Enclosure Audit

What are Enclosures?

Instrument enclosures house an instrument that measures process conditions, providing a reference for the current state of the process, sometimes part of a control system. The function of an enclosure is to shield the instrument from harsh environmental conditions – not only to maintain operability and service life, but also to allow the instrument to function as efficiently as possible. The enclosure achieves by:

• Overall seal to the environment (clamshell, entry seal boots, blowdown system)
• Conditioning of process fluid (blowdown valves)
• Proactive freeze protection (heat trace and instrument heater)
• Transmitter operation support (appropriate valve manifold)

The fluid to be measured may be a liquid in need of freeze protection. or a gas that could also contain water vapor. It is important to keep the gas above the dew point of the water to avoid having condensation form in the impulse lines running from the process to the enclosure, as this could bias the measurement.

What is a Swagelok Enclosure Audit?

Swagelok audits enclosures by examining the enclosure construction and qualifying its components individually and as a whole. Referencing industry standards and expertise, inspection includes: 

• Organization and categorization of all required enclosures
• Use and installation of electrically heat traced, insulated tubing
• Use of blowdown valves in all enclosures to ensure operator safety during maintenance and operation
• Use of entry seal boots for enclosure penetration
• Temperature rating of valve manifolds and associated components
• Enclosure leakage (general)
• Scratched and gouged tubing
• Manifold, isolation, equalizing, and blowdown valve health
• Intermix/interchange of components

What is included in an Enclosure Audit?

BEFORE -- you will work with your Account Manager to define the scope of the audit. This includes your needs, selection of individual enclosures or areas to be inspected, and overall goals for improving your enclosure systems.

DURING -- our Field Engineer will come to your facility and perform an inspection of the key areas you have identified.

AFTER -- you will be provided with a summary of overall findings and improvement suggestions for enclosures at your facility.

Why should you invest in the service?

Enclosures represent an investment in the measurement of the real-time value of process conditions in a plant. Without a properly functioning enclosure, accurate measurement cannot occur, and so process controls cannot be as effective. Processes suffer from lag or worse: plant down time. Similarly, an improperly constructed or aging enclosure can present a serious safety hazard to employees who interact with it. Investment in a properly functioning enclosure is an investment in plant operations and safety.

Swagelok Albany | Connecticut's Field Engineering and account management team is well experienced with the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of instrument enclosures. We understand the pain points associated with enclosure operation:

• Do you feel that you spend excessive resources (budget, time) maintaining or replacing the same problem enclosures or components over and over?
• Are enclosure related problems causing headaches or worse – cost from unplanned downtime?
• Are you concerned about the operability of your enclosures? Do you consider them to be a safety hazard?
• Do you have other priorities and day-to-day activities that prevent you from giving your enclosures the attention they deserve?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, we can help by providing a resource to categorize and troubleshoot your enclosures. Contact us to schedule an audit.