EMI/RFI issues can manifest themselves in many ways, such as a faulty indication of a sensor, visual display unit spikes, or spurious actuations of a system. In critical industries such as power generation and the medical industry, these EMI/RFI issues can cause costly downtime of critical equipment resulting in significant consequences. AMS has extensive experience troubleshooting these issues in critical industries, and can provide routine as well as emergency services to help mitigate and solve EMI/RFI problems.
EMI and RFI Troubleshooting
Numerous industrial facilities in the U.S and abroad face the increasing challenge of maintaining electromagnetic compatibility (EMC). The constantly evolving wireless landscape, as well as the increased adoption of digital equipment over the last twenty years, has created additional challenges for ensuring electromagnetic compatibility between plant equipment. AMS is uniquely positioned to address these coexistence issues due to our 20 years of experience in mitigating electromagnetic interference (EMI) and radio frequency interference (RFI), and our unique position as a full-service EMC provider from design to qualification to implementation.
For example, a nuclear facility recently had a pressure transmitter experiencing intermittent spiking which was causing issues with the pressure readings in the control room. AMS was brought on-site to help determine the root cause of the issue and provide recommendations on how to mitigate it. After reviewing the system and acquiring various electrical measurements, AMS was able to determine that the source of the “noise,” or interfering EMI, was a failing metal-halide light bulb. AMS provided recommendations on how to harden the system to any future EMI/RFI related problems as well as a suggestion to replace the lightbulb with a comparable LED unit with a lower radiated emissions profile.
Other common systems troubleshooted by AMS include control systems, differential pressure transmitters, temperature sensors, nuclear instrumentation, area radiation monitors, relays, switches, and many other types of electrical and I&C equipment.
Do you have an electrical issue that you suspect is due to EMI/RFI? Please contact us to help determine a solution.