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Reactor Skin Temperature Monitoring

A refinery uses a hard, ceramic lining in their fluid catalytic cracking unit (FCCU) reactor for greater wear resistance to abrasion.  Ceramics, however, can develop cracks often caused by fast temperature changes. The cracks then get battered by the particulate matter and the cracks can enlarge. Should constant temperature shocks cause ceramic failure you need to be alerted. The ceramic is also a temperature insulation between the fluid and the outer metal reactor skin. One way to detect failure of the ceramic is to monitor the reactor skin temperature. A hot spot is a sign of trouble.

Reactor Skin Temperature Monitoring
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A very cost-effective instrument package to get all those skin temperatures into your DCS is the TCS Temperature Concentrator System. It starts with the TCM Temperature Concentrator Module which has 16-channel temperature inputs, with each input being sensor configurable for any RTD or TC utilized. The native output of the TCM is HART, but if you prefer, we can convert that to MODBUS RTU. Two TCMs can be converted to MODBUS by using one HMC HART-to-MODBUS converter. If you still have more points to collect, you can duplicate this system as many times as needed and then multidrop the MODBUS communication from each of the HMCs back to your DCS.

Key Attributes:

  • Class 1, Div 2/Zone 2 or Intrinsically Safe with barriers
  • Ambient tolerance: -40 to +85°C
  • Temperature to MODBUS: Once it’s digital; keep it digital

Download Datasheet