March 2007 : Flexar

Continuously Measuring Corn Surge Hopper Level In Ethanol Production

Elburn, IL -- Monitoring the continuously changing level of corn in the surge hopper of an Ethanol production facility can be challenging.  The material level can be continuously changing and the environment very dusty.  Monitor Technologies LLC is please to announce that its Flexar(TM) guided wave radar continuous level measurement sensors have been successfully used in corn surge hopper applications.  At the GEAPS show this year, Booth number 101C, Monitor will feature its Flexar continuous level measurement system.

Unlike all other continuous level measurement technologies, guided wave radar is unaffected by dusty environments such as what occurs during the filling of corn surge bins.  This means that reliable and accurate readings are available at your fingertips every second.  The Flexar guided wave radar unit uses TDR (time domain reflectometry) technology to make accurate measurements.  With TDR microwave pulses are guided to the material surface along a continuous stainless steel cable of 0.31" (8mm) diameter.  The microwave pulses reflect off the material surface and the time of flight results in the distance measurement of empty space.  The unit calculates the material level based on you silo height information and transmits this data either through smart RS485 communications for use with our SiloTrack inventory management system, or via a 4-20mA output signal to a remote receiving device such as a control system or digital display meter.

Monitor Technologies LLC is a leading supplier of level, flow, particle emission and aeration instrumentation for the worldwide grain processing, storage and handling industries.  The experience and market knowledge gained over five decades has earned Monitor a reputation for providing high quality and reliable product solutions.  Monitor is located in Elburn Illinois, give us a call today and let us put our creative solutions to work for you!

For more information refer to www.flexar.info and www.monitortech.com or contact Ms. Emily Jones at 1-800-766-6486 (630-365-9403).

TrueCap^® MK-2
Advanced RF Capacitance Level Probe

The TrueCap® Model MK-2 RF Capacitance point level probe is designed to provide a superior and stable sensitivity threshold making it suitable for a variety of powder / bulk solids and some liquid or slurry applications.

Advanced features of the Model MK-2 include:
> Automatic immunity to material build-up on the probe by its driven shield design
> Push-button calibration
> Enhanced temperature compensation
> Maximized reliability via smart sensing algorithms like “self-validating” fail-safe protection
> Visible status LED on ordinary location units
> Versatility through a variety of configuration options including: hazardous location version, split architecture design, quick-connect process connection, stub probe, cable extensions, solid extensions, Nylon® probes, Ryton® - equiv. probes, etc.

A practical application for the TrueCap would be to use this level sensor where a residual material build-up on a different sensor would cause a false material level indication.

Principle of Operation for the TrueCap RF Capacitance Level Probe:
The vessel wall and the active probe element establish an impedance reference between each other when exposed to air which has a dielectric constant of 1. When materials with a dielectric constant greater than 1 are in close proximity to the probe, the impedance of the sensing field between the sensor and the vessel wall will change. Once the amount of change exceeds a threshold that was electronically determined during the calibration process, an output relay will either be energized or de-energized depending upon the position of the fail-safe selector on the probe’s electronic circuit board. A change of as little as .5 pico-farad is all that is necessary for the probe to sense the presence of material.

Click here for more information on the TrueCap MK-2 Level Sensor or contact Monitor Technologies LLC at
Tel.: 800-766-6486 in the USA and
Tel.: 630-365-9403 worldwide.

>>Download TrueCap Product Bulletin #413

>>Click here to learn more about other Point Level Switches from Monitor Technologies