About this industry
A chemical or petrochemical plant is corrosive by chemistry and classified by code — it needs meters whose wetted parts survive acids, caustics and solvents, heaters certified for the hazardous area they sit in, and gas detection at every point where a leak becomes an incident. Prater Technical Partners supplies that instrument layer across the Badger Meter family — PVDF and stainless oval-gear dosing meters, mag meters with PFA/PTFE liners and tantalum electrodes, corrosive-service variable-area meters, and ATi GasSens ambient gas detection — alongside Indeeco, Heatrex and Accutherm process heating built for classified areas. From tank-farm temperature maintenance and heat-transfer-fluid loops to injection skids, blending lines and the loading rack, each line is chosen for its wetted materials, its area classification, and the chemistry in the pipe. Prater Technical works with you to spec each one from the fluid, the rating, and the drawing.
- Clean process liquid, gas & steam metering in 316/316L stainless—Preso Venturi·Preso Ellipse Pitot
- Metering in tight piping — 0–3 diameters of straight run—Preso Gemini Cone
- Abrasive, fouling & high-viscosity streams to 3,000+ cP—Preso COIN Wedge
- Wet or dirty process gas where a moving-part meter would foul—Vortex VN2000 Inline·VN2000 Hot-Tap Insertion
- Corrosive-liquid flow in plastic piping (PVDF, PPS, PVC)—Impeller Inline 4000·Impeller PVC Tee·Impeller Series 200
- Intrinsically safe hydraulic-circuit flow pickup in classified areas—Flo-tech F5162
- Reactor & large-flange bolt tensioning at turnarounds—Indeeco Bolt Heaters
- Chemistry & petrochemistry test-bench force measurement—WIKA-ST Thin-Film Force
- Explosion-proof test-chamber builds (Class I, Div 1/2)—CSZ Specialty Chambers
FAQ: instrumentation for chemical & petrochemical plants
Which flow meters stand up to aggressive acids, caustics and solvents?
Corrosion resistance comes from the wetted materials. The Industrial Oval Gear PVDF (Kynar) meter with Hastelloy-C spindles handles acid, caustic and solvent dosing; the stainless 316L oval gear covers chemical-injection skids to 3,000 psi; ModMAG mag meters pair PFA/PTFE liners with Alloy C, tantalum or Pt-Rh electrodes for aggressive conductive liquids; and Hedland's 316 stainless variable-area meters meter caustics and corrosive chemistries. We match the body, liner and electrode to your fluid — start at the flow meters page.
Do you supply heaters for Class I hazardous locations?
Yes — that is the Accutherm focus: explosion-proof immersion heaters for Class I areas, flanged and screw-plug immersion heaters with explosion-resistant construction, and explosion-resistant or purged control panels to run them. Indeeco adds 233/236 EXP explosion-proof unit heaters for space heating in classified process areas. See Accutherm and the electric heating page.
Can you cover ambient gas-leak detection across the whole plant?
Yes. The ATi GasSens line is ambient air monitoring for the gases a chemical plant handles: A14/A11 modular receivers give multi-point toxic and combustible coverage with per-point shutoff relays, the D12 covers single points, the C12-17 watches for hydrocarbon vapor in analyzer houses and process buildings, the A21 sampler draws reactive gases — chlorine, SO2, acid gases — from scrubber and vent discharges, and the E12-15 handles high-level ammonia around storage and reactors. Details on the ATi GasSens page.
What do you use on heat-transfer-fluid and thermal-oil loops?
Circulation heaters — Indeeco, Heatrex and Accutherm all build them for Dowtherm, Therminol and glycol loops on process skids, with Accutherm adding large-frame and vertical formats for bigger systems. For lines carrying sulphur, molten salt or wax, Indeeco impedance pipe heating turns the pipe itself into the heater. Most of it is engineered to order from your fluid, flow and temperature rise — see Indeeco and Accutherm.
Can metering electronics live in a Division 1 area?
Yes — several lines are built for exactly that. The IOG ER-500 flow monitor mounts on flammable chemical lines in Class I, Division 1 areas, the Blancett QuikSert explosion-proof turbine and B3150 field monitor carry hazardous-area certification, the PVDF oval gear offers intrinsically safe sensors for flammable solvents, and the Flo-tech F5162 is an intrinsically safe hydraulic flow pickup. See Industrial Oval Gear and Blancett.
Working a corrosive metering spec, a classified-area heater, or a plant gas-detection layout? Talk to Scott — send directly to Scott Prater at scott@pratertechnical.com, or call him directly at 917-580-0878 during business hours.
Compiled by Prater Technical Partners.