August 2021Maintenance, Test & Measurement, Calibration
Omniflex has released the iREF8 cathodic protection (CP) monitoring module to its PowerView cathodic protection range, to provide a convenient and cost-effective way of adding remote monitoring capabilities to existing CP systems without the need for a complete overhaul. The iREF8 has eight isolated inputs and can monitor reference half-cells and other inputs like transformer/rectifier (T/R) voltages and currents. Unlike previous systems, the iREF8 also provides the ability to read all reference electrodes in a CP system simultaneously.
Previously, CP systems cycled through the references taking readings sequentially. In an Instant Off test, this could require the system to be turned on and off multiple times while each reading was taken. Eventually, this can impact the polarisation of the structure being protected while the test is in progress.
“The iREF8 module is a completely new design, allowing all the references in a PowerView CP system to be read at the same time,” explained David Celine, managing director of Omniflex. “This means that, regardless of the size, the PowerView CP system only needs to be cycled on and off once to read all the references in an Instant Off test.
Traditionally, site managers relied on physical site inspections, where engineers undertook time-consuming and costly surveys of CP systems to tell them if the systems were working as intended. Because of the infrequent nature of this approach, asset managers are left for long periods of time hoping, rather than knowing, that their systems are working as intended and that structures are protected against corrosion.
In addition, with the world still suffering from the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, site visits and manual system inspections cannot proceed as normal. Businesses that rely on these to check system status have struggled to gather operational data over the last year and are left hoping that nothing has gone wrong.
Remote monitoring is no longer just the most cost-effective way of gathering system data; it is now the only way to do so in many cases. If you’re a consultant working from home and you’re responsible for monitoring CP systems fitted with an iREF8 monitoring module, you can continue to monitor system performance 24/7, despite the disruption caused by the pandemic.
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