Emerson enhances Rosemount 5300 radar level transmitter

Emerson’s market-leading Rosemount 5300 guided wave radar level transmitter has been enhanced with new features to prevent costly product ingress and maximise tank throughput. These new upgrades are intended to deliver increased usability, safety, performance and profitability in even the most challenging applications. PIF takes a closer look at the Rosemount 5300’s new and improved features.

Emerson has enhanced its Rosemount 5300 guided wave radar level transmitter to optimise separation process performance and prevent costly product ingress by accurately measuring a thinner top liquid layer in interface applications. The market-leading guided wave radar for liquid level measurement can now also perform measurements to the top of a tank, enabling increased throughput and profitability.

Rosemount radar level transmitter maximises efficiency and profitability

Operators have long struggled to obtain the most accurate level interface measurements to increase the efficiency of separators and maximise profits. In addition, with large tanks able to contain millions of gallons of liquids, even a small volume inaccuracy can translate into millions of dollars in lost revenue.

In interface measurement applications, such as separators, the top product layer must be of a certain minimum thickness for a guided wave radar transmitter to distinguish between the echoes from the two liquids. Previously, this minimum detectable thickness would be between 50 and 200 millimetres.

Emerson’s unique patented Peak in Peak interface algorithm now enables the Rosemount 5300 to detect a top liquid layer of just 25 millimetres. This further prevents unwanted product ingress and enables the performance of a separation process to be optimised, helping users maximise operational efficiency and profitability.

Rosemount 5300 provides accurate and repeatable measurements

The Rosemount 5300 can provide accurate and repeatable measurement to the very top of a tank when used with a large diameter coaxial probe, enabling users to optimise tank capacity and increase throughput. These probes provide the strongest return signal, have no upper dead band and are not affected by obstacles on the tank wall.

High amplitude noise created as microwaves passing through the process seal between transmitter and probe has traditionally affected measurement accuracy at the top of the tank. Enhanced process seal design has enabled Emerson to eliminate this noise, facilitating accurate measurement to the top of the tank during both filling and emptying phases.

To increase measurement reliability and ease-of-use in upstream oil and gas applications, the Rosemount 5300 features a new factory-configured threshold setting, where the echo below the threshold is assumed to be oil and the echo above the threshold is assumed to be water. This eliminates double signal bounces that can be mistaken as an interface level measurement and enables more predictable behaviour. This creates a true plug-and-play device that simplifies installation and operation.

Remote proof-testing minimises risk and maximises safety

To ensure the integrity of the transmitter in safety-critical applications, such as overfill prevention and dry pump protection, verification reflector functionality enables comprehensive remote proof-testing of the device with 94% test coverage. This can be performed in minutes from the control room during operation and without having to raise the tank level to a potentially hazardous point. This reduces downtime, minimises risk and maximises the safety of both plant and workers.

Compared with traditional diagnostics, which only monitor the transmitter electronics, verification reflector functionality can also be used to diagnose problems with the upper parts of the probe inside the tank, such as corrosion monitoring and other process-related conditions.

The Rosemount 5300 is also now fully and easily configurable using a broad range of customer tools, with both the Device Descriptor and Device Type Manager configuration methods updated to the latest device dashboard. The device’s configuration software can now switch between Rosemount and NAMUR alarm limits, providing users with increased flexibility and choice.

For more information about the Rosemount 5300 guided wave radar level transmitter, or any other Emerson products, visit www.emerson.com.