Laser Sensor Can Measure Displacement 2 Meters From Sensor
Measurement technology company Micro-Epsilon has launched a new laser sensor with a 1m measuring range. The optoNCDT 1710-1000 sensor has a measuring range that starts from a distance of one metre from the sensor, so displacement can be measured at a distance of 2m from the sensor. The sensor comes with an integrated controller in a compact 200mm x 83mm x 48mm housing. The diameter of the light spot is constant across the complete beam path. With a measuring rate of 2.5kHz, the sensor is technically superior to existing alternative sensors on the market, providing 100µm resolution without averaging. 4-20 mA, 0-10V, RS422 or USB outputs are available.
The optoNCDT 1710-1000 is used for measurement objects that have a high degree of freedom or movement. Other potential applications are in harsh ambient conditions, where the sensor has to measure onto the object from a safe distance or if the target is in a vacuum. The sensor also performs very well in high target temperatures or when it is not possible to mount the sensor close to the target. Like all other models in the 1700 series, the optoNCDT 1710-1000 also benefits from a unique RTSC circuit for the real-time compensation of surface influences. This means that a high quality signal is obtained even when changing reflections occur from the target surface.
Sensor Measures Dissolved Nitrate In Water
March 2, 2010 by admin
Filed under Level, Liquid Level, Safety, Temperature
Featuring a precision nitrate ISE electrode sensor with an integral self-cleaning sprayer, the new HYDRA Nitrate Analyzer System from Electro-Chemical Devices, Inc. (ECD), offers superior measurement, monitoring and control with virtually no maintenance.
The highly intelligent HYDRA Nitrate Analyzer System measures the concentration of dissolved nitrate as nitrogen (NO3–N) in water. The sensor uses two electrodes to determine the NO3–N concentration: a nitrate ion electrode and a chloride ion electrode. An optional electrode is also available for pH measurement.
The system’s HYDRA Analyzer is configured to periodically actuate a cleaning cycle using the integral spray cleaner in the nitrate sensor, minimizing the formation of biofilms or other coatings on the electrodes and keeping maintenance to a minimum. The cleaning cycles feature a user configurable period and duration. During the cleaning cycle the 4-20 mA output is held at either a preset value or the last value.
While useful in all types of water treatment applications, the HYDRA Nitrate Analyzer System is especially well suited for municipal wastewater treatment plants. Nitrogen primarily enters a municipal wastewater system as ammonia/ammonium compounds. Nitrification oxidizes the toxic ammonium ion into a much less toxic nitrate ion using an aerobic activated sludge process.
De-nitrification reduces the nitrate ion (NO3-) to nitrogen gas (N2) through an anoxic reaction in the same treatment basin or in a separate anaerobic digester. The NO3–N measurement helps optimize the methanol being fed to the digester, which minimizes cost and provides trend measurement of the total nitrogen (TN) in the effluent.
The nitrate ion electrode provides the primary measurement. A second electrode measures the Chloride ions in the sample. The HYDRA Analyzer subtracts the appropriate amount of signal from the nitrate measurement for accurate monitoring. The sensor also detects temperature, and the analyzer provides a temperature-compensation calculation for superior measurement accuracy.
The rugged nitrate sensor offers 1.25-inch NPT rear facing threads for attaching an extension/immersion tube for easy installation from catwalks or handrails. Internal signal conditioning allows the sensor to be mounted up to 200 meters from the analyzer. The sensor is extremely low-maintenance, featuring a movable electrode guard to facilitate easy electrode replacement when necessary.
ECD’s HYDRA Nitrate Analyzer System measures nitrate and chloride in concentrations from 0.1 to 1000 ppm, pH from 0 to 14 and temperature from 0 to 50°C (32 to 122°F). Accuracy is ±3 percent of reading with a response time of T90 1 minute.
Featuring a backlit LCD display that provides up to 4 lines of text and graphics, the HYDRA Analyzer includes two 4-20 mA outputs with two SPDT alarm relays. Input power is 110/220 Vac. It is housed in a rugged NEMA 4X enclosure.
Safety Gas Sensor Detect Combustable Gases And CO2
Scott Health & Safety is proud to announce the launch of the Freedom(TM) Direct gas detector-the newest member of the company’s full line of fixed gas detection instruments.
Specifically designed to detect combustible gases and carbon dioxide using infrared (IR) or catalytic bead sensor technologies, the Scott Freedom Direct detector delivers information on gas concentrations directly to a Scott controller without the need for a transmitter. By eliminating the use of the transmitter, the Freedom Direct detector reduces the initial investment needed to maintain plant safety.
This unique design provides the most economical way to add points of detection to remote locations or areas where local display is not required, providing a greater coverage of potentially hazardous areas.
The Freedom Direct detector also allows for easy installation, simple maintenance and quick sensor change-out in the field. The ability to switch between IR and catalytic bead sensor technologies in the field expands the detector’s capabilities and provides customers the ultimate flexibility.
The advanced sensor technology used with the Freedom Direct detector is protected from the harshest of environments by its rugged stainless steel housing which helps to maintain its life and operation. When combined with the 5.5 volt catalytic bead sensor, the detector can operate in temperatures up to 200°C (392°F).
When local display is required, the Freedom Direct detector can be upgraded seamlessly to the Freedom 6000 transmitter in the field, providing customers the functionality that they desire.
Sensors Detect Metal Targets In Extreme Heat & Cold
For sensing applications exposed to temperatures from -25 degrees C to +180 degrees C, Baumer has introduced the new IFRH Series of Inductive High Temperature Sensors, a family of two-part proximity switches available in M8, M12 and M18 designs with chromium nickel steel housings.
Intended for flush-face installation, the IP67-rated IFRH sensors are designed to detect the presence of metal targets. With an overall length of just 30 mm, the M8 sensor is specifically designed for use in limited-space applications. Depending upon the housing size, nominal switching distance ranges from 1.5 mm to 5 mm.
An FEP jacketed cable connects the sensor’s temperature-sensitive processing electronics to the sensor head, protecting the electronics from damage. The sensors offer an operating voltage range between 10…30 VDC. These sensors are appropriate for use in aerospace, automotive, marine, PCB fabrication, food and beverage processing, oil processing, laboratory automation, rubber and plastics fabrication, chemical processing, packaging, print/graphics, textile production, and water treatment applications.
Medical Sensor Is Put On Blood Bags
January 27, 2010 by admin
Filed under Level, Liquid Level, Safety
Schweizer Electronic AG, situated in Schramberg, Germany, and SIEMENS AG Österreich, with registered offices in Vienna, Austria, have agreed to extensive cooperation for the manufacture and marketing of RFID transponders with the integrated sensor technology known as “SEAGSens”. Schweizer Electronic is responsible for the manufacture of the transponders developed in collaboration with the Hochschule Offenburg (Offenburg university) and SIEMENS. SIEMENS will assume the distribution and marketing. The SEAGSens will be used in seamless temperature monitoring, tracing and the clear identification of blood bags, medications or foodstuffs, among others. Schweizer Electronic is to operate the RFID business in the context of a “Schweizer Tracking and Tracing Solutions” business unit.
After having completed extensive tests and pilot projects, Schweizer Electronic has now finalised the qualification of the SEAGSens (see pictures). The first series production order has already been received.
In principle, the RFID-based measuring instrument monitors and verifies temperatures as required in this logistical application of blood products. Reliability is the all-important decisive factor here. The SEAGSens fulfils the highest requirements of clinics and blood banks. The temperature-based quality assessment of donor blood on their entire route from the donor to the patient markedly reduces the discard rate of blood products which leads to considerable cost savings.
In addition, the clear identification of the stored blood effectively prevents the serious consequences of incorrect blood transfusions caused by mistaking blood bags. The same technology can also be used to monitor the transport and logistical processes of other industries and applications for which temperature is of critical importance.
RFID sensor tag SEAGsens on blood bag
To achieve the required quality level of temperature-sensitive pharmaceutic products, monitoring of the complete cold chain has to be ensured. Therefore, Schweizer Electronic designed the requirements for a tracking and tracing system for blood products in close collaboration with Siemens AG Österreich and ‘Universitätsklinik für Blutgruppenserologie und Transfusionsmedizin’ located in Graz.
The complete temperature profile of blood bags has to be monitored from vein of donor to vein of recipient. Thus, the monitoring device must be able to withstand the centrifugation processes necessary for blood fraction (up to 5,000 G) without malfunction. The operation costs per run have to be low.
Together with Siemens AG Österreich and University of Offenburg Schweizer Electronic developed SEAGsens, a temperature data logger with RFID frontend.
How does it work?
A digital sensor is measuring the temperature very accurately at a freely selectable time cycle. The microcontroller is analysing the temperature/time data and stores up to 30,000 measurement readings in a memory chip. The memory can be read out contactlessly at any time via the RFID wireless interface (HF frontend). Schweizer Electronic developed a special housing and battery technology to ensure centrifugation ability. The qualification process and the clinical field test have been terminated successfully. The benefit: monitoring of long periods through high memory and battery capacity.
The SEAGsens RFID sensor tag provides highest level of functionality, safety and quality. Due to the long operation time, costs per run are comparatively low. The integrated battery allows a continuous useability of more than 3 years. The temperature focused quality control reduces the wastage rate of blood products considerably. By the unique identity of each single blood bag, incorrect transfusions with all their harmful consequences are efficiently eliminated.
Sensor Detects Ozone In Air, Water & Explosive Gases
In Freiburg, Germany, scientists have developed a highly sensitive, miniaturized mobile Ozone sensor. This sensor can be used not only in air, but also in water and in the vicinity of explosive gases.
Ozone is a powerful oxidizing agent and can cause a wide range of symptoms in humans, including lacrimation, irritation of the mucous membranes in the mouth, throat, and bronchial tubes, headaches, coughing and even deterioration in lung function.
The main sources of ozone pollution are industrial and transport emissions. Particularly in warmer weather, these react with intensive UV radiation to form ground-level ozone.
But laser printers and copiers, machines so prevalent in modern-day offices, can also emit ozone.
The European Commission has announced its intention to cut the guideline value for ozone in the air from the current level of 90 parts per billion to 60 parts per billion by 2010, and when this new regulation comes into force, there will be an increased demand for inexpensive ozone sensors.
But, according to project manager Dr. Volker Cimalla of the IAF, “Since ozone is, at the same time, an agent with high application potential, novel sensors are required, which have to be compact and affordable.”
Sensors are essential equipment in industrial settings such as wastewater treatment facilities and water sterilization units, where they are used to monitor the ozone concentration – firstly to ensure the required concentration for the relevant application is maintained, and secondly to guard against exceeding hazardous thresholds for humans.
According to Project manager Cimalla, “The ozone sensors currently available on the market employ extremely laborious and complex measuring procedures such as UV absorption and are therefore very expensive.”
“By contrast, the more affordable ozone sensors have to be heated up to 300 degrees Celsius and produce inaccurate readings or only work in limited areas of application,” he said.
“We’ve done away with the need for heating by instead applying blue/violet light radiation to trigger the chemical process necessary for regeneration on the sensor surface. This allows the sensors to operate at room temperature,” he added.
The scientists built on the existing knowledge that molecules absorbed on the surface of a sensing layer alter its electrical resistance – and can also be removed again by light irradiation.
The result is a highly-sensitive, miniaturized sensor capable of measuring the low ozone levels that occur in environmental and ambient air monitoring just as accurately as the high levels associated with industrial process control.
Since the sensor is extremely small, it can even be integrated into mobile equipment.
US ARMY To Have Portable Toxic Gas Sensor Developed
January 18, 2010 by admin
Filed under Featured, Industry News, Safety
The US Army has awarded a contract to Platypus Technologies for the development of a portable sensor that can detect deadly gases and other toxins.
Under the $2.2m contract, Platypus will continue to develop sensors that have an ultra-thin layer of gold film coated with receptors that make it turn lighter or darker when it comes in contact with a targeted substance.
The sensor will use tiny liquid crystals, which are used in LCD television and computer screens, for the changes in the color intensity.
Platypus president and chief executive Richard S Schifreen said the company also developed a prototype of a handheld device for reading the sensors and refining the technology for certain applications, including military uses.
Work under the one-year contract will be carried out by Platypus in collaboration with Edgewood Chemical and Biological Center in Maryland.
Sensor Family Replaces Transformers
Silicon Laboratories created an ac current sensor family that replaces traditional current transformers. Silicon Labs’ new Si85xx ac current sensors provide up to 5 kVrms of electrical isolation to ensure safety compliance for a variety of critical power delivery systems such as ac-dc switching power supplies, isolated dc-dc supplies, motor control applications and electronic lighting ballasts.
The Si85xx ac current sensors provide a more reliable, cost-effective alternative to antiquated transformers for today’s modern power delivery systems. Traditional transformers are large, bulky magnetic components that contribute significant supply losses and have parasitics that complicate system design. The highly integrated ISOpro ac current sensors feature a sophisticated architecture that minimizes the need for costly discrete components for filtering and reset circuitry. An available small-footprint QFN package eases printed circuit board (PCB) space constraints with a small 4×4x1 mm profile.
With a measurement accuracy of better than 5 percent, the Si85xx ac current sensors are available in 5 A, 10 A and 20 A versions. They provide a large output signal level of 2.0 V at full-scale output range, eliminating the need for an external amplifier. A “ping-pong” output mode enables one sensor to replace two current transformers and associated components in full-bridge applications, reducing board footprint by more than 50 percent and BOM cost by more than $0.30 (USD).
Offering the industry’s lowest parasitic losses, the Si85xx current sensors enable designers to maximize system efficiency and meet aggressive power budgets for green energy standards. The devices’ low resistance (<1.3 milliohms) and small parasitic inductance (<2 nH) result in more efficient power supplies that are easier and quicker to design.
Safe Camera Sensor Monitora Aeas of up to 2.25 m²
SICK is presenting the V300 WS Extended – the latest generation of safe camera sensors for protecting hazardous areas and points-of-operation at SIL2 or PL d levels – for the first time at the SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2009 trade fair in Nuremberg. Its range has been enhanced so that it can now monitor protective areas of up to 2.25 m². Operating two systems in Synchronous Mode allows the size of the protective field to be doubled. Commissioning of the V300 WS Extended has been made even easier with the help of intuitive single-button operation and the improved four-LED display. The single-device concept of the safe camera sensor is also convincing in economic terms – because the device ensures cost-efficient procurement, stock-keeping and spare-part administration.
The V300 WS Extended is a non-contact safety system based on image processing technology. It fulfils safety integrity level SIL2 according to IEC 61508 and Performance Level PL d in line with EN ISO 13849. The sensor’s transmitter and receiver are integrated in a single housing – as are the supplementary functions Reset and External Device Monitoring. The compact triangular housing of the safe camera system allows horizontal or vertical installation at locations in which the sensor is protected against impacts, misalignment or damage.
A single device for almost all common opening sizes and formats
With a range of 2.12 m, the V300 WS Extended is suitable for machine openings and monitored areas of up to 1.5 m x 1.5 m². Mounted in a corner, the V300 WS Extended generates a field that reaches to the reflector strip mounted opposite the device. The entire length and breadth of the reflector strip is monitored with selectable resolutions of 20 mm, 24 mm or 30 mm. The V300 WS Extended signals within 20 ms and stops the machine movement immediately if someone reaches into the machine during processing activities. The protective fields can be steplessly adapted to the application during commissioning. Long or narrow action windows, ducts on machines, cables passing through the protective field, or spatial geometries when used to prevent access from the back of a machine can be appropriately taught-in. In the case of larger monitoring areas, it is possible to connect two devices via the serial synchronisation input and thus double the protective field size to 4.5 m². If two sides meeting one another at an angle are to be protected, two V300 WS Extended units are also the perfect solution here: there is no need for a central strut in the corner – so the operator has unobstructed access to the machine via the corner, e.g. for the insertion and removal of larger workpieces.
Optimised installation as well as commissioning and diagnostic display
Almost no other safety sensor is as easy to install and commission as the V300 WS Extended. Two screws are sufficient to reliably fix the device, e.g. in or on the corner of a slotted profile frame. Only one cable is required for electrical connection. Alignment on the reflector strip takes place automatically. The protective field is taught-in in Teach-in Mode. The four-LED display supports this process in that one LED each indicates the status of the safe switching outputs, external device monitoring, the reset button and the teach-in button. If diagnosis becomes necessary, the above-mentioned assignment of the LEDs permits targeted corrective work, minimising the time spent handling servicing activities. The protective field is divided into four sectors during running operation – the LEDs provide visualisation of reflector strip detection for each sector and thus ensure safe function.
Safe camera sensor also keeps costs under control
The concept of the V300 WS Extended – a single device for all opening sizes and a wide range of protective field geometries – opens up economical solutions in many terms. The device, which can be easily and rapidly mounted and operated without expert knowledge, reduces commissioning costs. It creates safe working conditions, preventing accidents at work and thus minimising the risk of subsequent follow-up costs and liability demands. As a “universal sensor” for a wide range of similar but not always identical applications, it reduces the number of variants that would otherwise require stocking at machine constructors or system integrators – with a positive effect on economic efficiency in warehouses and logistics. This also applies for applications with two synchronised sensors: identical variants can be used here.
The “little brother” V200 WS Extended
The “little brother”, the V200 WS Extended, is also the suitable solution for tasks for which the risk analysis indicates a lower protective requirement – at the level of SIL1 and PL c – with the same performance data.
Teflon Turbine Flow Sensor Ideal for Aggresive Fluids
A new family of turbine flow sensors now available from Clark Solutions features innovative infrared technology to provide high-resolution flow measurement. Clark Solutions’ new PFA Turbine Flow Sensors are designed for monitoring and controlling corrosive or aggressive fluids, including fuels. PFA Flow Sensors are designed for full-scale flow ranges of 2.0 l/min, 20 l/min & 40 l/min with an accuracy of 1% of reading and a repeatability of better than 0.15%.
PFA Turbine Flow Sensors feature an ultra-lightweight rotor that generates a high resolution IR reflected digital output signal. These innovative turbine flow sensors work by having clear, opaque, or neutral liquids pass through a static worm, creating spin. The spinning fluid drives a PFA rotor into a frictionless rotation. Reflectors mounted on the rotor blades reflect IR signals to a high-resolution infrared sensor that determines the rate of flow by counting the passing reflections. The ultra low mass of the PFA rotor with ruby bearing provides very quick response to changes in the rate of flow.
In addition, the PFA can be supplied with an internal preset flow switch set via software interface, and an internal programmable batch function for dispensing and dosing applications. An external solid-state switch module, model 6300, is provided when these options are ordered.
Available for use with PFA Turbine Flow Sensors are the Model 6100 Digital to 4-20 mA Converter and the Model S601 Solid Batch and Flow Controller. Other PFA Flow Sensor models available from Clark Solutions include a stainless steel model and a disposable turbine configuration.
