S in drinking water, they make it clear that H2S should not be detectable in drinking water by either taste or odour.

The A15/81 monitor measures soluble H2S in water on a real time basis, overcoming the problems caused by conventional dissolved sulphide monitoring systems, providing an improved method for measuring sulphides in solution. Rather than using a traditional ion selective electrodes (ISE) sensor, the A15/81 employs a polarographic H2S gas sensor that is isolated from the sample, enabling continuous operation on many types of water and wastewater streams with minimal maintenance and adjustment. For Britvic, a key advantage of the A15/81 monitor is that the sensor does not come into contact with the sample. Only the gas stream containing the stripped H2S reaches the sensor. As a consequence, the system continues to function regardless of the quality of the sample. The only requirement is that large particulates be strained from the sample.

Britvic required a dissolved sulphide monitor that was easy to operate and maintain. The only regular maintenance requirement is to change the acid reagent once every six weeks and to change the H2S on an 18-24 month basis. Running costs are very low as the acid usage for pH adjustment in the chemistry module of the A15/81 is inexpensive. The tubing in the sample system has long-life capability.

The monitors were installed at Britvic’s Huddersfield (GB) factory; three on each borehole line fitted in a central location. Following installation, Analytical Technology provided full operational training to Britvic on a one-to-one basis. Since implementing the monitors, Britvic has been able to ensure that its bottled products are accurately and continuously monitored for hydrogen sulphide, ensuring that costs and maintenance are kept to a minimum and reliable results are generated in real time.

Jason Gledhill, Continuous Improvement Co-ordinator at Britvic, comments: “Our customer service expectations include Right First Time, flexible installation due to the nature of FMCG processes as well as a rapid response to queries and quick resolution of any issues as and when they are identified. Analytical Technology performs excellently against all these expectations. The company takes a very flexible and professional approach to system implementation and technical support that really differentiates the company. When requested, support is usually delivered within a 24 hour period. In addition, the cost of the units was minimal compared to the scope of the project that the install was incorporated into.”