CEMEX’s Rugby Cement manufacturing facility produces 4,200 tonnes of cement each day, and in order to maintain this huge output, it is vital to keep the plant’s giant kiln turning. During a recent trial at the site an ABB TTF300 temperature transmitter was set up to monitor the temperature of one of the bearings responsible for carrying the enormous weight of this kiln.
The only thing keeping the two faces of the white metal bearing apart is a thin layer of lubricant. If the bearing temperature starts to rise, it can indicate a problem with the lubricant, trouble with the lubricant supply system or excessive load because of a problem with the kiln. An alarm trips if the temperature climbs to 80oC for any reason, because excessive temperatures will ultimately damage this critical bearing and engineers need to be able to spot a rising temperature fast. Electrical engineer, Andrew Pitt takes up the story:
“The two things that make this transmitter especially suitable for us are that it is rugged and very easy to program. It doesn’t need a laptop or other computer to configure it, which is good because we don’t like taking computers out on site where they can get damaged. The simple configuration can also be carried out by ordinary engineers, rather than having to use specialised technicians for the job.
“The first transmitter has been installed for more than a year already without needing any maintenance. We’ve just installed two more and will now be using them as standard.”
ABB’s TTF300 HART temperature transmitter replaces its field-proven, head-mounted TH202 transmitters. It is easily configured, thanks to the built-in LCD display, and it also offers improvements in terms of diagnostic information compared with its predecessor.
The transmitter includes a universal sensor input for RTDs, thermocouples, Ohms or mV and also offers sensor drift detection and built-in sensor redundancy, which reduces downtime and increases maintenance intervals. The unit gives a 4-20mA output signal with digital HART and offers an accuracy of 0.1% with long-term stability of 0.05% per year. The IP66, IP67 and NEMA 4X aluminium or stainless steel field-mountable housings make the transmitter suitable for really tough environments.
The TTF 300 is part of ABB’s new generation of HART transmitters. Featuring SIL2 certification from TUV, it meets the needs of process industries in a wide range of safety critical applications, including chemical processing and oil and gas applications.