Level sensor can be used reliably with all types of media

Paul Boughton
Baumer says its new LBFS level switch offers a cost-efficient and reliable alternative to widely-used vibration level switches. The device is able to detect the level of viscous or dry substances as well as liquids and can be mounted in any position in tanks or pipelines. The sensor is unaffected by flow, turbulence, bubbles, foam or suspended solids. As the sensor head is smooth and very small, even adhesive media do not stick to it. The sensor's short response time enables fast filling processes as well as accurate and reliable maintaining of levels.
 
As well as detecting high and low levels in tanks and pipelines, the level switch can also be used for overfill protection, dry-running protection of pumps, and phase separation in oil-water mixtures. There are many fields of applications: drinking water, wastewater, filtration, HVAC, hydraulics, oil and gas, bio-energy, wood pellets, flour mills, railway transportation and pump systems, for example.
 
With a compact, robust and corrosion-resistant stainless steel housing, the sensor can be installed and sealed easily with Teflon tape. It can be configured on PC via the Flexprogrammer 9701. Due to its fast response time of just 0.2 seconds, the sensor offers reliable level detection even in fast-filling processes, and it is suitable for use in operating temperatures of -40 to 115 degrees C.
 
The LBFS is based on frequency sweep technology whereby a frequency is swept by the transmitter and becomes subject to a phase shift, depending on the medium. When in contact with the medium, which has a different dielectric constant (DC) outside the selected DC range, an electronic switch is triggered. The high sensitivity over a large sensing range from DC 1.5 up to more than 100 allows the level detection of all kinds of powders, granulates and liquids. Even difficult substances like polyamide granulate or paper can be detected reliably. Compared to other measuring methods such as vibrating forks, conductive ultrasonic or optical sensors, this technology has further important advantages: it has no vibrating parts and is not sensitive to changes based on conductivity, temperature or pressure. Furthermore, the sensor is suitable for all kinds of applications for which a range of different technology devices would have been required.
 
For more information, visit www.baumer.com