Sustainability goals encourage companies around the world to further improve the efficiency of their facilities. Advanced ultrasonic measurement instruments provide everything you need to waste less energy in gas distribution.
Air Liquide has been able to lower costs, reduce energy waste and increase duct efficiency in Italy by using advanced ultrasonic test tools from Fluke.
Air Liquide has turned to the ii910 Precision Acoustic Camera, designed by Fluke for easier, faster, and safer high-sensitivity detection of gas, corona discharges, and partial discharges. This instrument only has to point and shoot, hence it can be used by operators with minimal training. It is also capable of detecting compressed air, gas and vacuum leaks, making it ideal for detecting leaks in gas distribution systems.
An ambitious sustainability plan to boost energy efficiency
Air Liquide's ambitious sustainability plan drives the company to increase its energy efficiency and reduce its carbon footprint by addressing costly air and nitrogen leaks at its Syracuse, Sicily DMR (dual mixed refrigerant) refinery. . The company opted to carry out the measurements every two years in all of the refinery's pipelines (7.000m for compressed air and 9.435m for nitrogen), as well as its 5km of interconnection pipelines. ISPRA, the environmental regulatory body in Italy, also requires checks every 12 months to detect and repair leaks.
With its 2kHz to 100kHz frequency range and 64 digital MEMS microphones, the ii910 enables fast leak location as it can detect a 2,5cm leak.3/s at 7 bar from a distance of up to 10m. This acoustic camera also incorporates an LCD screen with a resolution of 1280 x 800 (1.024.000 pixels) and offers a battery life of more than six hours in the field. Finally, by eliminating the need for jumper cables or other devices, the ii910 makes it easy for operators to detect and repair leaks or partial discharges.
Quick identification of various leaks
Air Liquide enlisted the services of the Belgian company Intero – The Sniffers, who took all the necessary measurements with the ii910 acoustic chamber. Using the highly sensitive sensors in this instrument based on Fluke SoundSight technology, ultrasonic signals from the camera quickly revealed several leaks in the refinery's air ducts and numerous leaks in the nitrogen system. This allowed Air Liquide engineers to act immediately to minimize leaks and instantly increase efficiency.
Sebastiano Carpinteri, Process Engineer at Air Liquide Priolo, notes: “As our Siracusa refinery operates 24 hours a day, avoiding downtime is paramount. That requires checking for leaks as easily as possible and the results have to be analyzed as soon as possible. With the Fluke ii910 Precision Acoustic Camera, measurements in all ducts can now be made from a static position by one person. This intuitive handling instrument clearly identifies leaks, allows measurements to be taken without the need for any type of infrastructure and facilitates the generation of updated and accurate reports on the location of leaks”.
