Product category:
Bearings, lubrication, oil and filters
News Release from: Kittiwake Developments | Subject: Analexrs
Edited by the Processingtalk Editorial
Team on 14 July 2006
Kittiwake introduces the Analexrs
moisture sensor
Kittiwake have merged the features of their current onsite and lab based equipment to develop the Analexrs on-line moisture sensors, used for measuring the water content of oils
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, oxidisation, 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
This article was originally published on Processingtalk on 28 Apr 2006 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
On-line sensors for oil condition monitoring
Kittiwake, an established leader in the fuel and lube oil testing market in the marine industry, launches the Analexrs range of remote on-line sensors for lubricant and machine condition monitoring
Fuel and oil viscosity measurement and management
Better on-site maintenance through fuel and lubricating oil viscosity management can save time, reduce maintenance costs, decrease down time and increase profit all from a few simple tests
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.
The Kittiwake moisture sensor is designed to detect the moisture content of water in oil up to the oil saturation point.
Further reading
Portable biodiesel field test kit
Kittiwake have developed a biodiesel field test kit which accurately identifies the key factors required for biodiesel to meet the EN14214 standard, and the unit has been on test at Bionic Fuels
Advances in on-site ferrous wear debris testing
Machinery condition results in seconds! Condition monitoring of machinery lubricants by wear debris testing is an established method of predicting and avoiding impending machinery breakdown
Controller brings flexibility in motor protection
The new ABB Universal Motor Controller, UMC22, offers a powerful and flexible intelligent control device for motor protection applications, and is designed for use with the new ABB Fieldbus Plug
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 a percentage relative humidity - so that 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: free water can react with the oil additive package rendering the oil no longer suitable for the application.
An emulsion can reduce the film thickness in bearings (and other moving parts) greatly accelerating wear.
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 the 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 re-calibration, thus the sensor can be permanently installed, and is considered maintenance free.
Moisture sensors from Kittiwake form part of a range of new on-line sensors for use in condition monitoring and by maintenance experts.
The Analexrs range of on-line sensors include, total ferrous wear debris (PPM), particle content (ferrous and non ferrous) and oil condition (oil quality units).
• Kittiwake Developments: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Processingtalk email newsletter
• Processingtalk Home Page
