Torque sensor eases sprinkler validation
A
Sensor Technology product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Apr 18, 2007
Replacing a torque meter with a torque sensor has revolutionised the validating process for bespoke Fireset sprinkler systems built by Grundfos Pumps in Leighton Buzzard.
Replacing a torque meter with a torque sensor has revolutionised the validating process for bespoke Fireset sprinkler systems built by Grundfos Pumps in Leighton Buzzard.
Grundfos designs and builds a range of electric and diesel-driven Firesets that form the heart of any sprinkler system.
These Firesets have sophisticated control systems that activate automatically when the presence of a fire is detected.
They also have to meet the requirements of demanding Loss Prevention Certification Board to fire protection of building and their occupants.
Huw Lloyd, Engineering Manager for Grundfos Pumps explains: "Even a moderate-sized system can have many of the sprinklers heads".
"Typically just a few of these will go off to contain a small local fire, but the Fireset has to be able to deliver a predetermined pressure range to every head, even if they are all deployed".
"It is important to make sure everything is correct before the Fireset leaves the factory, after all lives are at stake here".
So Grundfos subjects each Fireset to a rigorous performance test prior to despatch to prove that it does exactly what it is supposed to do.
The Fireset set is basically pump sized to comfortably meet maximum demand, either diesel or electrically driven.
The control system is designed to automatically start the system up when a fire is detected and then to control the pressure of water needed to address the fire.
"We test about 100+ Firesets systems each year, which means the test area is in continuous use and we have to constantly look to improve our operating efficiency", says Huw Lloyd.
"The critical part of the testing process is to confirm that the pump's performance is being achieved and to do this we need a torque meter that will withstand the tremendous amount of vibration present".
"We chose a torque meter that we were advised would withstand a the vibrations of a tractor ploughing a field - but this wasn't up to the job, so we asked sensor expert Morton Moeller of Sensor Technic to come up with a better idea".
Moeller almost immediately recommended a TorqSense unit made by Sensor Technology not so far away in Bicester.
"TorqSense is superbly robust and has a first-rate track record in arduous installations, and it had other attractions that put it head and shoulders above alternative sensors".
"The Grundfos specification was very wide, because their systems vary so much in size", says Moeller.
"I set myself the challenge of covering this with a single sensor so that Huw Lloyd and his team didn't have to spend time swapping between big, medium and small units each test, and also to contain the procurement costs".
The TorqSense does not have to be physically connected to the Fireset under test by slip rings.
It monitors the torque via radio waves.
A shaft deforms very slightly when it rotes, the amount of deformation being proportional to the torque.
TorqSense measures the deformation so that it can calculate torque.
To do this two tiny piezo electric combs are glued to the surface of the shaft at right angles to one another; shaft deformation will expand one comb and compress the other.
The radio frequency signal emitted by the Torqsense is reflected back by the combs, with its frequency changed in proportion to the combs' deformation.
"The procedure to set up the TorqSense for each new test is to point it at the Fireset", say Moeller.
"The old system took a several hours of concentrated effort by a couple of Grundfos test engineers, and it needed an awful lot of resetting during the test".
"These savings alone represent a significant efficiency gain for Grundfos".
Huw Lloyd is equally exuberant about the installations: "We've been using the TorqSense for the best part of two years now, so we've tested many different Firesets - big, small, simple and complex".
"The best thing I can say about it is that we had forgotten it was there; it does its job perfectly time after time".
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Contact Sensor Technology
Tel +44 1869 238400
Other Sensor Technology stories
-
ST offers RWT310/320 and RWT330/340 torque sensors
Sensor Technology's digital RWT310/320 torque sensors with integrated electronics and RWT330/340 torque sensors with separate electronics include the latest Torqsense (SAW) technology. -
Powertrain selects Torqsense transducer
A Torqsense transducer from Sensor Technology is a key part of a test rig designed by Powertrain Technologies to accurately measure small changes in drive torque. -
Torqsense RWT330/340 to be unveiled at M-Tec
Sensor Technology is to unveil the Torqsense RWT330/340 series of non-contact measurement sensors for space-critical applications at M-Tec 2009. -
Sensor offers Torqsense to monitor torque
Torqsense provides a non-contact method of taking torque readings. -
Torqsense helps development of dry bulk handling
Dry bulk handling is on its way to becoming a precision science with a high level of control due to 20 years of research and development into digital non-contact torque monitoring.
Browse by category
-
Capital Equipment (3,423)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (519)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,106)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (468)
- Production line blowers and fans (65)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (941)
- Consultancy and Services (909)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,068)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (807)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (187)
- Control and Instrumentation (2)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (295)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (202)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,185)
- Plantwide control (1,337)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (569)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (388)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,398)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (1)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,285)
- Industrial Motors (500)
- Linear Drives and Motors (115)
- Precision Motors and Gears (420)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,075)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,212)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (558)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (695)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (636)
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (1)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (371)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (713)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (426)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (812)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,236)
- 2D CAD software (201)
- 3D CAD software (1,162)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (572)
- Data, document management software (313)
- Electrical design software (165)
- Engineering Design Software (15)
- FEA and structural analysis software (374)
- File conversion software, data capture (355)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (334)
- Materials design and moulding design software (152)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (319)
- PLM and collaboration software (652)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (261)
- Publishing and documentation software (232)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (201)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (928)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,145)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (278)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Conferences (433)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (845)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (568)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (357)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (636)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Seminars (405)
- Engineering Training Courses (443)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (176)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (280)
- Health and Safety Legislation (402)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (114)
- Machine Building (4,568)
-
Materials and Processing (2,994)
- Materials and components (2,237)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials processing and testing (288)
- Rapid Prototyping (464)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,543)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (479)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (498)
- Data loggers (423)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (636)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (736)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (445)
- Materials testing equipment (420)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (156)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (510)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,239)
-
Powertrain Design (3,652)
- Bearings (960)
- Chains and belts (329)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,456)
- Hydraulic Components (473)
- Lubricants (431)
- Powertrain Design (2)
-
Sensors (7,150)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (434)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (622)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (286)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (155)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (529)
- Linear Position Sensors (408)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (712)
- Pressure sensors (625)
- Proximity Sensors (708)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (551)
- Sensors (8)
- Temperature sensors (613)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,396)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (1,989)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,661)
