When working with sensors in industrial processes, many process environments make it difficult for operators to perform all the necessary upkeep to maintain measurement accuracy and sensor health. Automated systems are designed to help address sensor performance issues in these challenging applications.
Operators have several customizable options they can tailor to their process needs. Here are five ways automated systems can benefit operators and their processes:
1. Optimize Process Management
When using automated systems, operators can establish several diagnostics and sensor care preferences based on the demands of their process. In addition, the system can automatically retract, clean, and calibrate the sensor without manual removal from the process. Incorporating this vastly reduces downtime and provides more process yield.
2. Maximize Process Uptime
Before automation, operators had no choice but to manually tend to their sensors. However, for applications involving aggressive process media in often hazardous locations, this caused safety concerns and extensive process downtime. By automating cleaning, retraction, and calibration, technicians greatly decrease these intervals of process downtime. This maximizes both user safety and process yield by negating the need for manual intervention. Additionally, automated cleaning and calibration systems vastly extend sensor life due to the precise nature of the customizable intervals in which these actions are performed.
3. Secure and Sterile Operation
Automated systems provide additional assurance of process sterilization by removing the need for frequent manual handling of the sensor. In processes that could be negatively affected by human or elemental exposure, automated systems are a safe and convenient method for minimizing such risks. Manual operation in previous installations often required the process line to be open to extract or otherwise treat the sensor. Using automated systems, the process line does not have to be open. The secure fastening of the automatic retractable holder also ensures that the sensor will remain safely in the process, diminishing the possibility of misalignment or unwanted removal from the process.
4. Significantly Reduce Maintenance Costs
Maintenance costs associated with traditional systems can be frequent and unnecessary. Real-time diagnostic capabilities and automated cleaning give operators a better understanding of the condition of the sensor. Process-attuned calibrations and customizable cleaning intervals help maintain sensor performance over more extended periods of time.
5. Support User Safety
Automated systems are a reliable and secure way of promoting operational safety for applications where in-line measurements are made in hazardous or otherwise hard-to-reach areas. Automation reduces risk by removing the need for an operator to be physically present for retraction, calibration, and cleaning. For instance, operators can safely adjust cleaning & calibration intervals from a control room without shutting down their process.
Still curious about how automated systems can benefit your process? Check out M4 Knick’s automation portfolio for more information on which system best suits your needs.
