SITRANS WF Flowmeter Launch Argentina

PI2 Weighing and
Feeding technology
WF Solids Flowmeter
Launch
For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

What is a solids flowmeter ?
Solids flowmeters are devices used to measure the flowrate of a continuous

stream of dry solids material falling with gravity.
They indicate both instantaneous rate of flow and a time integrated total weight.

Page 2 November 2011 PI 2 WF Solids Flowmeter Launch Industry Sector
Terminology
Flowguide
Enclosure
Sensing head
Sensing plate

Terminology
Sensing head or Sensing Element

Defined as the part of the flowmeter that converts the impact force to an
electrical signal.
There are two basic types:
WFS - Series Loadcell Series

Pivoted sensing plate using Linear Parallelogram loadcell mounted
Variable Differential Transformer sensing plate
Used in package styles WF330, Used in package styles WF100,
WF340 & WF350 WF200 & WF250

Terminology
LVDT
Linear Variable Differential Transformer
or
Linear Voltage Differential Transformer
An inductance element that produces an electrical output proportional to the

displacement of a separate moveable core

Terminology
LVDT
LINEAR VOLTAGE DIFFERENTIAL TRANSFORMER
PRIMARY COIL
COIL 1, SECONDARY COIL 2, SECONDARY
MOTION
INSULATING FORM
ACTUAL MOVEMENT MAYBE
LESS THAN 1/8" FOR SPAN
CORE
CONSTANT
AC VOLTAGE
DIFFERENCE
CONSTANT VOLTAGE
OUTPUT CENTER PRIMARY 2.5 TO 3.5 VAC
-1.3 TO 1.3 TAP TRANSFORMER AT APPROX. 2.9 KHz
WITH REFERENCE 0 SECONDARY
TRANSFORMER
CORE

Terminology
BASE
BEAM
LVDT CORE
CORE LOCKNUT
DOWNSCALE UPSCALE
NEGATIVE POSITIVE
LVDT COIL
MOVEMENT DUE TO F H

Terminology
LVDT conditioner
LVDT 0 - 45 mV Milltronics
0 - 0.75 V DC signal SF500
AC signal (supplies
card power)
LVDT conditioner cards:

Integral
Supplied in new WFS series sensing heads
(except for hazardous area installations)
Easily installed in older sensing heads
Remote
Comes in Nema 4 rated enclosure
Competitor LVDT flowmeter retrofit solution
Mounts in “Safe Area” for Hazardous Area
flowmeters

Interconnection

Parallelogram load cell terminology
The parallelogram design

enables the cell to reject
horizontal forces.
Weight is transferred from

the load sensor (idler) to the
load cell (reactor) in the
vertical plane only.
The mechanical stop

provides overload protection
up to 300 percent of rated
load cell capacity.

History
1969 - Sankyo patent ILE 37/61
1971 - Milltronics sells under license
1973 - ‘PAIT’ launched
1975 - ‘PAIT 2’ with linearisation
1980 - Impact Scale Amplifier
1983 - E-series Flowmeters
1987 - Compuflo II
1988 - 4” and 6” Millflos introduced
1989 - The Compu-M Introduced
- Sankyo patents ran out
1990 - 8”,10” and 12” Millflos
1992 - Compuflo III
1997 - Formation of Mass Dynamics
2002 - SF500
2011 - SITRANS WF Series Solids Flowmeters

Flowmeters
+40 years application experience
5000 plus installed systems
1 year warranty
Customer service

Principle of operation
Solids flowmeters measure a

continuous stream of dry
granular solids.
The material stream impacts a
sensing plate.
The weighing mechanism
reacts only horizontally to the
impact force.
The reaction is converted to an Sensing
Flow guide
electrical signal and transmitted plate
Rate
Display
Total
to an integrator. Analog output
Remote total output
The integrator processes the Horizontal

force
Integrator
signal and provides outputs.

Horizontal force
The horizontal force is dependent on:

Particle mass
Velocity of the particle
Angle of impact of the particle against
the plate
The energy absorbing characteristics of
the particle
* These must remain CONSTANT

Impact force “an explanation”
Impact force:
Milk Powder 21 g/t/hr.

MSG 25 g/t/hr.
500 mm Middle bran 30 g/t/hr.
Sand 36 g/t/hr.
Pellet 45 g/t/hr
Nominal 45 g/t/hr
30°

WFS series theory
A theoretical model of the WF300 Series
flowmeters is shown at the left.
The design prevents vertical movement
of the sensing plate forcing a horizontal
reaction to the impact of flowing material.

Parallelogram design



WF200 & 250 theory
The WF200 & 250 uses a four point suspension that is designed to prohibit
vertical movement of the sensing plate. Two cables hold the front of the plate.
The rear of the plate assembly is held by two load cells that are mounted to
allow only horizontal movement.
Material impacting the sensing plate causes a horizontal reaction that is
measured by the load cells.
Mechanical stops are provided to prevent sensing plate over-travel in both the
positive and negative directions.

Product offering

Out with the old….
Siemens solids flowmeters are now part of the SITRANS family
Milltronics Are now SITRANS
Millflo WF100 New design/order no.
M Series WF200 New design/order no.
MA Series WF250 New design/order no.
E Series WF330
V Series WF340
A Series WF350
ILE-37 WFS300
ILE-61 WFS320
Solids Flowmeters - SITRANS WF100
Low capacity flowmeter

for various product sizes, densities
and fluidity, particularly fine powders
Max. Particle size: 6 to 13 mm (0.25 to 0.5”)
capacity range: 1 – 200 t/h (1 – 220 STPH)
Single direct coupled load cell
Stainless steel construction optional
Stainless steel options meet FDA & USDA

requirements for food processing

Medium capacity flowmeter

Max. particle size: 25 mm (1”)
capacity range: 200 – 900 t/h

(220 - 990 STPH)
Externally mounted and isolated load cells


Medium to high capacity flowmeter for powders

conveyed by aerated gravity conveyors
Max. particle size: 25 mm (1”)
capacity range: 200 – 900 t/h

(220 - 990 STPH)
Externally mounted and isolated load cells


Solids Flowmeters - sensors
SITRANS WF100, WF200 AND WF250

Load cell (Triple beam parallelogram)
Low- to high-capacity flowmeter

Sensing plates:
304 stainless steel sensing plate; 316 stainless steel optional
Optional sensing plate liners: PTFE (WF100),

Polyurethane, Alumina ceramic (WF2xx)
Optional hazardous approvals:
CSA, ATEX, IEC Ex, FM

Low- to medium-capacity flowmeter

With SITRANS WFS300: 0.2 – 40 t/h (0.2 – 40 STPH)

With SITRANS WFS320: 20 – 300 t/h (22 – 330 STPH)

(LVDT) external to process


WF330 flowmeter

Compact vertical flow, low- to medium-capacity flowmeter for

various product sizes, densities and fluidity, particularly fine powders
Applications with limited headroom
With SITRANS WFS300: 0.2 – 40 t/h (0.2 – 40 STPH)

With SITRANS WFS320: 20 – 300 t/h (22 – 330 STPH)

(LVDT) external to process


WF340
Minimal head room, only 28” tall

Material is fed straight down onto the sensing plate
Flow guide can handle up to 70% fill
Higher in price over the E-series

Low- to medium-capacity flowmeter for powders

conveyed by aerated gravity conveyors
With SITRANS WFS300: 0.2 – 40 t/h (0.2–40 STPH)

With SITRANS WFS320 : 20 – 300 t/h (22–330 STPH)
Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT)

external to process


WF350
Normally for air slide infeed

Flow guide can handle up to 70% fill
Added vent for removing air
Higher in price over the E-series

Solids Flowmeters - sensors
SITRANS WFS300 AND WFS320

Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT)
Low- to medium-capacity flowmeter sensor

Optional epoxy coating on external aluminum parts

light and heavy duty sensing plates:
304 stainless steel sensing plate; 316 stainless steel optional
Optional sensing plate liners: Plasma A/R, PTFE,

Polyurethane, Alumina ceramic
Optional hazardous approvals:
CSA, ATEX, IEC Ex, FM
WFS300 Base Mount Outline

WFS300 Side Mount Outline

Viscous damper
The damper must be full and free of air bubbles, with the damper cover in the UP
position, during flowmeter operation.

WFS320 Outline

Solids flowmeter selection guide

Solids flowmeter selection
Max. material temp.
232 ºC
150 ºC
WF330/340/350
65 ºC WF200
WF250
WF100
40 200 300 500 900 t/h

SF500 integrator
Dry Bulk Solids Flowmeter Integrator

Continuous flow rate and total
For load cell or LVDT flowmeters
Digital technology precision with:
Built - in batch control capabilities
Optional Dual PID Control module
Modbus RS-232/RS-485 communications
Choice of plug-in protocol modules
Configuration software available
New standard for new installations
Simple retrofit to existing systems
For Mining, Cement, Food, Chemical, WasteWater,
etc.
SF500 integrator
Stores up to 8 calibrations for various products or flow conditions

Enables rapid recipe changes without re-calibration delays
Compensates flow changes due to:

Multiple feed routes
Product moisture content, density, velocity, or size range variation
May be activated by...

Keypad entry
Pushbutton or rotary switch
Sensor/control element dry contact
Remote communications
System – Solids Flow Solutions
WF100 & WF200 series require an integrator

System – Solids Flow Solutions
WF300 series require a sensing head, integrator and sensing plate

product portfolio
SITRANS WF: LVDT OR Load cell
Aseries
Vseries
WF350 MAseries
Eseries
WF340
ILE300
WF250
WF330 Mseries
ILE40
WFS320
WF200
Millflo
WFS300
WF100
Competitive comparison
Unique, No competitors
Designed for use with gravity air slides
WF350 WF250
Standard, Global competitors
Minimal global competition
WF330 WF340 WF200
Low cost, local competitors

Multiple local and global competition
WF100
A flowmeter installation is more than just the flowmeter
Storage
Device
Feeding
Device
Inlet A successful application is dependent
Transition
upon the factors within the whole
Flow Conditioner
application
Flowmeter
Outlet
Transition
Process

Flowmeter accuracy
The flowmeter movements and the transducers used to convert the impact force
into an electrical signal are linear and repeatable to a small fraction of a percent.
Attained accuracy is dependent on the consistency of the material and how well
the flowmeter is installed.
Several factors affect the accuracy of a solids flowmeter, including:

A change in velocity of the material striking the plate,
A change in the energy absorbing characteristics of the material, and
Air flow across the sensing plate.

Material requirements
The energy absorbing characteristics of the material must remain constant.

The material must be able to be dropped vertically from a constant height or
fed at a constant velocity into the flowmeter.
The material should either bounce or slide off the plate and not build up in the
area of impingement.
The particle shape and hardness should remain constant, regardless of
particle size.
A change in the moisture content should not affect the particle hardness or
flowability of the material.

“Rules of thumb” the “flowability test”
Pick up some material in your hand.

Squeeze it and open your hand.
If it falls through your fingers, flowability is excellent
If it breaks up but stays in your hand, flowability is fair
If it stays in a ball, flowability is poor
If you throw the ball against the wall and it sticks, give the application to the
competition!

“Rules of thumb” vibration
The ILE Series of flowmeters are relatively immune from vibration.
The rules for application are:

If you can only feel the vibration, don’t be concerned.
If you can see the vibration, take measures to reduce it.

“Rule of thumb” airflow
Airflow through the flowmeter can appear to cause shifts in accuracy and
instability.
To determine if airflow is a problem the following rule could be used:

Place your hand in the enclosure under the flowguide. If you can feel the
airflow, it is a problem and it must be diverted or equalized.

Solid flowmeters
application data sheet

Circular flowguide selection chart

Short Fall Chute
Bin/feeder discharge less than 2 feet (0.6 metres).
Ideal - velocity due to gravity is minimal.
Center line and angle to coincide with flowguide for

distance greater than or equal to flowguide diameter.
<2 ft. (0.6 m)

Short fall chutes

Long fall chutes
Bin/feeder discharge more than 2 feet (0.6 metres).
Material velocity increased.
Increased flowmeter component abrasion.
May require adapting to settle material into desirable flow

patterns. >2 ft. (0.6 m)

Long fall chutes

Dead Box
May be installed where chute angle

changes.
Material impacts upon itself.
Should be used where:
Material velocity is high

Material velocity is variable
Long fall chute angle changes
Material is very abrasive

Dog Leg
Reduces effects of high or variable

material velocity.
Important for long fall chutes.
If material is abrasive, line chute with

abrasion resistant material or use infeed
dead box.

Screw Conveyors
most common type of material feeder.
Short pitch or double flight preferred.
Cut back flights of standard screw.
Reduces batch size in addition to

increasing discharge frequency.
Reverse flowguide transition for Short Pitch

variable or constant speeds above 40
rpm.
Double Flight
Less than 40 rpm

Greater than 40 rpm

Drag conveyors
Constant and low velocity.

Feeder discharge damping or a discharge baffle should be
used to minimize the pulsing material discharge.

Drag conveyors

Drag conveyors
Baffle
Baffle plate is recommended for

drag conveyors.
Reduces heavy material pulsing.
Slats
Conveyor Discharge

Belt conveyors
Generally non-pulsing material discharge, ideal for flowmeter operation.

Reverse flowguide transition (and/or material discharge baffle) for
variable belt speeds or constant speeds greater than 200 feet per minute
(1 metre per second).
Material
Discharge
Baffle

Belt conveyors

Belt conveyors

Vibratory
feeders
Motor
Vibrating Pan
Non-pulsing material discharge.

Reverse flowguide transition for variable speed varieties.
Mechanical isolation required.

Vibratory feeders

Rotary feeder
Provides an air seal to block air flow over

the sensing plate.
May be required if the material is

pneumatically conveyed or if isolation of
the flowmeter from the process is desired.
Reverse flowguide transition for variable

or constant speeds above 10 rpm.

Rotary feeder

Bucket Elevators
Common for grain applications.
Slow elevators produce strongly pulsed

material discharge requiring damping.
Fast elevators often require deadbox to

reduce discharge velocity.

Bucket elevators

Pulsing feeder discharge damping
Temporary holding bin.
Manual or automatic control.
Bin can be used for integrator on-line

calibration.

In-feed or discharge air pressure
When air pressure is present, in-feed

and discharge chutes should be vented
to common dust collector.
Balance air pressure by adjusting air
flow gates.
If a dust collector is not used then a by- tuning gates
pass chute should be installed.
Maximum 1 PSI

Airslide material flow

Forward flowguide
transition
Maintains material flow in same

direction. Baffle
Low and constant velocity feeders.
Baffle plate may be used with high or

variable speed feeders.

Reverse flowguide
transition
Reverses the direction of material flow.
Forces material into desirable flow pattern.
Important for high or variable speed

feeders.

Linearization
If a customer is experiencing non repeatable accuracy at varying flowrates

and the mechanical linearity is OK and there is no concern about airflow,
there is a possibility that the materials impact force is not linear over a
range of flowrates. The SF500 has a built-in Linearizer function that can
be programmed to compensate for the non-linear impact forces. In order
to implement the function the following should be followed.
perform a zero calibration

perform a span calibration
perform a material test at 90 - 100% rate and perform a manual span
adjustment as required
perform material tests at up to 5 different flowrates (commonly used
flowrates) Note: the flowrate must be held as constant as possible for the
duration of each of the material tests
calculate the percent error at each of the flowrates tested
program the SF500 as in the following example

Linearization example
For this example the design rate is 200 tph. We have performed material
tests at 15, 30, 45, 60 and 75 %. Each test has been tabulated below:


Program the SF500 as follows:

On-line calibration
A classic material test may require

the customer to shut down
production for the preparation and
performance of the test. This can
sometimes be more costly than the
benefit that might be obtained from
the test. In some applications we
have the ability to perform an
“OnLine Calibration”. The typical
Online calibration application has a
bin on load cells feeding our
weighing device. The SF500 will
require the Auxiliary I/O card installed
to accept the 420mA signal from the
bins load cells.
On-line calibration setup
P355 Online Calibration Feature

0 = Off, 1 = On
P356 Online Calibration
Enter Reference Weight
P357-01 Online Calibration Limits
MAX Limit
HIGH Limit
LOW Limit
On-line calibration setup
P255-01(or 02) mA Input Function

3 = OCAL
P100-01 Relay Function
7 = Online calibration (BW500=9)
P358 Online Calibration Features
1 = ACTIVE

On-line calibration sequence
Once the online calibration function has

been activated with P358 we automatically
return to the run mode with a special
display.
Once the Bin level has reached the MAX

level the display will change and the relay
that was programmed for online cal will
change state.

As material continues to flow and filling

has stopped, the bin level will fall. When
the HIGH level is reached the display
changes again and starts to totalize
material for the online calibration.

When the Bin level has reached the LOW

level the relay will return to normal state
and bin filling is able to continue. The
material total is compared to the reference
weight and the error is calculated.
You are now being prompted to accept the

error if it is acceptable. Do not accept this error
without the permission of the operator. If a
significant error is accepted it has the potential
to throw the process into an upset condition.
Some operator will want to record the error and
implement it in smaller steps over the next
hours or days.
When selecting the MAX, HIGH and

LOW bin levels the customer will
normally tell you what will be
acceptable to them. Remember
“More is better” the larger the
material sample the better, at test
should never be less than 10
minutes or more than a shift.

Applications
Considerations
Material
Feed rate
Bulk density
Temperature
Particle size
Abrasiveness
Accuracy required
Possibility of material tests
Air flow
Material aeration
Corrosiveness
Moisture content
Hazardous area classification
Application examples: potash
Measuring solids flow of potash prills
SITRANS WF330 and Milltronics SF500

• Stainless steel sensing plate and a stainless 6” flow guide
• SITRANS WFS300 LVDT sensing element
• Replacing radioactive densitometer
• Flow rates up to 15,000 kilograms per hour
• No rollback of the potash prill on angled belt
• Dusty and slightly corrosive material

Application examples: hot temperature
Measure reject material from a kiln at 350°C material

temperature,
Product: Magnesite
Max. flowrate: 15 t/h
Bulk density: ca. 1.1 t/m³
Solution:
Custom SITRANS WF340 (extended size)
baffle plate between sensing plate
and SITRANS WFS300 sensor
cooling fins on sensing plate
cooling air stream through
enclosure

Application examples: cement
SITRANS WF250 on raw meal

Raw meal fed into the rotary kiln process
Aerated conveying
Pre-heated to 40 ºC
20 tons per hour

Application examples: fly-ash
Down underground with SITRANS WF340
SITRANS WF340 guides blending process of

various qualities of fly-ash for storage
in underground mine caverns
Product: fly-ash
Characteristics: sticky, non-abrasive
Bulk density: 0.8 – 1 t/m³
Solution:
SITRANS WF340
SITRANS WFS300 sensor with
304 HD stainless steel sensing plate, no liner

Application examples: aluminum smelter
SITRANS WF350
Monitoring aluminum-oxide for process control on airslide prefeed

Bulk density: 0.96 t/m³
Solution: eight units of

SITRANS WF350 flowmeter
SITRANS WFS300 sensor
MILLTRONICS SF500 integrator

Kiln feed of raw meal
WF250
Flow indication of feed into kiln for proper processing recipe
800 tph capacity
Installed and performing well since 2007

Truck load out of grain
WF200
Achieving better than 1% accuracy compared to truck scale
350 tph capacity
Installed and performing well since 2009

Recipe control of detergent
WF100
• Monitoring flow of soda into mix for detergent production
• 40 tph capacity
• Installed and performing well since 2005

Application examples: carbon black
SITRANS WFS300
Material falls directly from conveyor belt on sensor

No space for flowguide and enclosure.
Product: carbon black

Characteristics: very sticky
Max. flowrate: < 1 t/h
Bulk density: ca. 0.4 t/m³
Solution:
Sitrans WFS300 sensor
sensing plate 304 stainless steel, chromed
bellows enclosure incl. baffle due to limited space
(by customer)

SITRANS WF flowmeters
Suitable for all gravity fed bulk solids
Key areas of application

Cement
Mining
Recycling plants
Chemical monitoring
Food processing
SITRANS WF flowmeters offer:

Compact, application specific designs
Corrosion resistant components: robust and maintenance-free
Suitability for aggressive environments and dusty applications

Training
Introductory weighing course Advanced weighing course

November 28 – December 2, 2011 December 5 - 8, 2011
June 4 – 8, 2012
To register or for more information:

siemens.com/instrumentation/training/canada
Our marketing support
www.siemens.com/weighing
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PI2 Weighing and

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Solids flowmeters are devices used to measure the flowrate of a continuous

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Sensing head or Sensing Element

WFS - Series Loadcell Series

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Linear Voltage Differential Transformer

An inductance element that produces an electrical output proportional to the

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

LVDT conditioner cards:

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

The parallelogram design

Weight is transferred from

The mechanical stop

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

+40 years application experience

5000 plus installed systems

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Solids flowmeters measure a

The integrator processes the Horizontal

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

The horizontal force is dependent on:

* These must remain CONSTANT

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Milk Powder 21 g/t/hr.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Siemens solids flowmeters are now part of the SITRANS family

Milltronics Are now SITRANS

Millflo WF100 New design/order no.

M Series WF200 New design/order no.

MA Series WF250 New design/order no.

Low capacity flowmeter

Max. Particle size: 6 to 13 mm (0.25 to 0.5”)

capacity range: 1 – 200 t/h (1 – 220 STPH)

Single direct coupled load cell

Stainless steel construction optional

Stainless steel options meet FDA & USDA

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Medium capacity flowmeter

Max. particle size: 25 mm (1”)

capacity range: 200 – 900 t/h

Externally mounted and isolated load cells

Stainless steel construction optional

Stainless steel options meet FDA & USDA

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.

Medium to high capacity flowmeter for powders

Max. particle size: 25 mm (1”)

capacity range: 200 – 900 t/h

Externally mounted and isolated load cells

Stainless steel construction optional

Stainless steel options meet FDA & USDA

For internal use only / © Siemens AG 2011. All Rights Reserved.