Why Calibration Service

1. Why Calibrate? •  Regulations, standards and trade • Custody Transfer • Internal/External Quality Programs (like ISO-9000) • Plant Safety and Uptime • EPA, FDA, NRC, OSHA and other mandated regulations

2. Why Calibrate? •  All instruments change with – Time, temperature, humidity, environmental exposure, vibration, wear and tear –  No two instruments change exactly the same • Scheduled calibrations reduce process downtime risk – Improves the performance and reliability of critical assets •  Product Quality / Yield – Calibration helps processes comparable to traceable calibration standards •  Helps minimize process deviations –  Helps drive process optimization and cost savings

3. Industry changes •  Regulatory forces increasing •  The plant isn’t getting smaller but shrinking budgets are reducing the maintenance staff –  Driving efficiencies and the need to “Do more with less” •  Experienced instrumentation professionals retiring –  Technical and Vocational Schools working to fill voids •  Plant modernizations lead to control system changes •  Competitive pressure offshore push the need for plant optimization, streamlined operations and maintenance practices

4. Process Calibration Elements: •  Calibration equipment, procedures, instrument documentation, calibration management software (CMS), trained personnel Benefits: •  Consistent process performance and efficiency, improved product quality, reduced downtime, safety, regulatory compliance, maximized use of skilled maintenance personnel

5. Calibration, definitions… Calibration: Comparison of a measured value to a traceable measurement standard –  Adjust to agree with the standard if necessary •  Accuracy: The closeness of agreement between an observed value and that of a traceable measurement standard •  Adjustment: Manual or digital compensation of the output signal of device with a known input value applied –  Necessary if a device is not performing as required • Need to understand adjustment tolerance • Need communication tool for digital adjustment Adjustment is part of a calibration process, it is not calibration by itself.

6. Traceability • Unbroken chain of National calibration. Standards • Documented proof.

7. Process Calibration requires: Traceable calibration tools, source functions: –  Temperature, electronic simulation of thermocouples or RTDs •  Does not test the sensor installed in a process –  Temperature, dry block or temperature bath calibrator •  Tests the temperature sensor and transmitter electronics – Pressure, hand pump, or other means to apply pressure to the unit under test – Pressure measurement reference to measure the pressure generated (by a pressure source) and applied to the UUT •  Transfer standard approach –  Other Electronic signals •  Frequency for flow, speed and rotation •  Current for I/P and analog I/O •  Voltage for signal conditioners and analog I/O

8. Process Calibration requires: Traceable calibration tools, measurement functions: – Temperature, thermocouple or RTD thermometer • Measure the process temperature with a reference probe directly and compare with control system – Pressure, measure the pressure output from an I/P or other pneumatic control signals –  Other Electronic signals • Frequency for flow, speed and rotation • Current for all transmitter mA loop signal outputs • Voltage for signal conditioners other voltage output devices – Many transmitters have voltage output instead of mA output.

9. Why document calibration, how? Calibration Records may be: –  required for regulations –  required for quality standards –  required by your customers Calibration records can: –  assist in understanding the performance of a process –  be used to determine a devices suitability for a process – help assess if a device needs repair –  be used to help adjust maintenance intervals •  Calibration records can: –  be manually recorded on a paper form –  be recorded on a palm device or portable computer –  be recorded using a calibrator with documenting capabilities Calibration management software + documenting calibrators enables easy documenting and analysis of field calibrations

10. Calibration process, setup •  Identify critical instruments –  Safety instrumented systems –  Environmental critical (water and air outflow) –  Quality critical: directly effect product quality and value –  Revenue critical instruments: •  Custody transfer, trade related measurements •  Define the interval to maintain desired accuracy –  Instrument should perform in tolerance when tested •  Specifications and test tolerances need careful consideration – Manufacturers claimed accuracies can be misleading –  Test tolerances should be specified by process engineer – The accuracy of both the instrument being tested and the calibrator need to be considered •  Define the procedures for the identified tags

11. Calibration process; execution •  Identify the tags that need calibration •  Organize the work into logical routes •  Collect the necessary procedures, documentation and tools •  Isolate the device from the process –  Lock-out, Tag-out procedure if warranted •  Connect the calibrator, begin to calibrate –  Perform the As-Found test, document the results – Adjust the transmitter if the measured errors are greater than the adjustment threshold defined by the procedure. –  Perform the As-Left test, document the results – Complete the documented record with Tag#, time, date, Serial numbers of the TAG, the test equipment used and its’ calibration data

12. Documented Calibration Requires – As Found Data •  Testing the instrument to determine “As-Found” performance •  Accurate knowledge of the source +Tolerance value is required –  The sourced value and measured values need to be traceable -Tolerance –  The total uncertainty of the source should be 3 to 4 times better than the device under test •  Pass-fail assessment (fail) •  Adjustment required!

13. Documented Calibration Requires – As Found Data •  Re-test to verify adjustments. • “As Left” test documents the +Tolerance condition of the transmitter after adjustment • - Time and date of the test need to be documented Tolerance • Instrument tag, serial number and technician data need to be documented

14. Paperless Instrument Calibration management

15. Why use a documenting calibrator? •  Multifunction source and measure • Automatically capture results, date/time user and tag information • Eliminates manual transcription and legibility errors •  Eliminates “pencil whipped” results • Ensures calibrations performed per documented procedures • Coupled with CMS complete a paperless documenting field calibration system • Assists to comply with regulations and audits • Many have HART communication capability built in

16. Why use a documenting calibrator? •  Multifunction source and measure • Automatically capture results, date/time user and tag information • Eliminates manual transcription and legibility errors •  Eliminates “pencil whipped” results • Ensures calibrations performed per documented procedures • Coupled with CMS complete a paperless documenting field calibration system • Assists to comply with regulations and audits • Many have HART communication capability built in

17. Why use a documenting calibrator? •  Multifunction source and measure • Automatically capture results, date/time user and tag information • Eliminates manual transcription and legibility errors •  Eliminates “pencil whipped” results • Ensures calibrations performed per documented procedures • Coupled with CMS complete a paperless documenting field calibration system • Assists to comply with regulations and audits • Many have HART communication capability built in

18. Why use Calibration Management Software (CMS)? •  Manage calibration records for field process instrumentation •  Print reports or run queries for instruments due for calibration to help assess, schedule and manage •  Connect to Documenting Process Calibrators (DPCs) –  Load instrument procedures and upload documented calibrations •  Documented results enable analysis for drift, reliability or maintenance costs •  Many CMS applications have connectivity to CMMS packages like SAP, Oracle and Maximo

19. Why use Calibration Management Software (CMS)? • CMS completes the documenting Examples: solution when coupled with a • Fluke DPCTrack2 documenting calibrator • Prime Technologies ProCalV5 • Many different solutions from fully • Emerson AMS integrated CMMS to stand alone CMS • Yokogawa PRM • Vary in complexity and price, $4K to • Meridium $100K • Intergraph SmartPlant

20. CMS Software Example, DPCTrack2 • Example entry level single user CMS application. • Upgradeable to ProCalV5 Enterprise CMS software Modern calibration management software packages are easy to use and deliver good reasons to adopt.

21. What should a CMS package do? •  Manage and document process instrumentation performance •  Create custom procedures for download to DPCs •  Upload results from DPCs and store for later retrieval or analysis • Print a variety of reports that support ISO 9000 or other documentation needs •  Search for particular tags and report their history •  Search for tags due for calibration in the past or future • Keep track of all Tags “touched” by a particular piece of test equipment (reverse traceability)

22. Instrument View Search Queries • Search queries can be customized to find populations of tags differentiated by: >Cal Due Date >Tag Id >S/N >Location >Device type >Location >Other fields

23. Task Selection, •  Tags downloaded to the DPC available for selection •  Supervisor can assign as a Task Usage & completion Tag Count route to a technician Number •  Usage count indicates whether a task has been completed using the downloaded task • Tasks must be performed for usage count to increment

24. Takeaways •  Efficiency of route based calibrations can save up to 50% on calibration maintenance labor making technicians more efficient •  Multifunction documenting calibrators minimize returning to the shop to get additional tools •  The efficiency of performing pressure tests with the 729 Automatic Pressure Calibrator both saves time making the technician efficient but also improves the quality of the calibration result. •  Documented calibration results can assist in passing audits or other requirements where calibration records are required

25. Summary •  Calibration is a critical practice to remove variability and maintain safety in a process •  Documentation of calibration history enables advanced analysis techniques •  Field documentation with a documenting calibrator eliminates transcription errors and enables data to be uploaded to Calibration Management Software (CMS) •  CMS can be used to sort the calibrations due into routes for download, maximizes use of skilled personnel •  CMS assists in managing and interpreting documented calibration records and day to day workload assignments