(This blog is based on a joint presentation given by Alan Mata and me at the recent ISA LDAR Symposium held in New Orleans, La.)

As a result of specific, recent events, the intrinsic safety of the fleet of VOC analyzers in use at many sites may be at risk. For several years, expense and logistical difficulty associated with maintenance and repairs on LDAR analyzers has led many companies to seek out and develop alternatives to the discipline with utilizing certified, factory repair facilities.

Uncertified, third-party repair operations started. At the same time, some contractors have developed their own in-house repair processes. The obvious benefits were lower costs for parts, labor and shipping. Unfortunately, the inevitable result has been to compromise the intrinsic safety of the analyzers subject to these “bootleg” repairs.

Consider the case of just one of the VOC analyzers on the market today, the phx21: almost 200 separate parts, more than 60 gas/vapor connections and more than 30 electrical connections. When assembled at the LDARtools factory, the instrument is subjected to 240 quality control steps.

Hydrogen molecules have two, very important characteristics. They are very small and they are very combustible. This makes the gas/vapor connections important (they are meant to keep the hydrogen where it belongs). The electrical connections are just as important (they are meant to prevent a ignition of the fugitive hydrogen or other molecules).

Hydrogen where it doesn’t belong exposed to an ignition that shouldn’t be there is a recipe for an LDAR catastrophe.

Hence, 240 quality control steps.

ANYONE performing an unauthorized repair on an analyzer such as this one is likely ignoring a critical, quality and safety perspective: which of the connection(s) has been compromised and which of the quality control steps is required to identify it?

When this question doesn’t get asked(and answered correctly!), very bad things can happen. Technicians are at risk. We will consider those risks in our next post.

Now for something a little more light hearted. Our last post contained a picture of the new pond that was under construction. It’s done and we thought we would have a little fun… See the video below. NOTICE: There is nothing intrinsically safe about what you are about to see.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=maHQQ4se6RE]

Tips from Techs features real maintenance and repair issues – with real solutions from LDARtools’ very own repair technicians.

Hello from LDARtools Repair Shop,

Here’s a quick tip to avoid a costly mistake to your phx21 and your charger. When connecting the charger to the phx21, always line the charger up correctly before trying to insert and make a connection.

If too much pressure is applied and the charger is not lined up, you can break the charger pins on the charging bulkhead on the phx21. Remember that the charger is screwed onto the phx21, never try to remove the charger by pulling. I also recommend checking your charger weekly to ensure that there no damage to the cord.

Correctly connecting the charger may seem like a simple step, but if the charger is not connected correctly valuable monitoring time and money could be lost. Don’t forget we recommend that you charge to phx21 daily for 10 hours (plug in when you are headed home for the day) to achieve a full charge.

If you have any repair, maintenance, or preventative maintenance questions that you would like our techs to address, please feel free to email us at support@ldartools.com

Until next time,

Connor O’Keefe

LDARtools will be featuring advice from LDARtools’ own repair technicians in a new blog spot called  “Tips from Techs”. If you have any repair, maintanance, or preventative maintanice questions that you would like our techs to address, please feel free to email us at support@ldartools.com

Hello from LDARtools Repair Shop,

As many of you may know the phx21 is designed and intended to have minor repairs performed on site. Some of the repairs include replacing the pump, changing out the battery or maybe even replacing the glow plugs.

When performing a repair caution must be taken not to damage any other parts of the phx21. At the LDARtools Repair Shop we have noticed that damage to other parts of the phx21 are occurring during these minor repairs.

Lets take a look at a couple steps that can be taken to avoid abuse, specifically to the FID that is located at the bottom of the phx21.

To begin a repair you must first remove the bottom overmold, which is done by removing the four screws located on top of the padeye plates.

Once the overmold is removed you must remove faceplate to to be able to remove the case.

Now a repair can begin. Once you have completed the repair great caution must be taken when screwing the faceplate back into the FID.

At LDARtools we recommend lubricating the FID screws before tightening into them into the FID. Be sure that the screws are straight on and not going in at angle. If screws are jammed or forced into the FID the screw could break of inside, resulting in a costly repair.

Please feel free to contact us a LDARtools if you ever have any repair questions! support@ldartools.com

Have A Great Weekend,

0mar M.

Find out simple maintenance steps to keep your phx21 in top working condition.

For the majority of gadgets, devices, and tools that we use everyday, regular maintenance is the key to keeping them running like they should. We at LDARtools feel that your analyzer should be no different. During the design of our phx21 analyzers, we created multiple ways in which the user could monitor the unit’s various operational parameters to allow for an easier way to perform regular maintenance. Some of these points are visual and take a simple glance to check such as the integrity of the orings and the probe tubing. Other checks are done by viewing the details menu on the PDA that is being fed information from the analyzer itself. This allows for not only the ability to have a more successful and faster troubleshooting of the unit, but it allows the more important function of preventative maintenance to be performed at a much higher level than ever before. Below is the LDARtools phx21 Maintenance Check.

We at LDARtools recommend that these maintenance checks become part of the unit’smaintenance routine. By taking just a few minutes at the start of each day, technicians using the phx21 analyzer can verify some key points prior to going out into the field to monitor for the day, leading to increased longevity and lifespan of the unit’s components.

With all of the other maintenance that you perform on various other devices in your life, why should the phx21 analyzer that you are using for YOUR fugitive emissions monitoring program be any different?

Kevin Moses, Director of Operations, shares day one of his visit to Taiwan.

I am currently visiting Pantech in Taiwan to meet customers and train them on more advanced phx21 repairs. I arrived last night about midnight after 21 hours of travel.

So today we started our day at a gas station. Sniffing wells that would detect or rather collect leaking gas storage tanks. The regulations are quite strange, while we were only looking for gasoline, a FID, PID, and LEL must be used. Can anyone explain that?

After that we ate sushi for lunch- of the 5 of us that was supposed to make it only 3 did. We found this out after we ordered. It’s a long story, but basically it ends with me eating for 3. I was happy for a car ride afterwards, I slipped into a food coma that can only be compared to post Thanksgiving slumber.

In the afternoon I got to tour Pantech’s Taichung shop. Great place. Some photos:

 Above: Oscar Kuo. The owner of Pantech. Below: Hugo, one of the engineers.

For dinner we had Texas steak. There’s nothing Texas about it. In fact, they have just about every flag in the world flying from the ceiling, except the Texas flag. I’m going to send them one. Anyway…I got a nice medium rare steak- topped by a massive dose of fennel seeds. Very interesting.

While I ate a steak and clean my plate . The night is young and there more food to eat. It’s time we go shrimping…actually I’m not sure if its shrimping or fishing for shrimp. That’s right, we used a fishing pole (with the words smallest hook) in a saltwater swimming pool to catch massive shrimp. Best part, we the worlds smallest shrimp as bait. Because no activity is complete without food, we had to stop on the way there to get Gua bao– so good.

Good night all. The future is bright.