Did you know that the accuracy and validity of natural gas custody transfer metering is covered under the US Sarbanes Oxley law?

I didn’t either until I read this informative post by Jim Cahill over at the Emerson Process Experts blog.

Here’s my short take on what’s required to do a professional job at custody transfer metering for many industries.

• Proper design and installation of metering equipment, which includes selecting the right equipment in the first place. This is a very competitive market and there’s plenty of great hardware available. So, this really boils down to quality installation design and implementation.
• Routine and regular verification of the performance of the system. This is where Martel comes in the a range of useful calibration products such as the BetaGauge 321A. Our calibrators have the performance, reliability and features needed to do a great job of calibrating gas custody transfer systems.
• Technicians who are professionally trained professionals. This may be the hardest piece of the puzzle to fit in. Finding, keeping and motivating quality personnel is a major challenge for corporations world-wide.

It’s ironic that one of the events that instigated the Sarbanes Oxley Act was the implosion of Enron Corporation, a company that started out in the natural gas energy business.

BetaGauge 321 Dual Range Pressure Calibrator

I’m not referring to an old time game show or parlor game as they used to be known. My question is, “Can you trust your vendor’s calibration certificate?”

There are a few indicators you can use.

1. What kind of reputation does the company have in the industry? You know, how long have they been around and do other customers respect their products and service? There are a number of industry surveys and reports that can help with this if you don’t feel comfortable making your own assessment.
2. Is the certificate traceable to NIST or other national standards body? This may seem obvious, but read the statement see if it makes sense to you. Are there unsupported assertions about things like TUR (Total Uncertainty Ratio) or Guide 25 approval?
3. Are the standards used properly identified and are they appropriate for the task at hand? For example, if a specification is % of reading, but the standard’s specification is % of scale, there’s a significant mismatch. You may also need to check to see if the standard has been properly maintained with acceptable calibration intevals.
4. Does the certificate include data that is clearly presented and meaningful? Are there sufficient data points to assess performance?
5. If possible, check the calibration at intervals different from the cardinal points on the certificate. Even a bump check can provide revealing information.

Finally, is the calibration accredited under an international standard (ISO 17025) or do you need such an accredited calibration. Even if it’s offered as an option, the vendor must have a pretty good idea that the normal calibration is valid.

BetaLOG Software

I had an interesting experience today.

We have a software package that allows a customer to configure and use a BetaGauge PI digital gauge for data logging. When you install it, you have to register with us and get an authorization code.

So, today I received an email from a customer saying that the computer where the BetaLOG™ software is installed cannot be connected to email or a printer for security reasons. So, he didn’t have any way to send us the install key that we need to generate the authorization code.

I replied promptly that if he called me with the install key, I would authorize him on the phone. About an hour later he called in and after about 5 minutes he was on his way. I also answered a couple of other user questions for him at the time.

These days everybody has email even on their phones, so we didn’t really think about this type of situation when we created the software. But, we were still able to help the customer promptly and accurately so he could get his job done.

In a support environment, you have to be ready for the unexpected and be willing and able to give unexpected support in return.

I recently had to take a census of our international distribution network for a presentation. For a small company like Martel, I thought the numbers were pretty astonishing.

Martel is represented in 55 countries by 65 different companies, not counting various sub-distribution arrangements that some distributor have. Since that census we’ve added a new market and a new company to our list.

Another piece of good news is that virtually all of these companies have been active for us during the past year. That’s probably one reason our international sales increased in 2009 by an astonishing 42% over 2008.

We do a lot to support our distributors both internationally and domestically with our marketing and technical support programs. A lot of our marketing is an effort to drive customers to the distributors. We know that they will sell what they get asked for.

Technical support is also critical to international sales since customers don’t usually like to send products back to the US for repair or routine recalibration. Our service mantra is to have local support in all the markets where we do business. It’s sometimes a challenge, but nearly always rewarding.

The annual Control Magazine Readers’ Choice Awards are out. For us, there is good news and bad news. The good news is that Martel/BETA is listed as #6 in the Portable Calibrator category. I think it’s the first time we’ve been so honored.

The bad news is that #2 on the list doesn’t make or sell calibrators and #5 on the list isn’t even a company any more.

It does make me wonder seriously if people really know what calibrators and calibration are all about. At any rate, thank you to everyone who chose Martel for your calibrators. You are in good company.

Quik-Test Compartmented Case

At Martel Electronics Corporation, we make a lot of pressure calibrators (oddly enough).

Since we also sell a lot of them internationally, a major headache is what kind of connector will the end user need. Part of the solution are our new Quik-Test connectors (see the previous post), but, more often, the problem is understanding just what the style of connector some one is asking about really is.

Engineering Toolbox is a great web site for answering all kinds of niggling questions like that. And, they have a great page that lists just about any kind of piping connection standard you can imagine.

Enjoy.

Pressure calibrations are all about making (and breaking) connections. At best, you can isolate the instrument from the process and connect a calibration setup to an alternate port on the instrument. Most of the time, it won’t be that easy.

At Martel Electronics, we have a better idea. Use our patented Quik-Test connectors to make quick, secure, leak-tight and contaminent free connections between the instrment and the calibrator.

Push on compression fitting (Swagelok) connector

It’s hard to understand the real value of these things without seeing them in action. Then, you’ll truly be amazed at how easy to use and quick they are.

Precision machined from stainless steel for wide media compatibility, they either push on as the picture above shows or spin on with a perfect finger tight seal. NO TOOLS REQUIRED.

We sell these in kits of commonly sized parts for both NPT and BSP style threads. Individual parts are also available. There’s more information on our web site or you can contact your local Martel distributor.

We have updated the very popular and powerful BetaGauge 311 and BetaGauge 321 Advanced Pressure Calibrators. The new models are the single range BetaGauge 311A and dual range BetaGauge 321A. What we didn’t change are the great performance and ease of use we already had.

Here are the new features:

• Super rugged “Power-Tool-Tough” housing. We’re using the same plastic used in high end cordless drills and the like to make the BetaGauge 311A/321A virtually indestructible.
• Custom engineering units. If you don’t like any of the 19 built-in engineering units, you can configure up to 2 additional units. If you give us the factor information and unit name at the time of order, we’ll even put it in for you at no extra cost.
• Enhanced measurement stability. We updated the circuit design on the pressure sensors with our latest technology to provide better all around performance over a wide range of temperatures and with less long term drift.
• User selectable resolution. Sometimes, there’s too much resolution for the intended application. Those extra digits can make the job harder not better. So, you can reduce the displayed resolution by a single digit in any application.
• More compatible ranges. With 29 possible ranges, we let the user choose what’s right for them. Now, we’ve made the ranges more compatible with long time industry practice by providing compound measurement on most ranges below 500 PSI (35 Bar).

See our web site for more details. The new calibrators are available NOW!

The current issue of Control Magazine (digital edition here) has a whole page of links to worthwhile calibration resources from some of the big players in the industry.

Most of them are white papers, but one is another web site with a “ton” of great links to other resources.

If you need to learn or know more about important calibration issues, you should have a look.

The last five “mantras” from the Sunday Wall Street Journal article are…

6. It’s a team effort. Unless you are a one person show, you’re part of a team…or are you? I know I could think of myself as a star and act accordingly, but I also know how much more we can all accomplish together. Even stars need to be bailed out from time to time. That’s when being a team player means a lot. Writing this just made me think of the Brian Piccolo story, teammate of Gale Sayers for those of us old enough to remember.

7. Stay on the reader’s side. Just replace reader with customer and this makes ultimate sense.

8. Don’t get carried away. This is similar to the first point, “stick to the mission.” Maybe better said, KISS-Keep It Simple Stupid (I left out the comma to give it a new slant).

9. Buy low. Sell high. It’s important to make a profit. Like most travelers, I like to see good deals on airfare, hotels, etc. But, if the airlines don’t make money, how long can they afford to keep the planes in good shape and provide the service we all really want? If you sacrifice profits for say growth, you better think carefully. It’s even worse if you’re sacrificing profits just to maintain market share. GM and Chrysler are to some extent examples of what happens (you get a government bailout. Don’t count on it).

10. Remember how you got here. Remember who brought you to the dance. Also as philosopher George Santayana so famously said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”