The interplay of a flow meter in a traditional process loop and a valve are known, where the flow measurement from the flowmeter are used to generate a setpoint (%) for the valve. This, however, is not the most efficient form of control due to inherent loss of control quality over the loop involving lag within PID of flow controller to generate % setpoint, valve hysteresis, communication delays, etc.
FOCUS-1, as the 1st integrated control and measurement device, was installed at HEROS Sluiskil B.V. in the Netherlands to provide a much faster and efficient form of control, flow as a setpoint. However, during the initial operation as a valve (% as setpoint), the flow measurement across the device showed a much lower flowrate, and flow velocity, than what is ideal for accurate flow measurement in such an integrated device. It wasn’t so much the measurement deficiency here, but the fact that the device in DN80 size was sized too large for the actual process conditions that were measured by the FOCUS-1. It was, therefore, decided to continue using this device based on % as setpoint and functions still today without any issues.
The real added value of such a multi-parameter control and measurement device was evident in this installation, where the customer requested a device based on design conditions. But the integral measurement of the key process variables, flow, pressure, and temperature, provided actual feedback to ensure the right control philosophy and size in such applications. Furthermore, we validated the ease of integration that FOCUS-1 brings with it.
As was demonstrated at HEROS, FOCUS-1 truly shed new light on one of the process loops of today!
