How to Get More For Less Using Ultrasonic Flow

Did you know that a measuring device is directly responsible for increasing revenues of utility companies (who supply us water and gas) without the companies spending anything in terms of capex (capital expenditure)? The measuring equipment is called an ultrasonic flow meter. These measuring devices accurately measure the amount of flow of liquids or gas and thus directly affect the billing of consumers. Earlier the mechanical meters used by the utilities logged the data and the amount of liquids and gas the consumers used. Due to wear and tear the mechanical wheels would record erroneous data (generally on the lesser side). 

Ultrasonic flow meters have no moving parts. There is no question of performance degradation. The electronics in ultrasonic flow meter has two transducers that are housed in a protective housing. The housing is introduced into the pipe where the fluid or gas is flowing. Acoustic reflectors in the pipe direct the ultrasonic signal from one transducer to the other. The principle used here is called TOF (time of flight). The measurement is accurate and the time taken to travel is equated to the quantity of flow by measuring the average velocity along the path of the emitted beam of the ultrasonic pulses.

Modern buildings are now being outfitted with non-intrusive and easily installed clamp-on ultrasonic flow meters to measure hot water and chilled water usage. These are increasingly used in LEEDs (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings which is one of the most popular green building certification programs used worldwide. Green building intelligence interface is the mantra adopted by estate developers.

Counting Air for Better Health

If you ask me I would really hesitate (unless and until I am very sick) to enter a hospital. I am assuming that I will get infected by being in the proximity of another person. WHO (World Health Organization) reports that people in the millions fall sick because they have come into contact with infection in a hospital. The reasons for this anomaly (you go to a hospital to become better and not fall sick) is Indoor air quality that carry airborne pathogens and bacteria.

An essential piece of air monitoring equipment is called the particle counter. This is now standard in almost all hospitals. By monitoring the amount of particles and analyzing other parameters like temperature of the room proper ventilation design can be installed so that airborne particles are directed towards filter like HEPA filters.

Types of Particle counters

The handheld particle counters is the most versatile and easy to use monitoring equipment. At the touch of a button and with touch screen capability it is ideal for monitoring air quality indoors and cleanroom testing. They can read cumulative and differential particle count numbers and also temperature and humidity data as well. Being portable and replaceable batteries the hand held particle counter is mandatory in hospital use.

Remote particle counters are used for continuous air quality monitoring at fixed points. They are widely used in pharmaceutical industries and areas where clean room environment is critical (electronic industries). Remote particle counters are robust in design and with increased range of specifications decontamination process can be easily achieved for a desired result.

The rising trend of mold concerns in schools is now posing health hazards that have caught the attention of administrators, parents and school authorities. Aerosol particle counters are being increasingly used to ward off potential contaminants. The principle here is prevention is less costly than the cure.

Batteries are the Life Force

Batteries have become ubiquitous in our life. Without batteries our activities will (to use a term the youth is quite familiar with) "suck". Imagine being without Facebook. That is the end of the world. No tweets. That’s it. Call Elon Musk (SpaceX founder) and Jeff Bezos (Amazon and Blue Origin) to reserve a seat on the next flight to Mars (Moon could be a cheaper option). Seriously batteries are the life force of our consciousness. This is Zen battery speaks.

The best way to keep sanity around us is to keep the batteries functioning. Before you reach for replacement batteries you need to check the batteries. It makes sense to invest in battery tester digital technology irrespective of the type of battery.

What does the battery tester check? A differential amplifier in the circuit tests an active constant current by comparing the voltage across its path with a relatively constant reference voltage. This tech speak is not Greek or Latin. You can compare it being akin to taking the temperature of your body with a digital thermometer or to take a serious view is to do an electro cardio gram of your heart sorry of the batteries being tested. It does not matter whether you are testing small batteries (even less than 1V) or big batteries (12 V monsters). Just set the selector switch on the battery tester to the voltage rating of the battery and the result will be displayed. A quickly decreasing voltage will tell you that the end is near. It is important the battery tester is also tested by a calibrator to check its efficiency.

To understand the power of batteries Elon Musk (Tesla) is building the world's largest battery manufacturing factory in Nevada, America. The factory is called Gigafactory and will produce enough batteries to power half a million Tesla cars. Of course battery tester digital technology is automatically built in. 

Steps to Make Batteries Work Efficiently

Power as energy is a finite resource. As far as South East Asia is concerned alternate energy sources like wind, solar, bio-gas power generation has not been a focus in governments that are coming out of recession. The case of Indonesia is a telling example; from a net exporter in the halcyon days of the 1970s Indonesia today is a big importer of fossil fuel to power its automobiles and industries. Homes and industries have resorted to battery power in the form of inverters and UPS systems to power their needs of lighting and charging devices.

Battery technology is witnessing innovation in the measurement and testing sphere. Battery tester digital technology is at the forefront for two reasons; one it is very affordable; and second the accuracy of measurement has prolonged battery life. Batteries are expensive and it is important that monitoring the status of the battery gives it a long life and justifies the expense. A good digital battery tester will also work as a calibrator so that optimum efficiency of a battery can be put to use. It is tweaking the battery by monitoring the state of health of the battery; the analogy is akin to the human body; timely monitoring and being aware keeps the human body functioning efficiently and for a long time.

All batteries have battery cycle; it is directly proportional to the charge-discharge cycles. This is a finite number. So is overcharging and undercharging. These factors are easy to monitor and keep the battery at its optimum working efficiency.

Spectrum Analyser Basics and Uses

A spectrum analyser is an instrument that shows signal amplitude or strength as it changes by signal frequency. The amplitude is displayed on the vertical axis while the frequency is displayed on the horizontal axis. It looks like an oscilloscope.

A typical application of a spectrum analyser is to determine whether a wireless transmitter is working according to specifications laid down for its use by the sanctioning authority. If the output signals differ from the recommended frequency they will appear as vertical lines on the display. Government regulators usually use a handheld spectrum analyser to quickly monitor a wireless transmitter. It can also be used to find out competing frequencies that are acting as interference to wireless networking equipment like Wi-Fi routers. The electromagnetic signals from the interfering transmitter can be found out by a technique called panoramic reception. Designing with Bluetooth or interference hunting is a task best suited for RF analysers. There are USB spectrum analysers and benchtop real time analysers in the market. Handheld analysers can detect in the frequency range of 10 kHz to 6.2GHz. Advanced analysers are used to detect android device microphone by frequency detection. 

The costs of spectrum analysers has dropped low enough that affordability is no more an issue. In normal use these analysers check the measurement of bandwidth of modulated signals and also the efficiency of filters and networks. In that sense the use of the analyser is a powerful tool for other measurements like RF network analyser, frequency counter and power meters.