Auto-Calibration Feature Added to IR-8400D CEMS Gas Analyzer Reduces Maintenance Costs and Increases Measurement Accuracy

Hayward, CA – January 11, 2010 – Infrared Industries announces Automatic Calibration is now available for the IR-8400D CEMS Gas Analyzer. Since 1998, the IR-8400D has been the analyzer of choice for vapor recovery system and transfer station analysis in the oil & gas industry as well as other demanding and hostile environmental monitoring applications. Due to its explosion-proof NEMA7 enclosure, rugged durability, isolated 4-20 mA outputs and other robust features such as temperature and pressure compensation, the IR-8400D is frequently deployed where long-term unattended monitoring is needed and environmental conditions are harsh. With the new AutoCal, manual service for scheduled calibration and accuracy checks often required by federal and state municipalities can be eliminated. Even when the unit is located at an accessible site, the AutoCal feature reduces manpower requirements and reduces costs.

The AutoCal feature uses hardware that is internal to the IR-8400D. The typical in-situ placement of the IR-8400D is undisturbed. You only need to provide connection to a Zero gas and a Span gas. Upon initiation of AutoCal, a series of program commands sequences the unit through the following steps: Shutdown of the sample stream, switching the input to the Zero gas, purging the analyzer, zeroing the analyzer, opening the inlet of Span gas, and executing a calibration. The unit will then re-zero itself and re-open the inlet of the sample gas. The process is completed in less than 8 minutes. For applications where only the Zero process is desired, the unit can be set to perform a Zero without performing calibration.

AutoCal is programmed to initiate periodically (with period equal 1 to 30 days) and begin on a specific time/date (midnight on the 3rd of the month, for example). A special feature holds the most recent sample gas value at the output during the AutoCal, so that no alarm or monitoring systems record the transient readings during the calibration. In this way, AutoCal fits seamlessly into your existing systems and regular maintenance program.

AutoCal is available on new purchases of the IR-8400D as an option. For existing units, an upgrade will be performed at the factory to add the additional hardware.