MCG installation a little rough

The installation of the MCG’s has been going a little rough. At this time we have one of the units installed but not completely tested.

We have the first production “X Box” systems and the design has been updated and standardized since we installed ours. As a result there are a few standard parts that didn’t fit in our box the way they were indented to so some field modifications had to be made. We also had the types of problems that you always seem to have when you have a system that has been operating for months. When you turn it off, it doesn’t always like to come back up. We had to replace one of the regulators.

The nitrogen generator has also been installed on that one unit. It took a little while to get the analyzer tuned back in after that. The PMT voltage had to be adjusted quite a bit. I’ll try to put together a few before and after plots to show how the data has been effected.

We did run into a problem with one of the systems just prior to the MCG install. It started to fail span cals. A couple of split nylon fittings were found. They were parts that were to be removed as part of the MCG install anyway.

We have also added some new thermocouple readings to the system. Our choice to install a PLC on the stack has started to pay dividends as it was relatively easy to add new signals to the system. We added a thermocouple to the stinger heater so that we can monitor its operation. We also added the second umbilical heater zone temperature.

We will have a RATA team in tomorrow to start performing EPA Method 30B tests to prove out the systems and satisfy the contract requirements. Thermo is recommending that you check the output of your calibrator during the RATA. The plan is to run a couple of traps off of the analyzer and have them analyzed to insure that the calibration gas generator is operating properly.

If things go reasonable well tomorrow I should have a chance to post about the RATA and the first few calibrations with the MCG installed.