Transmitters are used in various process industries to measure temperature, pressure, level, and flow of media. The plant operators use the readings provided by these transmitters to optimize their processes. Thus, any incorrect measurement in pressure, temperature, or level may be detrimental. This is why organizations emphasize on transmitter calibration. What is calibration? Why is this process important? This post answers these questions to make you understand the importance of transmitter calibration services in the process industry.
Brief Introduction to Transmitter Calibration
The performance of a transmitter deteriorates with time. When this happens, transmitters become unreliable, and may start producing inaccurate results. Calibration refers to the “comparison of the current readings to the standard accurate reading”. Calibration is performed to determine any drift or deviation in readings.
What is the Importance of Transmitter Calibrations
The following 4 reasons will help you understand why transmitter calibration is important:
- Helps Maintain Safety in Process Environments: Calibrating level, pressure or temperature transmitters is important because inaccurate readings may be dangerous. In some process industries, inaccurate readings may put lives in danger. If there is a huge drift between the accurate and current readings, it may impair the final results and bring severe revenue losses.
- Helps Identify Errors in Readings: Many times, the performance of a transmitter may take a dip due to several reasons ranging from operational stress, operating environment, etc. Although most branded transmitters are guaranteed to provide long-term performance, they may not yield as per expectations due to several reasons. Calibration will help reduce drift in readings, and reduce disastrous impact on productivity. This helps ensure that the processes will deliver desired results.
- Additionally, calibration helps identify several installation and alignment errors of these transmitters. For accurate measurements, these transmitters need to be placed at the right location or angle within the equipment.
- Helps Avoid Damage: Machine downtime is one of the leading causes of industrial inactivity. This can be expensive in terms of revenue, and can lead to a wastage of resources. Proactive calibration of transmitters will help plant operators to reduce this downtime, and maximize their productivity. A slight miscalculation in readings may widen the gap between optimal results and damage.
- Conformance to Regulations: Quality standards are important for any business organization that wishes to make a big impact on its customers. Manufacturing companies are required to adhere to certain quality standards, if they wish to remain in business. Calibration is one process or adjustment, which helps these businesses match the requirements of quality regulations. For example: In the energy industry, calibration helps organizations meet requirements of environmental regulations. In various other industry verticals, transmitter calibration helps meet requirements of ISO certification standards.
Today, various transmitter suppliers provide calibration services. You can approach them to perform calibration of your transmitters. The Transmitter Shop provides transmitter calibration services, which allow manufacturing organizations to maintain the accuracy of readings and control processes for optimum results.