United Electric Controls, a producer of safety, alarm and shutdown technology, is demonstrating at Gastech a wireless gas detector that can facilitate compliance by reducing the cost of adding leak monitoring points by more than 50%.
The Vanguard gas detector communicates using WirelessHART technology, which is currently the industry’s dominant non-proprietary wireless communication protocol. WirelessHART makes it easier for the Vanguard and other in-network WirelessHART devices (e.g. corrosion, vibration, temperature and pressure monitoring sensors) to be integrated, creating an interoperable ecosystem of monitoring instrumentation that enhances safety and regulatory compliance.
Gas plant safety
“Detection of methane and other gases is becoming increasingly critical to gas plant safety and emissions monitoring in the heavily-regulated oil and gas industry. Reducing costs, improving safety and complying with regulations requires the ability to monitor hard-to-reach areas, but doing so with wired systems is cost-prohibitive.”
Detection of methane and other gases is becoming increasingly critical to gas plant safety"
“Moreover, deploying detection on a WirelessHART network not only makes optimizing gas-leak detection monitoring affordable but also provides an open infrastructure that enables a broader systems approach that facilitates continuous leak prevention compared to intermittent solutions,” said Julian Yeo, United Electric Controls Strategic Marketing Manager
Improving safety and compliance
Vanguard’s field-interchangeable gas sensor modules detect methane (CH4) or hydrogen sulfide (H2S) or carbon monoxide (CO). Data such as gas concentration, battery life and calibration are transmitted from the detector and integrated seamlessly with existing supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) or asset management (AMS) systems.
Signals travel via WirelessHART to the gateway and commonly used Modbus and Ethernet communications. Such data can also be sent easily to the cloud for trending, asset management and enterprise-level analyses that can reduce costs and improve safety and compliance further.
Power management circuitry
The Vanguard detector can be mounted anywhere and dropped easily into any WirelessHART network
Contributing to the value of the Vanguard detector is its use of lithium metal battery technology, which, combined with low-power components and intelligent power management circuitry, can extend battery life well beyond five years, significantly more than current offerings operating under the same conditions. This reduces both energy and maintenance costs.
The Vanguard detector can be mounted anywhere and dropped easily into any WirelessHART network using a secured network I.D. and join key. The unit automatically detects the sensor type and configures it automatically. Seamless, plug-and-play interoperability saves additional setup time and effort. Class 1, Div. 1&2 certification and an explosion-proof and intrinsically-safe design help ensure trouble-free operation in hazardous environments. The unit also has ATEX and IECEx approvals allowing deployment virtually anywhere across the globe.
Monitoring gas leakage
A WirelessHART gas detection system is ideal for remote site applications where there is limited power supply. The detectors are powered using batteries, and other network components, like gateways, can be powered from a solar panel.
Data from the detectors can then be routed through the gateways to a web-based SCADA platform via a cellular modem, enabling operators to monitor gas leakage at remote sites, anytime and anywhere, further augmenting gas detection capability and compliance. Continuous monitoring detects remote leaks and triggers real-time alarms and validates response to customer complaints instantly. For a technology demonstration on how WirelessHART gas detection technology can improve efficiency, safety and compliance, visit United Electric Controls at Gastech booth M177.
