Monitor Technologies LLC was founded by George Gruber in Port
Sanilac, MI in 1958. The company was then known as Sanilac Manufacturing
Company and had a product line consisting of two (2) rotary paddle
units, the Model M and MX. In 1960, Mr. Gruber moved the company
to Minden City, MI and adopted the name Monitor Manufacturing. This
name would define the company for the next 38 years.
By 1965, Monitor’s
product line consisted of three (3) rotary paddle units and one
(1) model of a diaphragm switch unit. Over the
years the product line grew and by 1980 consisted of twenty-two (22)
products used almost exclusively for the level detection of powder
and bulk solids materials. Our customer base grew from approximately
130 accounts in the early 1960’s to over 10,000 worldwide.
Since
1980, other products have been added through acquisition and internal
development. In 1965, Monitor was acquired by D K Manufacturing.
Monitor’s sales offices moved to D K’s location in
Batavia, IL while the manufacturing operations remained behind
in Michigan.
Several years later in 1972 D K Manufacturing, including Monitor,
was acquired by CRL. In 1977, Monitor had outgrown both the Batavia
and
Minden City locations and the entire Monitor Manufacturing operation
was consolidated in a new facility built in Elburn, IL where we
are located today.
Monitor’s product line continued to expand.
RF Capacitance and Vibratory technologies were added to its existing
mechanical and electromechanical
product lines for point level monitoring. The company’s weight & cable
inventory monitor was developed and became an industry standard.
Some product lines that didn’t fit Monitor’s focus
on instrumentation for powder and bulk solids were sold off in
the early 1990’s,
and the Company went through a management buyout and changed its
name to Monitor Technologies LLC in April of 1998.
In the late
1990’s and into the first decade of the new millennium
new technologies were added through development, such as our SiloPatrol® smart
weight & cable inventory monitoring system and SiloTrack™ PC-based
inventory management software. Other new products were brought
to the market during this time frame through strategic partnerships.
Monitor’s
focus on quality was first exemplified in 2000 when it achieved
certification to ISO 9001 standards.
Monitor’s current focus
remains that of instrumentation for powder and bulk solids applications.
Monitor is
committed to be second-to-none in delivering the highest degree
of customer satisfaction delivered through every contact our customers
have with us. We will not accept anything less. Our SecureCaresm
customer
service is dedicated to this end.
Today, Monitor Technologies LLC
offers superior solutions in level monitoring, solids flow detection,
particle emission monitoring
and bin aeration. Give us a call today and let us put our creative
solutions
to work for you!
SiloPatrol® SE Measuring coal
powder levels when nothing else will work ….
Coal-fired power plants are commonplace around the
world. In order for these power generating stations to create
huge amounts of electricity the turbines need to be feed with steam
and the steam created by boilers that are fired by … yep,
coal. But coal as it comes from the mining operations is not
what is fed to the burners. First it is ground or pulverized
into powder. It is not unusual for the coal powder to be stored
in silos awaiting the demand for it to be fed to the burners. The
inventory of coal powder in these silos needs to be monitored to
allow for efficient operation of the power plant.
So, how do we monitor the inventory of coal powder in a silo? Not
easily. In one typical application the power plant personnel
found that the only technology that would work reliably is the modern
smart weight & cable system from Monitor Technologies LLC, the
SiloPatrol® SE.
Anhui
Tongling power plant in Anhui province in China had tried almost
ever technology possible to get a reliable level measurement in their
5 coal powder silos. Radar, ultrasonic and others were tried,
but none worked reliably. It wasn’t until Beijing Conasen
walked in and proposed that the Tongling plant use the SiloPatrol
SE smart cable-based inventory monitoring system that the power plant
personnel found a reliable solution.
Mr. William Yuan, sales manager for Beijing Conasen indicates that
the power plant tried many major brands of ultrasonic, radar, and
other technologies but that due to good relations with the Tongling
plant personnel he was able to sell three SiloPatrol SE model SMU
sensors and an HMI operator interface to them. The units were
installed by plant personnel. Because of the heavy amount of
coal dust in the silos an air purge using dry compressed air was
used. The SiloPatrol sensor incorporates the patent-pending
use of Hall-effect sensor technology, a split-compartment enclosure,
microcontroller, redundant optics and many other valuable features
and technology to ensure reliable measurement even in challenging
dust applications like coal powder.
The SiloPatrol SE system has been working reliably and the plant
has since purchased two additional sensors and connected them into
the same HMI operator interface. This same sensor technology
is working reliably at other coal-fired power stations in China as
well.
For more information on the SiloPatrol SE click
here or contact Monitor Technologies LLC at 800-766-6486 in the
USA and 630-365-9403 worldwide.