Leakage detection system for critical cooling circuits

Safe operation ensured by highly accurate SIL instrumentation

If water enters an oxygen lance from a leak in the cooling system, the results can be catastrophic. Why take the risk, when simple means exist to avoid it. Endress+Hauser’s highly accurate leakage detection system, designed to IEC 61511 and EN ISO 13849-1, detects the slightest signs of a leak, so that action can be taken before a situation becomes critical.

Benefits

High accuracy and multi-level safety alarming provide instant information on the leak tightness of cooling circuits
Step-by-step guidance ensures fast, easy and correct commissioning
Highest safety standards guaranteed by independent Safety Instrumented System
Complete solution certified by independent, globally operating safety experts

Safety by choice, not chance

Expanding cracks or small water leaks in cooling system pipes are a safety hazard. Depending on application, they may result in production downtime, damage to plant or in the worst case, loss of life. In such a scenario, detecting leaks is not only an essential part of a plant’s process control system, but more importantly it must also be an integral part of a plant’s safety policy.

With this in mind, our leakage detection system has been designed in accordance with IEC 61511 and EN ISO 13849-1.

Leakage detection

The flow rate and temperature at the inlet and outlet of the cooling circuit are measured using highly accurate flowmeters and rapid response temperature sensors. The temperature-dependent variation in coolant volumes is then compensated using a highly accurate 4th degree polynomial. This allows very accurate and stable comparison of the inlet and outlet volume flow and thus the detection of extremely small leaks.

Simple commissioning

As every cooling circuit is different, the system has been designed to make commissioning as easy and quick as possible:

Integrated I/O signal setup and range adjustment tools simplify commissioning
Step-by-step user guidance speeds up commissioning
When required, signal averaging (smoothing), peak filtering and time shifting optimally adapt the system to the specific process conditions

Once the system is stable, it can detect the smallest differences in inlet and outlet flow (> 0.1%).

Alarming

The system offers three different alarm levels:

small flow deviation warning level – creates no safety alarm
small flow deviation alarm level – safety alarm
big flow deviation alarm level – safety alarm

Alarm limit and delay time can be set individually for each alarm level. To suppress alarms during plant start-up, while adjusting parameters or for other operations each cooling circuit can be individually muted for a specific time.