VEGA VEGAPULS 41 Profibus PA - Manual (Page 17)

VEGAPULS 41 – Profibus PA 17
27292-EN-041227
100 %
0 %
> 300 mm
300 ... 800 mm
Tube flange system as bypass tube
Type label
2.3 Measurement in standpipe
(surge or bypass tube)
General instructions
Pipe antennas are preferred in vessels which
contain many installations, e.g. heating tubes,
heat exchangers or fast-running stirrers.
Measurement is then possible where the
product surface is very turbulent, and vessel
installations can cause no false echoes.
Due to the concentration of the radar signals
within the measuring tube, even products
with small dielectric constants (
ε
r
= 1.6 up to
3) can be reliably measured in surge or by-
pass tubes.
Surge pipes which are open at the bottom
must extend over the full measuring range
(i.e. down to 0% level), as measurement is
only possible within the tube. The tube inner
diameter should be max. 100 mm or corre-
spond to the size of the antenna horn.
Make sure the required upper vent hole in
the surge pipe is aligned with the sensor
type label.
As an alternative to a surge pipe in the ves-
sel, a pipe antenna system outside the ves-
sel in a bypass tube is also possible.
The surge and bypass tubes must generally
be made of metal. For plastic tubes, a
closed, conductive jacket is always required.
When using a metal tube with plastic inner
coating, make sure that the thickness of the
coating is minimal (approx. 2 … 4 mm).
Align the sensor so that the type label lies on
the same axis as the tube holes or the tube
connection openings. The polarisation of the
radar signals enables a considerably stabler
measurement with this alignment.
Mounting and installation
When mounting a VEGAPULS 41 sensor on a
bypass tube (e.g. on a previous floating or
displacer unit), the radar sensor should be
placed approx. 300 mm or more from the
max. level.
For products with small dielectric constants
(< 4), a much longer bypass tube than would
otherwise be required by the lower tube
connection should be used. Products with
small dielectric constants are partly pen-
etrated by the radar signals, allowing the
tube bottom to produce a stronger echo than
the product (when the bypass tube is nearly
empty). By extending the tube downward,
some liquid remains at the bottom even when
the vessel is completely empty.
If enough liquid (300 … 800 mm) remains in
the blind lower end of the tube, the portion of
the signal that penetrates the liquid and re-
flects from the tube bottom is sufficiently
damped - the sensor can then easily distin-
guish it from the echo of the liquid surface. A
deflection plate located at the bottom of a
vertical pipe has a similar function. It deflects
signals that reach the tube bottom into the
standard connection opening.