Since mid-2004, power and process boiler operators have had a unique opportunity to compare side-by-side the speed and reliable response of the WDG-IVC combined Oxygen and Combustibles analyzer from AMETEK Process Instruments with their current process solution.

AMETEK – the industry leader in flue gas analyzers – has offered a three-month “test drive” to evaluate the performance of its Thermox^® WDG-IVC. The evaluation provides boiler operators an opportunity to trend the WDG-IVC combustibles measurement for potential process efficiency improvements, fuel savings, and reduced atmospheric emissions under real operating conditions.

Reliable measurement of combustibles (CO = H₂) or CO, together with oxygen, allows users to determine the optimal O₂ set point, resulting in maximized fuel efficiency and minimized NO_X emissions. Typical NO_X reductions of 20% can be obtained simply through good combustion or low excess air firing. The combination of oxygen and ppm combustibles allows monitoring of burner performance and avoids problems due to air leakage.

The WDG-IVC is based on a field-proven design pioneered by AMETEK more than 30 years ago. Its close-coupled extractive sensor style is designed for fast response. In addition, it offers accuracy and ease of maintenance in a wide range of flue gas applications and is a superior alternative to in-situ probes, even in heavy particulate and high temperature flue gas streams.

The WDG-IVC sensor mounts directly on the combustion process to provide continuous measurement of oxygen and combustibles. The unit is suitable for flue gas streams up to 3200°F (1760°C) and ideal for process heaters, reformers and power or steam boilers with rapidly changing loads. The analyzer offers minimum combustibles range from 0 to 2000 ppm.

The WDG-IVC provides an alternative to high maintenance, across-the-stack infrared CO analyzers. It features an improved hot-wire catalytic detector that displays reduced drift and increased sensitivity to low-level carbon monoxide (CO) changes. The detectors demonstrate twice the response level with one tenth of the drift, versus existing hot-wire detector responses to process CO changes.

The improvements in CO-response do not effect the proven sulfur dioxide (SO₂) degradation-resistant characteristic of the hot-wire design. That’s good news for coal-fired power plants and other coal-fired processes.

AMETEK Thermox offers the industry’s most extensive line of flue gas analyzers for measuring oxygen, combustibles, methane and fuel-rich atmospheres and is registered to ISO 9001:1994, which encompasses the design, production, installation, and servicing of its products. Thermox products are fully supported by more than 80 sales representative organizations worldwide.

Thermox is a unit of AMTEK Process Instruments, which also manufactures non-combustion analyzers, including trace oxygen and moisture analyzers, photometric analyzers and Dycor quadrupole mass spectrometers. AMETEK, Inc. is a leading global producer of electronic instruments and electric motors with annualized sales of more than $1.4 billion.

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Phone: (412) 828-9040
Fax: (412) 826-0399
E-mail: info@ametek.com
Web: www.thermox.com