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Grain & Feed Milling Technology is published six times a year by Perendale Publishers Ltd of the United Kingdom.All data is published in good faith, based on information received, and while every care is taken to prevent inaccuracies, the publishers accept no liability for any errors or omissions or for the consequences of action taken on the basis of information published. ©Copyright 2010 Perendale Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means without prior permission of the copyright owner. Printed by Perendale Publishers Ltd. ISSN: 1466-3872

Digital Re-print - May | June 2011 Choosing the right hazard monitoring system

www.gfmt.co.uk

When 4B introduced the ir Wat chdog E l i t e bucke t elevator monitoring system in

the early 1980’s, they were the first on the market to offer a system that could monitor a complete bucket elevator or conveyor system. No more need to monitor dif ferent hazards separately. Taking the hassle out of hazard monitoring, the Watchdog Elite has quickly established itself as the industry reference in hazard monitoring.

Today, there are a number of systems on the market, and customers may find it more difficult to establish which system is best for them. When you add up all the additional costs of adding sensors and servicing the system, then this decision becomes even more compli-cated. And when you consider the cost of the potential downtime and even damage, then it is absolutely crucial to get this decision right!

So what should customers look out for when selecting a system to monitor their bucket elevators and conveyors?

Scalability:Make sure that the system is able to grow

with your operations. You might just want to monitor one elevator, for a start, but what happens if you want to monitor an additional elevator, or if you want to add more sensors to the monitoring system?

Sensor options and interfaces:

What hazards is the sys-tem able to monitor? Belt

and pulley misalign-ment? Underspeed & Overspeed? Belt slip-page? Blocked chute condition? Bearing temperature? – And what is the choice of compatible sensors? Do you have to use the supplier’s range of sensors, and are they

up for the job? Does it have a communication interface, to be connected to a PLC or PC?

User friendliness and support:

How easy is the system to use for the people who have to operate it? Is there an in-built test and diagnos-tic function? And how are

potential hazards dis-played and identified? Is there a well-documented instruction manual available? Does the supplier offer a com-missioning service? And what level of support can you expect, if there is a problem?

Choosing the right HAZARD MONITORING SYSTEM

Table 1:

T500 Elite Watchdog Elite

Bearing temperature(continuous)

max. 256 sensors*(continuous)

max. 6 sensors

Belt speed(continuous)

max. 256 sensors*(continuous)

max. 1 sensors

Belt alignment max. 256 sensors*max. 4 sensors (Touchswitch)

Plugged condition

Communication interfaces

RS485 API

RS485 API

Test function

Alarm & shutdown function

Logging & trending software

Applications

Multiple elevators & conveyors;

remote monitoring across site

Several elevators & conveyors

CertificationsATEX CSA IECEx

ATEX CSA IECEx

* total number of sensors, all sensors combined

“what should customers look

out for when selecting a

system to monitor their bucket

elevators and conveyors?”

Grain&feed millinG technoloGy8 | may - June 2011

by Simone Biock Braime Elevator Components Ltd

FEATURE

Compliance:Does the system have the necessary haz-

ardous area approvals for the region where it is to be used: ATEX for Europe, CSA for North America & Canada and IECEx for the rest of the world?

At 4B, 25 years of experience have shown that there is no “one size fits all” hazard monitoring system. The company’s approach to product development is very much bottom-up through discussions with the end-user upwards, rather than sales-driven. And it is this industry driven approach to product development that has led the engineering team to develop two distinctive multi-function hazard monitor-ing systems, each of them well researched and tested and using the same high quality components, but different in the variety of sensor options and the scope of the applications they can cover.

The T500 Elite Hotbus SystemThis is 4B’s top of the range system, able

to monitor entire plants where the bucket elevators and conveyors being monitored are spread out across large distances. A multi-function hazard monitor, it can moni-tor belt speed/alignment, bearing tempera-ture, pulley alignment and plug condition. It has been designed as a serial communica-tion system, to monitor up to 256 sensors, with a scan time of only 4 seconds! With automatic machine shutdown capability and PLC / PC compatibility, this advanced microprocessor based system offers low cost installation, versatility and easy system expansion. Logging and trending software is also available for historic data analysis and preventative and predictive machine maintenance.

ATEX, CSA and IECEx certification

The Watchdog Elite System

A well proven multi-functional hazard monitor for bucket eleva-tors and conveyors, the Watchdog Elite has recently been relaunched with con-tinuous bearing tem-perature monitoring.

The Watchdog Elite allows com-plete monitoring of multiple hazards in a bucket elevator or conveyor, including belt and pulley align-ment (top and bot-tom), bearing tem-perature, belt speed and blocked chute conditions.

The Watchdog Elite system uses a range of compatible sensors to monitor differ-ent hazards, such as the belt misalignment sensors “Touchswitch”, BAP2” and WDA3”, the WDB bearing tem-perature sen-sors and the “Binswitch” capacitive sensor.

An LCD screen dis-plays elevator status mes-sages (avail-able in four different lan-guages) and a super-bright LED screen displays belt speed. RS485 communica-tion is also available for connection to plant comput-ers / PLCs. Calibration and parame-ter adjustment are all menu-driven and kept simple.

The sys-tem is ATEX, CSA and IECEx certi-fied.

4B has an

extensive range of CSA / ATEX / IECEx approved sensors that work with these con-trol units, including bearing temperature sen-sors, speed sensors, misalignment switches, level indicators and choke switches. The range is constantly evolving to offer custom-ers the best technical standard.

4B’s technical team can recommend the ideal combination of sensors and monitoring systems to suit their customers’ requirements and budg-et. They can also offer a scalable solution starting with carefully cho-sen equipment and systems that can be expanded at a later date to encompass other machines in the plant.

4B also offers a commissioning service as well as competent after-sales technical service to help customers overcome any technical problems with their monitoring equipment.

More inforMation:Braime Elevator Components LtdHunslet RoadLeeds, LS10 1JZUnited Kingdom

Email: 4b-uk@go4b.comWebsite: www.go4b.com

Grain&feed millinG technoloGy may - June 2011 | 9

FEATURE

Innovations for a better world.

A hammer blow to your operating costs. The hammer mill Granulex™ is the new

dynamic grinding machine from Buhler. Designed for ultimate power, Granulex™

delivers high capacity grinding up to 75 t/h. Swiss-made reliability and supreme

ease of maintenance minimize downtime, so you can make maximum use of

this productivity. It’s an investment in quality that is sure to show a rapid return –

and deliver a hammer blow to your operating costs. For more information, visit

www.buhlergroup.com.

Bühler AG, Feed & Biomass, CH-9240 Uzwil, Switzerland, T +41 71 955 11 11, F +41 71 955 28 96

fu.buz@buhlergroup.com, www.buhlergroup.com

GranulexTM

High capacity hammer mill.

Powerful 400 kW motor for high

capacity grinding.

Largest screen area of any 400 kW

hammer mill reduces wear of

screens and hammers.

Screens and hammers designed for

replacement by a single person in

less than 30 minutes.

Smooth running sliding doors on

both sides for fast and easy

maintenance.

Closed machine housing

preventing dust settlements and

easy to clean, plain surfaces.

DFZP_210x297_Granulex.indd 1 03.02.2011 07:35:34

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A subscription magazine for the global flour & feed milling industries - first published in 1891

In this issue:

• Synthesis of animal feed formulation techniques:

Linear and Non-Linear model

• Pellet production

to save energy,

improve feed efficiency

and safety

May 2011

• Choosing the right Hazard Monitoring System

• Pelleting: The link between practice and engineering

• Conditioning as part of the pelleting process

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