Industries like power generation, chemical plants, and semiconductors widely use scrubbers to mitigate air pollution. The role of scrubbers is to ensure process exhaust is not detrimental to the environment. This makes scrubbers integral to any industrial process that must meet necessarily stringent environmental compliance standards.
The importance of ensuring scrubbers are cleaning exhaust properly cannot be overstated. The role of pH measurements during the scrubbing process is equally impactful to the process’s success. The safety of the workforce in the area and the health of the local environment as a whole are also largely impacted by the accuracy of pH measurements.
What Happens When pH Measurements Fail in Scrubbers?
A neutralizing aqueous solution absorbs, dissolves, or chemically neutralizes pollutants with various dosing agents when it comes into contact with contaminated gas. One of the primary roles of pH measurements is to inform operators on the amount of and what kind of dosing agents are necessary for that cycle. Depending on pH, operators dose the solution with caustics and acids to ensure proper pollutant neutralization before expelling the gas as exhaust. A separate plant treats the solution while the system safely expels the gas.
Bad pH data means bad dosing, leading to compliance risks and costly process issues. Corrosive pollutants like HCl, HF, Cl₂, and NH₃ can massively damage infrastructure. If the exhaust system continually releases these pollutants into the air, it jeopardizes environmental compliance. If the exhaust system continually releases these pollutants into the air, it jeopardizes environmental compliance and exposes the plant to potential regulatory fines.
pH inaccuracies in scrubber systems can be caused by various factors. Buildup from overdosed caustics can rapidly degrade sensors. Additionally, fluctuating values of high and low pH can cause less robust sensors to mishandle the persistent changes. This forces operators to implement excessive downtime for costly maintenance. Furthermore, less robust sensors are also more sensitive to the volatile chemicals and pollutants found in this application. Colleagues on the process line have reported with reports of some sensors lasting mere days in-process.
Solutions for Scrubber Systems
Addressing these issues begins with robust instrumentation that is designed to handle applications that experience such volatility. The SE555 pH sensor is designed to withstand both the fluctuating pH environment and elevated temperatures found in these types of systems. Constructed with Alpha pH glass, two open hole junctions, and a solid polymer electrolyte with a high KCl concentration, these features provide stable performance and long life in such demanding applications. Reports from our colleagues on the process line in scrubber applications determined the SE555 was capable of tripling the lifespan of previous sensors, making this sensor an ideal solution for scrubber systems.
Mitigating downtime, reducing maintenance, and smarter resource management with acid and caustic dousing are all addressed head on with Memosens technology. The real-time diagnostics of the Knick Stratos Multi or Pro paired with the SE554 ensure a significant reduction in manual intervention and process downtime.
ROI: Compliance, Maximum Accuracy and Uptime
Resource Efficiency: Precise control of pH levels reduces the consumption of expensive reagents and raw materials. Efficient use of resources results in cost savings over time.
Extended Sensor Life: Operators who have used the SE555 reported lifespans of up to 11 weeks. This dwarfs previous sensors that were failing in as little as two weeks.
Reliable Compliance: Sensors that can withstand the volatility of scrubber environments assure operators of accurate, consistent dosages. Consistent and accurate dosing assists in remaining compliant with environmental regulations.
More Information on M4 Knick’s Solutions
We help a wide variety of industries meet their process liquid analytics needs. Troubleshooting our solutions? Visit our YouTube page for helpful walkthroughs, or consider scheduling a training with us for a hands-on learning approach to achieving maximum accurate uptime for your process.