Rooftop maker solves burning problem

Tallant Industries, Inc., a manufacturer of corrugated asphalt roofing panels has installed high-temperature pipe mounting fixtures, which allow clamp-on flow measurement at temperatures of up to 752°F. The devices allowed the company to verify the problem of building up of coke from the bitumen on the heat transfer coils. The drop in temperature is large enough to permit standard temperature rated transducers to see use in high temperature applications exceeding 750°F without reliability or performance degradation. High temperatures accelerate the aging of the ultrasonic transducers' piezo elements and limit their useful operating life. Changing operating parameters and fluid parameters will cause signal changes by altering the sound path angle through the pipe wall and the fluid, causing a misalignment of the transducers. Tallant was able to conduct non-intrusive flow measurement at extreme temperatures because of the new fixtures.