Yokogawa Test & Measurement Corporation, a solution provider in measurement, control and information applications, has recently announced two new multifunction process calibrators that can generate and measure signals with the highest class of accuracy. The CA500 and CA550 multifunction process calibrators are intended for use in the inspection and calibration of plant instruments.

Plant instruments must be calibrated periodically to maintain their accuracy, and process calibrators are measuring instruments that are used to calibrate such devices on site. With the increasing sophistication of plant instruments, there is a need for new types of calibrators that have the high levels of accuracy needed to inspect and calibrate these devices. There is also a pressing need for new functions that help to ensure high work quality by making it easier to inspect and calibrate devices. To meet these needs, the company has developed multifunction process calibrators that have the ability to calibrate a wider variety of instrument signals (DC voltage/current, thermocouple, RTD, resistor, frequency, pulse) with high accuracy, thus improving work efficiency.

 

The CA500 and CA550 feature improved signal generation and measurement accuracy, expanding the range of devices that can be inspected with these calibrators. A single CA500 series calibrator can do inspection tasks that have required special measuring instruments such as a decade resistance box, thus reducing the number of devices that must be taken to the work site.

 

The newly launched products come with LCD display that is easy to read in direct sunlight. The volume of information displayed on the screen has also been increased, so that workers can learn all they need to know at a glance. Both new products can operate continuously for up to 16 hours on just 4 AA alkaline batteries while the previous model required 6 batteries for 8 hours of use. 

 

The CA550 has a program sweep, automatic I/O testing, function that eliminates the need to manually adjust generated values, record measurement results, and enter data on a PC. This function automatically generates and measures signals according to preset generation patterns and displays not only the calibration value and pass/fail results, but all other necessary information on the screen, and automatically saves that data to internal memory.A new version of the CA550 supports the HART protocol and thus can perform zero adjustment and other functions with HART devices and will be launched in June 2020.

 

These products are targeted at industries like maintenance and inspection of instruments in oil, chemical, iron and steel, pulp and paper, gas, electric power, food, pharmaceutical, water supply, and water treatment plants. Their applications comprise of calibration and I/O performance testing of instruments for plant commissioning and periodic inspections, and diagnosis and inspection of control loops.