Top 4 Lessons for Engineers to Extend Life of pH Sensors

Engineering Skill Set

The ultimate problem with pH measurements is often limited or no process control. In each of these cases, the main question is: "How can I make sure I have a reliable pH measurement and extend the lifetime of my pH sensor?"

Here are the four lessons that are common among top engineers:

Lesson 1:    Use a Step-by-Step Approach

First of all, following a logical structure in case of troubleshooting will help drill down the cause of the problem systematically. The sequence of this step-by-step approach is:

pH Troubleshooting Process

Lesson 2:    Patience

The second important lesson is patience. Hasty conclusions may not always be correct conclusions. For example, if a pH cable looks dirty, it might be tempting to blame it on a faulty cable. But, after following the four step-structure above, another cause may become visible. 

Proper calibration also requires patience. Top service engineers when performing pH sensor calibrations waited a bit longer after getting a stable signal, before moving onto the second buffer. This is important because an analyzer is a computer and will only give a stable signal when the mV value has not changed for five seconds (standard setting). Remember sensors that have been installed for some time will become slower. To increase the accuracy it is important to be patient and take a few seconds more.

 

How Does Temperature Affect A Sensor's LifetimeLesson 3:    Slope and zero of a pH sensor

Understanding the meaning of slope and zero of a pH sensor with help indicate the health of the sensor:

  • Slope < 80 % = sensor needs to be replaced
  • Zero higher than +40 mV = sensor needs to be replaced
  • Zero lower than – 40 mV =  sensor needs to be replaced

 

Lesson 4:    Temperature effects 

Temperature affects the lifetime of a pH sensor. Every 10°C decrease in temperature will double the lifetime of the sensor.

 

Conclusion

Learning these four lessons will help improve engineers’ skills and most importantly extend the life of the pH sensors.

  1. Step-by-step approach
  2. Patience
  3. Slope and zero of a pH sensor
  4. Temperature effects

Read more and download our free pH eBook to learn about the best practices that can extend the lifetime of a pH sensor.

 

Download pH Sensor Lifetime eBook

 

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