Application: loadcell display in a hot area

8 September 2004 Telecoms, Datacoms, Wireless, IoT

In a smelting operation, the requirement to determine whether the melting ladle that contains the molten steel is empty or not, is crucial to the safety of the plant and the employees. In the process, the ladles are weighed and calibrated to zero at the beginning of each shift, giving the crane operator a weight reading to work with.

Once the ladle has been filled with molten steel and tipped into the mould, the operator can see on the display whether the ladle is totally empty or not. The crane operator needs to know if there is any molten metal still left in the ladle. If the left-over slag is spilled by dropping or bumping the ladle, there could be a catastrophic accident.

The way the system works is as follows: a Satelline 3AS radio modem from Satel was placed on top of the crane and connected to the loadcell via RS485 communication. This radio acts as a transmitter only. The conditions on the crane are very hazardous: the temperature can exceed 200°C, and along with this, molten metal dust erodes and burns almost everything it comes into contact with. To combat these hazards, the 3AS was placed in an anti-vibration and air-cooled box. The receiver is connected to a display panel, which displays the loadcell value. There are three transmitters that transmit to one receiver, which displays each loadcell's value on its own display terminal.

The Satelline 3AS complies with the EN 300 113/EN 300 220 European land mobile standard, EN 301 489 European EMC standard, and the IEC 60950 European safety standard for IT equipment. The Satelline range of products is an ideal solution for harsh environment applications.

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