Taking technology beyond 2000 will require moving beyond 'ordinary' lasers
June 2000
Level Measurement & Control
Laser Measurement
Last year at the turn of the millennium, Laser-M undertook a 'vision of the future' project to anticipate future industry needs.
One may ask why a company that is already making a futuristic product with new technology needs to look further into the future, however, there is no space in industry for any company that rests on the outcome of one great invention. The need to stay ahead and constantly improve and better any product is critical in today's world of the discerning customer.
The project involves predicting into the future of level control and trying 'to see' what would be used in the future. As far as level instruments are concerned there is still a long open path of progress. While many companies claim to have developed the ultimate instrument, there is no shortage of ideas on how to improve the range of instruments currently available.
Taking a fresh look at level control and not trying to improve already existing systems, Laser-M came up with the need for a more complete picture of the inside of a silo. The company realised that solid material presents a very one-dimensional picture with conventional level control. For instance, in an ore bin fitted with a level control device, the height of the material is only measured at a single point. This is fine when measuring of a point that is representative of the material but if the material is at a peak or a trough it could give a false picture of the amount of material available.
Most process instrumentation and communication systems are heading more and more towards a complete picture of all the information parameters available. To get a more complete picture it may be necessary to have more than one level instrument on the silo. What if one had four or eight instruments on a bin - would that not then give a more detailed picture of how the material lies inside the bin? Better still, what about a single instrument that can see all the points on the surface of the material such as a scanning system!
The George Orwell scenario of 'Big Brother is watching' is going to be a reality sooner than we realise, at least of the process plants.
Laser-M
(011) 314 4130
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