PiloTREK Microwave Level Transmitter

The 24 GHz (K-band) PiloTREK microwave level transmitters are regarded the most progressive non-contact level transmitters of the industrial process automation field. Their accuracies are excellent and their short and narrow antennas make their installation simple and low cost. NIVELCO’s new K-band radar featuring ±3 mm (0.12 inch) accuracy and short dead band excels with its versatile housing concept lining up plastic, aluminium and stainless steel versions. Its antenna range incorporates stainless steel horn and enclosed plastic tube varieties. The enclosed antenna versions can be replaced without removing the antenna enclosure from the process. Local programming of the PiloTREK is aided by a plug-in display module. If on-site reading is not desired this module may not be required thus reducing cost of ownership. The signal processing algorithm of the new PiloTREK is based on NIVELCO’s 30 years of experience with non-contact level measurement making it an excellent choice for applications simple and challenging alike.

The operation of the non-contact microwave level transmitters is based on the measurement of the time of flight of the microwave burst. The propagation speed of microwave impulses is practically the same in air, gases and in vacuum, independently from the process temperature and pressure, so the measured distance is not affected by the physical parameters of medium to be measured. The level transmitter induces microwave impulses a few nanosecond long in the antenna and a part of the energy of the emitted signals is bounced (reflected) back from the measurement surface depending on the measured media. The time of flight of the reflected signal is measured and processed by the electronics, and then this is converted to distance, level or volume proportional data. The measurability of the level of a specific medium is depending on the signal strength of the reflected microwave impulses. The signal strength of the reflected impulses is considerably depending on the distance to be measured, the relative dielectric constant of the measured medium and the turbulence of the surface. The relative dielectric constant (εr ) of the medium should be more than 1.9.