How Often Should You Review Your Flame Monitoring Setup?

Honeywell's Mike Madzy on Industrial Flame Monitoring Technology

We sat down with Mike Madzy, Application Specialist at Honeywell Thermal Solutions, to ask him about his role with the company and about Honeywell's Industrial Flame Monitoring solutions.

How long have you been in the industry and what are some special applications you've overseen?

Following my HVAC schooling I entered into this industry in 1990 as a startup and commissioning technician. I've literally worked on thousands of fired applications. I now find myself heavily involved in supporting our downstream refiners these days. but I also invest a fair amount time on PowerGen applications. The most consuming and challenging app: Reaction Furnaces. These are typically found where the Downstream refineries take on sour crude. I think that many of our clients consider me as their go-to application specialist when they are firing on a high percentage of Hydrogen and/or Acid Gases. Many of our clients see me as the person to engage when seeking to operate a reaction furnace in an efficient, reliable, and safe manner.

How do you go about making a product recommendation? When you look at a customer's application, how do you go about finding the right solution?

Most recommendations come from experiences I've gathered while working alongside my mentors. Questioning begins with asking what type of fired equipment challenges are you facing today? How is the Burner Management or Combustion Safety being handled? I am seeking to understand the Logic Solver in Use. Type of burner? Fuel? And then clarifying questions usually begin to flow, preferably between somebody deeply experienced with the thermal asset and myself. It is very important to understand how the user would like to operate the thermal equipment. Sometimes a site representatives will give you too little information, so you often need a strong understanding of common challenges to allow you to dig for the necessary details. We train our channel partners to ask a lot of questions, especially before acting in a prescriptive manner. HTS Partners who are developing their IFM capabilities are trained to gather as much pertinent information as possible, and highly encourage an equipment walk down prior to any retrofit recommendations. The use of digital photography and videography (where permitted) has really enabled me to expand my reach. End users allowing the use of such technology directly benefit, as does the developing partner.

Of course, now we use software to do walkthroughs remotely. So, it's like a live-demo without actually having to be present. This technology makes us more efficient, and a lot of our clients are not seeing vendors in person. Site representatives can put these communicating glasses on and we can walk the plant with them without masks, airline tickets, hotel stays, and so on. When you consider that it costs around $3K per day to send a technician out with a 3-day minimum if travel is involved, you start to see the financial benefit quickly.

So, what's the best way to utilize Mike Madzy? Who comes to you and why?

My ONLY job at Honeywell is to expand & support this IFM offering. This is a global responsibility that has afforded me a vast amount of application exposure under varying safety standards. I am accessible to every Honeywell Thermal Solutions sales representative and Channel Partner. My recommendation: include me early and copy me often.

Very few people get such an opportunity to really focus on something so crucial and limited, and I believe that I am the best person for our channel partners to include in their IFM business development plans & activities.

How often should you review your flame monitoring setup?

Any time a change is made to your application or process, even minor maintenance. One could suggest that exotic fuel applications may justify a continuous commissioning approach. It's wise to consider re-commissioning the flame monitor(s) when making major changes to your application process, including the transition or change of the type of fuel or perhaps a new Logic Solver/PLC (burner management system). Even just changing the air/fuel dampers adjustments or linkages or really anything that will alter the way the burner performs should always trigger a conversation about the IFM setup and the impact to its reliability and/or performance.

What makes Honeywell's IFM technology stand out from the rest?

Safety and reliability at the highest levels in the industry. You don't need a rapid moving flame to be detected by our spectral imaging technology. Our UV sensors do not require a minimum flame speed to be sensed…slow or fast. It's based on the color of the flame, not the speed of movement of the flame. That's a strong advantage over products utilizing UV Solid State sensors only. All IFM product utilize similar sensing elements, and so it becomes simple to select and apply the IFM products across a Plant.

Flame and gas detection equipment needs to be sturdy and able to withstand the harshest of environments, so it's important to note that all IFM sensors are intended for Hazardous Classified areas and are X-Ray immune.

We separate ourself from the other brands when advanced applications require UV+IR technologies working, perhaps in aggregate, to remain safe and reliable. For example, with one of our major competitors, you can NOT make independent adjustment to just the UV or IR signals without altering the contribution from to both. We offer IFM models with up to (3) independent sensors that area easy to adjust.

Honeywell products boast certain features as standard that the competitors consider to be upgrade options, like modbus communications for transmitting information between electronic devices.

Many thanks to Mike Madzy of Honeywell Thermal Solutions for sitting down and chatting with us about IFM technology. DMS is proud to partner with Honeywell Thermal Solutions to deliver advanced technology coupled with the best support system in the industry.

Talk with DMS about Honeywell flame and gas detection systems. Our expert technicians can provide a free, on-site demo of our recommended applications solutions.