Unreliable, Dated Technology Replaced with a Jerguson® Level Gage with LumaStar™ LED Illuminator

Sep 5, 2023
2 min read

Updated: Aug 10

A chemical manufacturing company in Texas came to us with a specific need: replace unreliable, dated technology. They wanted their tubular boiler gage with fluorescent lighting replaced with a Jerguson® Armored Level Gage assembly featuring a Jerguson® LumaStar™ LED Illuminator (Model EPL-100). This glass gage assembly was for the facility's Waste Heat Boiler, operating at 120 PSI with a 200 PSI design condition.

Two Separate Upgrades in One Project

This replacement addressed two distinct sources of unreliability at once: the gage construction itself (tubular versus armored) and the illumination technology (fluorescent versus LED). Each one on its own would have been a worthwhile upgrade - together, they represented a more complete modernization of the facility's level indication.

Why Tubular Glass Was the First Problem

Tubular glass gages expose the glass tube directly, without the protective metal body that armored designs provide. Over time and continuous service, this exposed construction is more susceptible to chipping or breaking than an armored design, where the glass is housed within a protective body. For a facility looking to eliminate an unreliable component, moving from tubular to armored construction addresses this vulnerability directly.

Why Fluorescent Lighting Was the Second Problem

Fluorescent lighting, while a step up from no illumination at all, comes with its own reliability drawbacks in an industrial gage application: bulbs have a limited service life, generate heat, and eventually require replacement - each replacement cycle representing a maintenance interruption. The Jerguson LumaStar LED Illuminator addresses this with high-intensity, long-life LEDs that generate no heat and offer a service life measured in years rather than the shorter replacement cycles fluorescent technology requires.

Why the Waste Heat Boiler's Pressure Rating Matters

This gage assembly was specified for operation at 120 PSI, with a 200 PSI design condition - meaning the assembly is rated with margin above the boiler's actual operating pressure, consistent with standard engineering practice for pressure-retaining equipment. Waste heat boilers, which recover thermal energy from process exhaust or byproduct heat rather than burning fuel directly, still require the same rigorous level indication reliability as any other boiler, since they remain pressure vessels subject to the same water level safety considerations.

Before and After: What Changed

The combination of moving to armored construction and LED illumination represents a complete visibility and reliability upgrade: an exposed, fragile glass tube paired with heat-generating, limited-life fluorescent lighting was replaced with a protected, armored gage body paired with long-life, heat-free LED illumination - addressing both the structural vulnerability and the illumination reliability problem the facility identified.

Applications

This kind of combined tubular-to-armored and fluorescent-to-LED upgrade applies wherever facilities are running older, original-installation gage technology:

Chemical Processing: Waste heat boilers, process boilers, and reactor vessel level gages
Power Generation: Any facility with aging tubular gage installations
Any Facility Citing "Unreliable, Dated Technology": Where both construction type and illumination technology may be due for an upgrade together