Process analyzers offer a way for refineries and chemical plants to continuously monitor the quality, safety and environmental impact of their process streams, and a process gas chromatograph (process GC) offers one of the most capable and versatile methods of analysis available.

For a plant’s process GCs to perform reliably, however, these complex systems must be well-designed and well-maintained, but in many cases facilities do not have the specific on-site expertise to achieve that. Without frequent data validation, proactive maintenance, and proper design, your process GCs can begin to produce inaccurate data.

When this happens, plant staff – who may be unaware of potential solutions – begin to lose trust in the data from their analyzers. In some cases, operational staff may not even be aware that they are receiving faulty data until costs start to rise, product quality deteriorates, or a safety issue occurs. The faulty data can affect decisions around process optimization, product quality, or regulatory compliance – and lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in business losses.