Fluke 729 User Manual

PROFESSIONAL REVIEW

Research lab reduces process
control pressure calibration
time by 40 %

Job role: Process Controls
Technician

Company: Scientific research lab

Tools: Fluke 729 Automatic

Pressure Calibrator

Key benefits:

• Reduces calibration time
by 40 %.

• Increases accuracy.

• Saves repetitive stress from not

having to use a hand pump.

The automatic pump on the 729 pressure
calibrator reduces hand pump instrument
error as well as reducing calibration time

“

by about 40 %.”

Keeping processes running
smoothly in a scientific research
lab that produces neutrons
requires stringent calibration
of hundreds of process control
instruments. The lab employs
many different types of instru­mentation that control vacuum
and pressure for processes used
in cutting edge scientific and
engineering research projects.
To maintain the highest level of
research accuracy and integrity,
the devices are pressure cali­brated as needed (sometimes
multiple devices per week)
to ensure they are operating
according to specifications.

“Our neutron beam facility,
which consists of the linear
accelerator, cryogenic plant,
and target facility, is operated
by various software and process
controls,” says a process control
technician for the facility.
“We calibrate a number of pres­sure transducers, strain gauges,
pressure switches, and signal
conditioning boards as part of
new installations, preventive
maintenance, and trouble­shooting. Accuracy is vital for
successful operation.”

For many years, the lab had
calibrated those devices using
the Fluke 744 Documenting
Process Calibrator. However,
in 2017, that same process con­trol technician attended a trade
show where he saw a dem­onstration of a new Fluke 729
Automatic Pressure Calibrator.
“I was very interested to see
that the 729 had an automatic
pump built into the device,”
says the technician. “It’s like
a one-stop shop to accomplish
our calibrations, versus having
to carry multiple components
like a hand pump and a vacuum
pump.”

The technician notes that, not
only does the automatic pump
save time, it is more ergonomic
because he no longer has to
pump up the pressure by hand.
This can significantly reduce
wear and tear on technicians
over several calibrations. “When
we check our pressure trans­ducers we have to pump it up
as high as 300 psi. I just enter
the pressure required and the
729 automatically pumps up to
that level. The automatic pump
on the 729 reduces hand pump
instrument error and reduces
calibration time by about 40 %,”
the technician adds.

Additional capabilities such as
the ability to measure, source,
and simulate 4 to 20 mA signals
also increases efficiency. “The
729 allows us to take volt­age readings on our pressure
transmitter signal conditioners
at the same time we measure
pressure, which saves having to
carry another meter,” the tech­nician explains.

Each incremental unit of time
savings adds up with hundreds
of control devices that need
calibrating to support dozens
of research projects running at
a time in the facility. “We don’t
have a calibration production
quota, we just calibrate the
instruments as needed; but the
Fluke 729 definitely allows us
to do more in a day than we
would normally be able to do,”
the technician concludes.

©2017 Fluke Corporation. Specifications subject to change without notice. 11/2017 6010215a-en
Modification of this document is not permitted without written permission from Fluke Corporation.