As we have discussed in recent blogs, the advent of TVA wireless capabilities has triggered the introduction of much more powerful and flexible LDAR dataloggers to work along with the TVA-1000B and any other VOC detector. These enhanced fugitive emissions instruments have opened up the possibility of addressing and achieving a wide array of LDAR solutions.

One of the most important LDAR solutions involves being able better to understand the factors that are driving the cost of any LDAR program. In the past, it has been assumed that the facility owner was paying for in-house employees or contractor technicians to “monitor LDAR components.” The most experienced and perceptive LDAR managers have long recognized that the real cost of an LDAR program is not the time that it takes to monitor components, but the time that it takes to prepare to monitor, get to the components, identify the specific component that is next in the route, perform any required tag maintenance and then find the next component, not to mention the time required for permitting, safety updates, lunch, breaks and the end-of-day routine.

Looked at from this point of view, we can see that most of an LDAR technicians day is actually spent “not monitoring” even when her work is effectively organized and she is determined to operate at as high a level as possible. In the past, however, the only question that could be reasonably asked, at the end of the day, was “how many components did you get monitored?” For this reason (because it was just about all the data that was available) this was how we tracked technician performance and understood the nature of the expense.
Stated another way: it takes, perhaps, 2 minutes to monitor an LDAR component. But if it is the first component of the day, it could “take” 60-90 minutes, or more. And if the data does not lead the technician directly to the component or if GPS resources are not available, then it could take even longer. It is this extraordinarily long non-monitoring time that is the proper subject of the most diligent analysis.

With the new TVA wireless capability, which is also available for other VOC detectors (such as the phx21™), the LDAR datalogger can now easily record a wide array of information about the time that the technician is not spending monitoring components. How long are the lunch breaks? The technician knows. Do you? How long are the morning and afternoon breaks? How much time (and money!) is being spent on the end-of-day routine AFTER the last component is monitored?

Years of analysis demonstrate that the best technician actually spends less than half of a typical 10-hour day with her probe on an LDAR component. What is being done for those other hours and how can the program be improved to minimize this time? Asking the most important LDAR question is essential to finding the best LDAR solution.

The first step is to deploy fugitive emissions instruments (such as Bluetooth adapters and LDAR dataloggers) that can capture the data that you need.

The next step is to have the right LDAR software in the handheld and on the desktop. The right software on the handheld will help ensure that you collect the information that you need. While the right LDAR software on the desktop should help you mine the data to efficiently assess what the technicians were doing and how their work can be better organized to maximize the value of each LDAR dollar you are spending.

While the comment you posted has been removed as it was not relevant to the topic, you did say you were having trouble with your phx21 and that we(the people behind the product) were not “loyal”. While I am not sure what you mean by loyal, we are eager to help you with your phx21 problems.

A portable FID is a very complex instrument and you will have occasional issues but we have nearly 300 in the field working and we have 2 in our shop being worked on. I am certain we turn you into a happy customer if you let us try.

Hopefully this message reaches you, as you did not leave a valid email address.

Please contact me immediately and I will make arrangements to visit you.

Kevin Moses
Director of Operations
LDARtools
primary 281.542.3108

In the earliest days of the LDAR Industry, there was the Foxboro OVA-108. It was an analog VOC analyzer that presented its PPM results on a dial that made getting a precise reading a lot like trying to tell time with a sun dial. In the fall of 1995, the momentum shifted toward the Thermo TVA 1000. Interestingly enough, it was not the fact that the Thermo TVA 1000 was a vastly superior analyzer that drove the dynamic. The TVA 1000 WAS a digital device along with being much easier to calibrate precisely. When Thermo released the TVA 1000B, with the capability of recognizing multiple calibration (span) points, the technological advantage of the TVA over the OVA was fully achieved.
But the market force that catapulted the Thermo TVA 1000 and 1000B to the undisputed LDAR Industry leader was the capability of interfacing it electronically with the LeakTracker hand held datalogger. By enabling the direct connectivity of the Thermo TVA 1000B with the LeakTracker via the AIMS cable, the integrated package brought about a sea change in the expectation that everyone had about how monitoring readings were generated, captured and labeled with time and date stamps calibrated to the precise second. These time/date stamps and the fact that they were generated automatically by the system (sometimes unbeknownst even to the technician) became the coin of the realm for LDAR program managers determined to shore up the integrity and reliability of their LDAR monitoring results.
Data recordation, management and integrity proved to be a far more compelling LDAR feature than the technological advantages that one analyzer possessed over another.
And so the pattern was set.
The Thermo TVA 1000B maintained its industry domination until the data recordation process experienced another sea change in 2007, when Bluetooth technology started to redefine the LDAR Industry. Almost overnight, the introduction of Thermo TVA 1000B Bluetooth Adapters ushered onto the scene a phalanx of successors to the LeakTracker. The primary selling point was no longer that you had a Thermo TVA 1000B- but that you had a Thermo TVA 1000B Bluetooth Adapter. The analyzer’s function and value was defined, almost, by how it communicated its result to the PDA that the technician was carrying.

And that changed everything.

LDARtools has a Certified Repair Technician for the Archer Field PC manufactured by Juniper System Inc, – Mike Anders. Mike is certified to service and repair the Archer Field PC to assembly level. Since being certified in March 2011, Mike has serviced/repaired more than 240 units for various customers from the United States to Taiwan. These LDAR dataloggers are being utilized in chemical plants and refineries owned by companies such as ExxonMobil, ConocoPhillips, DOW, and Paramount Petroleum to name a few. Most units serviced/repaired are FM Approved Non-Incendive for use in Class 1, Div 2 hazardous environments.

While we do our best to repair all units with 72 hours of arrival, sometimes this cannot be the case. For those occasions, LDARtools guarantees the following:

Repair Lead Times for standard warranty and charged repairs or upgrades are completed within 5-10 business days from arrival to the repair center (not including shipping time and time spent at OEM/reseller facilities if not shipped directly to the repair center). If this lead-time cannot be met, the customer will be notified and given other options. If you need the repair or upgrade sooner, LDARtools offers Archer Extended Warranty and Expedite Service programs to speed the repair, as explained on our web store.

Warranty of Service/Repair Provided:
After any repair has been completed, LDARtools warrants the parts and workmanship of the repair for 90-days. This includes product repairs that are performed during on-site visits and at the repair center. The repair warranty is limited to parts (e.g. components that were replaced in the unit) and labor for that specific previous repair. For example, if the product is returned within the 90-day repair warranty period and the subsequent repair is completely unrelated to the previous repair, it is charged (unless covered by another warranty policy). For a list of the repair warranty exclusions, please refer to exclusions stated by Juniper Systems standard warranty terms and conditions.

For repairs not covered under a warranty program, it is the customer`s responsibility to provide payment information once the reapir order has been processed via the LDARtools web store. If requested when submitting the RMA, a repair order estimate can be provided to the customer after the initial evaluation and prior to any repairs being completed. The repair technician will place the repair on HOLD until receiving the customer`s authorization to proceed with the repair.