FLUID HANDLING
20 YEARS OF INNOVATION
MAGNETROL
GUIDED WAVE RADAR AT MAGNETROL ®
The popular loop-powered transmitters we
know as guided wave radar (GWR) burst
onto the scene in the late 1990s. Here
are some insights into this breakthrough
technology and the effect it has had on the
level measurement world.
In GWR transmitters, the principle of time
domain reflectometry (TDR) utilizes pulses
of high frequency electromagnetic energy
to measure distances. When a pulse reaches
a dielectric discontinuity created by the
surface of the process medium, the pulse is
reflected and modern low power circuitry
measures the time of flight.
Magnetrol® experts were among the
pioneers in the field of guided wave radar.
In 1998, MAGNETROL released the first
guided wave radar transmitter, the Eclipse®
Model 705. Over the years, the ECLIPSE
family has expanded to include a variety of
probes for a broad range of applications,
an enhanced version of the Model 705,
and most recently the high-performance,
cutting-edge Model 706 with best-in-class
performance.
Initially, the ECLIPSE was not considered
to be very revolutionary. Why would a
customer use a “RF capacitance-looking
device” with a probe? Non-contact devices
were also available at that time, and
appeared to have clear advantages over a
contacting device. With ultrasonic and radar
transmitters already carving out their own
niche in the marketplace, installing a probe
seemed almost archaic.
However, what the process industries have
discovered over the past 20 years is that a
probe contacting the process medium can
be the key to accurate level measurement
in those difficult low dielectric, high
temperature applications. A probe offers
a conductive path into the vessel upon
which the extremely low energy signal can
travel. This allows the maximum amount
of energy to reach the surface, where it is
reflected and sent back to the transmitter
for interpretation. Liquids with very low
dielectrics and specific gravities can be
measured accurately. In addition, since the
probe is a conductive path that maintains
control of the signal, energy is not scattered
within the tank where it can encounter
objects that can create false targets. In
other words, the initial perceived weakness
of the product requiring a probe is actually
the strength of the entire system.
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The Eclipse® 706
The ECLIPSE family has also solved many
nagging measurement problems over the
20 years of its existence. One major issue
often found with radar devices is a relatively
low signal-to-noise ratio, or SNR. If there is
a noise level interfering with detection of
the actual signal, level measurement can
be affected. MAGNETROL leads the industry
in guided wave radar devices with superior
SNR. ECLIPSE devices also feature Overfill
Safe Operation, a function that allows the
probe to measure true level throughout the
tank, with no “dead zones” at the top of the
probe.
Difficult process conditions, such as high-
temperature, high-pressure, or saturated
steam applications, do not affect ECLIPSE
devices, which are able to measure
accurately even in challenging environments.
These are just a few of the ways that
MAGNETROL guided wave radar transmitters
stand head and shoulders above other radar-
based products.
MAGNETROL continues to innovate
in the field of guided wave radar, as
we have for the past 20 years. To learn
more about our transmitters, visit
radar.magnetrol.com.