Measuring the level of phosphorus in your effluent is essential to making sure your plant stays within discharge regulations. In most industrial and water and wastewater plants, phosphorus measurements require that a technician pull a sample manually and take it to a lab for analysis. However, with the CA80TP from Endress+Hauser, the measurement is performed online — as accurately as a lab analyzer — while saving time.
“The CA80TP provides laboratory-quality results for total phosphorus on a routine basis,” says Steve Smith, senior product marketing manager, liquid analysis for Endress+Hauser. “Its low reagent consumption, automated cleaning and calibration, and ease of maintenance and use all add up to a low cost of ownership. It allows operators to obtain more real-time results rather than waiting for time-consuming lab analysis.”
The CA80TP measures phosphorus in ranges of 0.05 to 10 mg/L, or 0.5 to 50 mg/L. It has two 4-20mA outputs with the option for additional outputs including Modbus RS-485, Modbus TCP, PROFIBUS DP and EtherNet/IP. The 4-20mA outputs transmit the phosphorus measurement value. The other outputs can be used to transmit the process variable, plus status and diagnostic information.
“The system is used to monitor influent phosphorus loads to the wastewater plant, providing valuable feedforward data to the treatment process,” Smith says. “Even more important is the application of the CA80TP in final effluent monitoring, with documented analysis results that ensure discharge limits are being met.”
To determine total phosphorus, a sample must be digested. Samples are drawn from the process using a suction strainer or can be taken from a bypass piping system. A precise sample volume is digested at high temperature with a digestion reagent. An optical dosing unit, used to dose sample and reagents, uses a redundant light barrier for a high level of reliability, guaranteeing precise and reproducible results from extremely small volumes of reagent. The temperature in the reaction vessel is kept constant to ensure complete digestion takes place within a short period of time.
“The CA80TP is a perfect fit for wastewater treatment systems because the product was specifically designed for this market and their need to measure total phosphorus in a timely manner directly at the process,” Smith says. “The feedback we have received is extremely positive. Field sites are proving that this analyzer is producing lab-quality results on a more frequent basis than relying on a lab.” 888/363-7377; www.us.endress.com
