New FM/ATEX approved free chlorine analyser for hazardous area applications

With its advanced plumb and play design, economical reagent-less sensors and rugged construction, the new FCX80 Free Chlorine analyser from Electro-Chemical Devices is FM/ATEX/IECEx approved for hazardous area water and wastewater treatment processes in municipal and industrial plants.

The panel mounted FCX80 is a ready-to-use free chlorine analyzer intended for hazardous locations. It is designed to monitor free chlorine in drinking water, rinse water, cooling water or other fresh water samples from 0.05 to 20 ppm chlorine as the standard range or 0.01-5.00 ppm with the optional low range sensor.

With its FM/ATEX/IECEx approvals, the FCX80 analyser’s design is highly resistant to combustible gases that can be present in water treatment areas, which helps prevent explosions and fires that could jeopardize employee safety, plant equipment and the surrounding area. Such gases have been responsible for serious accidents causing loss of life and catastrophic facility damage.

ECD’s highly intelligent, reagent-free S88 Free Chlorine Sensor includes digital communication capabilities and features amperometric sensing based on polarographic technology relying on gold/silver materials and a PTFE membrane. It operates over a wide temperature range from 0 to 50°C (32 to 122°F) for use in extreme environments. Response time is T90 in 2 minutes. The only maintenance required is the replacement of its economical electrolyte solution at intervals of up to 12 months.

Free chlorine for disinfection applications exists in solution as a pH dependent ratio of hypochlorous acid (~100% at pH 5) and hypochlorite ion (~100% at pH 10). Chlorine has been a popular disinfectant for water treatment to ensure public health. Disease causing organisms

as cholera, hepatitis A, typhoid fever and dysentery are eliminated with chlorine, along with slime bacteria, algae and molds that can grow in water storage facilities such as reservoirs and storage tanks.

The FCX80 Analyser features a plug and play design that incorporates a constant head flow control device, a pH sensor, the free chlorine sensor and the analyzer/transmitter all conveniently mounted on a PVC panel. Technicians simply connect the sample and drain lines, connect the power and outputs and the FCX80 analyser is ready to use in less than 30 minutes.

The FCX80 analyser is 24-VDC powered and comes with a 128-x-64 pixel LCD display with black graphics and/or type on a grey or white background with an LED backlight. This easy-to-read display allows parameters to be graphically displayed with a user defined line, bar or gauge style graph.

For ease of plant management, the FCX80 analyser is compatible with supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems or large distributed control systems (DCS). The standard configuration features two 4-20 mA outputs, three single-pull/double-throw (SPDT) alarm relays and a MODBUS remote telemetry unit (RTU).