I make it a practise to listen to podcast series published on http://controlglobalnews.com/portal/wts/ccmceQa96QaqjBzqsfjMbefsmNh
this time i came across Ashish Ghosh podcast on process safety.
Ashish Ghosh has worked in the field of process safety for over 35years now and is currently with the ARC group.
In the podcast Ashish gives his opinion on the how alarm management is very important for the operators, but at the same time stresses that it is not the only solution and overall safety culture is of utmost importance. According to him the BP texas hazard has less to do with standards and their implementation and more with the management's safety culture.
Goverment stds were also questioned and Ashish feels that in the US they are currently inadequate. He gives the example of germany where the govt makes it mandatory to follow the safety rules but in the US; it is like "you should do it" or "you may do it"..its not "you have to do it".
Also question on baby boomers retiring and sarban-oxley act were discussed. To listen to entire podcast you may visit the above website. It is very interesting and with Walt asking all the possible questions, it gets even better slowly with listening to Ashish's experienced answers....must hear this one!!
chus!!
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
unwritten pump rules
I make use of watch that page change a site that keeps you informed of if there are any changes on the site of your interest. It is a very good tool to use to track if anything new has been added to your site.
One of the site that i follow is www.flowcontrolnetwork.com. It belongs to Larry Bachus, founder of pump services firm Bachus Company Inc., is a regular contributor to Flow Control magazine. He is a pump consultant, lecturer, and inventor based in Nashville, Tenn.
He has currently updated his article on the rules for pumps. I have directly adopted the information from his webpage. It is an interesting read and i would recommend everyone to go through his cheats.
"At work, you might be responsible for the reliability of 50 or 300 centrifugal pumps. How can you stand next to one of these pumps, observe it, and perceive if the pump is sick or healthy? (No one teaches this at the university!) The following are a few generally accepted rules to keep in mind.
Rule No. 1: At 1,800 RPM, the impeller diameter in inches, multiplied by itself (or squared), is approximately the shutoff head of the pump in feet. Why does the first rule begin with 1,800 RPM? In the states, most industrial pumps are powered by an electric motor on 60-Hz electricity. The most popular industrial electric motor (88 percent) is a four-pole motor, meaning the rated velocity is 1,800 RPM. (The motor may have a slip factor, so the actual speed might be 1,780 or 1,750 RPM. This is indicated on the electric motor identification tag.) What is the shutoff head? The shutoff head is the beginning of the pump curve. It represents maximum elevation (in feet or meters) at zero flow. The performance curve proceeds to and ends at a point called maximum flow at zero elevation. How do you begin with inches of impeller diameter and end with approximate feet of liquid elevation? It’s too complicated to explain in this short column, but that’s the way it is. (If you would like more in-depth discussion of this issue, I encourage you to attend my next Pump Guy Seminar. See the promo box at the end of this article for details.)
The BEH of the 10-inch impeller is 88 ft., about 85 percent of the shutoff head. BEH of the nine-inch impeller is 70 ft., about 85 percent of the shutoff head. BEH of the eight-inch impeller is 54 ft., about 85 percent of the shutoff head.Why do you say, approximate? It’s just a rule or guide. It isn’t a law. It is accurate within about 5 percent. There are variables that affect the result. What if the pump/motor is not spinning at 1,800 RPM? We’ll cover this in a future “Cheat Sheet” article.
Rule No. 2: The best efficiency head (BEH) of the pump is approximately 85 percent of the shutoff head.
Rule No. 3: Operate the pump at, or close to, the BEH.The pump doesn’t want to run at shutoff head. It wants to run at the BEH or the best efficiency point (BEP) on the curve. On most pumps, the BEH is approximately 85 percent of the shutoff head. In almost all cases, the BEH is somewhere between 80 percent and 90 percent of the shutoff head. So, 85 percent is a good starting point to determine the pump’s head and flow."
For the entire article i will urge you to visit his site http://www.flowcontrolnetwork.com/issuearticle.asp?ArticleID=245
The rules dont apply to all pumps but 88% of the pumps you can work with these rules.
Njoy reading and dwelve more into the wonderful world of pumps.
One of the site that i follow is www.flowcontrolnetwork.com. It belongs to Larry Bachus, founder of pump services firm Bachus Company Inc., is a regular contributor to Flow Control magazine. He is a pump consultant, lecturer, and inventor based in Nashville, Tenn.
He has currently updated his article on the rules for pumps. I have directly adopted the information from his webpage. It is an interesting read and i would recommend everyone to go through his cheats.
"At work, you might be responsible for the reliability of 50 or 300 centrifugal pumps. How can you stand next to one of these pumps, observe it, and perceive if the pump is sick or healthy? (No one teaches this at the university!) The following are a few generally accepted rules to keep in mind.
Rule No. 1: At 1,800 RPM, the impeller diameter in inches, multiplied by itself (or squared), is approximately the shutoff head of the pump in feet. Why does the first rule begin with 1,800 RPM? In the states, most industrial pumps are powered by an electric motor on 60-Hz electricity. The most popular industrial electric motor (88 percent) is a four-pole motor, meaning the rated velocity is 1,800 RPM. (The motor may have a slip factor, so the actual speed might be 1,780 or 1,750 RPM. This is indicated on the electric motor identification tag.) What is the shutoff head? The shutoff head is the beginning of the pump curve. It represents maximum elevation (in feet or meters) at zero flow. The performance curve proceeds to and ends at a point called maximum flow at zero elevation. How do you begin with inches of impeller diameter and end with approximate feet of liquid elevation? It’s too complicated to explain in this short column, but that’s the way it is. (If you would like more in-depth discussion of this issue, I encourage you to attend my next Pump Guy Seminar. See the promo box at the end of this article for details.)
The BEH of the 10-inch impeller is 88 ft., about 85 percent of the shutoff head. BEH of the nine-inch impeller is 70 ft., about 85 percent of the shutoff head. BEH of the eight-inch impeller is 54 ft., about 85 percent of the shutoff head.Why do you say, approximate? It’s just a rule or guide. It isn’t a law. It is accurate within about 5 percent. There are variables that affect the result. What if the pump/motor is not spinning at 1,800 RPM? We’ll cover this in a future “Cheat Sheet” article.
Rule No. 2: The best efficiency head (BEH) of the pump is approximately 85 percent of the shutoff head.
Rule No. 3: Operate the pump at, or close to, the BEH.The pump doesn’t want to run at shutoff head. It wants to run at the BEH or the best efficiency point (BEP) on the curve. On most pumps, the BEH is approximately 85 percent of the shutoff head. In almost all cases, the BEH is somewhere between 80 percent and 90 percent of the shutoff head. So, 85 percent is a good starting point to determine the pump’s head and flow."
For the entire article i will urge you to visit his site http://www.flowcontrolnetwork.com/issuearticle.asp?ArticleID=245
The rules dont apply to all pumps but 88% of the pumps you can work with these rules.
Njoy reading and dwelve more into the wonderful world of pumps.
Saturday, May 17, 2008
Instrumentation rules of thumb
I got this article while reading Greg Mc Millan's book. He is into field of automation and control for quite a long time now and has many honours to his name. I quote the following from his book...
"INSTRUMENTATION RULES OF THUMB
Being experienced in instrument engineering means you have made and corrected a lot of mistakes.
You must check out and start up your own designs; otherwise you will make the same mistakes again.
You must treat the user like a customer if you and your organization are to survive.
Confrontations with management indicate suicidal tendencies.
If you want a sense of accomplishment, stay technical. If you want to make money, become a manager, sales rep, or outside consultant.
Attend as few meetings as possible. If you like to attend meetings, you will never be a good instrument engineer and probably will end up in management.
If you work for a corporate engineering department, join every airline's frequent flyer club.
Buy and use luggage that doesn't have to be checked. Checked luggage gets lost or destroyed. Having dirty socks and underwear fall out of your briefcase at a meeting is tacky.
Create the perception that you do wonderful things that produce amazing results
-By Gregory Mc Milan"
i will recommend all those who are interested on automation to see his e-book which is available online......http://www.easydeltav.com/controlinsights/FunnyThing
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
startup of compressor
I get many queries reg startup procedure from my juniors from I&C dept. So i thought of putting it on my blog. This is an example of synthesis gas compressor which i had found surfing thru google and i had used it to make up my answers. Hope it will help you guys.
Startup procedure for the synthesis gas and refrigeration compressors goes on as follows:
Slowly open the two‑inch pressuring bypass across the outlet isolation valve. Admit synthesis gas to the compressor, pressuring the system to approximately XX psig. Depressure system by venting at low and high points. Continue to do this until the nitrogen atmosphere of the system has been diluted with synthesis gas and is close to the normal H2 / N2 content. When purging is complete, pressure the compressor system by opening the bypass valve. It is necessary to restrict the suction pressure in order for seal buffer gas be able to be put to the seal until the machine discharge pressure is great enough to get in.
This start‑up sequence assumes that all instrumentation has been commissioned and is ready for service, that all electrical power is available, electrical switches are in the OFF position and that all other valves are closed unless specifically noted otherwise.
This start‑up sequence assumes that all instrumentation has been commissioned and is ready for service, that all electrical power is available, electrical switches are in the OFF position and that all other valves are closed unless specifically noted otherwise.
Check for the following during startup--·
the surface condenser is already in service·
open the lubricating oil isolation valve from the lubricating oil skid to the compressor train· open the turbine casing drain isolation valve to compressor·
Place the gland condenser in service.
Open cooling water to the gland condenser.
Be sure that the loop seal in the condenser drain is full of water.
Open the steam to the gland condenser jet and close the warm up drain.
Adjust the LP steam to the gland condenser jet to hold 20 inH2O vacuum on the line from the turbine seals. If necessary, this vacuum can be increased until all of the steam leakage past the outer seal rings on the turbine has stopped.
If the vacuum cycles up and down, open the vacuum stabilizer air inlet valve on the line from the turbine seals. "
For an excellent treatise on compressors i would rather urge you to refer http://www.easydeltav.com/controlinsights/compressorcontrolstudent/ . Its too good for an aspiring control engineer. Its written by Greg Mc Millan. He has made it an ebook an available for all for viewing.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Google friend connect
Even as i am writing this post the campfire in mountain view california @GOOGLEPLEX the headquarters of one of the worlds most acclaimed software co is announcing its new app GOOGLE FRIEND CONNECT.
This is a quote from the press released article "We want to bring ourselves to every eyeball, not bring every eyeball to us," said Hadi Partovi, President of iLike. "Friend Connect is a significant opportunity for iLike, artists, and fans. The iLike Artist Dashboard™ will be the first content-management system that allows artists not only to post their songs, concerts, and videos to every leading social network from one dashboard, but also to simultaneously manage the content on their own websites."
Google Friend Connect will make people to connect and enjoy with their friends wherever they are on any website on the web and at the same time drive traffic and increase social networking
I will keep an eye on its release and update the same on my blog.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Third Industrial Revolution
I read an excerpt from Controlglobal.com, a revolutionsing article by Automation guru Bela Liptak. He talked about the third industrial revlotuion,which is jus around the corner.
He quotes,
"Mankind’s overloaded “ship” is sinking, yet some passengers argue that it is just rocking with the waves. Others believe that the leak will plug by itself, or the ship will drift to shore on its own. Still others argue that the leak is small, and there is no urgency to fix it or are sharpening their knives to fight their way get the remains in the kitchen. This series of articles speaks to those passengers who want to plug the hole and do not want our grandchildren to ask, “Why did you not act?”
The road to an inexhaustible and clean energy future is obvious. The third industrial revolution is already beginning: Just as we lead the world in developing the computers, we Americans must find the moral courage and determination to lead this revolution also. The process control profession (the only profession that is capable of integrating and optimizing complete processes) should be in the forefront of this effort.
In this series of articles, I am describing the components of this, the world’s first 1,000- MW solar-hydrogen electric power plant. Below I will describe the electrolyzer that converts solar energy into electricity during the day and uses that to make electricity at night. My invention is to develop the controls and optimization needed to convert this electrolyzer into a reversible fuel cell (RFC), so that the same RFC can be used at a fraction of the present cost to make solar energy continuously available."
I personally got an opportunity to interact with him in jan during the confrence in our college.
It is very intersting and I am looking forward to his book Post-Oil Energy Technology: After the Age of Fossil Fuels due to be released in august.
He quotes,
"Mankind’s overloaded “ship” is sinking, yet some passengers argue that it is just rocking with the waves. Others believe that the leak will plug by itself, or the ship will drift to shore on its own. Still others argue that the leak is small, and there is no urgency to fix it or are sharpening their knives to fight their way get the remains in the kitchen. This series of articles speaks to those passengers who want to plug the hole and do not want our grandchildren to ask, “Why did you not act?”
The road to an inexhaustible and clean energy future is obvious. The third industrial revolution is already beginning: Just as we lead the world in developing the computers, we Americans must find the moral courage and determination to lead this revolution also. The process control profession (the only profession that is capable of integrating and optimizing complete processes) should be in the forefront of this effort.
In this series of articles, I am describing the components of this, the world’s first 1,000- MW solar-hydrogen electric power plant. Below I will describe the electrolyzer that converts solar energy into electricity during the day and uses that to make electricity at night. My invention is to develop the controls and optimization needed to convert this electrolyzer into a reversible fuel cell (RFC), so that the same RFC can be used at a fraction of the present cost to make solar energy continuously available."
I personally got an opportunity to interact with him in jan during the confrence in our college.
It is very intersting and I am looking forward to his book Post-Oil Energy Technology: After the Age of Fossil Fuels due to be released in august.
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