Blowers banish dust for measurement accuracy
An
Air Control Industries product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Feb 19, 2008
To ensure maximum efficiency and accuracy at all times, Comet uses an Air Control Industries blower to keep the lenses clean on its high precision surveying instruments.
With major tunnelling projects it is as important to monitor rock faces for signs of possible geological deformation as it is to continuously verify the tunnel's alignment, travel and dimensions.
This is because tunnel excavation can cause geological disturbance.
Manifestations of this might be settling of the tunnel crown, a convergence of the tunnel walls or distortion at the tunnel face.
By early detection of such deformations it is possible to initiate appropriate remedial actions and/or to modify work patterns to stabilise the situation.
On the 12.3km Vienna Lainzer rail tunnel project, for the Austrian railway company OeBB, Consulting Messtechnik (Comet) is employing a motorised high precision surveying instrument to monitor excavation work and check for any deformation of the tunnel face This system is called OBM and was developed and engineered by Comet and unlike most other alternatives, which use prism targets to obtain readings.
It employs an electromagnetic reflector-less distance measuring technology.
It is designed to operate 24/7 without maintenance, taking readings from around 20 different points in 12 minute cycles to an accuracy of +/-1mm.
To ensure maximum efficiency and accuracy at all times, Comet has introduced a novel way of keeping its equipments lenses clean - an Air Control Industries blower supplied by the company's German distributor Carl von Gehlen.
Whereas other systems require surveyors to clean lenses manually at frequent intervals, the Comet system's lenses are kept dust free at all times by the blower.
In addition to helping maintain accurate readings the blower also eliminates the need for anyone to try and reach hazardous locations, such as tunnel ceilings, for cleaning duties.
The blower used for this application is the ACI VLB5/3.
This unit is based on an inside-out motor with the rotor on the outside driving a forward bladed impeller.
This blower with its forward curved blades is a compact efficient unit, delivering high air volumes at high pressure, the precise characteristics required for this application.
Currently, Comet is using two of its deformation measuring devices with ACI blowers on the Vienna Lainzer rail tunnel project, the excavation phase of which is expected to be completed by March 2009.
"It is essential that we keep the lenses of our OBM measuring systems clean at all times", says Boris Schukoff, Technical Manager of Comet.
"This has been achieved successfully thanks to the performance and reliability of the ACI blowers in a very difficult, dusty environment".
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