Croda using wireless to monitor railcar temperatures

Austin, Texas — Speciality chemical manufacturer Croda Inc., part of UK-based Croda International Plc, is using Emerson’s Smart Wireless to monitor temperatures inside railcars containing chemicals at its Mill Hall, Pennsylvania plant.

Wireless temperature transmitters send minute-by-minute temperature readings from the railcars anywhere on site, to improve the performance and safety of their facility. This improves overall plant safety, making operators aware of any unexpected temperature rise and cuts maintenance costs by about $15,000/year.

The wireless system has greatly enhanced the overall safety of the plant and our personnel, according to Denny Fetters, instrument and electrical designer for Croda. He added “no matter where a railcar is positioned on-site, the quality of the transmissions is unaffected, and the signals integrate seamlessly into our control system.”

There are usually three railcars remotely located on the US site. Employees previously had to climb to the top of each car every day to check the temperatures and record each reading— a time-consuming and sometimes hazardous procedure.

At Croda, the wireless temperature transmitters are installed on top of the railcars as it arrives on-site, and are kept there until the car is about to be removed. The wireless communications pass through a 1420 gateway receiver and on to the plant's DeltaV  control system. Operators watch for rising temperatures, while transmitter performance is simultaneously checked by Emerson’s AMS Suite: Intelligent Device Manager.