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Fluke 754 Calibration and documentation for process manufacturing_ Costs, benefits and feasibility онлайн

Calibration and documentation

for process manufacturing:

Costs, beneﬁts and feasibility

White Paper

Process manufacturing plants require hundreds,

even thousands of sophisticated devices that

perform countless critical operations ceaselessly,

accurately, and reliably. Those devices in turn

require regular inspection, testing, calibration,

and repair.

Two centuries of industrial experience has

established the value of carefully recording the

details of those inspections, tests, calibrations,

and repairs. More than a best practice, businesses

and governments often require highly speciﬁc

record keeping to assure that full value is deliv-

ered to customers and that the health and safety

of citizens is protected.

However, traditional testing, calibration and

documentation practices are also labor-intensive,

and with senior operators in scarce supply, down-

sized teams sometimes choose to defer regular

calibration.

This paper reviews route-based, automated cali-

bration practices as an alternative to traditional

methods. Findings suggest that smaller teams can

feasibly conduct and document device calibra-

tions, at a lower overall cost, with additional

productivity and operational reliability beneﬁts.

Why calibrate? Why document?

Calibration deﬁned

In process manufacturing, calibration is the pro-

cess of comparing the reading of a field device to

a calibration standard to determine whether the

device’s accuracy meets performance require-

ments. It can also include adjusting these devices

so that they operate within limits. Calibration is

typically performed when installing a new device,

changing the settings of an existing device, or

reinstalling a repaired device. The devices to

be calibrated, often called field instruments, are

located on factory floors, atop cooling towers,

within pressure vessels—anywhere that process

variables such as temperature and pressure need

to be known and process control is required.

Safety

The most important reason to calibrate is to

ensure safety. A tragic example of this necessity

was an explosion at a Texas reﬁnery. Valves on

an isomerization tower had not been calibrated or

“stroked” (put through their full range of motion)

on a regular basis, and neither the valves nor the

tower’s level gauge had been calibrated regularly

before they failed, causing the explosion.

Quality

To perform at the highest efficiency and quality,

equipment must be well maintained and adjusted.

Instruments that are not well maintained and

adjusted reduce quality and ultimately deduct

from the bottom line. In the case of fine chemicals

or pharmaceutical products, for example, reduced

quality might require the destruction and disposal

of an entire batch. Minor mis-adjustments can

have costly consequences.

Revenue

Calibration and documentation may be required to

insure that purchased products (gasoline or natu-

ral gas, for example) are measured and taxed cor-

rectly. Calibration of the devices that make these

“custody transfer” measurements, especially on

pipelines are one of the most accurate performed

in industry.

Compliance

Government regulation and enforcement agencies

often require calibration and documentation to

verify that devices conform to rules and standards.

Many government agencies require timely and

documented calibration of both ﬁeld instruments

and ﬁnal control elements.

For example, the U.S. Food and Drug

Administration’s Current Good Manufacturing

Practices require detailed, accurate, and up-to-

date calibration records. International quality

standards ISO 9001, 9002, and 14001 require

that detailed calibration procedures be performed

prior to audit approval. ISO 9000 and other quality

standards typically require that the calibration

of the ﬁeld instrument be checked at regular

intervals.

Fluke 754 Calibration and documentation for process manufacturing_ Costs, benefits and feasibility онлайн

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