Emerson Exchange 365

Chemtura ─ a global specialty chemical company ─ has become more stringent about monitoring its critical relief devices, which is why the company decided to revamp its monitoring to eliminate false positives at its Elmira, Ontario, facility.

In the past, the company relied on the standard industry practice of confirming relief events by a sudden loss in process pressure or a failure to attain process pressure, coupled with a pressure relief valve (PRV) vent cap being blown off. However, because critical PRVs are difficult and costly to monitor, Chemtura needed a reliable, cost-effective solution to simplify environmental compliance and reporting.

Today at Emerson Exchange, Mark Garnett of Chemtura and Levi Brown of Lakeside’s Valve Automation Center, discussed the path and methodology taken by Chemtura to effectively monitor the reliability of critical PRVs under all service conditions and environments at its Elmira plant. 

Since acoustic online monitoring may have technical limitations in some situations, the company sought a proactive solution that could deliver real-time and historical data to operations personnel or government agencies.

To achieve these goals, they implemented a wireless monitoring solution developed as a joint venture between Emerson and Farris, a relief-valve manufacturer. The solution uses a Fisher 4320 wireless valve position monitor mounted on a Farris safety relief valve to capture the time and duration of an emission or “lift.” Since this data is accessible online, operators no longer have to make rounds and stand near the relief valve to obtain reliable, safe, and legal information.

Plant personnel now have confidence in the reliable information and the in relief valves themselves as part of the safety system. They can access actual relief valve “lift” data, allowing accurate calculations of relief quantities, which helps predict and eliminate potential events.