Of the applications that are within our specifications, 99% of gas and 95% of liquid have been successful. Our specifications are extremely broad which enable the separators to be used in 95% of analyzer applications.
The impurities in a gas process are extremely heavy compared to the light representative gases in the sample. Free water and particulate are thousands of times heavier that a commonly used process gas such as hydrogen. This explains the kinetic separations which allow the light gases to reverse direction but the much heavier contaminates must continue in the same direction. As noted, of the applications that are within our specifications, 99% of gas and 95% of liquid have been successful.
The separator has been successful in a number of applications. It was originally designed to improve response time in a gas phase single line sample transport system. It was so successful that the same design was applied to a fast loop gas application and to a liquid application with high particulate fouling and free water. The design was then upgraded and improved to accommodate a filter or mist catcher.
In typical applications, lag times for gases or liquids are 18 seconds and 34 seconds respectively. Lag time is a function of the internal volume and the sample flow rate. The internal volume of the separator is extremely low because the chambers are less than 1″ in diameter. A typical fast loop in a gas process steam with a pressure of 100 psig and a flow of 3 SCFM in the fast loop, 20 SCFH flow from the separators second chamber and a 2.5 SCFH flow to the analyzer will result in a 18 second total lag time for the separator. A typical fast loop in a liquid process stream with a pressure of 100 psig and a typical flow of 2 GPM in the fast loop, with a 10 GPH bypass exiting the second chamber, and 1 GPH flow to the analyzer (inclusive of analyzer bypass) will result in a 34 second total lag time for the separator. Where the ratio of height to diameter (both internal) is greater than 10, mixing lag is not a factor.
The body of the standard separator is 316L Stainless Steel. The first chamber has a PTFE Teflon lining to reduce surface friction. The standard filters are made of Fluorocarbon Resin with a Teflon screen insert. All other parts are 316 stainless steel including the mist catcher. The body may be fabricated of different materials upon request.
The Model 1200 series is available in liquid and gas models.
The SS1200GF is designed for difficult gas applications with heavy particulate and condensate. This model employs a 10-inch, 15 micron, fluorocarbon, hydrophobic filter in the second polisher chamber to filter particulate and coalesce free water. Recommended.
The SS1200LF is designed for liquid applications with heavy particulate and free water contaminates. The polisher chamber is equipped with a 10-inch fluorocarbon, hydrophobic filter with self-cleaning properties to filter particulate and coalesce free water. Recommended.
The SS1200G is designed for the standard gas application with a mist catcher in the second polisher chamber. All components are either stainless steel or Teflon, which ensures years of maintenance free service. A small external filter is recommended.
The SS1200LF-PTFE is designed for liquid service with primarily free water contaminations. The first chamber is equipped with a 10-inch fluorocarbon, hydrophobic filter. The second chamber uses a pure PTFE Teflon filer to repel water.
The SS300 is a kinetic filter housing. Both chambers are designed to accept a standard 2.25″ filter. These filters are in series to facilitate graduated filtration, i.e., higher porosity followed by lower porosity. It uses the kinetic effect which allows it to remove limited condensables after the sample conditioning panel.
This is the only patented kinetic separator. It uses gravity and inertia in the first chamber to separate the sample from the contaminants. The second chamber uses the same kinetic principle for additional second pass separation, and then is aided with a filter or mist catcher. This is particularly useful in times of unit upsets and extremely dirty sample.
The first chamber separates much of the contaminants using kinetic energy and these contaminants exit the separator prior to filtration. The filter in the second polisher chamber only filters the small amount used by the analyzer. Both filters use the flow through the middle of the filters to flush particulates out of the separator.