Camera systems in hazardous (classified) locations to monitor and control the separation of liquid waste products in chemical plants

Today it is essential to have high-quality measuring systems for chemical processes in order to obtain reliable data for the control system. For some process applications it is difficult to find a dependable method to measure important values that are vital for the end product. In the case of a liquid waste product processing facility the difficult measuring task is to monitor the separation of Anilin and water in a vessel. In this application, standard measuring methods cannot monitor the process reliably, especially during a start up phase. To avoid cost-intensive and time-consuming monitoring by staff directly at the vessel, the task can be solved by using cameras to monitor the process. The additional problem is to design such a solution for a facility that is classified as a Zone 1 hazardous location. The solution provides additional visual information to values from level transmitters, capacity probes and microwave probes. The use of modern digital video equipment enables the control staff to monitor the separation process. The video image is placed in the control room with all other control systems. The control staff is able to operate and monitor all systems from one central point.