Calibration of equipment is an extremely important work in innumerable fields. For instance, here are some examples of equipment that requires periodic calibration: Furnaces and chambers, data acquisition systems, weather stations, thermal cameras, thermometers and thermocouples, dial thermometers, thermistors and platinum resistance thermometers as well as infrared meters.
As you read the list, try to think of the implications were one of these systems wrongly calibrated. Imagine a furnace too hot, data acquisition systems collecting incorrect data, weather stations incorrectly informing on weather conditions etc.
Of course in many instances, wrongly calibrated instruments may only bring about minor errors or inconveniences, but there certainly are instances in which a wrongly calibrated piece of equipment could spell disaster.
For instance: The 2005 refinery explosion in Texas City, Texas. This a case in point that shows that the devil really is in the detail. Would you like to know first-hand what can go wrong when faulty instruments provide inaccurate measurements? Probably not. Those in Texas surely felt the same, and yet, they did find out. Oil and gas industry liquid levels and their temperatures are of critical importance because such substances are potentially combustible. Without proper readings, how do you know if issues are rising? Well, that’s what happened in Texas City, a disaster that killed 15 people and cost billions of dollars. Among the numerous culprits that led up to the disaster were poorly functioning instruments and the failure of the splitter’s high-level measurement indicators. Because no essential personnel were not cleared from the area, some lost their lives.
Those who died were working inside a nearby trailer—not a good place to be in an explosion. Had the systems been calibrated properly, a level-measurement indicator would have signalled that the splitter had exceeded its safe capacity and an alarm would have gone off. Afterwards, temperature measurement instruments would have given the alarm that the liquid had overheated, the operation would have been shut down, and anyone who didn’t need to be there would have left - alive.
Inaccurate pressure gauge readings were also the culprit in a more recent disastrous Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill in April 2010.
This would not have happened were CAL-DUE UK Ltd on hand. They provide a top-notch calibration service. Howwood businesses have no issues at all.
Aside from the serious life-threatening nature of wrongly calibrated equipment, the primary significance of calibration is that it maintains accuracy, standardization and repeatability in measurements, assuring identical future results. Imagine every bottle of beer you bought tasting quite different, or newspapers sometimes having half printed pages that were torn or missing an insert.
Correctly calibrated instruments are in indispensable part of our modern life. CAL-DUE’s calibration service, Howwood, is second to none.
Without regular calibration, equipment can fall out of spec, provide inaccurate measurements, and threaten quality – the last thing you want on a Friday night at the pub.
CAL-DUE is a company providing a most excellent calibration service. Howwood is a village in Scotland and houses one of the UK’s best electrical testing equipment suppliers and calibrators.
