stupar.co.uk

A UKAS temperature laboratory uses a range of reference platinum resistance thermometers, noble metal thermocouples, stirred liquid baths, specially designed isothermal calibration furnaces and black body sources to provide a comprehensive facility for cost effective thermometer calibration over the range -35ºC to 1,200ºC.

Both contact thermometers such as thermocouples, prts and dial thermometers; and non-contact infrared thermometers and thermal imaging cameras are covered. We can even calibrate temperature sources such a dry block calibrators or calibration baths.

The thermometer calibrationth service company will also be able to offer stand alone UKAS calibration of digital thermometer readouts. As these are essentially an electrical instrument they are calibrated in the calibration services electrical laboratory.

The calibration uncertainties detailed below are typical examples of our best calibration and measurement capability for a reasonably repeatable thermometer. The final uncertainties quoted on the calibration certificate will include an allowance for the actual repeatability of the thermometer under test during the calibration. If the thermometer was submitted with its own readout and hence calibrated as a system, then an additional allowance will be included in the uncertainty budget to cover the resolution of the thermometer readout.

Indicating Thermometer Calibration (thermometer with readout, calibrated as a system). The device under test may be an electronic display with an attached probe. All thermometer probe types are covered, including PRT, thermistor or thermocouple. Dial thermometer and chart recorder type devices are also covered. The basic calibration uncertainty will be a little better than the uncertainties achievable for 4 wire PRTs, plus allowances for repeatability of the device under test and resolution of its readout.

Calibration of Infrared Thermal Imaging Camera (Thermal Imager)
Thermal imaging cameras that are able to display a measured radiant temperature should be calibrated. Our temperature ranges and uncertainties for UKAS calibration of a thermal imager will be similar to those quoted for an infrared thermometer calibration.

Industrial Air Power Ltd is the authorised distributor for Ingersoll Rand Industrial Technologies products throughout Wales and the South West of England. The two companies have made a dramatic shift from being suppliers of equipment to providers of solutions. We are fully conversant with all aspects of air generation and equipped to carry out energy audits on any installed system, regardless of size or manufacturer.

A full system audit includes leak detection, measurement of energy consumption, and flow measurement including pressure, temperature and final air quality.

As utility rates continue to rise and firms continue to look to green initiatives, energy consumption has become a growing concern for manufacturers.

One of the largest energy users within a plant is the compressed air system. Energy recovery provides a cost-effective way for manufacturers to reduce their energy bills while simultaneously benefiting the environment by capturing the thermal energy created through the compression process and putting it to work. Where the heat produced from a compressor can be fully utilised, simple payback periods of less than two years are frequently achieved.

Having already worked with Carbon Trust on a variety of projects, Terram called on its expertise when faced with rising energy costs. The specialist manufacturer of geosynthetic materials, employing 95 staff at its manufacturing plant near Pontypool, worked with Industrial Air Power to eliminate energy inefficiencies and redesign and install a new air compressor system. The result was an industry best in terms of energy usage and savings of £202,000 per annum. It also produced:

* Energy savings of approximately 11.25 million kWh over five years
* Cost savings of approximately £1m in five years
* Emission savings of 7,390 tonnes CO2 in the same period
* Payback of approximately 24 months

David Roberts, control engineer at Terram Ltd, said: “The savings we are seeing now are unbelievable but just as important is the fact that we are reducing our carbon emissions and therefore benefiting the environment.”

Although Terram had already started to investigate the costs for new compressed air systems, it hadn’t looked at where, when, how much air was being used. Carbon Trust helped it identify this and used Industrial Air Power to design a system to meet its needs.

Having a tailor-made system installed in turn allowed Terram to capitalise on secondary savings such as heat recovery and compressed air leak reduction.

Ongoing monitoring of the fully automated system allows the savings to be quantified. Monitoring also ensures that the focus on savings is maintained and remains a high priority for Terram.

The new compressor system was located into the steam boiler house. This enabled Terram to recover the waste heat generated by the compressors and use this to raise the temperature of the water in the hot well, which feeds the boiler. Increased water temperature in turn reduces the amount of gas needed to generate steam.

The aggregated savings from the installation of the new system and implementation of the measures identified represented an 11.8 per cent reduction in the site’s energy consumption and overall a 38.7 per cent reduction in the electrical energy consumption directly associated with the generation of the compressed air.

An annual CO2 saving of 1,214 tonnes has been achieved plus an additional 264 tonnes from a reduction in gas usage due to the heat recovery process.

From monitoring the system, it was calculated that Terram was using on average 85m3/min of compressed air with an efficiency of 8kW/m/min, which equated to 7.2 million kWh per annum. By installing a new compressor set supplied by Industrial Air Power, it was calculated that the efficiency could be improved to 6kW/m3/min. Post-installation monitoring has proved that the new machinery provides an average efficiency of 5.8kW/m3/min – delivering significant savings. The gas savings are on top of this.

The benefits to Terram have been fourfold: a significant reduction in energy costs, the ability to protect plant integrity, reduced maintenance cost and the added benefit of reduced gas consumption from the increased water temperature in the steam boiler hot well.

Installing new Ingersoll Rand two stage fixed speed compressors along with a Nirvana two stage trim compressor, fully automated via a control system provided Terram with primary energy savings. Secondary savings came as a result of the heat recovery process, lower maintenance costs and the leak reduction programme.

The exercise has been successful in achieving reductions of CO2 emissions and the overall costs of supplying the service of compressed air to the business.

A Carbon Trust Wales consultant worked together with Industrial Air Power and Terram engineers providing impartial, independent advice enabling the company to make an informed decision and deliver value for money. Carbon Trust independently validated the energy savings and confirmed that they exceeded Industrial Air Power’s initial projections.

Through our experience in carrying out hundreds of compressed air audits we have identified the majority of existing air compressor systems include one or more of these deadly sins. This will have and adverse affect on your reliability, productivity and energy consumption.

* System over-pressurisation resulting in increased artificial demand
* Excessive waste through air leakage
* False loading of compressors due to lack of system automation and volume
* Inefficiency caused by cycling fixed output compressors
* Excessive pressure drop

If you would like advice on calculating your savings potential and increasing your company’s profitability contact Industrial Air Power on 01656 658961, email sales@airpower.co.uk

It’s understandable that in all businesses, continuous examination of operating costs are routinely made. Within this, the cost of fire suppression is often considered to be a relatively high but necessary cost. However, there can be very few applications where the absolute reliability of operation of the automatic fire suppression equipment is more business critical than in a data room.

For instance, data rooms of any size will have an air conditioning system in place to control the temperature because of the tremendous amount of heat that’s generated on a continuous basis. Failure of the air conditioning system to function may lead to overheat situations placing stress on the equipment and components. This could cause an outbreak of fire with a resultant and devastating loss of all data within minutes. And don’t forget, we’re potentially talking here of data that’s taken many years to build.

So no question, data rooms need to be protected by a dependable automatic fire suppression system, but does the cost of the system have to give the financial director sleepless nights? The answer is a resounding no.

One thing that we all know is that high volumes of water and computers don’t sit happily together. That’s why for years now, chemical gaseous agents such as FM 200, Inert gas systems and now water mist have been employed to do the job of fire protection. They have performed the task of suppressing fires by physical cooling of the affected area or by decreasing the oxygen in the atmosphere to a level that no longer supports combustion. All utilise a system of high pressure pipework and nozzles to deliver the suppression medium into the risk area.

However, recent world wide shortages of raw materials have prompted dramatic increases in the cost of chemical gases, FM 200 in particular. This in turn has affected the cost of new fire system installations and that of recharge and service where gas needs to be replaced  (up to 40% in some cases), making them far less competitive on price. This fact has forced buyers of fire suppression systems to widen their search for equally reliable but more cost effective alternatives.

As already described, Data Rooms need the optimum in automatic fire suppression system and extinguishers as do other special areas such as network infrastructures, art galleries, museums, antique centres, and power generation plants to name just a few. The objective is always to save lives and property. But innovative fire protection can now do a whole lot more. Today it combines science and economics and matches these qualities to total effectiveness and reliability.

It is now even more important for businesses to make the best use of the space in their buildings whether that means renting out areas or maximising space eliminating the need to move premises.

Take a look at the wasted space in many business premises. How much of that valuable building space is actually being put to good use?  A mezzanine floor could be the solution.

If you think about lost volume, rather than simply thinking about the square footage you are trying to maximise the income from, the answer can be quite daunting. Who’s paying for all that non-working space – who’s heating and paying the rates?

Many mezzanine floor Liverpool manufacturers report that some of their customers have been using less than 20% of the cube of their building. With gas and electricity constantly on the rise and the increase year on year of business rates, the full area of the premises needs to be used.

Mezzanine platform applications and systems can make this space work a little harder for you. You can increase your productive footprint without the hassle of moving.
The right premises are not always available, coupled with the fees involved with moving and the hassle of changing address, means maximising a current building is far more practical.
(more…)

O-rings are acceptable for static sealing but inappropriate for dynamic sealing applications such as pumps and compressors, and high and low pressure applications. In these cases a single elastomer may be used with an X-ring profile to prevent twisting in rotary applications. However a composite seal design is often preferred.

A composite seal is a combination of two or more materials to produce a seal that offers the best attributes of both materials. For example, a T-shaped seal comprises an elastomer T-shaped component and two plastic back up rings. The seals are used in reciprocating piston, rod and rotary applications. The T-shaped design prevents the elastomer rolling and the plastic back-up rings, energised by the rubber elastomer, provide improved high pressure performance. Importantly the T-seals can be installed into standard O-ring grooves. Other standard composite seal designs include spring reinforced seals, encapsulated seals, lip seals, energised lip seals and cap seals.

Where greater customisation is needed seal design engineering techniques based on popular CAD packages such as Solidworks, Catia, Pro Engineer and AutoCAD are employed. 3D modelling and analytical behaviour predictive tools such as finite element analysis (FEA) can then be used to explore ‘what if’ simulation scenarios to produce a ‘right first time’ design.

Seal selection tools to assist the engineer are also available online. Temperature and chemical compatibility, groove dimensions for the most common o-ring sizes, and physical performance datasheets enable selection of the most appropriate o-ring seal.

Seal customisation is possible for the physical properties of an elastomer. By making changes to the filler system it is possible to optimise the physical properties of a particular grade of material when compared to others within the same grade. The reinforcement effect of a filler is complex and dependent upon its structure, particle size and chemical make-up of the particles themselves.

In conclusion, the combination of online material selection tools, and application of seal engineering techniques, make it easier than ever for design engineers to optimise the specifications (and performance) of equipment o ring seals.