Product News

Red Lion Controls Receives Top Honors from Global Industry Publications

Red Lion Controls, the global experts in communication, monitoring and control for industrial automation and networking, today announced that its newest plug-in modules for the popular Graphite™ series of advanced human machine interface (HMI) panels were named “Best Product of 2014” by Control Engineering China.  Additionally, Red Lion was recently selected as a 2014 “Wind Industry Leader” by the readers of Windpower Engineering magazine, a leading North American publication on engineering, design and maintenance of wind power equipment.  See the rest of the story here.

Thermal Uniformity Survey (TUS) Solution

Quick Product Overview:

Custom Thermal Uniformity Survey (TUS) solution uses thermocouple panels (thermocouple jacks and T2550 series) and a hardened laptop running a custom Wonderware interface for generating TUS reports. A special feature is that it is able to “learn” a furnace’s unique survey requirements, including number of thermocouples, thermocouple types, temperature ranges, etc.

Engineering / Design Company:

Neal Systems Inc (NSI), one of the largest US-based Eurotherm distributors and system integrators

Background:

Approximately five years ago, Eurotherm USA generated an “AUTOMATIC TUS REPORT” marketing mailer to all US-based companies that were registered as being NADCAP-certified. A local steel company responded with interest, and NSI was able to sell them a Chessell 6180 with the TUS software.

They quickly realized that the solution wouldn’t work for their operators, as they have over 130 furnaces which vary widely in both Celsius / Fahrenheit as well as number and type of thermocouples. As they were having to do close to 500 reports per year, the concept of having each operator change the degrees type, # of channels, and thermocouple type for each report was going to create a huge potential for errors.

Design Concept:

NSI gathered information on the number of furnaces, the number and type of thermocouples for each furnace, and the report type expected with each furnace. A design concept was created where a Wonderware-based interface would effectively be able to “learn” each furnace such that the operator’s only responsibility would be to tell it the furnace name. Two thermocouple panels were designed (one is pictured left) which would account for every possible combination of thermocouple types that the operator might need for the specific furnace test (occasionally two panels would have to be connected together).

Once the correct furnace was chosen in the Wonderware screen, the system would automatically look to see if the correct number of thermocouples was plugged into the two main thermocouple panels (called “pods” by the customer). Below is pictured an example where the user was viewing “Pod #2”.

Once the survey was completed, the operators would have an opportunity to review the raw data, as seen below:

Assuming the survey was a good one, the operator could then press a button, which would generate a full report that was designed either for compliance to their end customer’s requirements, or for a NADCAP auditor (or both in some cases).

The system has been used now for a few years by the customer in their 130+ plus furnaces, and we have recently designed another iteration for them that includes new report changes that better comply with some of the AMS2750E changes.

Contact Information:

Neal Systems Inc (NSI)
Shane Filer
122 Terry Drive
Newtown, PA 18490 (USA)
215-968-7577

New High Performance Pyrometer Series by Process Sensors

Features

Process Sensors introduces their newest self-contained pyrometer models, the stand-alone PSC-SR56N Series. With an outstanding price/performance ratio, this series of two-color sensors is packed with features that make these pyrometers the perfect choice for custom application requirements such as:

• Temperature Display and Parameter Controls on IR Sensor Rear Panel
• Thru-lens, Laser or Integrated Color Video Camera Sighting
• Temperature Ranges Spanning from 500° to 3000°C
• 4-20mA and RS-485 Interface
• Choice of Fixed Focus Optics
• Fast Response Time from 5ms, Adjustable up to 100 seconds
• Emissivity Independent Measurement
• Compact, Robust Stainless Steel Housing
• RS-485 Modbus Interface Integration into existing Data Acquisition Systems

Wide Range of Applications

The nature of these highly compact and versatile IR sensors make them ideal for use in:

• Steel and Metals
• Vacuum Furnace
• Semiconductor
• Induction Heating
• Kilns
• Welding
• Ceramics/Composites
• Sintering/Graphite
• Nuclear
• R & D

Designed for Harsh Industrial Continuous Operations

Optical and electronics parts are enclosed in rugged cylindrical stainless steel housings for high performance in the most demanding environments to include under demanding research and development conditions. The durable and compact companion stainless steel cooling jacket with integrated air purge stands up to even the harshest environments, and a number of innovative, ruggedly designed accessories are available.

Four Sighting Methods Available

With five temperature ranges spanning from 500°to 3000°C, the new models offer a choice of through-lens sighting, an integrated red laser, video camera sighting, or an electronic viewfinder. The unique electronic viewfinder feature allows the user to view into the sensor’s eye-piece and observe a colorized video image of the process under measurement.

Easy to Set Up

The free of charge PSCSpot software with optional USB cable for connection to RS485 output allows simple set-up of IR thermometer parameters, facilitates multi-tasking, and makes it simple to record data in graphical, text, or tabular format.

Advantages of Two-Color or Ratio Pyrometer

These pyrometers measure temperatures from the ratio of radiation signals of two adjacent wavelengths as opposed to measuring the absolute intensity within one wavelength, as with one-color pyrometers. The advantages and benefits of using two-color sensors are:

• Automatic compensation for viewing through dirty windows, dust and partial smoke between sensor and target.
• Compensation for changes in target emissivity (i.e., gray bodies); targets with the same emissivity on both

wavelengths.

• Measures smaller target than sensor’s field of view (FOV/Spot Size) (i.e., measures weighted peak
• temperature within FOV
• Unaffected by moving targets within FOV.

As with all PSC two-color models, the PSC-SR56N Series can also be used as single wavelength pyrometers.

GECMA Introduces Its New Remote Terminal

GECMA now offers a new and unique modular design concept – the GECMA RT – a new generation of remote operating terminal.

The GECMA RT has been designed packed full of features and state of the art technology.
Suitable for the strictest of hygienic conditions and aggressive production environments, its slim, flexible modular construction also includes individually certified modules to allow safe maintenance even in hazardous areas.

The GECMA RT offers these outstanding features:

For more information, visit the GECMA products page.

Foxboro LevelWave Radar

Foxboro Field Devices has more than 50 years expertise in level measurement. Their LevelWave Radar Series offers state-of-the-art measurement technology with the highest flexibility in the field. The modular design guarantees easy and fast field installation. Foxboro’s radar devices will consistently provide you with accurate and stable measurement performance across a wide range of installations and applications.

Foxboro’s LevelWave Radar Series provides one universal radar measurement solution for all liquids including corrosive, viscous, sticky, and other difficult media such as foam and turbulent surfaces, and solids. Unaffected by changes in temperature, specific gravity, and pressure and with no need to re-calibrate, the modular design guarantees easy and fast field installation for the requirements of the modern industry.

Why choose radar for level measurement? Radar measurement can do the really difficult applications.

• Free-Space Radar* (LR01) provides a non-contact antenna that is virtually unaffected by changes in temperature, pressure, or gas and vapor composition, which means it is excellent for all kind of liquids including corrosive and other difficult media.
• The measurement of Foxboro’s Guided Wave Radar* (LG01) device is unaffected by changes in density, conductivity, pressure, or temperature or by gas movement above the product.
• Foxboro’s chosen technologies with Quick Noise Scanning* and Empty Tank Spectrum* for vessel level measurement provide greater accuracy and improved reliability & stability.

Foxboro’s LevelWave Radar offers unique advantages designed to save you cost, time and resources:

Easy Installation

Do you want easy installation for your operators so interruptions in your plant and headaches in the field are kept to a minimum? With Foxboro’s unique modular design, installation really could not be easier, which means your operators can move onto the next job more quickly.

Effortless Operation

When considering a new or replacement device, another concern is how it will fit with your existing installation. Each device in the Foxboro range has unique adaptable mounting, which makes it much simpler to fit into an existing space. Not only that, Foxboro has added an optional display with an externally-accessible keyboard and a remote version, which means day-to-day effortless operation for your engineers.

Exceptional Quality

You can also rest easy that every time you order from Foxboro each device has been rigorously factory-tested, which guarantees the build quality of every instrument we ship to you.