A midwest-based grain elevator and
storage company had four receiver hoppers that they were interested
in having level sensors installed in. When they first get in
a load of grain or soybean, they place it in the receiver bins
while a sample of the load is being tested (for moisture content,
etc.). Once the product is cleared it then gets placed in their
regular storage silos. As you may imagine, during peak times
product is going in and out of these receiver bins at a rapid
pace. Some type of level measurement system that could keep up
with this dynamic situation would be most useful. Plus, the soybean
and grain being moved around so quickly caused some highly dusty
conditions which needed to be taken into consideration.
For the rest of
their storage bins they were already using SiloPatrol® cable-based
level sensors linked to SiloTrackTM inventory management
software. Since they have two locations, they were able
to monitor the inventory the silos for both locations from the
main office using the SiloTrack software. The SiloPatrol sensors
worked well for their regular grain storage silos; however, for
the receiver bins they needed something that could provide
"real-time" measurements besides work with their
inventory software and be reliable in extremely dusty surroundings.
The Flexar® guided
wave radar system was suggested to them because it matched all
of the criteria. To make sure that everything was going to function
properly, the company tested out one Flexar unit at first. After
a period of time, they determined that the Flexar sensor was
able to reliably do everything they needed so the company purchased
Flexar sensors for the rest of their receiver bins.
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The Flexar® guided
wave radar sensor is a continuous level measurement system
using TDR (time domain reflectometry) principles where radar
pulses are focused down to the material surface by the unit's
wave guide (a heavy duty cable) and the time-of-flight of the
pulse reflection back to the instrument electronics is directly
related to the empty distance in the vessel and the
material level. Guided wave radar technology has proven successful
and an excellent choice for most powder and bulk solids applications
as well as a multitude of liquids applications.
Benefits of Flexar® include no moving parts
for less wear and tear; the employed technology allows the
sensor to be virtually unaffected by and reliable in dusty
conditions; no field calibration is required to provide easy
installation and setup; and a universal power supply for high
or low voltage options.
The Flexar sensor can also be supplied with a choice of outputs.
The analog 4-20mA output version can be interfaced to your
existing PLC or DCS and the “Smart” RS-485 output
version is compatible with the PC-based SiloTrackTM Inventory
Management software. The SiloTrack software automates level
monitoring and report generation, sends email notifications
to suppliers or corporate locations and allows remote viewing
of material level inventory.
For more information, please visit
www.monitortech.com/product_c_f_flexar.shtml
or www.flexar.info or
call us in the USA at 800-766-6486 or from anywhere at 630-365-9403.
Also, check out our Level Measurement blog at http://monitortech.typepad.com.
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