Locally developed lasers challenging imports
February 2001
Level Measurement & Control
Laser Measurement is a unique South African company that has developed and manufactured laser technology for level control and positioning in process control applications.
Laser meters have been installed worldwide in all types of applications, from mining to food and beverage to positioning and anti-collision applications. Various laser instruments are available depending on applications, environment or distance.
Laser is a superior technology for distance measurement for various reasons:
* Its pulse travels at the speed of light which makes the response time fast.
* It can be aimed at a small target and can be used to measure over great distances. Laser instruments have a 50 mm beam diameter, with virtually no beam divergence. The narrow receive beam width will not pick up false echoes from surrounding obstacles.
* As the beam is not reflected but scatters when it hits a target, the instrument will pick up a return signal from any angle. This means they can be used for cone-up and cone down applications.
* Laser prices are on par with the widely used ultrasonic technology.
* All laser instruments are Class 1 safety rated and therefore are completely eye-safe and can cause no damage.
* The laser meters are also user friendly and simple to install and program.
Progress
Recently Laser Measurement upgraded two of its more popular instruments: the LMO and LM4. They are now known as the LMOII and LM4C. A number of remarkable changes have been made that will influence both the local market and international market. For example, the instruments now offer a much higher resolution for sensitive applications.
To date, Laser Measurement has been able to offer instruments that are considerably less expensive than any laser instruments offered by the limited international companies that manufacture similar types of instruments. The trade off has been the resolution of the instruments. Laser Measurement's traditional instruments, the LMO Owl and the LM4 have operated with a 0,5% resolution over the full range of measurement, with a minimum of 2 cm. This means that over 10 m, the instrument would have a 5 cm resolution; over 40 m, a 20 cm resolution. When measuring over these distances on rough, solid materials such as that found in ore passes or crushers, this resolution is more than adequate. However, there are occasions when a higher resolution is critical.
To date, applications that require high-resolution laser instruments have had to be fulfilled by instruments obtained from Germany or Canada. Local customers have paid exorbitant prices for these instruments. After several months of intensive research and development, Laser Measurement can now offer laser technology with much higher resolution for just a marginal increase in the local price. The new LMO-2 and the LM4-C offer a resolution of 1 cm. The instruments can currently measure up to 120 m, over all ranges.
Other changes include the option for an internal supply module as well as the option of nonisolated and isolated incoming power supply. Changes have also been made to the temperature tolerance. In the past the units could handle up to 60°C. Now the units can handle temperature from - 40 up to + 60°C.
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