ARTICLES

Weir Measurement & Burkert Fluid Control Systems, Inc.

by Emil Campillo

We at Avanti welcome the opportunity to work with our customers to meet their challenges. Case in point, a large mining company needed to monitor the effluent water from a large settling pond which was created some time ago during their mining operation. They were required by the State to account for their effluent as the creek from the settling pond eventually fed into an environmentally sensitive estuary.

Non-functioning old float system

There was an existing weir in service that had utilized a mechanical float with a chart recorder. The system required the operator to measure the area under the chart in order to calculate the total volume passed through the weir. Unfortunately, the system had malfunctioned and parts were no longer available. Additionally, there was no local convenient source of power available as the installation was in a remote location.

We were able to offer a system from Burkert via an ultrasonic level transmitter model #8175 that has an accuracy of 0.25% of full scale. The Burkert product comes with a 4-20 mA output, as well as two independent relays typically used for alarm purposes. Coupled with the level detection device was a separate device from Burkert that used the 4-20 mA output from the level measurement device and would display the rate of flow in GPM as well as calculate the total flow that had passed through the weir. The power issue was solved with the use of a solar panel battery and charging system provided by Atlantic Solar products. The mining company had previously calculated the correlation between the water level at the weir and the flow rate of water. This information was programmed into the Burkert unit at the time of start up.

Burkert system installed (left) & shown with solar power option (right)

As this was the first Burkert unit purchased by this particular customer, they also requested Avanti come on-site to provide start up services. Mark Whalen, our factory trained electronic technician traveled to the customer’s location and provided training for the customer. Jim Carnes from Burkert had also traveled from Atlanta to be on-site for the initial start up. Avanti Company has been in business for 25 years and prides itself on providing quality products as well as making sure the product is performing to the customer’s satisfaction.