BinMaster Flow Detect 2000 ATEX Zone 21 certified

BinMaster says its Flow Detect 2000 has been certified for use in ATEX Zone 21 areas, which means it can be used in environments in which dust can become flammable because of the materials involved in a process.

The Flow Detect 2000 can be used in aggregate mixing applications, as well as material recovery facilities (MRFs), BinMaster and Garner Industries Vice President of Marketing Jenny Christensen says.

Mounted on a distributor, the device lets operators know whether material is flowing and can tell them whether a slide gate is open or closed, which is useful in mixing aggregates, grain and animal feed.

The Flow Detect 2000 can prevent cross contamination by detecting when material flow has completely stopped and also can ensure an essential ingredient flows into a mix for better batch control, BinMaster says.

The Flow Detect 2000 is crucial when storing, moving or blending bulk solids. Priced at about $1,000, the Flow Detect 2000 can pay for itself, Binmaster says. Plugged chutes, conveyor overflows and botched batches are expensive. A plugged bin recently cost one facility $50,000 a day in lost production and labor, Sukup Manufacturing says.

BinMaster’s Flow Detect sensor uses Doppler technology and is approved to North American CSA/US Class II, Division 1 Groups E, F and G, as well as European Union ATEX Zone 21 hazardous location standards.

Plugged chutes are common and preventable, BinMaster Instrumentation Specialist Rich Tavis says.

“Flow Detect 2000 works in solids, granules and fine powders,” he adds. “It’s not just for plugged chutes and conveyors; we look at the blending and processing operations where cross contamination or bad batching gets expensive.”

Sometimes, he says the device can help extend the life of other equipment, he adds.

“I helped a company that purchased an agricultural facility and used Flow Detect 2000 for minerals processing,” he says. “They don’t want to invest in new silos, conveyors and chutes; instead, we set up sensors to monitor bulk material flow.”

Christensen says the device also can help MRF operators regulate burden depth on conveyors during the sorting process.

This 5-pound, compact sensor houses the sensing element, power and output connections and user adjustment controls in a single National Electrical Manufacturer Association (NEMA) 4X enclosure. It detects flow conditions in gravity chutes, feeders, pipelines, conveyor belts or bucket elevators. It prevents downtime caused by blockages, conveyors running empty or overflowing, no material flow to-and-from a process, or loose slide gates that cause production loss and equipment failure.