Distributed Temperature Sensing pt 1

We invited Yokogawa's Gavin French, Queensland Sales Manager and Product Manager for DTSX. In this episode we discuss Distributed Temperature Sensing. Sean asked Gavin to address misconceptions on how DTSX works and how it is sold in Australia and New Zealand

Transcript

[00:00:10.130] - Sean 
This is a Yokogawa Australia and New Zealand podcast. Welcome back to Yokogawa Debunks, conversations with industry experts to demystify misconceptions we hear in process instrumentation and industrial automation. I'm your host, Sean Cahill, and thank you for joining us. Now with us today, we've got Gavin French, who's the product manager for distributed temperature sensing at Yokogawa Australia, and New Zealand. Welcome, Gavin. 

 [00:00:36.950] - Gavin 
Thank you very much, Sean. I appreciate the opportunity to be with you today 

 [00:00:41.690] - Sean 
Now, to kick things off Gavin, let's get to know a little bit more about you, a bit about your background and your personal experience with Yokogawa and also your involvement with distributed temperature sensing, because to be quite honest, I don't really know what it is!!! 

 [00:00:58.070] - Gavin 
Not a problem. That's a very good question. I would like to sort of start that. I've been with Yokogawa over eight years as current sales manager and around six years looking after the distributed sensing technologies. But prior to that, my time was spent with a total of eleven years as a cable specialist in various industries, from mining to industrial. And as we talk on further, you'll see that we'll talk more about cable and its applications, and I'm bringing to the form my previous work history as a way of helping ensure that we are delivering a complete solution, a quality solution for our customers. 

 [00:01:42.590] - Gavin 
So basically, yes, the DTSX is a distributed temperature sensor, and the X, as I've been told in the past, is the X factor. The X factor is the difference between our machine and other machines in the market. 

 [00:01:58.910] - Sean 
Okay Thanks Gavin. Look, we do find that we are inundated with technical questions from customers on a daily basis in relation to distributed temperature sensing, and you know we find that some of them have some quite broad misconceptions regarding the technology and also some preconceived ideas that aren't necessarily true. So today, The intention is for you as our distributed temperature sensing expert, to clarify them and use this as an opportunity to explain the technology a little bit in more detail, if possible. So in that respect, what does the DTSX do? And what are some of the key technology features? 

 [00:02:37.850] - Gavin 
Yeah. Thank you, Sean. Basically, the DTSX is a big data device, and it is measuring temperature along a fibre optic cable, and that cable can be in many different forms, and it can be multi-mode or single mode. But basically, what the machine is doing, it has two aspects to it. One, it receives a certain amount of light, that is what's called backscattered, light comes back into the detector of the unit, and it also has what's called an OTDR component, which measures distance or time of flight. 

 [00:03:21.050] - Gavin 
And that allows the machine to give us a temperature reference up to an accuracy of 0.03 of a degree. mind you and also the distance. So, we know down to a meter where an event is occurring and that can be over multiple locations, it can be mapping. So, we know highs, lows in an accurate and reliable fashion. Or in a continuous fashion just depends on what the customer is looking for. 

 [00:03:51.230] - Sean 
And you talk about distances there. What sort of range can the DTSX measure? 

 [00:03:57.950] - Gavin 
So the machines that we have and we have three very different machines in our range. So basically, we go from a DTSX1, which we'll probably talk about at a later stage, which can go down to as low as 1 km, right up to the DTSX3000, which can actually measure up to 50 km. 

 [00:04:20.630] - Sean 
Okay. And that's all on a single channel. 

 [00:04:23.570] - Gavin 
Yes, that is correct. Absolutely. That's a single channel. And that will give customers up to 30,000 temperature measuring points across that one fibre. 

 [00:04:35.750] - Sean 
Now, if a customer had a requirement for different measurement types, do we have any devices that will have multiple channels that can come into a single DTSX? 

 [00:04:47.990] - Gavin 
Yes, absolutely. We have two of the three machines have the capabilities of having up to 16 channels right next to the machine in the form of an optical switch. So that gives our customers up to 16 times the amount of output or input from the machine. So, if you look at it in terms of a 50 kilometre device, for instance, then when it's two channel device, we have 100 km of sensing distance. Four channel will give us 200 km right up to the 16 channel, which will give us up to 800 km of sensing distance, which is quite phenomenal. 

 [00:05:29.330] - Sean 
That's quite a range. But once you get to those extreme distances, is there a risk that you might lose some resolution in the temperature measurement? 

 [00:05:37.730] - Gavin 
No, certainly not with our machine. We have a world class 3.8-Watt pulse laser. It's a commercial industrial version, and that pulse allows us then to ensure that the quality of the signal that comes back into the machine is even at 50 km is still as accurate as .1 of a degree at 50 km. 

 [00:06:04.310] - Sean 
Some great accuracy there, as we look to some other misconceptions as well. We are talking about Yokogawa as a local supplier in Australia, but there's also a bit of a perception out there that we're just a distributed temperature sensing agent, and we don't actually manufacture the product or even that the product that we've got is just a rebadged. What would you say to people who hold that belief? 

 [00:06:29.690] - Gavin 
Yeah. Well, it's important for everybody to know that the heritage or the history or the development, whatever analogy you prefer to use is that the DTSX is built on what would be our Stardom platform. And that is a wonderful pedigree for the product that Yokogawa, and it's a Yokogawa manufactured designed, build, maintain device. It gives our customers that peace of mind, particularly. And we'll probably talk in coming podcasts about risk. And that's a big thing when you're looking to invest in one of these machines that you buy from the manufacturer. 

 [00:07:10.970] - Gavin 
And Yokogawa have been manufacturing these items for many years and quite reliably. And there's a lot of these units in the market, just not in Australia and New Zealand, but around the world. And there's a lot of white papers. There's a lot of printed material on projects that have been completed, even here in Australia, where we've broken a new ground on different technologies and its application. So yeah, it is definitely a Yokogawa device, and it's the only one of its kind to my knowledge in Australia that's sold and serviced that way. 

 [00:07:47.570] - Sean 
So Yokogawa essentially in control of its destiny and its support and everything else. I just want to skip on to another myth here, Gavin, and the next one we have is regarding the integration of all of these temperature points, basically, the data that DTSX collects into some type of supervisory system. Now, is it true that DTSX has some add-ons to facilitate such integration into any control system? And how can that be done? Let's say, for example, for a Yokogawa control system? 

 [00:08:19.910] - Gavin 
Yeah. Absolutely. So as mentioned earlier, that it's heritage and pedigrees from the STARDOM system. So existing products that are within our control system can be equally applied onto the bus, the existing bus of the DTSX to increase the flexibility and integration into any customers control system. With our in-house engineers, we can set the parameters, we can offer DNP3, we can offer Modbus, Modbus-TCP for our customers to seamlessly integrate to make the data that we're collecting at the speed of light useful for their control systems. 

 [00:09:06.650] - Sean 
And that's an important point because, you know, it's okay collecting the data, but it's what you do with it afterwards. So it's great to know that it can be integrated in such an easy and effective manner. 

 There's another clarification here I'd like to get from you as well is in relation to DTSX and some of the information that is downloadable and that customers have downloaded online. Now I notice that not long ago there was a release for a product called the DTSX1, and I wonder if you could provide a bit more information about this version of the product and how does it differ from the standard version let's call it? 

 [00:09:42.950] - Gavin 
Yeah, for sure. So, after many years of development and testing, the DTSX1 has been approved globally to be used in areas where there are public access. So, things like tunnels or busways or train stations in the public domain, and it's to be used in conjunction with a fire control system, such as maybe an annunciator panel, a fire panel, or even as part of the control circuit for deluge zones, for instance, in underground tunnels. So the thing with the DTSX1 is it comes as a complete package we provide in a ready-made steel enclosure, including the relay outputs, which are part of the requirements of the standard. 

 [00:10:31.430] - Gavin 
As well as having everything in an IP 20 enclosure that's designed to mount right next to a fire control panel or an annunciator a panel. So, the DTSX1 it has as many applications whilst it is designed primarily as part of a fire control system, a certified fire control system, it also has many applications as well in several other markets. 

 [00:11:00.050] - Sean 
Yeah, because infrastructure and tunnels is not a market that Yokogawa traditionally are known for. I mean, people look at Yokogawa and consider them as leaders in working in oil and gas and mining and power generation, for example. So, it's good news to see Yokogawa in different domains and demands with this product. 

 [00:11:20.930] - Gavin 
Yes, absolutely. On a weekly basis, we're being asked, can we do this? Can we do that? Can this technology be applied here and having that experience under our belt, having the backing of Yokogawa globally, more often than not, we are able to service our customers and work with them, co-innovate with them to provide a high-quality, long-life, reliable, accurate solution. 

 [00:11:46.970] - Sean 
So, Gavin, look, that's a great insight into the technology behind DTSX and how it's used and information it provides. We've actually run out of time today, but I think what we can see is that there's significantly more to learn about this exciting technology. So, Gavin, I'd like to thank you for your time today, and we look forward to talking to you again about DTSX in the future. 

 [00:12:13.190] - Gavin 
Thank you. And I really appreciate the opportunity to share the knowledge and experience of Yokogawa. It's a real honor and I thank you very much. 

 [00:12:20.270] - Sean 
and thank you all for listening, and we look forward to welcoming you back to the next edition of Yokogawa debunks.