Keeping the moisture out: the manufacturer's technicians can troubleshoot from their offices in Germany

Concrete Producer, The, Nov, 2004 by Rick Yelton

Every day, producers go through tremendous efforts to batch concrete at the optimum mix design. They buy the best-quality ingredients at the right price. They invest in high-tech production equipment, and they train their staffs. But all of these efforts can be minimized by one common nemesis--poor moisture control.

With higher cement prices looming, producers are investing in tools that ensure the final concrete is at the correct water-cement ratio. For precasters, this band tightening is even more important. Self-consolidating concrete mixes often use higher levels of cementitious materials and depend on tight water monitoring. A few extra ounces of water per pound can spell disaster.

Fortunately, tighter moisture control seems more attainable than ever. That's because engineers at Franz Ludwig GmbH, an instrument manufacturer in Mainz, Germany, has recently introduced an updated collection of their moisture meters.

With these new devices, factory calibrations and system upgrades can be performed almost instantly. The new units contain Ethernet technology, allowing a continuous exchange of plant operating data between the hatching computer and the quality control software. And it allows producers to utilize remote support maintenance. The manufacturer's technicians can directly access and check a monitor's operating program flow and/or the settings of the analysis equipment at their customers' production facilities and perform error diagnoses from Mainz.

For those operations not using Ethernet or buss control technology, the manufacturer provides an additional way to tie these controls into the hatching process. Models feature serial interfaces (RS232, RS485). Moisture measuring is initiated by floating contacts, which can easily be established for every control.

Another feature plant operators will find useful is the important parameters of an on-going measuring process and all equipment settings are clearly visible and continuously updated.

Quick fixes

In addition to displaying the measured values, the software also plots a curve diagram. Changes in the run of the curve indicate a change in the measuring process, enabling the operator to react quickly and rectify irregularities.

The upgrades have made calibration clear and simple. Calibration is performed automatically without interfering with production. Since these units are used in many industries, engineers can adapt the equipment to the different installation situations of the probes, and provide a choice of different analysis algorithms.

The German engineers have equipped their FL-Digi-Modul, FL-Digi-Smart and FL-Mikro-Turbo with the same electronic components, forming a complete product family. Engineers followed the same principle in developing the software.

FL-Mikro-Turbo

This self-contained unit is designed for operations without current moisture control devices. It consists of two microwave moisture probes and two temperature sensors linked to a water hatching computer. The system can monitor parallel operations, operating independently of each other. This is popular for operations that either prebatch before mixing, or operate dual pan mixers.

FL-Digi-Modul

The FL-Digi-Modul analyzes two microwave moisture probes and two temperature probes, both of which can be operated independently. The FL-Digi-Modul is for producers who want to completely integrate moisture measurement in an existing system. Measuring the aggregate moisture in the silo, or on a batching belt, is a supplement to mixer measuring.

FL-Digi-Smart

This is for measuring in an existing control system. The compact analysis module has an additional connection for a temperature probe. Visualizing the measured values takes place in the control itself. All relevant adjustable set parameters and calibration values are retained in the measuring system, even when probes have to be exchanged.

Rick Yelton

Visit www.fludwig.com, or circle 1

on the reader service card.