Transmitter Selection

This is a huge topic - many books have been written on any one of the items you suggest.

Please give details of what you want to know, and why.

Explain briefly what you have done to find out for yourself.

Also, please register. People here will consider your request much more seriously.

Consider talking to an instrumentation Guru at this plant and mentoring from him/her.

Most important: what are you trying to measure, flow, pressure, temperature etc. Next, operating parameters.

Many places I've worked lock in on one manufacturer for all their instrumentation. I think it's because someone too high in the organization is too high, or perhaps it's because someone likes all the "jiggery pokery" (as I've heard instrumentation referred to in some circles) the same colour.

Every manufacturer will try to convince you everything they sell is a world beater. It isn't so. My personal list would follow but it would invite a blizzard of dissenters.

There are manufacturers whose standard devices are so precise, accurate and stable they are used by the NIST as standard. You must not attempt to calibrate these devices because you cannot get any calibrator with greater accuracy. There are other manufacturers who say ours are equal or better - but they aren't.

If your plant is low pressure, moderate temperatures, non hazardous, with clean fluids - nearly anybody can provide your instrumentation - even the Emerson Juggernaut (Emerson rep has specifically stated they are only interested in the easy 80% of applications, I told him I wouldn't trust them beyond the easy 80%. The problem too many people have is thinking because Emerson company's are all #1 and 2 in their markets they must have comprehensive product offerings - and they want you to believe it.) If you have a need for accurate and precise control, low maintenance, low lifetime cost in challenging applications talk to everybody, you must look beyond the everyday, obvious suppliers. And if you really look around you will find you can cut costs significantly and have a better plant for your trouble.

Endress & Hauser, ABB and others have good generic information for providing guidance in selecting appropriate technologies for given application types.

Lots of information needed to answer that question. As previous posters said, take a look at what is in your plant right now and talk to your I&E technician/engineer. Bring information with you like process conditions, the fluid being measured, corrosion problems, etc. or they will just give you a blank stare. A lot of times, they are used to how a certain brand works, have the appropriate diagnostic tools, etc. and will be angry at you if you don't keep them in the loop as to what you are ordering. Plus, they may be getting hats and free lunch out of the vendor...

The I&E techs at my previous unit refused to work on anything other than Rosemount, mostly because they were familiar with the brand.

That business of refusing to tolerate something they aren't used to can be a real problem.

I worked in a refinery where for 15 years a particular Fisher Control Valve had an expected life of 2 to 6 weeks. We had an un-installed spare on the shelf ready to go when the in-service valve began to let go. The service was severe pressure drop with cavitation, the valve was what Fisher swore was the best for the service, the application was critical because if control of the vessel level immediately upstream of the valve was lost - 2200 psig hydrogen would be going to the valve - and disaster would be the result. The refinery was a Fisher ONLY plant. When the valve had to be replaced - it'd be blocked in with an operator with a radio manually operating the bypass valve from a low scaffold, another operator with radio would be watching the level gauge of the vessel, and the operators with radios on the other side of the control room glass wall were sitting on pins and needles watching the control panel, all while millwrights and instrument techs scrambled to replace the valve on the fly. It was costing $8000 each time in parts alone. If you say on average it was every four weeks - that would be 13 times a year - $100,000 per year.

The operations supervisor asked me to find a less problematic solution - when I got back to him suggesting something from a different manufacturer - the maintenance people and the Fisher rep all went ballistic. "If Fisher can't handle it NOBODY can handle it!!!" was their mantra. I got permission to buy the valve I'd settled on, and the team reluctantly put it in. They watched it like hawks, expecting it to fall apart within a matter of hours. Three years later when the plant had a shutdown/turn-around - that valve was the first item removed from the line. The Fisher man was there - everyone stood by to see what a disaster the guts of the valve would be - but when they opened it up there was no sign of damage! Mind you it was a $44,000 valve in place of a $12,000 Fisher valve - but if it saves $100,000 a year - even if only for 3 years - it was a good move to dump Fisher for that valve.

That and similar scenarios played out time and time again in that Fisher only refinery. It makes me wonder how much money is wasted with that kind of single supplier mentality.

I agree, the situation you describe above was a time bomb waiting to go off that wasn't being helped by the maintenance attitude towards something different. However, it sounds like the original post writer needs a lot of direction and his/her best bet would be to go to somebody at their facility with some experience.

Dear Consica thanks to raise the issue. I think my plant similar to the situation you mention, "instruments is Rosemount, valve is Fisher only and only whenever applicable". Maintenance is reluctant to learn instruments from others. I can understand it from other point of view. However from other perspective this limits our courisity and gain much experience and skills from other systems.

As Electrical/Instrument engineer I sometime found myself getting frustated to define suitable instruments for my new project. Almost in many instances I had bad situation with his technical support or sales engineer in getting his supports and advises. In contrast the other was so much kind in supporting me and even ready for "no cure no pay" term.

Please suggest other products do you think have same quality with Rosemount?