Application Case | DHE G80 FMCW Radar Level Gauge Has Been Successfully Applied in the Pharmaceutical Industry Under the Difficult Conditions of Stir and Foam

FMCW Radar Level Gauge Application

China’s pharmaceutical industry has flourished in recent years, especially in industries such as chemical pharmaceuticals and biopharmaceuticals. The process of drug preparation could be often complex. Level measurement in the process is a must in the pharmaceutical industry because of the harsh working conditions, and the measurement interference factors such as stir, steam, condensation, foam, etc. The conventional level products have been unable to do this for a long time, and this kind of working conditions has also become a difficult problem for users to accurately measure on site.

DHE’s G80 FMCW (frequency modulation continuous wave) radar level meter has gradually replaced conventional radar level gauges and other traditional level meters with its excellent characteristics, including small beam angle, large bandwidth, small blind zone, millimeter wavelength, etc. And it set a new benchmark for level measurement in the pharmaceutical industry.

Working condition:

A pharmaceutical factory in Shandong

The medium in the reducing agent configuration tank is a mixture of sodium chloride and acetal, with an operating temperature of around 110 degrees Celsius. There is anchor stirring in the tank.

Before installation:

The customer had used the double flange differential pressure level gauge, but the measurement accuracy was poor due to changes in temperature and medium density.

Measurement problem:

The most difficult point of this working condition is that there was a mixer in the tank. When the mixer was turned on, vortex would be generated. The violent fluctuation of the liquid surface and the large amount of foam generated on the surface will have a great impact on the instrument signal acquisition.

DHE’s solution:

Before adopting DHE’s products, the customer attempted to measure with the high-frequency radar instruments from other brands. But none of them could continuously ensure the accuracy and stability of measurement under the harsh working conditions of steam and mixing.

This pharmaceutical factory had a long-term and stable relationship with DHE. When confronting the problem, it contacted DHE. After on-site inspection and technical communication, the customer and DHE decided to use DHE’s latest G80 FMCW radar level gauge for measurement. In September 2021, a DHE’s G80 FMCW radar level gauge was installed on trial.

The small beam angle (3°) of DHE G80 FMCW radar level gauge could avoid stirring fan blades. And the energy of it is concentrated with strong penetration ability, which could penetrate foam when measuring. From the on-site working diagram above, it can be seen that the signal of the instrument is very stable, ensuring its normal operation.

After the trial, the customer purchased 40 DHE’s G80 for level measurement of other tanks in the factory.

Advantages of G80:

Reliability: “ELL signal analysis technology” can reduce the impact of various false echoes to ensure high reliability of products.

Safety: it is designed and produced based on IEC61508 standard to ensure high safety of products.

Large bandwidth: It adopts 5GHz bandwidth technology to ensure product resolution and high signal-to-noise ratio.

Small blind zone: it adopts small blind zone technology which can reduce the blind zone to a minimum of 2cm.

Millimeter wavelength: It adopts millimeter wavelength technology, which has the ability to penetrate smoke, dust and fog, and is suitable for complex working conditions.

Small beam angle: it adopts the beam angle of 3°technology, which greatly improves the anti-interference ability.

Double cavity enclosure: it fully realizes the isolation of circuit cavity to ensure the safety of using electricity on-site.

High precision: it adopts FMCW frequency modulation technology, and the product accuracy can reach ± 1mm.

Nowadays, DHE G80 FMCW radar level gauge has overcome several complex working conditions for level measurement in high viscosity heavy oil tanks, liquefied gas horizontal tanks, and heavy water tanks. With excellent performance and quality, and the integration of DHE’s 30 years of application experience for over a hundred working conditions, it has successfully solved the problem of measurement in the harsh working condition of pharmaceutical factory.