Yokogawa Electric Corporation has developed the TDLS8100 probe type tunable diode laser spectrometer and will release it for sale today (January 23) as part of its OpreXTM Analyzer family.

The TDLS8100 is targeted at applications in the oil, petrochemical, power, iron and steel, and other industries that require the ability to directly measure oxygen or carbon monoxide gas concentration at high speeds, said a company statement.

With its integrated light launcher and detector, this new probe type tunable diode laser spectrometer significantly reduces the need for the installation of flanges and scaffolding, and thus enables a 50 per cent or greater reduction in installation costs.

The TDLS8100 joins a lineup that includes the TDLS8000 tunable diode laser spectrometer for high-temperature and high-pressure gas concentration measurement applications, and is intended for use in the measurement of flowing gases where there is a need to reduce installation costs.

With the addition of the TDLS8100, Yokogawa will be able to provide its customers a greater range of choices on solutions that can help them ensure safe operations and maximize energy efficiency. Within the first half of this year, Yokogawa plans also to release a TDLS8100 model for the measurement of ammonia and hydrogen chloride gas concentrations.

Gas analysers are used in plants to obtain data on oxygen and carbon monoxide gas concentrations that are needed to optimise the air-fuel ratio, thereby reducing energy consumption and helping to ensure safety and compliance with environmental regulations.

Various types of gas analysers are in use today, including zirconia, infrared, paramagnetic, and laser gas analysers. Laser gas analysers can directly measure at high speeds the concentrations of gases such as oxygen, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, and ammonia that are absorbed in the near-infrared region.

Such instruments do not require sampling systems and achieve superior repeatability and linearity. However, such analysers are costly to install due to the requirement to mount flanges for the light launcher and detector on both side of the ducts, and the need to install scaffolding to access both locations. With the development of the TDLS8100, Yokogawa has enabled a 50 per cent or greater reduction in these installation costs.

1. Significant reduction in installation costs
With a conventional gas analyser, support flanges for the light launcher and detector sections must be installed on both sides of the duct. For this installation work and the performance of routine maintenance, permanent scaffolding must be erected. In addition, temporary scaffolding must be put up so that a special cable connecting the light launcher and detector can be installed. The cost of installing such gas analysers can thus range from several million yen to as high as 10 million yen. As the TDLS8100 comes with an integrated light launcher and detector, the flange and scaffolding only need to be installed on one side of the duct, reducing installation costs by 50 per cent or more. This also eliminates the need to periodically perform cumbersome and time-consuming maintenance procedures such as optical axis adjustment that are required with transmitted light detectors that use separate light launcher and detector.

2. Highly accurate and highly reliable concentration measurement
Just like the TDLS8000, the TDLS8100 uses the spectrum area method to calculate the gas concentration from the area in a light absorption distribution chart. Stable measurements are thus achieved even in environments where the gas pressure and temperature fluctuate and other types of gas and large amounts of dust are present. Although the TDLS8100 is a probe type instrument, it is able thanks to the design of its optical components to maintain a stable laser optical axis and light path length (length of transmission of laser light through a measurement sample) for long periods of time.

The company’s major target markets include industries such as oil and gas, petrochemicals, chemicals, electric power, iron and steel, and ceramics, it stated. – TradeArabia News Service