Emerson’s smart wireless technology helps Swedish paper mill 06 February 2012

Swedish paper and board firm Korsnäs Gävle is reporting better environmental compliance verification since installing Emerson Process Management's Smart Wireless instrumentation.

Its Gävlebukten plant implemented conductivity and temperature transmitters to collect leak-detection data associated with water from heat exchangers prior to its return to the sea.

Peter Hallenberg, project leader process automation at Korsnäs Gävle, explains that mall internal leaks may result in the discharge of hazardous chemicals into the local environment.

Any leak of acids, bases, or salts will raise the electrical conductivity of the water, and so is easily detected using a conductivity sensor. But a renovation project in the utilities section meant that I/O supporting existing instrumentation was to be removed – and hence the requirement for an alternative measurement transmission method.

"Initially, we considered installing new cable runs, but the process would have taken too long and would have delayed the planned renovation project," comments Hallenberg.
"The application presented a great opportunity for us to install and evaluate Emerson's Smart Wireless technology, which takes advantage of the IEC 62591 [WirelessHART] communication standard," he adds.

Wireless equipment installed includes a Rosemount Analytical 6081-C transmitter connected to a conductivity probe. This transmitter sends measurement data via a Smart Wireless Gateway to the existing control and data acquisition systems.

Korsnäs Gävle also needed to establish new continuous monitoring of emissions from aerated basins and ponds. So 22 new sensors measuring pH, dissolved oxygen and water temperatures had to be installed and connected to the central monitoring system. Again, there were no available cable runs, and new cable infrastructure presented a considerable challenge and cost at €200 per metre.

Hallenberg went for six Rosemount wireless transmitters, each with four available inputs, to relay data from the analytical sensors. "Less than two months after ordering the Smart Wireless devices, the whole system was fully operational. That is very fast for implementing 30 new measurement points," he observes.

Korsnäs Gävle installed seven Rosemount 648 wireless temperature transmitters to automate the monitoring of water temperatures in wastewater pits that feed the aerated basins and ponds. A further eight wireless transmitters will be installed to identify plugged filters on two wood chip digesters within the main processing section of the plant.

Brian Tinham

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