1

A report on
Role of instrumentation
in
cement industry
at ultratech cement ltd.

Prepared by:

Kapil Desai
B.Tech 7th Sem
[2012-13]
College :
Institute of technology, Nirma University.

Submitted to :

HR DEPARTMENT (ULTRATECH)

Declaration
I undersigned KAPIL DESAI student of B.Tech 7th semester declares that I have
prepared this project report on ROLE OF INSTRUMENTATION IN CEMENT
PRODUCTION at Ultra Tech Cement Limited under Mr. HITESH KOTHADIYA.

I also declare that this project report is my own preparation and not copied from
anywhere else.

(SIGNATURE)
Kapil Desai

ACHNOWLEDGEMENT
3

I would like to give my sincere thanks to Mr. ALOK MISHRA who permitted me
for training at the plant. I would like to thank Mr. L.M VERMA & Mr. H.T KOTHADIA
for their friendly co-operation during my training. My sincere thanks also go to Mr.
DHARMESH D.PATEL and Mr. R.K Pandey for providing me the necessary technical
information & guidance regarding my project report. I would like to thank all the
employees of UltraTech LTD who shared their knowledge with me with utmost
pleasure.

Signature of student
Kapil Desai

Contents :-

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Introuction of Aditya Birla Group

Ultratech cement
Awards and Achievement
Gujarat Cement Work
Process Flow In Cement Production
a. Stacker
b. Reclaimer
c. Raw mill
d. Continuos Flow Silo
e. Coal Mill
f. Cyclon Pre-Heater
g. Kiln
h. Coolex Cooler
i. Feeding Circuit
j. Cement Mill
k. Packing Plant
6. Instruments Used in Cement Industries
a. Proximity Sensor
b. Load Cell
c. Level sensor

Aditya Birla Group :The Aditya Birla Group is an Indian multinational conglomerate corporation headquartered
in Mumbai, India. It operates in 33 countries with more than 133,000 employees worldwide.
The group has diversified business interests and is dominant player in all the sectors in which
it operates such as viscose staple fibre, metals, cement, viscose filament yarn, branded

apparel, carbon black, chemicals, fertilisers, insulators, financial services, telecom and IT
services.
The Aditya Birla group is a US $35 billion conglomerate which gets 60 % of its revenues
from outside India. The Aditya Birla Group has been a judged the best employer in India and
among the top 20 in Asia by the Hewitt-Economic Times and Wall Street Journal Study 2007.
The origins of the group lie in the conglomerate once held by one of India's foremost
industrialists Mr. Ghanshyam Das Birla.
The Group consists of five main companies, which operate in various industry sectors
through subsidiaries, joint ventures, etc. These are Hindalco, Grasim, Aditya Birla Nuvo, Idea
cellular and UltraTech Cement.

Operating countries :The Group operates in 33 countries Australia, Austria, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Brazil,
Canada, China, Egypt, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, Korea,
Laos, Luxembourg, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Poland, Singapore, Spain, Sri Lanka,
Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania, Thailand, UAE, UK, USA and Vietnam.

Non-ferrous metals (Hindalco and Novelis) :The Group's non-ferrous metals are under Hindalco. It is a dominant player in aluminum and
copper. Its manufacturing locations are primarily in India, and it owns mines in Australia. On
11 February 2007, the company entered into an agreement to acquire the Canadian company
Novelis for US $6 billion, making the combined entity the world's largest rolled-aluminium
producer. On 15 May 2007, the acquisition was completed with Novelis shareholders
receiving $44.93 per outstanding share of common stock.
Hindalco makes alumina chemicals, primary aluminum, rolled products, alloy wheels,
roofing sheets, wire rods, cast copper rods, copper cathodes and several other products.

Cement (UltraTech Cement and Grasim Industries) :The Group's cement business was earlier under both Grasim Industries and UltraTech
Cement. The two entities are now merged into UltraTech cement to form India's largest
cement company. UltraTech cement was originally the cement business of L&T which was
acquired by Aditya Birla Group in 2004. On 7 June 2012, Group's chairman Mr Kumar

Mangalam Birla said that the company plans to invest Rs 2000 crore in a 4 million tonne
cement plant at Malkhed (in Gulbarga district) Karnataka.

Carbon black :After purchasing Columbian Chemicals Co (Press Release), the Group is now the largest
manufacturer of Carbon Black worldwide. It operates facilities in Egypt, Thailand, India,
China, Korea, Brazil, Canada, Hungary, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the United States.

Textile business (Grasim) :The Aditya Birla Group is the world's largest player in the Viscose Staple Fiber industry. It
operates out of India, Laos, Thailand, Malaysia and China. It owns the Birla Cellulose brand.
Apart from viscose staple fiber, the group also owns acrylic fiber businesses in Egypt and
Thailand, viscose filament yarn businesses and spinning mills at several locations all over
India and South East Asia. The group has pulp and plantation interests in Canada and has
recently invested in plantations in Laos. The Aditya Birla group is also a major player in the
branded garments market in India.

Telecom Services (Idea Cellular) :Idea Cellular is now owned by Aditya Birla Group. Idea Cellular started off as a joint venture
with the group, AT&T and the Tata Group. However the stakes of the remaining partners was
eventually acquired by the group. After an Initial Public Offering on the Indian Stock
Markets, Idea Cellular now accounts for a third of the group's market capitalization. The
company is headquartered in Mumbai and has pan-India operations.

UltraTech Cement :UltraTech is India's largest exporter of cement clinker spanning export markets in countries
across the Indian Ocean, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. UltraTech and its subsidiaries
7

have a presence in 5 countries through 11 integrated plants, 1 white cement plant, 1

clinkerisation plant, 15 grinding units, 2 rail and 3 coastal terminals and 101 RMC plants.
Most of the plants have ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 certification. In addition,
two plants have received ISO 27001 certification and four have received SA 8000
certification.
The certification process is currently underway for the remaining plants. The company
exports over 2.5 million tonnes per annum, which is about 30 per cent of the country's total
exports. UltraTech's products include Ordinary Portland cement, Portland Pozzolana cement
and Portland blast-furnace slag cement.
UltraTech Cement is the ultimate 360 building materials destination, providing an array of
products ranging from grey cement to white cement, from building products to building
solutions and an assortment of ready mix concretes catering to varied needs and applications.

Products :1.Ordinary Portland cement :Ordinary portland cement is the most commonly used cement for a wide range of
applications. These applications cover dry-lean mixes, general-purpose ready-mixes and even
high strength pre-cast and pre-stressed concrete.

2. Portland blast-furnace slag cement :Portland blast-furnace slag cement contains up to 70 percent of finely ground, granulated
blast-furnace slag, a nonmetallic product essentially consisting of silicates and aluminosilicates of calcium. Slag brings with it the advantage of the energy invested in the slag
making process. Grinding slag for cement replacement takes only 25 per cent of the energy
needed to manufacture portland cement. Using slag cement to replace a portion of portland
cement in a concrete mixture is a useful method to make concrete better and more consistent.
Portland blast-furnace slag cement has a lighter colour, better concrete workability, easier
finishability, higher compressive and flexural strength, lower permeability, improved
resistance to aggressive chemicals and more consistent plastic and hardened consistency.
UltraTech Premium is UltraTechs new Concrete Special Cement composed of high quality
clinker blended with judicious amounts of superior blast furnace slag having high glass
content, gypsum devoid of deleterious materials and optimum PSD (Particle Size
Distribution).

3.Portland Pozzolana cement :Portland pozzolana cement is ordinary portland cement blended with pozzolanic materials
(power-station fly ash, burnt clays, ash from burnt plant material or silicious earths), either
together or separately. Portland clinker is ground with gypsum and pozzolanic materials
which, though they do not have cementing properties in themselves, theycombine chemically
with portland cement in the presence of water to form extra strong cementing material which
resists wet cracking, thermal cracking and has a high degree of cohesion and workability in
concrete and mortar.

10

4.Cement to European and Sri Lankan norms :UltraTech's bulk cement terminal in Sri Lanka is located at Colombo. Cement is received by
specially-engineered, self-discharging bulk cement carriers. It is then discharged at the port in
road bowsers which transport cement 10 km from port to the terminal. Cement is stored in 4 x
7500 T cement concrete silos. A sophisticated bulk cement terminal (which subscribes to all
environmental norms) despatches cement in bulk form to RMC and asbestos plants. The
terminal also has a modern Italian make Ventomatic packer to pack cement in 50 kg. paper
bags
to
service
customers
on
the
island.
With its sharp focus on cement, the Aditya Birla Group has always believed that like
arrangements between countries in different parts of the world for regional cooperation, the
group too should be present in adjacent countries with facilities to qualify as a local producer
of cement. Two of the countries adjacent to India have limited deposits of limestone, the basic
raw material for cement. This position compels the two to be dependent on import for their
domestic construction activity. It was in this context that a joint venture bulk cement terminal
was
established
in
Colombo,
Sri
Lanka.

UltraTech Cement has been meeting the cement requirements of Sri Lanka by supplying a
good quality product. The companys customer base has recognized the quality and service
levels backed with a field force to market cement along with qualified engineers in the
technical cell who render technical advice to customers at the site.

Globally :i.

No.1 in viscose stable fibre.

ii.

No.1 in carbon black

iii.

4th largest producer of insulators.

iv.

5th largest producer of acrylic fibre.

v.

Among the top 10 cement producers.

vi.

Among the best energy-efficient fertilizer plants.

vii.

The largest Indian MNC manufacturing operations in USA.

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In India :i.

A top fashion & lifestyle player.

ii.

The 2nd largest player in viscose filament yarn.

iii.

The largest producer in the chlor-alkali sector.

iv.

Among the top 3 mobile telephony companies.

v.

A leading player in life insurance & asset management.

vi.

Among the top 2 super market chains in the retail business.

vii.

Among the top 10 BPO Companies.

AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS :The company is doing a marvelous business in the entire field where it can put its
hand which is a great aspect related to any company. The company is also able to
achieve many awards from the Government of India as well as other institutions at
national and international level, which are as follows;
(1)

The company has secured ISO 9002 certificate, which has been given for
the best quality and best production process capabilities.

(2)

The joint venture between L&T and Ceylinco helps them to achieve the
SLSI (Sri Lanka Standard Institution) from the Sri Lankan Government.

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(3)

L&T has achieved Top Export Award from CAPEXIL (Chemical & Allied
Products Export Promotion Council) in the category of cement, clinker and
asbestos cement products for the year 1999-2000.

(4)

L&T has achieved the Highest Export Award for cement from CAPEXIL in
the non-mineral sector for the year 2000-2001.

(5)

L&T has achieved the International Award in the 52 nd International

Calendar Show for their best calendar with the theme of Brides of India
for the year 2002.

Export awards :Worldwide, clients have consistently endorsed Ultra Techs highest quality standards.
The list of export awards it has won is testimony to Ultra Techs uncompromising
standards on product quality. We have been on the roll call of top exporters of the
Chemicals & Allied Products Export Promotion Council (Capexil), year after year.
Ultratech won the Capexil Certificate of Export Recognition - Top Exporter - Cement,
Clinker, Asbestos and Cement Products for the years 2000, 2002 and2003.

Gujarat cement works

The Gujarat Cement Works plant I was established in the year 1996 and Gujarat
Cement Works Plant II was established in the year 1998. Both the plants are
engaged in the production of Portland cement. The plant has received a certification
from SA 8000. This plant is situated in Amreli district, Kovaya. Both the plants has a
production capacity of around 8000 tonnes per day.
Gujarat Cement Works (GCW) has a captive jetty engineered for exports. Accordingly, for
the past five years, bulk cement has been exported from GCW to UltraTech Cement Lanka
(Pvt.)

Ltd,

the

groups

joint

venture

(JV)

in

Sri

Lanka.

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13

The specifications of GCW are: Gujarat Cement Works is one of the single largest cement plants with anInstalled
capacity to produce 5.3 million tons of clinker per annum.
It is the largest cement plants at a single location in the country.
The plant has a state of art technology featuring fuzzy logic, X-Ray analyzer and
CEM SCANNER to ensure optimum production and quality.
Main objective of the instrumentation department is to provide all the plants
parameters to the central control room for smooth operation and control of the
plant without making any compromise to the safety of human and the
equipments.
Plant communication system is also being maintained by us so thatinformation
can be passed on as per the requirement.

Highlights of some of the other awards of GCW

plant are given below:

2004: Bhartiya Udyog Ratan Award presented to Sh. KYP Kulkarni By Indian
Economic Development & Research Association (IEDRA), New Delhi

2002-03:Greentech Gold Safety Award By Greentech Foundation, New Delhi

2002:Gujarat State Safety Award By Gujarat Safety Council (GSC), Vadodaras

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2001-02: Greentech Environment Excellence Award By Greentech Foundation, New

Delhi

2001:Awards for Excellence in "Industrial Relations" By Federation of Gujarat

Industries (FGI), Vadodar

PROCESS FLOW IN CEMENT PRODUCTION :-

1. Stacker :It is used for making homogenous pile of material coming from crusher.
There are two movements of Stacker :
(a). Lateral movement
(b). Forward and Reverse movement

Sensors used in stacker :1. Proxy sensor :It is used for indication of speed law.

2. Reclaimer :14

15

It is used for droping the material from piles top to bottom. And for that harrow of V-shape is
used.
Chain is used and it collects the material from ground surface and put it on the conveyer belt.
After that this material goes to the Additive House.

Additive House :Here, five types of additive materials are added in the lime stone to improve the quality.
1)
2)
3)
4)
5)

Sweetener
Iron
Clay
High grade
Low grade

This materials are added through the weight feeder according to the requirement. And this
additives are mixed with the Lime Stone i.e. coming from the reclaimer.

Sensores used in reclaimer :For weight feeder following sensors are used :
1) Load cell :
To measure the weight of additives.
2) Tachometer :
For sensing the speed of conveyer belt.
3) Proxy sensor :
It is used for indication of speed law.
The amount of additive to be added in the lime stone in terms of TPH can be calculated by
multiplying the load cell result and tachometer result.

Weight feeder :Weight feeder = kg/m

Speed = m/s
TPH = weight * speed

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16

kg
m

m
s

kg
s

1
1000

T
hr

* 3600

3. ATOX RAW MILL :There are mainly three units which are operated by PLC system :
1) Hydraulic pannel unit
2) Roller lubricator
3) Gear unit
One table is continously rotated with the help of gear mechanism which is driven by motor.

4. Continuos Flow SILO :It is used for storing the Raw material.
Capacity : 25,000 Matric Tonne
Gates are used for extracting the material from C.F. Silo and this material goes to the Preheater.
Air bubbling is given from the bottom and so that homogeneous material can be obtained.

5. ATOX COAL MILL :In this mill two types of coal are used :
1) South African lignite coal (costly)
2) Indian peat coal (cheaper)
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The coal is crushed and then it is fed to the Bean of the Coal mill with the help of conveyer
belt.

Sensors used in Atox Coal Mill :1) Load cell :.

Here, three load cell are used at 120 apart from each other. This load cell measures the
weight of the bean and gives the signal to the PLC in mv. With the help of this three load
cell we can also get the position bean.

6. CYCLON PRE-HEATER :In this field the raw material comes from the storage bean wich is located at the upper side.
Here, the material is in the powder form.
In the pre-heater there are two different streams are there :
1. Kiln stream and
2. Calciner stream
In this total 6 different reactors are there. In which from the bottom side the hot gaes are
passing and from the upper side the material is folling. So, this will lift the material. So, this
is also known as Riser Duct.
In the pre-heater the temp. of the material goes upto the 900 to 950. C. this is finally fed into
the kiln.

7. KILN :In cement industries the KILN is basically used for heating the raw material coming from
pre-heater. In the kiln the material is heated upto the 1400. C and clinker is formed.
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18

The pyro-processing stage is generally regarded as the heart of the cement-making process.
1.

It is the stage in which most of the operating costs of cement manufacture appear.

2. Therefore the stage where most of the opportunities for process improvement exist.

Construction: The kiln is 75 m long and it have 4.75 m diameter. The kiln is supported on three types of
2 rollers each.
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It rotates at a speed of 4 - 5 rpm.

The burning zone temperature in kiln is around 1400-1500oC.
Pulverized coal is used as fuel in kiln and calciner.

Camera for Analysis: The camera required for the analysis of kiln inner working has a very high quality lens.
Its cost is about Rs 2, 50,000.
Temperature sensor, thermocouple is used for the measurement of inner temperature.
When temperature inside the kiln exceeds 60C, the thermocouple sends a signal to the
solenoid valve attached to it.
The solenoid valve generates a reverse pressure & draws the camera out.
If the temperature of kiln falls below 50C, the solenoid valve generated a forward
pressure and pushes the camera inside the kiln.
Here, Powitech camera is also used in one kiln for getting the required input feed for the coal
firing.

8. COOLEX COOLER :The cooler receives approximately 1450 oC. Hot clinker from rotary kiln is cool down
to a temperature which is approximately 150oC at a production of 8000 tone/day.
In this coolex cooler 3 hydraulic grates are used. One standby hydraulic pump is also
provided. So, that at the time of maintanece and fault condition that can be used.

Cooling of clinker takes place at two locations :

1) in the kiln after the material passes the burning zone region, and
2) in the specially designed clinker coolers after the material falls out of the kiln.

Grates in cooler :19

20

The airstreams to first grates is very powerful so that clinker is well distributed across
the entire width of the grates. This will prevent clinker from being backed together
at very high temperature.
The air flow is adjusted so that clinker is kept bubbling on surface of layer. Hence,
heat recuperation will be optimized.
The cooling of the clinker cooler exhaust gases flowing inside the heat exchanger
tubes takes place using axial fans, which suck in ambient air that flows around the
outsides of the cooling tubes.
Important to the process is a carefully implemented control and safety concept, so
that the heat exchanger can protect the filter bags by promptly reacting to upset
operation.

Clinker coolers perform the function of : Transporting clinker from the kiln to the clinker delivery system
Cooling the clinker to a safe temperature for subsequent transport
Finalizing the clinker mineralogy through rapid cooling
Preheating combustion air by heat exchange with hot clinker

9. FEEDING CIRCUIT :The Role of feeding circuit is to provide continuous supply of clinker, gypsum & lime stone
to cement mill hopper :
Clinker produced in kiln is stored at three silos
1) Peter silo
2) Clinker silo
3) Stock pile
Gypsum is purchased from out side parties & stores at two open yard partially covered.
Lime stone is received from our own mine.

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PETER SILO :In this silo clinker is stored. Its capacity is 1.5 Lac MT.

Clinker Silo :It has a storage capacity of 0.4 Lac MT.

Stock pile :It has a storage capacity of 0.7 Lac MT.

Feeding circuit for clinker is divided into three sections :

1) Feeding to Jetty
2) Feeding to mills
Feeding of additives also divided into two sections :
1) Feeding to cement mill.
2) Feeding to mills through pivotal pan conveyor.
There are 24 Belt conveyors,4 deep pan conveyors & 1 pivoting pan conveyor in feeding
circuit.

10. CEMENT MILL :In this plant total 4 cement mills are used for producing the cement. The clinker comes from
the peter silo through the conveyer belt. In this clinker according to the type of cement lime
stone and gypsem are added. This material is stroed in the bean with the help of bucket
elevator. After that this material is passed to the roller press. Here, first of all material is
passed through the V shaped storage. This is used to reduse the speed of the material. Then,
the material is crushed in the roller press. Here, the partical size depends the distance between
two rollers. In this roller press one roller is stationary and second one is rotating. The material
coming out of the roller press is given to the Ball press. In this ball press different size of the
balls are used , this maintains the required size of the cement particals. The output material of
this ball press is strored in the cement silos.

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BUCKET ELLIVATOR :As the name indicates these are used to elevate material vertically. The bucket elevator
material comes from the silo and it is stored in the Bean.

Bucket Elevator

Sensors used in the Bucket Elevator :1. Boot level indication

2. Zero speed sensor
3. Sway switch

WEIGHT FEEDER :In the cement mill mainly three weight feeders are used :
1. For adding gypsem (In this vibrator is also used)
2. For adding fly ash
3. For adding clinker

In the cement mill two types of press are used For grinding of clinker to form cement
following technologies are available :

1. Roller press :-

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The grinding action employs much greater stress on material than in ball mill, & is there fore
more efficient .Energy consumption is typically half that of a ball mill. In the roller press
separator is also used for sction of the fine particals. And in the belt conveyers JPF & IPF
fans are used for collecting the dust. This dust is once again mixed with the fine material in
the belt. In JPF fan filters are used wich collects the dust and then by applying air pressure
this dust is mixed with the fine material.

Hhghjk
Hopper

Stationary

Rotating

roller

roller

Hydraulic Pressure
Roller Press

2. Ball press : These are widely used for cement grinding. The out put achieved by a ball mill system varies
with the mill power, the fineness of the product & the hardness of the clinker. As a rule of
thumb, the energy requirement increases with fineness.
A ball mill is a horizontal cylinder partly filled with steel ball that rotates on its axis,
imparting a tumbling & cascading action to the balls. Material fed through the mill is
crushed between balls. The grinding media are usually made of high chromium steel.
There exists a speed of rotation(critical speed) at which the content of mill would simply
ride over the roof of the mill due to centrifugal force. Ball mills are normally operated at
around 75% of critical speed , we have mill which operates at 15.88 RPM.

DIVERTER :-

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DIVERTER

If any metal is detected in the metal separator than the diverting gate will be operated and that
material is diverted through the diverting pipe. And this material is stored in the reject bean.

METAL SEPARATOR :-

Fine Material

Material Inlet

Rejected Material

Mangnetic Field

Sensors used in cement mill :-

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25

1. LVDT
It is used in the measurement of the position of the rollers.
2. Load cell
3. Tachometer
4. Metal detecter
5. Speed low sensor
6. RTD
7. Pressure transduser
8. Proxy sensor

11. PACKING PLANT : In packing plant material comes from different silos according to the type of cement to be
formed. And this material is stored in the bean. With the help of 7 solenoid valve material is
extracted from the bean and it is transferred to the bucket elevator. From the bucket elevator
material goes to the bean of the packer. At the bottom side of the bean air blow is provided
in order to get the continuos flow of the material and also to avoid the blocking of the
material.

Here, two types of cements are produced :

1. OPC (Ordinary Portland Cement)
2. PPC (Pozolana Portland Cement)
In this type of cement fly ash is used. Fly ash is stored in the silo which comes from
the Thermal power plant and other sources.
In packing plant there are five packers : (1). Four Mechanical Packers and
(2). One Electronic Packer.

25

26

Both this packers moves with a speed of 2.5rpm. And it produces 1800 bags per hr. All the
bags are of 50 kg weight. In all the bags 200g more or less weight can be permissible.

I. Mechanical Packer :In this type of packer 50 kg load is placed at the upper side and the bag weight is compared
with this weight. When the bag weight becomes equal to the counter weight then only the bag
is dispatched other wise it will move one more round and material is filled in the bag.

II. Electronic Packer :-

Electronic packer used here is made by ENEXO Company.

26

27

It contains 12 slots and it has two discharge lines. In this type of packer VFD (Variable
Frequncy Drive) are used.
It contains 5 solenoid valave :
1. It is used for holding the bag.
2. It is used for filling the corse material in the bag i.e. up to 45 kg.
3. It is used for filling the fine material, After that the material stored in the nozzle is
filled in the bag.
4. It is used for arriation.
5. It is used for dispatching the bag on the conveyer belt.
In this packer when the belt is running then only the packer starts other wise it remains in off
condition. Then, the bags are transferred to the bag loaders through a conveyer belt and
according to the requirement the diverters are operated. At the loading side belt can move UpDown and also horizontally.

Sensores used in packing plant :1. Solenoid valve :It is used in the electronic packer for operating it.
2. Level sensor :It is used for measuring the bean level in the packing plant.
3. Load cell :It is used for measuring the bag weight.
4. Bag counter :It is used for counting the number of bags that is passing through the conveyer
belt.
5. Proxy sensor :It is used for detecting that the bag weight is 50 kg or not.

Bag Counter :-

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Bag Counting Sensor

Instruments used in Cement

Industry :A. Proximity sensor : A proximity sensor is a sensor able to detect the presence of nearby objects without any
physical contact.
A proximity sensor often emits an electromagnetic field or a beam of electromagnetic
radiation (infrared, for instance), and looks for changes in the field or return signal. The
object being sensed is often referred to as the proximity sensor's target. Different
proximity sensor targets demand different sensors. For example, a capacitive photoelectric
28

29

sensor might be suitable for a plastic target; an inductive proximity sensor always requires
a metal target.
The maximum distance that this sensor can detect is defined "nominal range". Some
sensors have adjustments of the nominal range or means to report a graduated detection
distance.
Proximity sensors can have a high reliability and long functional life because of the
absence of mechanical parts and lack of physical contact between sensor and the sensed
object.
Proximity sensors are also used in machine vibration monitoring to measure the variation
in distance between a shaft and its support bearing. This is common in large steam
turbines, compressors, and motors that use sleeve-type bearings.
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) 60947-5-2 defines the technical details
of proximity sensors.
A proximity sensor adjusted to a very short range is often used as a touch switch.

Types of sensors :

Capacitive

Capacitive displacement sensor

Doppler effect (sensor based on effect)

Eddy-current

Inductive

Laser rangefinder

Magnetic, including Magnetic proximity fuse

Passive optical (such as charge-coupled devices)

Passive thermal infrared

Photocell (reflective)

Radar

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30

Reflection of ionising radiation

Sonar (typically active or passive)

OPERATING PRINCIPLES :-

1.Inductive & Capacitive :Their operating principle is based on a high frequency oscillator that creates a field in the
close surroundings of the sensing surface. The presence of a metallic object (inductive) or any
material (capacitive) in the operating area causes a change of the oscillation amplitude. The
rise or fall of such oscillation is identified by a threshold circuit that changes the output state
of the sensor. The operating distance of the sensor depends on the actuator's shape and size
and is strictly linked to the nature of the material (Table 1 & Table 2.). A screw placed on the
back of the capacitive sensor allows regulation of the operating distance. This sensitivity
regulation is useful in applications, such as detection of full containers and non-detection of
empty containers.

INDUCTIVE SENSORS :Sensitivity when different metals are present.

Sn = operating distance.
Fe37 (iron)
Stainless steel
Brass- bronze
Aluminum
Copper

1 x Sn
0.9 x Sn
0.5 x Sn
0.4 x Sn
0.4 x Sn

CAPACITIVE SENSORS :Sensitivity when different materials are present.

Sn = operating distance.
Metal
Water
Plastic
Glass

1 x Sn
1 x Sn
0.5 x Sn
0.5 x Sn

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Wood

0.4 x Sn

2.Photoelectric :These sensors use light sensitive elements to detect objects and are made up of an emitter
(light source) and a receiver. Three types of photoelectric sensors are available. Direct
Reflection - emitter and receiver are housed together and uses the light reflected directly off
the object for detection. Reflection with Reflector - emitter and receiver are housed together
and requires a reflector. An object is detected when it interrupts the light beam between the
sensor and reflector. Thru Beam - emitter and receiver are housed separately and detects an
object when it interrupts the light beam between the emitter and receiver.
3. Magnetic :Magnetic sensors are actuated by the presence of a permanent magnet. Their operating
principle is based on the use of reed contacts, which consist of two low reluctance ferromagnetic reeds enclosed in glass bulbs containing inert gas. The reciprocal attraction of
both reeds in the presence of a magnetic field, due to magnetic induction, establishes an
electrical contect.

B. Load cell : A load cell is a transducer that is used to convert a force into electrical signal.
This conversion is indirect and happens in two stages. Through a mechanical arrangement,
the force being sensed deforms a strain gauge. The strain gauge measures the deformation
(strain) as an electrical signal, because the strain changes the effective electrical resistance
of the wire. A load cell usually consists of four strain gauges in a Wheatstone bridge
configuration. Load cells of one strain gauge (quarter bridge) or two strain gauges (half
bridge) are also available. The electrical signal output is typically in the order of a few
millivolts and requires amplification by an instrumentation amplifier before it can be used.
The output of the transducer is plugged into an algorithm to calculate the force applied to
the transducer.

Although strain gauge load cells are the most common, there are other types of load cells as
well. In industrial applications, hydraulic (or hydrostatic) is probably the second most
common, and these are utilized to eliminate some problems with strain gauge load cell
devices. As an example, a hydraulic load cell is immune to transient voltages (lightning) so
might be a more effective device in outdoor environments.
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Other types include piezoelectric load cells (useful for dynamic measurements of force), and
vibrating wire load cells, which are useful in geomechanical applications due to low
amounts of drift, and capacitive load cells where the capacitance of a capacitor changes as
the load preses the two plates of a capacitor closer together.
Every load cell is subject to "ringing" when subjected to abrupt load changes. This stems
from the spring-like behavior of load cells. In order to measure the loads, they have to
deform. As such, a load cell of finite stiffness must have spring-like behavior, exhibiting
vibrations at its natural frequency. An oscillating data pattern can be the result of ringing.
Ringing can be suppressed in a limited fashion by passive means. Alternatively, a control
system can use an actuator to actively damp out the ringing of a load cell. This method
offers better performance at a cost of significant increase in complexity.
Load cells are used in several types of measuring instruments such as universal testing
machines.

Types of Load Cells : There are different types of Load Cells such as :

Strain Gauge Load Cells

Hydraulic Load Cells

Pneumatic Load Cells

Inductive and Reluctance-Based Load Cells

Magnetoelastic Load Cells

Piezoelectric Load Cells

Fibre-optic Load Cells

Resonant Wire Load Cells

Selection Criteria :

Capacity
Basic type and mode of operation
Number of load cells
Method of mounting
Performance or accuracy level-related to system requirements
Sealing level and material of construction
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Approval requirements (metrological, safety, environmental)

Cost

Advantages :

Rugged and compact construction

No moving parts
Highly Accurate
Wide range of measurement, can be used for static and dynamic loading

Disadvantages : Mounting is difficult

Calibration is a tedious procedure
C. Level Sensor :-

Working Principle :The measuring system for this level limit detection tool consists of an evaluation unit and an
immune-coat probe that could be mounted either from the top or side of the vessel. The probe
comprises sense and shield electrodes electrically isolated from the metallic tank by means of
suitable insulators. The sense electrode of the switch and the vessel wall serve as the two
electrodes of a capacitor with the service material as the dielectric. A change in material level
causes a change in dielectric, which in turn causes a change in admittance of this tank
capacitor.

Level sensors detect the level of substances that flow, including liquids, slurries, granular
materials, and powders. Fluids and fluidized solids flow to become essentially level in their
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containers because of gravity whereas most bulk solids pile at an angle of repose to a peak.
The substance to be measured can be inside a container or can be in its natural form. The
level measurement can be either continuous or point values. Continuous level sensors
measure level within a specified range and determine the exact amount of substance in a
certain place, while point-level sensors only indicate whether the substance is above or
below the sensing point. Generally the latter detect levels that are excessively high or low.

There are many physical and application variables that affect the selection of the optimal
level monitoring method for industrial and commercial processes. The selection criteria
include the physical: phase (liquid, solid or slurry), temperature, pressure or vacuum,
chemistry, dielectric constant of medium, density (specific gravity) of medium, agitation
(action), acoustical or electrical noise, vibration, mechanical shock, tank or bin size and
shape. Also important are the application constraints: price, accuracy, appearance, response
rate, ease of calibration or programming, physical size and mounting of the instrument,
monitoring or control of continuous or discrete (point) levels.

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