Radical new integrated mounting and manifold block

Parker Instrumentation is launching what it believes is the most significant advance in instrument mounting technology for over 40 years.

Called CCIMS, the radical new integrated mounting and manifold block connects instruments directly to process piping in a tiny fraction of the time previously taken, and dramatically reduces the number of joints - and therefore potential leak paths.

CCIMS (Close Coupled Instrument Mounting Solution) supports the direct connection of differential pressure transmitters - one of the commonest types of process instruments - to process pipework.

Parker Instrumentation believes that CCIMS is the first mounting solution to provide a practical solution for 'close coupling' these instruments, which are used in quantities of hundreds of thousands a year, for flow measurement in a wide range of industries including oil and gas, petrochemical and chemical, and power generation.

CCIMS allows pressure transmitters to be mounted directly onto an orifice plate assembly in less than 30 minutes, typically replacing hand-crafted assemblies of discrete tubing, joint and valve components that can take anywhere from one to three man-days to fabricate.

The labour saving from this aspect of CCIMS alone could save industry hundreds of millions of Euros a year.

Once installed, CCIMS also allows instruments to be clipped onto and off the pipe in seconds - easing maintenance.

"The costs of mounting differential pressure transmitters has stayed much the same for decades, and is unquestioned by plant owners", says Brian Rice, Market Development Manager.

"We have worked with both transmitter manufacturers and users to develop this new mounting concept".

"The launch of CCIMS introduces a solution that challenges the status quo, allowing the industry to re-engineer instrument mounting practice to save cost and enhance performance." The new product also benefits plant operators by reducing maintenance requirements and total cost of ownership, and by enhancing the integrity and performance of the instrument system - factors which are key to the successful operation of the new generations of highly automated and unmanned plants.

The requirement for maintenance decreases substantially because CCIMS technology eliminates the need for 'impulse lines' - the tubing flow paths that normally run between pipe and instrument - helping to avoid the common problem of blockages caused by many factors including viscous media, hydrate formation, freezing, and so on.

CCIMS also incorporates a unique interface that allows the instrument to be clipped onto and off the manifold in seconds, instead of undoing threaded connections, tubing joints, or even welds - which greatly speeds calibration and repairs.

CCIMS further cuts costs because it replaces application-specific assemblies of discrete tubing, joints, valves and manifold components with a single universal module that can be held in stock.

Taken together, these features make a substantial contribution to helping end users achieve the radical new levels of reliability and low maintenance that is required for the control and instrumentation systems in today's highly automated or unmanned plants.

In the oil and gas industry in particular, this issue is often exacerbated by the remote location of equipment, which might be sited on offshore platforms or at wellheads and pipeline pumping stations.

Further significant gains are derived from the 'close coupled' nature of the connection delivered by CCIMS.

A traditional connection, or 'hook up', for a differential pressure transmitter can involve 20-30 joints, every one of which is a potential leak path.

The integrated nature of the new CCIMS solution reduces this to just five - a massive leap in integrity that helps to avoid both the human and environmental safety issues caused by leakages or emissions.

The intimate nature of the piping connection provided by CCIMS also aids the performance of the instrument system.

The length of a typical impulse line arrangement (and the bends which often feature in such arrangements) introduce pressure drops and turbulence that can substantially decrease measurement accuracy, commonly referred to as 'gauge-line error'.

CCIMS positions a transmitter directly adjacent to the process pipe, and provides a short, straight and even flow connection - allowing end users to benefit fully from the instrument's accuracy to monitor their process.

Previous attempts to develop a practical close-coupled mounting solution have been hampered by the need to accommodate the large tolerances involved in connecting to process piping.

Differential pressure transmitters typically operate by measuring the difference in pressure between the upstream and downstream sides of a plate with a known orifice, which allows flow to be calculated.

This orifice plate is mounted between the flanges of two pipe segments.

Pipe flanges are machined to an industry standard, but the tolerances allowed mean that in practice the connection points for the instrument can be misaligned in X, Y, Z and rotational dimensions, as well as the angle of alignment of the flange faces.

This issue has meant that piping and instrument engineers almost invariably connect instruments using a series of discrete components: tubes with threaded connections to the pipe flanges take the impulse lines towards the instrument via isolation valves, and an instrument manifold then provides further valves for equalisation and bleeding/venting.

Such assemblies typically require a minimum of 20 connections and/or welded joints, and very often support brackets as well.

Parker's breakthrough CCIMS mounting solution has two interlocking elements.

A pipe interface module connects to the instrument interfaces on the two flanges, and incorporates two primary isolation valves; this module features an innovative 'universal tubing joint' to compensate for all alignment problems associated with the flanges.

An instrument mounting module - available with a range of manifolds to suit the application - then clips on top of this, again by means of a novel new mechanical interface developed by Parker.

The cost savings in installation and maintenance areas, and the dramatic reduction in potential leak paths that CCIMS brings are expected to be the main attraction for plant operators - and Parker believes that these will help to stimulate users to adopt the new technology.

Instrument 'hook ups' can vary widely, depending on the practices and preferences of the plant's instrumentation engineers, the piping fitters, and the physical space available, but they typically necessitate an assembly time of one to three man-days for differential pressure transmitters.

Mounting an instrument using CCIMS in half an hour (Parker Instrumentation can do it in 15 minutes, typically), represents a likely labour saving of around 12 hours - which equates to approaching 1,000 Euros/dollars per instrument.

With around half a million differential pressure transmitters a year being sold for orifice plate flow measurement applications, the potential savings are enormous.

When taken together with the reliability and performance gains that CCIMS also provides, Parker Instrumentation believes this new technology will fundamentally change instrument mounting practices.