Smart Alternative to Vibrating Fork Level Switches

August 10, 2010. With the level switch LBFS, Baumer 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, and 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 an accurate and reliable keeping of levels.

The level switch detects high and low levels in tanks and pipelines. Furthermore, it can 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 or pump systems.

The sensor is mounted in a compact, very robust, and corrosion-resistant stainless steel housing. It can be installed and sealed easily with a Teflon tape. It can be easily 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. The device can be used at a wide operation temperature range from -40 up to 115 °C.

The LBFS is based on the 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 like 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.

Baumer Group
The Baumer Group is a leading international manufacturer of sensors and system solutions for factory and process automation. In 2010 the innovative family-owned company employs about 2000 people worldwide in 35 locations and 18 countries. The long-lasting success is built on high customer focus as well as the innovative and diversified product range of the five product segments Sensor Solutions, Motion Control, Vision Technologies, Process Instrumentation und Gluing Systems. For more information please click www.baumer.com