Improperly specified, installed or maintained sight glasses can easily become the weakest link in a chemical or pharmaceutical processing system. They may provide less than needed observation capabilities, they may require frequent maintenance and replacement, they may be difficult to illuminate and, in worst case, they may actually fail, endangering workers and causing extensive destruction and downtime. Even minor cracks, scratches or abrasions of the glass can be a source of weakness within the glass, which will most likely lead to failure. Sight glasses will be subjected to forces involving pressure, temperature, thermal shock, caustics, abrasion, or impact.
It is critical to ensure that the design approach to each application takes these conditions into account. The risks are real. When a sight glass fails, it can be extremely dangerous or at least lead to costly downtime. Moreover, this failure may lead to scrapping the process media. In the case of a pharmaceutical process, the product loss could cost millions of dollars. Choosing the right sight glass material is critical for safe and effective use in a facility. The handbook discusses the differences between soda-lime and borosilicate sight glass, and which complies with the safety standard DIN 7079. LJ Star’s 20-page engineering handbook is a convenient reference for experienced engineers and a great primer for those new to sight glass selection in chemical and pharmaceutical applications. It offers a full overview, including:
-
● Types of glass
-
● Sight glass construction
-
● Lighting
-
● Installation
-
● Maintenance