Control.com - Nerds in Control

We have a customer with an IHC system - Production Calculator and he is having problems with the system. It incorporates a Krohne electromagnetic flow meter and a batch of four geiger muller tubes which respond to gamma rays from a nuclear source. The signal from the geiger muller tubes are excited from and receive signals from some sort of amplifier board. Is there anybody out there that has experience with this typpe of amplification board? Or can somebody advise where i can get some information regards this system other than the supplier (IHC Systems) as they are rather unresponsive.

Frankly, I would replace the GM tubes and the Production Calculator. Modern nuclear density gauges use scintillation counters which are much more precise than even four ganged GM tubes. If you are in Europe, you could get a scintillator detector and the correct electronics from Endress+Hauser, Berthold Systems, and probably some others. Krohne ought to be able to help you if you ask them. You do NOT need to replace the nuclear source to do this.

In case you haven't completely given up on IHC (which, after all is the world's largest maker of dredges and dredging equipment) here's their service information:

IHC Parts & Services B.V.
Dredge (Spare) parts and components, after sales, dredging consultancy and maintenance services
Smitweg 6,
P.O. Box 50
2960 AB Kinderdijk, The Netherlands
T +31 (0)78 691 04 30
F +31 (0)78 691 04 39
E sales@ihcps.com W http://www.ihcps.nl

Good luck

It sounds like you are calculating the mass flow of radioactive material. Ore?

I suspect IHC had someone else develop the radiation measurement circuitry.

Never mind.

GM tubes have been around for a long time and are very simple devices. The electronic techniques for excitation and measurement are well known amongst people who deal with radiation measurements so there is probably someone close to you who can help. Maybe the physics department of your local university.

If you can tell me where you are located I can probably suggest someone who can help you.

Regards
Vince Dooley

Probably not radioactive, Vince. Just dredging muck. Dredges use magnetic flow meters or doppler flow meters and nuclear density meters because they are as non-invasive as can be... and because suction dredges have suction tubes that really wear out fast. So they clamp on the density gauge because they know they can remove it and put it on the new suction tube. That's why lots of smaller dredges use ultrasonics instead of magmeters... but IHC is located literally next door to the Krohne test lab in Sliedrecht Holland. So they use Krohne magnetic flowmeters by preference on the dredges they build. And at one time, IHC used Texas Nuclear density gauges. Since I was the first Krohne rep in the United States, and then spent 10 years working for TN, I have seen a lot of these.

Walt Boyes
Editor in Chief
Control magazine
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Michael,

You are obviously in the dredging or hydraulic mining industry! Nuclear density meters are used to detect the density of dredged materials, (water & solids) flowing through a steel discharge pipe. It simply measures the attenuation of a source of gamma radiation from one side of the pipe to the other.

IHC (a Dutch Company) no longer sells the nuclear density measuring instrument, at least not in the US, due to the massive regulatory problems surrounding the cesium gamma radiation source and various NRC and Homeland Security regulations. To do much with the system you need a NRC license to handle the source. The owner/user must also have a NRC license.

Others have suggested US suppliers, if you are in the US. Du Plooy sounds pretty Dutch! Are you in Holland, Europe or the US? If in or near Holland you should be able to get action out of IHC.

Just in case you or your customer do not realize it, THE CESIUM SOURCE IS POWERFUL ENOUGH TO DO GREAT PERSONAL HARM if not handled correctly. Be sure the shutters are closed on the source when working on the instrument. Be sure all involved know what they are doing and are properly licensed.

David McConnell