I have the joy of going on many calls where I am helping a customer with an inventory control system. There are many technologies available that will allow a customer to know how much material is in a vessel at any given point. The two most common technology solutions are Guided Wave Radar and Cable-Based Smart Sensor (weight & cable) systems.
These systems provide a "continuous" or "continuous on demand" output that will let the customer know how much material they have on hand. If you know where the material level is throughout the day you can tell how much material you have used, you can also tell when material levels are running low so you can re-order as needed. Continuous or Continuous-On-Demand are both affordable solutions for inventory control.
Bear in mind, as I walk into a plant I pass by hundreds-of-thousands-of-dollars, if not millions worth of equipment. I also realize how much money is sitting in a silo full of material. For example, some plastic pellet or resin materials is going for as much as $0.80 per pound. A silo with 200,000 lbs of this material has $160,000 worth of inventory tied up.
So I do my best to present these two viable solutions, guided wave radar and weight & cable. The customer is naturally impressed. I then ask what they are using for a high-high level alarm for fill shut-off...they may say "nothing" so I suggest they use a "point-level" control as a back-up device so they do not overfill a silo. They ask for a "ballpark" price, I tell them a paddle unit can be around $200.00, an RF probe around $350.00, this is the point where I sometimes get the "sticker shock look". We have all seen this look, especially at the gas station where the "sticker shock look" is immediately followed by the "cry my eyes out look".
So the awkward silence moment has arrived, here we sit in a multi-million dollar plant producing millions of dollars of product, and I hear "thats too much, we could never spend THAT much money for a back up"
My question is how you can afford not to have a high-level back up? We have seen reports of costs associated with overfilling vessels, even on this blog, and yet when it comes to a device that will minimize the chance of overfilling a vessel that is the point where you want to save a few bucks.
Penny wise and pound foolish some may say...so the next time you are cleaning up after an overfill keep in mind the couple of hundred dollars someone saved by not having a high level control.
For more on saving money by preventing untimely silo spills take a look at this article reprint from a recent issue of Powder Bulk Solids magazine. Download selfvalidating_point_level_sensors_pbs_4.08.pdf
Scott Bonine
National Sales Manager
Technorati Tags: level sensor level measurement bin level indicator level control solids level indicator guided wave radar
Coal-fired power plants are commonplace around the world. In order for these power generating stations to create huge amounts of electricity the turbines need to be fed with steam and the steam is created boilers fired by ... yep, coal! But coal as it comes from the mining operation is not what is fed to the burners. First it is ground or pulverized into powder. It is not unusual for the coal powder to be stored in silos awaiting for the demand for it to be fed to the burners. The inventory of coal powder in these silos need to be monitored to allow for efficient operation of the power plant.
