The Customer

The Company is engaged in manufacturing industrial inorganic chemicals, specifically high quality catalysts. The catalysts are sold and used in the production of petrochemicals.

The Process

Industrial catalyst manufacturing involves several process steps including impregnation, drying, calcination and filtering. The concentrations of gases/solvents in the the batch processes are always changing. The pollutants (particulates, solvents and/or gases) from the manufacturing process are collected in a vent line and sent to scrubbers where they are dissolved or absorbed. The scrubber liquid normally has very low organics.

The Challenge

After experiencing several fires, the Company decided to add monitoring equipment to the outlet of the scrubber. They wanted to put the upstream processes in safe mode if the LFL exceeded 20% LFL.

The Solution

The Company chose the PrevEx Flammability Analyzer for this application. This analyzer offered a number of advantages:

  • Extremely short response times allowing quick reaction to prevent fire or explosion
  • The unique ability to accurately measure most common process solvent vapors, including mixtures to within a few percent of the LFL without the need for recalibration
  • Fully heated to keep all the elements of the dryer atmosphere in the vapor state eliminating clogging and sample condensation
  • Rugged, industrial design
  • Low maintenance and easy servicing featuring a Service Needed message  and relay contact that anticipates the need for maintenance before faults occurs
  • Failsafe operation

SIC Code

  • 281901: Catalysts, Chemicals

NAICS Code

  • 325180: Basic Inorganic Chemical Manufacturing