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Continuous Level Measurement of Extremely Lightweight Specialty Materials

PROBLEM:
“I can’t find a technology to measure the level of my finished product. It is extremely lightweight, less than 5lbs/ft³, and nothing seems to work”.

EXPLANATION:
Very lightweight materials are definite challenges for continuous level measurement technology. There is so much air that the dielectric is very low and sound absorption is high. This means that guided wave radar, through-air radar, ultrasonic and RF capacitance technologies are all out of the question. 3M in Cottage Grove, MN had this exact problem. They manufacture a highly proprietary and specialized packaging material. They needed continuous level monitoring of their raw material and finished goods bins. The raw materials were not challenging per se, but the finished product was extremely lightweight, less than 5lbs/ft³! 3M needed a solution.

SOLUTION:
The Monitor Technologies SiloPatrol® Inventory Monitoring System is a smart weight & cable based sensor system. This state-of-the-art weight & cable system is a proven problem solver, but will it work effectively on material less than 5lbs/ft³? Yes! The local Monitor representative arranged a demonstration and a unit was temporarily mounted on a skid and then placed on top of a large box of the material. It worked perfectly. The design of the sensor weight (an inverted cone design) and the electronics/mechanical design of the sensor allowed the unit to detect the surface of this lightweight material without sinking into the material.

The SiloPatrol system is now used on the raw and finished goods silos. According to the customer, “the SiloPatrol system is one of the few devices we have that operates flawlessly”. The sensors have been installed since the late 1990’s and the customer still has their initial purchase of spare replacement parts.

Give Monitor Technologies a call and let us put our creative solutions to work for you!

 

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Solids Flow Monitor - SFI  
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.

SiloPatrol_coal Application

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.

 

>>Click here for more information about SiloPatrol SE from Monitor Technologies.
>>Download Product Bulletin 343A

 

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