High-Frequency Radar Level Technology on the Rise

Cincinnati, OH, March 15, 2016 (Newswire.com) - Eighteen months ago, VEGA successfully introduced VEGAPULS 69, a new sensor for the continuous measurement of bulk solids. This sensor operates with a transmission frequency three times higher than its competitors.

"The market has shown that this technology is the wave of the future. We’ve installed over 10,000 VEGAPULS 69 level sensors since the product launched," says Jürgen Skowaisa, product manager of radar instrumentation at VEGA Grieshaber KG. These instruments have proven their worth, especially on media with poor reflective properties, in production shafts up to 394 feet deep, or in silos with numerous internal installations that generate strong false echoes.

"Today, there is no way to surpass the performance of radar measurement based on an operating frequency of 80 GHz."

Jürgen Skowaisa, Product Manager, Radar Instrumentation

VEGAPULS 64 will follow in the footsteps of the VEGAPULS 69 by setting a new standard in liquid level measurement with high dynamics and superior focusing.

"Media with poor reflective properties, i.e. low dielectric constant, can now be measured significantly better than with previous radar sensors," says Skowaisa. Thanks to vastly better focusing, the beam simply passes by internal tank installations and build up. Interfering signals, which previously had to be filtered out with false signal suppression, play hardly any role in the measurement process.

"Moreover, it is now possible to use a much smaller antenna. Today we have process fittings with an antenna diameter of only ¾" – equivalent to the size of a quarter," Skowaisa says. The new technology also allows precise level measurement very close to the tank bottom. This opens up new opportunities for determining the level in small containers used in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, as well as determining the amount of fuel left at the bottom of large fuel tanks. Measurement accuracy is +/-2 mm, even with a measuring range up to 30 m.

The great success of bulk solids radar sensor VEGAPULS 69 and the current market launch of VEGAPULS 64 for liquids are setting the agenda for the future technological development of radar level measurement.

"Today, there is no way to surpass the performance of radar measurement based on an operating frequency of 80 GHz," Skowaisa says.