Electrode consumption at Johnson Matthey was reduced by 50 per cent after changing to the Inpro4250SG.
Johnson Matthey is a chemicals company focused on catalysts for chemical processes, fine chemicals, chemical catalysts and active pharmaceutical ingredients, plus the marketing, refining and fabrication of precious metals.
The Process Technologies Catalyst business of Johnson Matthey, based in Clitheroe, Lancashire, UK, was looking to monitor pH and conductivity during a critical stage in the production of one of its catalysts.
At this point in the process the catalyst is a thick slurry that can block the electrode reference junction and result in an electrode failure.
The previous pH measurement installation provided little diagnostic information on the state of the electrode and electrode failure was largely unpredictable.
Changing to the pH electrode Inpro4250SG with its open junctions reduced the likelihood of blockages forming in the reference junction.
By using the advanced diagnostics functionality of the M700 transmitter, combined with the Intelligent Sensor Management (ISM) features of the electrode, Johnson Matthey operators were able to get real-time information on the condition of its pH electrode.
This allowed maintenance operations to be performed proactively, thereby reducing the number of unexpected failures and helping to maximise process efficiency.
Technical manager Bilal Tai said: 'The pH tolerances on our products are tight, therefore we need to be confident that our pH measurement is accurate at all times.
'With our old system, we did not have the diagnostic data available to confirm that our pH electrodes remained in good working condition between calibrations.
'If problems did occur, it was often the case that they were not detected within a timescale conducive to the high standards at which we operate our plants.
'Since moving to the M700 and Inpro4250SG we have managed to reduce our pH electrode consumption by around 50 per cent.' If any problems do occur, the sensor network diagram allows operators to quickly locate the source and take appropriate action.
