Humidity Sensors / Detectors / Transducers
Moisture Sensors eliminate water contamination in fluids.
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Press Release Summary:
Constructed from stainless steel and protected to IP65 or IP67, ANALEXrs Online Moisture Sensors screw directly into oil flow to detect moisture content of water up to oil's saturation point. With self-diagnosing digital and analog outputs, sensors can be integrated into existing condition monitoring and operating control systems. They communicate with existing systems using industry standard 4-20 mA, RS232, RS485, CAN, and 802.11b WLAN outputs.
Original Press Release:
Kittiwake Introduces the ANALEXrs Moisture Sensor
Remote online sensor technology is increasingly being recognized as the way forward in the 21st Century and Kittiwake have merged the features of their current onsite and lab based equipment to develop the ANALEXrs online moisture sensors. Water contamination in critical fluids certainly produces problems; additive depletion, oxidization, bacterial growth, component wear and corrosion to name but a few, but the ultimate issue is critical failure of your plant!
The industry standard method of reporting water content as a percentage of the volume, or parts per million although extremely useful is not where the testing should stop. For example 100ppm in certain fluids may be acceptable, but in others be teetering on the edge of failure. For this reason an extremely useful method of measuring water content in fluid is as a percentage of the known saturation value. Kittiwake's moisture sensor is designed to detect the moisture content of water in oil up to the oil's saturation point. This is the amount of water the fluid will dissolve before the saturation point is reached and the fluid can no longer absorb water. The sensor expresses this moisture content as % relative humidity - 100% is the saturation point. Above this saturation point, and indeed close to the saturation point in some fluids additional water will sit in the fluid as either water droplets or form an emulsion.
This water can be very detrimental to systems:
oFree water can react with the oils additive package rendering the oil no longer suitable for the application.
o Emulsion can reduce the film thickness in bearings (and other moving parts) greatly accelerating wear.
o Free water can settle in machine sumps, pistons, and filter housings where it will cause corrosion.
Moisture sensors can be used in Hydraulic Fluids, Lubricating Fluids, Dielectric Fluids and Fuel Oils, they need not be in the oil itself, and are of use in the headspace of a piece of machinery, for example, in a gearbox High moisture levels through a failed breather to the airspace above oil will dissolve into the oil - so this is a good place to monitor moisture - before it gets into the oil!
With self-diagnosing, digital and analogue outputs, the new sensors can be easily integrated into existing Condition Monitoring and operating control systems. Communicating with existing systems using industry standard 4-20ma, RS232, RS485, CAN and 802.11b WLAN outputs these sensors are very simple to include in your current maintenance system. Ideal for extreme conditions the units are protected to IP65 or IP67. The moisture sensor head will only allow water molecules to penetrate its special polymer coating. The sensor monitors the dielectric property of the polymer layer, this having been affected by the water absorbed into the polymer. It reports this water content as a percentage, and hence the humidity of the oil. Once all available oil molecules have water molecules dissolved within them (100%) the oil can no longer dissolve water so any additional water will stay as free water.
The intelligent Moisture Sensors are constructed from high grade stainless steel, designed to screw directly into the oil flow and are extremely robust in all conditions. The inherently stable nature of the materials and technology employed in the sensor negates the need for periodical recalibration, thus the sensor can be permanently installed, and is considered maintenance free.
Moisture sensors from Kittiwake form part of a range of new online sensors for condition monitoring and maintenance experts. The ANALEXrs range of online sensors include, Total Ferrous wear debris (PPM), Particle Content (Ferrous and Non Ferrous) and Oil Condition (Oil Quality units).
For more information on the Kittiwake range visit www.kittiwake.com
For further information contact:
Paul Froome
Marketing Manager
Kittiwake Developments Ltd
3-6 Thorgate Road, Littlehampton,
West Sussex, BN17 7LU, UK
Tel: 01903 731470 Fax: 01903 731480
Email: paulf@kittiwake.com
http://www.kittiwake.com
About Kittiwake:
Kittiwake was set up in 1991 providing a range of rugged, portable tools for fuels and lubricant analysis in the Marine industry.
Kittiwake purchased Analex in 2003 in order to enhance their oil analysis product range and has since expanded the PQ instrument range and now includes the Analex Remote sensor range, the subject of this press release.
Website: www.kittiwake.com
