Detecting hot products on the conveyor
June 2004
Temperature Measurement
One of the problems with moving product on open conveyor systems is the measurement of the temperature of that product. Conventional contact principles like thermocouples and RTDs/PT100s are not suitable to drag in fast moving materials. Contact probes in slow moving and granular products still have problems like friction and static generation.
To detect the movement of hot products or hot pieces of product, the response time of a contact system is far too slow and large volumes of over spec or dangerous product have to flow past the detector before an alarm can be generated.
Non-contact infrared thermometers
Infrared technology is not a new phenomenon; it has been used successfully in industrial and research applications for decades. New innovations have reduced cost, increased reliability and resulted in non-contact infrared sensors offering smaller units of measurement.
All of these factors have contributed to infrared technology becoming an area of interest to a broad cross section of users in many applications.
The advantages of non-contact temperature measurement include:
* Speed of response: Fast response to temperature changes in the millisecond range, dependent on unit.
* Moving target: Measurement of small spots of hot product can be detected on open conveyors moving at speed.
* Hazardous and inaccessible processes: Corrosive products are not touched (if you can see it you can measure it).
* High and low temperature ranges: Measure anywhere between -50 and 3000°C by choosing the correct product to fit the application.
* No contamination: No contact means the product will not be contaminated by measuring it.
The Raytek TXS system allows the user to adjust sensors remotely from the control room without interrupting the process. Temperature range, emissivity, filter and peek/valley hold parameters can all be changed from a distance with the HART protocol, standard on the Raytek TXS range.
Raytek's TX and MID systems have been used throughout South Africa and the world in materials handling systems. Large coal moving conveyors have Raytek systems integrated into their trip systems and any spike of temperature from a hot spot in the coal causes a trip so preventing the movement of fire to or from a stockpile.
Raytek offers fixed/portable infrared devices, and the new ThermoView Ti30 cost effective thermal imager.
For more information contact Steve Edwards, R & C Instrumentation, 032 946 2805/082 445 9991, www.randci.co.za
Further reading:
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