Higher Accuracy for Chlorine Ton Scales

The water and waste water treatment industries must use a wide variety of chemicals. These chemicals are used to properly prepare potable water for municipal water districts. They are also used to properly treat sewage and other waste water situations. The chemicals are often stored in what is known as a Ton Cylinder. They are usually in liquid form, but can also be stored as a liquefied gas. Full cylinders may weigh up to 4,000 pounds, or even higher. It is critically important to monitor the amount of material remaining in the cylinder. If the cylinder becomes depleted, the appropriate chemicals will not be added into the water. This can cause serious health issues. The best method of monitoring the cylinder contents is to place it on a Digital Ton Cylinder Scale. This is a type of industrial scale that is specifically designed to accept the ton cylinder. Generally, the scale includes trunions with corrosive resistant wheels. This allows the cylinders to be easily turned. Ton Cylinder Scales utilize load cells to determine the weight on the platform. A load cell is a device that develops a small electrical signal that is proportional to the force that is applied to it. This signal is electrically amplified, and then converted into a digital number by an analog to digital converter circuit. The scaleÕs microcomputer will process this into a weight value, and display it on the screen. Generally, the weight may be shown in either pounds or kilograms. It is also possible to use a tare function to subtract the weight of the cylinder, giving a reading of just the contents. Most Chlorine Ton Scales use a single stainless steel load cell. This had an advantage of being cheaper to produce. But it is then critical to make sure that the position of the drum does not change. If the drum is not properly centered, the weight reading will be lower than the actual weight. There are also a number of pivot points that must be kept clean, sharp and in good condition. Higher quality Digital Ton Cylinder Scales use four stainless steel load cells, one in each corner of the scale. This provides a weight result that is completely independent of the position of the drum on the platform. It also totally eliminates any pivots and bearings, and all moving parts. This allows for a longer, trouble free operational life. Furthermore, the industrial scale is less subject to shock load damage when a new, full container is placed on the scale. Depending on the environment, the scale itself may be constructed from painted steel or stainless steel. For particularly corrosive situations, Arlyn Scales offers an optional glass filled epoxy coating for the stainless steel. Because the electronic scale is used to monitor the weight in the cylinder, it is useful to be able to set low weight alarm values. Arlyn Scales offers an optional setpoint controller. Up to eight different target weights may be set. One value may be set to alert the operator that the cylinder will soon be at a replacement level. The second can be a caution alert that this value has actually been reached. A third can be used as an urgent alarm, indicating that the cylinder will soon be fully depleted. Local alarm notification is useful, although not necessarily convenient, when the water treatment facility is always manned. Often, it is preferable to be connected to a computer system. Optional RS-485 network capability allows a number of chlorine scales to be wired together, and then connected to an RS-485 to USB converter box. A USB connection is made to a computer. Windows based Remote Indicator software is available for the computer allowing the weight data of each of the Ton Cylinder Scales to be read from the computer. Another available option for the industrial scales is an Ethernet connector. The cylinder scale can then be plugged into a Local Area Network. With the correct software, any computer on the same network can access the scale data. If the Local Area Network is also connected to the Internet, the scale may be configured to send its data to a remote computer. Of course, the remote computer must also be connected to the Internet, and must be logged in with the correct security password.