On-Line Ion Chromatography System At AEP

At AEP Energy Service's Energy Service's Ferrybridge C PowerStation an on-line process analyser from Metrohm is ensuring that the station boilers stay on line for the maximum number of hours.

At AEP Energy Service's Energy Service's Ferrybridge C PowerStation in West Yorkshire an on-line process analyser from Metrohm is ensuring that the station boilers stay on line for the maximum number of hours.

The 2 MW coal fired station has four boiler units, the water for which has been continuously monitored since last December using the Metrohm 821 Compact Process Analyser.

The analyser measures chloride and sulphate levels in the water, monitoring two of the units in turn so that a result is obtained every 30 seconds for each unit.

The water fed into the boiler unit is demineralised and should generally contain few chloride ions.

An increase in chloride concentration is indicative of a leak in a condenser tube, which needs to be repaired with the system going offline for maintenance.

But with the statistical trend plotting software of the 821 analyser, it is possible to pick up on such chloride increases at a very early stage, so minimising the amount of downtime needed to carry out the maintenance work.

Although Ferrybridge also has Metrohm Compact stand alone Ion Chromatography in its laboratory, the 821 performs its analysis online at the point of sampling, freeing up station analytical staff for other duties.

Spokesman for AEP say they have been very pleased with the robustness and reliability of the 821 instrument.

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