Operational Excellence with Improved Magmeter Design

Reduced maintenance results in less inventory required and improved returns.

The U.S. manufacturer, Sigura, purchases chlorine paste from a partner company to produce water purification tablets for swimming pools, hot tubs, and drinking water.

The process to create purification tablets from the original chlorine paste must be done safely due to the nature of chlorine.

Because safe water is regulated and the tablets created by Sigura must meet certain standards, they must be sure the process is completed and documented correctly. 

Challenges

To produce water purification tablets, Sigura purchases chlorine from a manufacturing partner and uses a strict recipe that requires accuracy in measurement and continuous flow. Safe operation with chlorine requires that there are no leaks into the product or the production environment.

Accurate and durable magnetic flow meters (magmeters) were difficult to maintain in the process as the corrosive and abrasive nature of the process degraded their operation. That led to leaks that not only reduced the flow, but also contaminated the product and the magmeters. Since Sigura maintained strong vigilance, the company needed to replace some meters monthly. 

Sigura requested improved magnetic flow meter replacements from their original supplier, but the longevity and durability of the new flow meters were not any better. The Sigura team continued to replace the magmeters each month.

Solution

After testing a single Yokogawa AXG magmeter in a remote location away from the process, Sigura recognized its robustness, which leads to longevity. After approximately three months of continuous operation, the flow meter was removed and inspected during a planned shutdown. The tube liner was found to be in as-new condition.

In Sigura’s process environment, the AXG magmeter’s retaining grid in the flow-tube lining proved to be a great strength. The tube through which material flows uses an injection-molded lining made of perfluoroalkoxy (PFA) resin that, even as it wears down, enables the meter to continue reading and prevents catastrophic failure. The liner provides a no-leak path even in vacuum conditions.

Over time, Sigura has replaced their previously used magnetic flow meters with new instruments from Yokogawa. Because they do not need to replace the magmeters often, they will experience reduced inventory costs, fewer maintenance trips to the field, and additional time to focus on more productive activities.

In addition, Sigura operations will not experience the unplanned downtime that would be required to replace the flow meters. Plus, the process will be safer because they will not experience chlorine or water leaks.

As Sigura moves forward with their Yokogawa solution, they can depend on expertise shared through lunch-and-learn sessions, which cover simpler operation, installation, and programming of the electronics. Yokogawa will continue to co-innovate with them to improve the solution to safely produce the water purification on which their customers rely.

Key Advantages

• Fewer magmeter replacements enable continuous operations.
• Reduced maintenance results in less inventory required and improved returns. 
• Expert support to improve efficiency provides worry-free operation.