How our RF sensing technology provides actionable intelligence
Utilize the real-time temperature data you need to make better business decisions for your company
When it comes to new technologies, latchkey discoveries are vital to opening doors to new possibilities that were never before conceived. They’re often not just responsible for saving companies money and time, but also filling knowledge gaps about their systems and processes that were never previously realized.
One of Sensatek’s latchkey discoveries is our RF sensing technology, an innovative system that includes all the necessary elements you need to receive real-time health measurements from our extremely accurate RF temperature sensors.
Continue reading to discover how our RF sensing technology system provides actionable intelligence with real-time data to help you make better business decisions for your company.
Elements
In addition to the wireless sensor, our RF sensing technology system includes the following elements:
- Antenna
- Cable
- Electronics
- Software
- Graphical user interface
Functions
Each element of the Sensatek RF sensing technology system plays a crucial role in the technology’s end goal of providing actionable intelligence that helps you make better business decisions backed by trusted, accurate data.
The system sends an RF signal down a high temperature cable to the Sensatek antenna. The antenna excites the passive sensor, which re-radiates back to the antenna. The sensor signal is then read by the Sensatek electronics to infer temperature or strain, all in as little as 50 microseconds. The software — running on the electronics — is then used to collect the data which provides you with actionable intelligence.
The data collected is then owned by your company and made available in whatever format best suits you whether that be cloud or local computing. Finally, the graphical user interface allows you to analyze and trend the data for visualization.
Customizations
Almost every element of our RF sensing technology system can be customized to fit your unique needs. Once we collaborate to define the scope of the project, your only concern will be the changes you need to make to your systems and business plans based on the data you receive.
Customizations for each individual element of the system include:
- Sensor
- Size — 8×8 to 21×21 millimeters
- Thickness — 0.25 to 1 millimeter
- Optimizations for bonding capabilities based on temperature and materials
- Optimizations for type of fluid the sensor will interact with including air, gas, oil, condensing atmosphere, plastic materials, and more
- Antenna
- Electrically, mechanically, and aerodynamically optimized based on environmental conditions using a multi-physics point of view
- Electronics
- Read rates
- Number of sensors read by each antenna — up to 5
- Software
- Presentation of the data to telemetry systems in terms of rate, format, structure, time, and more
Industries
While continually exploring new opportunities, our RF sensing technology system has been thoroughly tested and continually utilized in many ways by a wide variety of industries.
We have thus far seen great success and interest in our technology with:
- Gas turbines
- Aero turbines — jet engines and other types of propulsion and APUs
- Wind turbines
- Aero derived engines
- Experimental engines
- Rotary engines
- Generators attached to power generating engines
- Rotating equipment that has magnetic bearings
- Gasoline engine reciprocating pistons
- Earth-moving equipment pistons.
Benefits
With its speed and unobtrusive nature, there are a multitude of benefits that our RF sensing technology system offers including:
- Real-time, accurate insight into what’s operationally and environmentally occurring inside rotating equipment residing in harsh environments, so you can understand what your materials can endure.
- Support in forming and verifying new designs quicker and efficiently, thanks to real-time data.
- Condition-Based Monitoring capabilities which allows you to conduct long-term tests for tens of thousands of hours to gauge the performance of the materials or pieces within your engines.
- Ability to function within a high magnetic field environment.
“Overall, our goal is to not just provide you with data, but with the right, quality data that gives you the actionable intelligence you need to make better business decisions. We believe that data is not an end product; it’s a means to an end, and that end is actionable intelligence. Actionable intelligence arms you with the holistic knowledge of your system that you need to make changes to design or function in order to discover the smartest financial solution possible,” explains Josh McConkey, Chief Technology Officer at Sensatek.
Integrations
Our RF sensing technology is designed to integrate with your current systems for seamless ease of use when analyzing your data.
Our electronics run on an industrial Windows machine which allows for ample flexibility in the types of systems we can integrate with from off the shelf to ultra-customized as well as output capabilities including wired or wireless. As long as you’re willing to share your current structure, we can offer customized data log formats, structure, output and more.
Implementation
When it comes to implementation, we’re proud of the speed in which we can offer our customized RF sensing technology system. Ideally, we prefer to have a few weeks to implement our custom solution, but we have previously shown that we can have the entire system up and running within a span of a few days when absolutely necessary.
If you’re interested in a non-custom, pre-designed solution, we can implement it the next day in many cases.
The manner in which the system is installed is completely up to you — we can install everything for you or your team can do it in-house. At its most basic level, the setup involves bonding the sensor by whatever means necessary, positioning the antenna, running the test, and collecting your data.
Training
Once you’ve purchased our RF sensing technology system and it’s been installed, our application engineers will visit your facility to show you how to use the system, answer any questions you may have, and stay there for the initial test if you prefer.
“Our goal is for you to be able to seamlessly use the system to get your data, and it’s up to you whether you want to manage the technology yourself or purchase our subscription service to delegate running the system to our trusted team,” shares McConkey.
As part of our subscription service, we’ll manage and run the system and simply provide you with the data you need to better manage your business. You’ll also benefit from our remote monitoring which provides proactive troubleshooting to avoid problems before they occur.
Frequently Asked Questions
How accurate are the sensors?
Our RF temperature sensors are extremely accurate due to their strong thermal contact with the material they’re bonded to and their own thermally conductive properties. The accuracy we’re currently demonstrating is better than a Type K Thermocouple sensor at ± 0.75% of reading. Our calibration rigs use standard platinum resistive thermal devices (SPRTs) that are accurate to within 0.01°C, and that’s what we use as the basis for determining the accuracy of our sensors.
We find the accuracy of our sensors to be of the utmost importance, and that’s why we are continually working on ways to make the sensors even more accurate than where they currently stand.
How thick are the sensors?
The thickness of our RF temperature sensors can vary from 0.25 to 1 millimeter thick based on your company’s unique needs. The ability for our sensors to function at less than half a millimeter thick prevents them from tripping the laminar flow over the blade. We can also use the bonding material to build up tiny ramps on the edges of the sensor to further preserve laminar flow.
What’s your wireless read distance for the sensors?
Currently, on the closest approach of the sensor on the plate as it passes by the fixed antenna position, the sensor needs to be within 4 to 5 centimeters of the antenna for our smaller sensors, and 15 centimeters for our larger sensors.
How long do the sensors last?
The longevity of the sensor depends on the conditions in which it needs to function. We optimize bonding mechanisms based on the expected temperature of the sensor’s new environment, but generally our sensors will last for many hours at their harshest limits (to 800°C and beyond), and will last many months in slightly more forgiving conditions. We even have versions of the sensors that have demonstrated lasting for thousands of hours at temperatures above 600°C.
Can we separately replace the sensors as needed?
Each element of our RF sensing technology system can be purchased separately for replacements as needed whether that be the sensor, antenna or cable.
Client Success Story
We were tasked with measuring the blade metal temperature on the row four blades of a large power generating gas turbine at a customer site. We were sent the blades, put the sensors on them, visited the site, and made the measurement within a week of beginning the project (can also be installed in-situ on-site). Once we installed our antennas and ran the tests, we collected tens of thousands of data points that the customer never would have had otherwise. The data helped the customer troubleshoot an important issue with their blade metal temperature that they were facing. We provided the only solution on the market that could measure that specific issue, and it was vital because the turbines were connected to a grid providing power to homes.
Interested in our RF sensing technology?
At Sensatek, our RF sensing technology system is designed to provide you with real-time data that gives you the actionable intelligence you need to make better business decisions. Connect with us to have the opportunity to learn more and request your proof of concept for our innovative RF temperature sensors.
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Contact us today.
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