linear position sensors

January 11, 2022

Looking at 2021 – The Rear View Mirror that Wasn’t

Like many other USA based manufacturers, CPI had many reasons to be optimistic about 2021 back in December of 2020. A COVID vaccine was on the horizon, business was off, but continued at reasonable levels. There was lots of talk about pent up demand and lots of justifiable pride over our decisions to invest in our infrastructure during a time of great uncertainty. Yes, 2021 was going to be the year we put the pandemic in the rear view mirror and moved on to brave new worlds, or at least an extremely welcome status-quo.

And while 2021 was indeed a different and positive year in many ways, it was also more of the same. That rear view mirror remained foggy, and in some cases showed us exactly what we saw last year.

The global business environment remains challenging and despite some effort by governments and individuals, the pandemic remains with us, having gifted us with the omicron variant which made cautionary tales and behavior as necessary this year as last. Early year optimism has been replaced with more caution, and inflationary fears have become part of the conversation again for the first time in a long time. The effects of global warming are accelerating at a breathtaking pace, and cultural shifts in the work force have brought the changing work-life value systems of young workers to the forefront as baby boomers retire.

So where does that leave manufacturers like CPI? While there is no doubt that everyone is affected by global changes in the supply chain, inflation, and trade, we believe the key is to remain nimble and accepting in a fundamentally changing world. In 2021, we became part of discoverIE Group, a synergistic partnership that has proved prescient in the face of global economic changes. With access to a renewed presence throughout Europe and Asia as well as the USA, CPI solidifies its visibility in distribution channels and its resilience against market upheaval. Our centralized, US based manufacturing continues to be a tremendous competitive advantage in terms of responsiveness, with over 95% of our raw material sourced from the USA.

We continue to provide unique solutions to engineering problems through our waterproof switch, thermal switch, and draw wire sensor product lines, and in 2021 we drove hard into the green economy by targeting our sales and marketing efforts on green energy products in the electric vehicle, wind and solar markets — a trend we expect to continue into 2022.

When we look forward to 2022, we are cautiously optimistic about many of the same things we were cautiously optimistic about last year.  We are especially thankful for the dedicated employees who come to work every day and take all necessary precautions to protect themselves and their co-workers. We’re thankful for our customers who kept the faith and continue to work with us to discover new and exciting applications for our products.

We’re cleaning off the rear view mirror, again, and we may finally see the things in there we expected to see last year.  But regardless of what happens, CPI is looking forward. To learn more about us, please visit our website at: https://www.cpi-nj.com/

Original content published: https://www.cpi-nj.com/looking-at-2021-the-rear-view-mirror-that-wasnt/

December 28, 2018

Make the Switch To CPI in 2019

For the team here at CPI it’s been an exciting 2018. After a long period where companies large and small were discouraging capital investment, its safe to say that the military-industrial complex had largely recovered by 2018. We saw renewed investments in product development and design, and increased willingness by manufacturers of industrial equipment, to upgrade and expand their product offerings.

As a supplier of premier waterproof switches and unique linear position sensors, the good economic news has certainly trickled down into our supply chain. While our product line is diverse, we’ve seen an almost across the board uptick in design-ins across industries. in industry’s like oil and gas, we’ve seen renewed interest in our extreme duty linear position sensors. Our limit switches saw major design in’s Construction Vehicles, and military applications. And our thermal switches continue to find applications both inside and outside the military where only a reliable thermal switch will do.

Here’s a few Highlights:

  • A major British construction vehicle brand designed our J4 ball switch into their fleet of backhoe/loader vehicles in a safety detection application where reliability under extreme conditions was of paramount concern
  • An American manufacturer used a series of our thermal switches in a new food packaging application, saving almost $60k over the prior solution.
  • An integrator of wellhead platforms in Scandinavia choose our SL-2000 for a subsea linear position sensor application on a huge hydraulic accumulator used in heave compensation.
  • Our thermal switches were selected and qualified by NASA, for use in a unique Flow Boiling and Condensation experiment due to launch on the ISS in 2020.
  • Our waterproof E1 series limit switches were selected for dozens of work truck applications including first responder vehicles, bucket trucks, sanitation vehicles and more. A common application here is to sense when outriggers used on these vehicles are in the locked position.

We continue to be amazed at the diversity of applications that our switches and sensors find themselves in. It seems that when you need a no-holds-barred solution to robust waterproof switching, there are actually very few good choices in the world…(-:

Onward and Upward

We want to thank all our customers in 2018 for continuing to support our USA made products and continuing to recognize the unique value and no compromises engineered products that we offer.

And if you’re new to CPI, welcome. We look forward to new and interesting partnerships in 2019.

Sincerely,

Mac Stuhler

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/make-the-switch-to-cpi-in-2019/

September 30, 2018

Heave Compensation Systems for Offshore Drilling

As oilfield engineering enjoys a resurgence of interest and investment, companies continue to look to advancements in technology to both reduce costs, and improve the safety of offshore drilling operations. In particular, active heave compensation systems use advanced hydraulic cylinders and accumulators to achieve a system that reduces the relative motion of the drill pipe and the seabed, improving both efficiency and safety.

In the area of active heave compensation systems, CPI’s unique subsea position sensor is seeing deployment into these applications due to its unique versatility and durability. Specifically, manufacturers and system integrators specifying hydraulic cylinders and accumulators for active heave compensation, are finding that our ATEX and IEC-EX certified sensors are perfect for both subsea, and surface use, both inside and external to the hydraulics.

Position Sensing in Heave Compensation Hydraulics is Absolutely Critical.

Oilfield Applications which use the CPI advanced draw wire sensor include many different types of heave compensation systems. For most of these, the CPI SL-2000 Safety Rated Linear Position Sensor, is both a versatile, and a durable solution.

  • Riser & Tensioner Systems – Centered around the moon-pool of a rig you’ll find hydraulic accumulator pre-charge pressure sensing in marine riser tensioning systemone type of riser-tensioner system hard at work, keeping the movement of the ocean from placing undue pressure on the well head of an active rig. Our SL-2000 is a perfect Linear Position Sensor for the Hydraulic accumulators used in this applications because it is ATEX rated, is 100% waterproof, and can be mounted either internally, or external to an existing hydraulic cylinder.
  • Riser Disconnect Sensing and Control – Related to the above use is the CPI Sensor’s ability to provide critical feedback during a disconnect scenario. A riser disconnect scenario detected by the CPI linear position sensor will cause the valve to limit the oil-flow and the riser will not gain momentum. During disconnect the control system controls the position of the valves and the riser is brought up in a controlled way again using input from our sensors.
  • Offshore Crane and Winch Systems – Many of these systems benefit from active heave compensation. They rely on the input of motion sensors like the CPI SL-2000. Responding to the signal from these sensors, the winches or cylinders pay in or pay out wire rope to keep the load at a constant elevation. Or sensors are perfect for this application because of their excellent response time, as well as their ability to hand very long stroke cylinders (up to 10 meters)
  • Subsea Mud Pump – A recent application for our sensor has it deployed 6000 meters below the sea, operating in a hydraulic accumulator, fully submerged in seawater. Our core sensor has no internal pressure vessels and advanced materials engineering prevents the normal corrosive and binding effects of seawater. Even fully submerged in seawater, our sensor is rated for over 1 million cycles.

The CPI SL-2000, A study in Durability and Ingenuity

Our solution to harsh duty hydraulic cylinder position detection is unique in the world, and is often the only practical solution to harsh environments, and long stroke cylinder applications. Here are a few of the characteristics of our robust sensor design.

  1. Non-Contacting Transducer Technology– Our sensor technology employs a unique linear-to-rotary-to-linear measurement system which allows a short rod magnetostrictive sensor to generate absolute position signals accurate to 1mm over a 3 meter stroke length.
  2. We support Standard signal conditioning outputs such as CAN Bus, Analog, and Digital.
  3. Our normal operating temperature range is from -40 F to 250F.
  4. Our sensors can be deployed on the oil or the gas side of an accumulator with no need for a dynamic seal on the piston or core drilling the piston rod.
  5. Our standard sensors can be submerged in water, gray water, sea water, process fluids and other corrosive fluids. Deep submersion units like our SL2000 are also available for subsea applications.
  6. CPI sensors are the only linear position sensors suitable for telescoping hydraulic cylinders in harsh or subsea environments.

Call CPI Today to discuss your Oilfield Hydraulics Position Sensing Needs

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/heave-compensation-systems-for-offshore-drilling/

August 10, 2018

Have you Looked At CPI Linear Position Sensors Lately?

For well over a decade, CPI has been manufacturing a unique Hydraulic Cylinder Linear Position sensor, meant for the harshest environments, and longest stroke applications on the planet. We’ve learned a lot over that decade. We’ve not only improved the accuracy and durability of our sensor and made it ATEX and IECEX rated, but we’ve also driven costs down significantly.

That makes us think that folks we talked to in years past who ultimately tried other solutions, may want to take another look now. We’ve come a long way and this is not your mother’s linear position sensor.

Improvements in Linear Position Sensing for Harsh Duty Applications.

Subsea_magneto_1856x1392-2-1024x768

The CPI SL2000 Subsea Rated Linear Position Sensor

In case you are one of the few people in the country who do not read our blog regularly, there are a number of things about our hydraulic position sensor technology you need to be aware of. First of all, our system combines a patented mechanical draw wire design with a unique linear-rotary-linear translation mechanism coupled with (if you opt for it)  a magnetostrictive transducer. What that means is you not only can’t kill our sensor, but the overall solution is now fully ATEX, SIL, and IECEX rated, making it suitable for any hazardous environment, especially drill platform applications.

Here’s a few other characteristics of our latest version of the sensor, the SL-2000.

  1. Stroke lengths up to 50 feet are fully supported.
  2. The sensor can operate exposed to Seawater at 5000 ft. It is pressure and fluid agnostic
  3. The sensor technology supports telescoping cylinders.
  4. Position accuracy is down to .025”
  5. Rated endurance is 1 million full stroke cycles.
  6. Operates external or internal to the cylinder housing.
  7. Can operate completely immersed in hydraulic fluid of a hydraulic cylinder or accumulator.
  8. Completely safety rated for both US and European deployment.

The Best Part

In addition to technological advances in our sensor design which make it both more robust, and safety rated there is a further advantage to over a decade of improvements and field testing: the cost of producing our most advanced sensors has come down dramatically.

So if you’re one of those hydraulic cylinder manufacturers who’s been limping along with a substandard solution to your most challenging deployments, why don’t you give us a call and get reacquainted with CPI?

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/have-you-looked-at-cpi-linear-position-sensors-lately/

 

May 25, 2018

Why Intrinsic Safety Ratings Matter

iecex-logo

As any manufacturer of hydraulic cylinders, or linear position sensors will tell you, achieving intrinsic safety ratings of ATEX, or IECEx (European) isn’t easy.  And it isn’t cheap.

But it is important and if you are considering ways to maximize your global market for your hydraulic cylinders or systems. Making sure your vendors are compliant with these standards is really a requirement.

ATEX or IECEx certified products are essential in any location that may contain, or has activities that produce explosive or potentially explosive atmospheres. One of the most commonly touted is the environment on an oil rig. Others that you might not think of as being particularly explosive, such as a flour or steel mill.

What’s the difference between ATEX and IECEx?

The name ATEX comes from the French ATmosphère EXplosibles, describing the equipment and use of a product to be located in an explosive atmosphere. The ATEX certification is mandatory across Europe and involves all stages of a product from  manufacturing, to installation and use of the equipment.

There are two subsections of the standard which can be defined as;
Directive 99/92/EC – The ATEX Use Directive focuses primarily on the health and safety of workers, working in potentially explosive atmospheres. It involves the correct selection, installation, inspection and maintenance of Ex equipment.
Directive 2014/34/EU – The ATEX Equipment Directive primarily concerned with trade, considers the equipment that will be used in potentially hazardous areas and involves the manufacture and sale of Ex equipment.

IECEx stands for International Electrotechnical Commission Explosive. While ATEX is limited to Europe, IECEx is an international certification accepted in several countries. It also facilitates international trade of equipment and services for use in explosive atmospheres.

Some of the benefits in choosing a product that has IECEx certification include;

  • Reduced testing and certification costs
  • Reduced time to market
  • International confidence in the product assessment process
  • Genuinely less risk in deployment into potentially explosive environments

As with ATEX certification, IEC Ex provides assurance that everything from the equipment and install to manufacturing, operation and maintenance of the certified products comply with IEC international standards and are suitable for their purpose.

Although there are some small differences between each certification, ATEX and IEC Ex are very similar. The main difference is the geographical location where the certification is recognized. While ATEX is a requirement in Europe, IEC Ex is accepted across several countries internationally including the USA.

CPI Sensors are both ATEX and IECEx intrinsic safety rated.

In 2017 CPI announced the SL2000 Linear position sensor which represented a number of firsts in the world of harsh duty hydraulic position sensors.

  1. First to acheive subsea ratings to 5000ft immersed in seawater.
  2. Only reliable system for linear position sensing on cylinders over 10 meters or telescoping cylinders.
  3. First system to incorporate two long proven measurement technologies into an ultra reliable package. (Draw wire and magnetostrictive)
  4. First sensor of this type to achieve both subsea and IECEx and ATEX safety ratings.

As we said in the beginning, it wasn’t cheap, and it wasn’t easy, but achieving this has made our sensor better, and more cost effective for deployments both above and below the sea.  Whenever you need something that lasts.

For more information on CPI’s Intrinsic Safety Ratings, and our SL2000 Linear Position Sensor, visit our website at http://www.cpi-nj.com

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/why-intrinsic-safety-ratings-matter/

 

April 26, 2018

CPI Subsea Sensors Can Detect Reservoir Tank Levels 2 Miles Under the Sea

As Oil and Gas companies seek to expand and extend their retrieval capabilities both on and especially offshore, concerns about safety and exploration costs are never far from mind. Things have come a long way since the tragedy of Deepwater Horizon, and technology has marched on to provide more robust safety systems for offshore drilling, while keeping costs of exploration manageable.

Blow out preventer, BOP, CPI Subsea Hydraulic LInear Position Sensors

Typical Blow Out preventer Stack

One area of particular innovation has been in the area of Blow Out Preventers (BOP) a critical safety system in deep water mining. Blowout preventers are critical to the safety of crew, the rig and environment, and to the monitoring and maintenance of well integrity. Blowout preventers are intended to provide fail-safe operation to the systems that include them by sealing the top of the wellbore in the event of an emergency. Indeed, many will recall that the in the Deepwater Horizon blowout, the pipe line going through the BOP was slightly bent and the BOP failed to cut the pipe, contributing to the accident.

One unavoidable fact is that exploitable reservoirs of oil and gas are getting more and more rare and remote, leading to increased deep sea well exploration and requiring BOPs to remain submerged for as long as a year in extreme conditions. As a result, BOP assemblies have grown larger, heavier and more complex. A key focus in the technological development of BOPs over the last two decades has been limiting their footprint and weight while simultaneously increasing their safe operating capacity.

Undersea BOP meets SubSea Rated Sensor

Subsea Hydraulic Piston Linear Position Sensor

The CPI SL2000 Subsea Rated Linear Position Sensor

Last year CPI introduced the SL-2000, a linear position sensor unique in the world for its capabilities at the extremes of machine requirements. The sensor has both intrinsic safety ratings and a subsea capability that make it a perfect match for the unique requirements of Oil and Gas exploration machinery, residing deep below the ocean surface.

One of the key functions of a BOP is to be able to deliver and remove fluid from a wellbore. This fluid is not sea water, it is typically drilling fluid or “mud” pumped from a reservoir somewhere. Critical to these systems is the knowledge of liquid levels in these enormous tanks sitting on the sea floor, miles below the surface.  It’s actually a perfect job for the CPI SL-2000 Subsea rated sensor.

In this BOP application, our sensor is deployed on the seawater side of a hydraulicSubsea Linear Position Sensor piston type cylinder that monitors the rise and fall of liquid in the tank. The sensor is entirely exposed to sea water sitting 2 miles below the surface,  running fully submerged at a pressure within 10 psi of the ambient pressure. Specifications call for for our sensor to operate in seawater at up to 6000m depth or over 8800 psi. Operation at these depths, fully immersed in sea water is actually no problem for our patented sensor technology which is uniquely designed with materials that are non-compressible, and withstand corrosive seawater and hydraulic fluids alike. Our sensor can be mounted and operate fully submerged in virtually any type of fluid medium while maintaining robust operation and an extremely long life.

In this undersea tank, a hydraulic piston extends and retracts with changing fluid levels in the tank. Our sensor is required to operate within 10 psi of the pressure outside the tank and supports a 5 meter cylinder stroke length. The ability to support these massive stroke lengths, at depth and pressure, submerged in sea water or hydraulic fluids are unique to the CPI design and we are the only manufacturer in the world with a technology designed to withstand all these conditions while also being both subsea and intrinsic safety rated.

SL-2000 Hydraulic Linear Position Sensor for Subsea

SL-2000 Internals

Long Stroke, Deep Sea Hydraulics Have Only One Real Solution to Linear Position Sensing

With the SL-2000, hydraulics destined for Oil and Gas exploration applications finally have the robust linear position sensing they need.

Call our sensor team today to discuss your unique application.

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/subsea-sensors-detect-reservoir-tank-levels-2-miles-under-the-sea/

July 26, 2017

Position Sensing Hydraulics In Highwall Mining Equipment

Mining and earth-moving operations around the globe have inspired some of the largest, most powerful machines ever designed and built by man. These machines involve millions of parts and sub-assemblies and can weigh on the order of close to 500,000 tons. They are designed to be mobile too, and they are built to withstand the harshest, outdoor environments on the planet, while under almost constant use.

And the hydraulic systems these machines use…wow.  They’re really, really big.

One of the most innovative machines used in mining may be used for a technique known as Highwall Mining. In the old days, once surface mining had taken the majority of useful minerals from just below the surface, the law of diminishing returns dictated that as the machines moved farther and farther away from the core deposit where the density of target minerals became less, the economics of continuing full strip mining, or open pit mining become less and less attractive.  Yet these area’s still contained millions of tons of useful raw material (typically coal).

To drill directly into the “high walls” left by surface mining in an economic way, requires specialized equipment. Highwall mining is actually a hybrid of surface and underground mining technologies. It is a people-free, low footprint mining process which uses high power hydraulic cylinders as part of a Pushbeam Transfer System.  In this system, high power hydraulic cylinders advance the cutterhead into the coal seam on the highwall. Every 6 meters, a new conveyor belt segment is inserted between the Pushbeam and the cutterhead, allowing it to advance another 6 meters before the next segment is inserted, etc… Use of this system constitutes a great improvement on traditional high wall mining techniques like auger mining because the pushbeam system can penetrate nearly 1600 feet into the coal seam, with much higher recovery.

For a fascinating explanation of this marvel of mining engineering, see this video.

Big Mining Hydraulics Need A Tough Linear Position Sensor

Our end client is the the Addcar Company of Kentucky USA who designed and manufactures the Addcar Highwall mining system. The specifications of the hydraulic cylinders used on this intricate machine, are impressive to say the least.

STROKE LENGTH:            19.8 feet (5.8 meters)
WORKING PRESSURE:    200 bar (~3000 psi)
HYDRAULIC POWER:       400 hp.

To really understand the awesome power of these hydraulics, consider this: the hydraulic pushbeam system must be able to push the cutterhead up to 1600 feet into a solid wall of rock. It has to push the weight of hundreds of 6 meter conveyer segments as well as applying force to drive the cutterhead at the end of this chain, into the wall.  Then it has to retract them all when the vein is fully dug.

CPI Draw Wire Linear Position Sensor Solution

The Hydraulics used in this system were retrofitted to accommodate our SL2000 linear position sensor, by designing a modified end-cap per CPI instructions for in-cylinder mounting. This extended end cap allowed the CPI sensor to fit in the cylinder with the head of the short rod transducer providing easy connectivity to standard electronic interfaces.

Subsea Hydraulic Piston Linear Position Sensor

The CPI SL2000 Subsea Rated Linear Position Sensor

The CPI SL2000 is a hybrid sensor, part high-tech draw wire, part magnetostrictive transducer. For our draw wire sensor, a stroke of 6 meters is no problem at all. Our SL2000 provides critical position feedback into this application, improving the overall reliability and operational control of the system. No other hydraulic cylinder linear position sensor in the world can reliably handle such long stroke lengths while maintaining such high reliability. Add to that our IEC-EX and ATEX intrinsic safety ratings, and the complete waterproof, pressure tolerant nature of our sensor assembly, and you have the perfect solution for position sensing in long stroke, high power hydraulics.

CPI Hydraulic Linear Position Sensors Are Built To Last.

Into the toughest applications in the world, go all our switches and sensors. It’s what we do. For more information, please contact the CPI engineering team directly through the website.

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/position-sensing-hydraulics-in-highwall-mining-equipment/

June 10, 2017

Marine Riser and Tensioner System Hydraulics – Revisited.

Last year we discussed CPI sensor solutions for Oilfield hydraulic accumulators and cylinders, but in the fast-paced world of oilfield engineering, that was a long time ago.

For instance in 2016, CPI didn’t have a fully subsea capable (qualified to 5000ft), intrinsic safety rated (ATEX, IEC-EX) linear position sensor for hydraulic cylinders and accumulators.

But now we do. Meet the CPI SL2000

The CPI SL2000 was specifically designed to meet the needs of heavy duty hydraulic system manufacturers, who seek robust, accurate, and reliable solutions to position or charge sensing in long stroke cylinders or accumulators.

With a high-tech mechanical assembly and space-age material science, the CPI sensor surpasses the durability of all other sensor measurement technologies as well as other draw wire sensor technologies. For harsh duty internal or external cylinder applications, CPI’s technology may be the most hardened, reliable solution in the world.

Marine Riser And Tensioner System Hydraulics

Tensioner systems come in many designs but typically employ multiple hydraulic cylinders for stabilizers or the riser will buckle when the rig moves downward, and stretch when the rig rises. If you gather around the moon pool of any offshore rig or vessel during a storm you’ll see a riser/tensioner system hard at work. These systems use a bank of hydraulic accumulators to drive piston displacements in reaction to the heaving of a heavy sea. It is crucial that the tensioner can manage differential movements between the riser and the rig in real time to prevent shearing or undue stress on the wellhead. These huge and powerful accumulators are constructed using a gas and hydraulic fluid and can drive displacements from 10 to 15 meters.

Using the SL 2000 in Oil Platform Hydraulics

Because the core measurement technology of the sensor is mechanical draw wire, there are far less things to go wrong with a CPI sensor in a harsh environment. Furthermore the core sensing mechanics are incompressible allowing the sensor to operate inside the hydraulic cylinder, submersed in hydraulic fluid at full pressure. This kind of mounting flexibility makes for a clean integration into most cylinders and small external form factor for applications where a short magnetostrictive sensor is used as the transducer.

A few other notes about our linear position sensor technology.

  • Because of our innovative draw wire design, we can easily operate for the long stroke lengths in a marine riser tensioner system. CPI sensors have operated with high accuracy to 15 meters of stroke.
  • The CPI SL2000 can be mounted in any hydraulic cylinder or hydraulic accumulator that is at least 8″ ID.
  • Hardened operation is a standard feature of our design. Our sensors have no sealed cavities and are completely immune to pressure. As such, they can be mounted on the oil or gas side of the cylinder, or even outside the cylinder.
  • A patented LVDT based implementation means the core sensing technology is completely non-contacting and immune to local EMI distortions.
  • Our sensor is the only hardened sensor in the world that works with telescoping hydraulics.

Riser Disconnect Sensing and Control

CPI Sensors on the oil platform are also used provide critical feedback during a riser disconnect scenario. In this event, the riser must be disconnected before the rig is critically out of position with respect to the well head. Typically a tensioner ring employs six hydraulic accumulators with six valves controlled by the computer through signals from the valves and the CPI linear position sensor which is acting as the piston rod measuring system providing absolute (not relative) position measurement signals. Some systems are implemented with the cylinders mounted directly to the tensioner ring. In these systems, a riser disconnect detected by the CPI linear position sensor will cause the valve to limit the oil-flow and the riser will not gain momentum. The controlling system adjusts the position of the valves and the riser is brought up in a controlled way using input from CPI linear position sensors like the SL2000.

Contact CPI for Questions About ATEX Rated, Subsea Capable, Harsh Duty Hydraulic Cylinder Position Sensors

Our engineering team builds, installs, and qualifies these sensors uniquely into each application. Many options are available in the design of your sensor that can make it more robust, longer stroke, or even custom external mounting options for existing In-the-field cylinder applications.

Please call our engineering team today to discuss your hydraulic accumulator based application or see all our harsh duty linear position sensors.

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/marine-riser-and-tensioner-system-hydraulics-revisited/

November 9, 2016

Valve Position Sensing for Mission Critical Flow Applications.

Systems like municipal water supplies, sewage treatment plants, massive cooling and lubrication systems used in chemical, petrochemical, and the oil and gas industry, all share one thing in common: large flow valves that are critically opened and closed by computer controls to insure proper system operation, or prevent critical safety thresholds from being violated. Flow rates in these systems can be 10’s of thousands of gallons per hour at high pressure so valve control has to work every time and failure is not an option.

It turns out that valve position sensing is one of the ideal applications for our line of CPI waterproof switches. To insure that valve positions are indeed fully closed or fully open, variations of our sealed momentary or toggle switches are mounted in a customized bracket that is affixed to the valve housing. Commonly used for example, are the E1 Momentary Contact Limit Switches. These switches are completely sealed in a watertight neoprene or santoprene enclosure depending on your temperature requirements with leads of any specified length extended from the housing.
Valve Position Sensing
This basic sealedwaterproof switch designis then used in any of dozens of mounting and actuator bracket combinations. Most common to the valve class of sensing is the simulated roller mount. As the valve arm slides over the roller in one direction it actuates the switch, sending confirmation to the control system that the valve is open/closed, and releasing when the valve moves the other way.

In the dirty, wet, extreme temperature environment that our switch commonly finds itself it, our sealed pendant mechanism is designed to survive, for thousands or even millions of cycles.

Cold Weather Switch Performance

While our switches can operate at high temperatures up to 120F, one of the more unique abilities of our designs is actually thier ability to operate at low temperatures, without sticking or freeze up. CPI engineers learned long ago the tricks related to insuring low temperature operation and making this engineering part of our manufacturing process. CPI switches can be specified for low temperature operations to -40F.

Make the Switch To CPI Today!

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/valve-position-sensing-for-mission-critical-flow-applications/

October 21, 2016

What Can I Do with My Intrinsic Safety Rated Position Sensor?

Well that’s a fine question indeed! And the answer, like the answer to many interesting new technologies, is that it depends mostly on your imagination, and your budget!  Here’s just a few of the applications we’ve already been either designed into, or proposed as a solution.

Applications For The CPI High Endurance Draw Wire Sensor

Over a 15 year period since our draw wire linear position sensor was introduced, it has evolved, improved, and now enjoys wide acceptance in high endurance, long stroke hydraulic applications across dozens of industries and military applications.

Navy Vehicles – Navy subcontractors have used customized versions of our LVDT Hydraulic linear position sensor for rudder control on sea slicesensor for sea-going applications on surface ships and submarines.  While some of these uses are proprietary, you can read here about our use of smart cylinders on the navy’s interdiction vessel, the Sea Slice.

Offshore and Subsea Drilling, Mining and Refining Operations – Large scale hydraulic cylinders used in heave compensation systems and riser tensioners are typical high-endurance applications.  Our subsea rated sensor can also monitor pre-charge pressure in hydraulic accumulators like those commonly used in blowout preventers at the well head. For applications above the surface or on the drilling platform, our SL 1490MS hybrid sensor is fully ATEX Intrinsic safety rated.

Oil & Gas – Rig raiser systems now enjoy much improved reliability, as our internal mount sensors replace external draw wires on the mast cylinder.

Commuter Trains – Telescoping pneumatic cylinders on commuter trains required sensors for a closed-loop feedback system to assist in rail car coupling.

Onshore Mining – Remote hydraulic valve actuators can be reliably monitored with use of our external-mount 1M sensor, which easily mounts onto any NFPA cylinder.

In-Plant Chemical Processing – External draw wire applications on linear and valve actuators include hazardous chemical, paper processing, as well as oil refinery installations.  Internal applications range from hydraulic roller tensioners in paper manufacturing to telescoping cylinders used in pharmaceutical processing.

Telescoping Cylinders – CPI sensors are one of the only high endurance linear position sensor solutions in the world for this class of hydraulics. Our sensors have the ability to mount either inside or outside the cylinder, in any type of hydraulic fluid or gas atmosphere, with stroke lengths available up to 15m.

Infrastructure, Hydroelectric – Dam gate actuators are typically long-stroke.  In some instances, these are oriented horizontally – this is where our draw wire solution overcomes deflection issues associated with long rod-type sensors.

Specifying Your Sensor

CPI works closely with each engineering team to understand and define the particular needs of your sensor application.  While some sensors can be used “off the shelf”, we expect to fully customize and qualify your solution for you, as partners in your success.

Please call our engineering team today at 973-887-9400 and bookmark http://www.cpi-nj.com 

 

Original content posted on https://www.cpi-nj.com/blog/what-can-i-do-with-my-intrinsic-safety-rated-position-sensor/