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HomeISAPublicationsInTechMagazine2003Safety:Flowcontrolinhazardousenvironments

01 December 2003

Flow control inhazardous environments

BY Patrick Lowery and Richard Thompson
It'sdifficulttoprovideaclosedloopedcontroloffluidflowinanintrinsicallysafezone,becausethedevicemustmeetcertainelectricalresistance,capacitance,andinductance
requirements.Itmusthavemorethantwoindependentmeansoffailureonemechanicalandoneelectricalbeforeitignites.ThemoststringentofthesespecificationsisClass1,
Division1(orZone0,internationally)applicationswherethereisexplosivegasorliquid.
Flowcontrollersshowupinnearlyallindustriesthatrequireaccuratedeliveryofgasorliquidmediatoachemicalprocess.Theymanagetherateofflowintoaprocessbyusinga
flowmeterintegratedwitheitheramanualorservocontrolledproportionalcontrolvalve.Tomakeprocessesfaster,better,andcheaper,flowcontrollersneedtobeelectronically
modulated,sotheprocessloopcanbecomeclosed.Theseprocessesappearinsideapotentiallyexplosiveatmosphere,ortheyrequirethecontrolofanexplosivegasorliquid.
Applicationsincludeinsituprocessanalyticalsamplingsystemsinpetrochemicalplants,manufacturingprocessgasandchemicalcontrol,andhydrogengasandfuelcontrolforfuel
celldelivery.
Mostelectronicclosedloopflowcontrollersemployaflowfeedbacksensorandelectromagneticorpiezoresistiveproportionalvalve.
Inpractice,thereareonlytwowaysyoucoulduseaflowcontroldeviceinsideapotentiallyexplosiveatmosphere.Youcouldsegregateorseparatethedevicebymeansofa
physicalbarriersuchasasealed,purgedenclosure.Butthemoreelegantapproachistodesigntheflowcontroldevicetobeintrinsicallysafe,meaningtherewillneverbeenough
electricalenergyavailabletocreateaspark(orhightemperatureevent)andignitetheexplosiveatmosphereinthepresenceofairoroxygen.
Theintrinsicallysafedevicereliesonmechanical,selfregulatingpressurebalancingvalvesinconjunctionwithaprecisioninternalflowrestrictor.Theflowcontroller'ssetpoint
materializesviaapneumaticsignalbyanewlydeveloped,highresolutionelectronicpressurecontrollerandflowcomputeroutsidethehazardouslocation.Asinglepassive,
intrinsicallysafepressureandtemperaturetransduceremploystheflowfeedback.

INTRINSIC SAFETY STANDARDS

ThetwomoststringentintrinsicsafetystandardswithrespecttoexplosionorsparkpreventionaretheClass1,Division1,andtheClass1,Division2,specificationsasdefinedbythe
NationalElectricCodeArticle500standardsintheU.S.
Thetermintrinsicallysafereferstothefactthatanydeviceintheexplosiveenvironment,subsequentlyreferredtoastheintrinsiczone,cannotstoreenergyorhaveoperational
energyrequirementsthatexceedtheenergyrequiredtocombustflammableorexplosivegases,fuels,orparticlesinthepresenceofanoxidizersuchasairoroxygen.
OneimportantrequirementforClass1,Division1,applicationsistherecannotbeasituationwherethedeviceundergoesamechanicalfailureorfaultthatreleasesignitablegases
orvaporsatthesametimeasanotherelectricalfailure,whichwouldbecomeasourceofelectricalignition.Sayaflowcontroldeviceaccidentallybursts,therebyreleasingignitable
gas,wheretheexplosionalsoexposedabarecircuitboard,electricalsensor,orwire.TheClass1,Division2,specificationdoesnotcontainthisaddedclause.
Inpractice,electronicsusedinClass1,Division1,applicationsaretermedintrinsicallysafecircuits,whereasClass1,Division2,applicationsaretermednonincendivecircuits.The
termnonincendivereferstocircuitsthat,undernormaloperatingconditions,havenoarcing,sparking,orexposedsurfacesthatoperatehotterthantheautoignitiontemperatureofa
surroundinghazardousorexplosiveatmosphere.Theelectricalenergyusedinnonincendivecircuitsmaybesufficienttoignitethehazardousatmosphere,butunlessthereisafault,
thereisnoignitionmechanism.

COMMON MASS FLOW CONTROLLERS

Therearethreecommonmassflowcontrolmethods:thermalmass,Coriolis,andpressurebasedmassflowcontrollers(bothsonicorificeanddifferentialpressure).Themost
commonmassflowcontrolleronthemarkettodayisthethermalmassflowcontroller.Itemploystwothermalsensingelementsthatrelateatemperaturedifferencetoagivenamount
ofheat,hencemass,thatisbeingtransferredfromoneelementtoanother.Therefore,thethermalmassflowcontrollerreliesontheheattransferproperties(specificheatandthermal
conductivity)oftheparticulargasgoingthroughittosensethemassflux.
Thedevicereliesonheatingofthecapillarytubewithahighwattdensitytoallowenoughheattransferbythegastobedetected.Therefore,itisverydifficultforthethermalelement
tomeetintrinsicsafetyrequirements,duetothesimultaneousfaultcriteriaClass1,Division1,applicationsspecify.Simplyput,ifthesensortubefails,theexplosivegaswillcomein
contactwiththeheatedfilamentsandcouldcauseanexplosionduetohightemperatureorhighenergydischargeofthefilaments.
Regardlessofthespecificmeteringorfeedbackmechanism,alloftheserespectivemassflowcontrollertechnologiesrelyonaproportionalcontrolvalveintheformofasolenoidor
piezoelectricactuatedvalve.Becausethesolenoidisaninductivedevice,itrequiresafairamountofenergytomovethevalveagainstafloworpressuregeneratedforce.The
piezoelectricactuatorreliesonthepiezoelectriceffect,whichinvolvestheisolinearexpansionofamaterial(attheatomiclevel)inthepresenceofanelectricfield.Althoughthe
overallenergyconsumptionofthesevalvesisverylow,thevoltagesandelectricfieldsneededacrossthepiezoelectricmaterialarehigh,whichcancomplicatethedesignofthe
poweramplificationcircuitryforintrinsicallysafeapplications.Asaresultofthesefundamentalelectricalrequirements,theyareinherentlydifficulttouseinanintrinsiczoneor
hazardousareabecauseofpossiblehighenergydischargewiththevalveortheassociatedelectronics.IT
PatrickLoweryisvicepresidentatFlowMatrixInc.inCarlsbad,Calif.RichardThompsonwasformerlywithSiemensAppliedAutomationinBartlesville,Okla.