A customer responsible for maintaining a large arena with high-level radiant heaters needed a solution to investigate intermittent sooting, suspected to be caused by fluctuations in the natural gas supply. The inaccessibility of the heaters required a remote monitoring system that could provide real-time data and alarms without the need for expensive wiring or manual data retrieval.
- Application: Monitoring natural gas pressure (75 mbar) for high-level radiant heaters.
- Challenge: Inaccessible installation location in a large arena, making wired or manual logging solutions impractical.
- Solution: IWPT series wireless pressure transducers and an IoT Gateway receiver.
- Key Benefit: Remote monitoring of live and historical data with automated alarms via a cloud-based dashboard.
A customer managing a large arena was faced with a persistent and challenging operational issue: radiant heaters, installed at very high levels within the facility, were intermittently sooting up. The maintenance team suspected that occasional drops in the medium-pressure natural gas supply, nominally at 75 mbar, were the root cause of the incomplete combustion leading to the sooting. To confirm this theory and prevent future occurrences, they needed to monitor the gas pressure continuously. However, the installation location presented a significant obstacle. The heaters were physically inaccessible, making the installation of traditionally wired sensors or data loggers that require manual data retrieval via a physical connection prohibitively expensive and logistically impractical. The ideal solution needed to provide reliable, long-term monitoring with completely remote data access and an alert system to flag any pressure anomalies.
The proposed solution centered around a wireless and cloud-connected system, leveraging the IWPT series wireless pressure transducer and the IoT Gateway. Four battery-powered IWPT wireless pressure transducers were selected for the application. These devices are specifically designed to replace costly and complex cable runs in difficult-to-access environments. With a battery life of over five years at a ten-second transmission update rate, the transducers could be installed and left to operate without the need for frequent maintenance. For this specific application, a version with a 0-100 mbar gauge range was chosen to appropriately monitor the 75 mbar line pressure. The transducers feature a robust 316 stainless steel housing and a ceramic sensor, ensuring durability and media compatibility with natural gas.
The data from all four wireless pressure transducers is transmitted to a single, centrally located IoT Gateway receiver. This gateway acts as the heart of the system, collecting the pressure readings via its wireless network receiver. The gateway’s critical feature for this application is its integrated 2G/3G/4G cellular modem. This modem automatically transmits all the collected data using the MQTT protocol to a secure, cloud-based server. This provides the facility management team with a complete, out-of-the-box solution for remote asset monitoring. Authorised personnel can now access a web-based dashboard from any internet-connected device, such as a PC or smartphone, to view live pressure readings, analyze historical data trends, and access activity reports. Crucially, the system can be configured to send automated alarm notifications via SMS or email if the gas pressure deviates from a pre-defined setpoint, enabling a proactive response to potential issues before they lead to heater malfunctions.
IWPT Wireless Pressure Sensor and IOT Gateway Receiver
- Part Number: IWPTL-G0100-00, IoT-Gateway
- Wireless Transmitters: Pressure Sensor
- Process Connection: 1/4 BSP male
- Pressure Ranges (psi): 3600 psi g
- Wireless Receivers: 2G 3G 4G cellular modem