CEION (TM) - cost reducing technology

Citation

(1999), "CEION (TM) - cost reducing technology", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 46 No. 5. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.1999.12846ead.022

CEION (TM) - cost reducing technology

CEION^TM - cost reducing technology

Keywords Cormon, Measurement, Corrosion monitoring

CEION^TM from UK-based Cormon Limited is reported to be a new advanced metal loss measurement technology for detecting corrosion and erosion of process piping and pressure vessels. According to Cormon changes become evident within minutes, enabling engineers to take immediate corrective action to minimise the damaging effects of corrosive fluids or entrained solids.

Cormon believes that the CEION^TM technology makes it possible to move monitoring into a real-time domain and actively manage corrosion/erosion to reduce costs and maximise production. This, it is thought, represents a significant development at a time when the oil and gas industry in particular is making urgent efforts to operate more efficiently in the face of sustained low oil prices. Other benefits claimed of the technology will be the greatly reduced life cycle cost of monitoring, delivering more valuable information for less expense.

The resolution of CEION^TM is said to be over 100 times better than that of its ancestor, the electrical resistance (ER) ratiometric technique. It is claimed that in some conditions it is possible reliably to detect the loss of a nanometer (10^-6mm) of material. Until now fast response has been the province of electrochemical techniques but these require a conductive water phase and often perform inconsistently in hydrocarbons. CEION^TM operates entirely independently of the properties of the process medium, requiring no such conductive phase. Cormon points out that its sensitivity to erosion is another advantage that the technology enjoys over electrochemical methods, along with an ability to measure temperature.

Before CEION^TM, the only way to get even moderately fast response was to use very thin sensors with a proportionally short service life. Making sensors thicker to get longer life greatly increased the time needed to detect a change and lost the opportunity to take control of the situation in time to prevent damage. Cormon has developed CEION^TM sensors that reportedly have an extended lifespan but still retain fast response. Five- and ten year life sensors are now claimed to be possible that can be placed where they are most needed, not just where they are accessible for online maintenance and replacement.

It is thought that the total life cycle cost of CEION^TM technology, the total amount spent on purchasing, installing and maintaining a sensor over the life of the process facility, will be much lower than that of its predecessors. This is said to be due to the reduced maintenance and replacement costs that result from this long life and low intervention capability.

Details available from Cormon Limited. Tel: +44 (0)1273 441168; Fax: +44 (0)1273 441169; E-mail: bdavies@cormon.com Internet: http://www.cormon.com