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Continuously Measuring Corn Surge Hopper Level

PROBLEM:
What continuous level measuring product is ideal for challenging applications, such as a corn surge hopper in an Ethanol facility where the material level is constantly changing and internal vessel environment extremely dusty?

EXPLANATION:
The process of making Ethanol fuel from corn involves using a surge hopper.  A surge hopper typically is used to absorb the peaks and valleys of the raw material requirement during the continuous processing of the grain to make Ethanol.  As material continuously is fed into the hopper and the process draws off the required raw material to process, the levels of corn rise and fall and dust from the grain and field is ever present.  This makes the surge hopper a challenging application for a continuous level measurement sensor.

SOLUTION:
Monitor recommends our continuous level measurement technology, Flexar® guided wave radar, which is unaffected by airborne dust, bulk density and temperature changes. The Flexar guided wave radar unit uses TDR (time domain reflectometry) technology to make accurate measurements at a distance of 100ft (30m) in solids and 200ft (60m) in liquids.  The TDR microwave pulses are guided to the material surface along a continuous stainless steel cable of 0.31" (8mm) diameter.  The microwave pulses reflect off the material surface and the time of flight results in the distance measurement of empty space.  Ignoring any and all dust particles.  The unit calculates the material level based on the height of the surge hopper and transmits this data via a 4-20mA output signal to a remote receiving device such as a control system or digital display meter, or via RS485 communications for use with Monitors’ SiloTrack inventory management system.

Flexar® guided wave radar continuous level sensors are a proven radar technology installed in thousands of bulk solids applications worldwide. Monitor Technologies is the leading supplier of level measurement and monitoring solutions for powder and bulk solids applications.

Give Monitor Technologies a call and let us put our creative solution 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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