10th May 2013

MoistScan Commissioning / Calibration Guidelines

Overview

This document is intended to provide a guide for the commissioning and calibration of a
MoistScan Microwave Moisture Analyser.
It is not recommended that the client does the initial calibration as those without
experience on the MoistScan On-Line Analyser may struggle with some of the less
obvious conditions that might arise.
Detailed within the following pages is important information covering Installation Checks,
Empty Belt Calculations, Sample Collection, Data Analysis and the entering and
verification of the calibration.

It is assumed the commissioning process will be completed with assistance from an RTI
MoistScan Technician.

The Commissioning & Calibration comprises of several stages, namely:

• Installation Checks
• Empty Belt Calculations
• Sampling
• Data Analysis and Calibration derivation
• Entry and Verification of the Calibration

We recommend this document be read in conjunction with the MoistScan Operations

Manual and the MoistScan Pre-Commissioning Instructions

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Installation Checks
Prior to commencing please check and verify the following:

Installation

 The centre line between the two Antennas should correspond with the peak in
the material profile on the conveyor belt. (Important if material peak is not
aligned with the centre of the belt)
 Distance from the underside of the loaded conveyor belt to the Transmit
antenna (bottom) is between 10 - 20mm, for a ‘Transmission’ type analyser, and
between 50 to 100mm for a ‘Reflectance’ type analyser.
 Ensure that there is sufficient clearance between the internal edge of the
vertical arm of the “C” Frame and the edge of the conveyor belt.
 If the analyser is located on a ROM belt, it is good practice to install a surge
plough to protect the analyser from oversize material, etc.
 Check cabling, connections, etc.
 Ensure the correct power supply is connected (usually 110 to 240 Volt AC
Single Phase)
 Ensure you have access to the Compact Flash Card in the Control Cabinet
HMI. (a CF card reader will also be required)

Power-Up Checks

 Check everything is secure within the control cabinet/s

 Check incoming power supply is correct voltage prior to energising the system
 Power up – check LEDs, Power Supply, PLC, menus on HMI Display
 Check Microwave Enclosure temperature stabilises (approx. 45°C, led flashing)
 Input values are varying (may only be slightly)
 Clock set - local time on HMI Display ( to align with sampling times)
 CF card mounted correctly - is data being recorded? Yellow LED on the front
right of the HMI panel should be on and flashing approximately every two
minutes.

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Empty Belt Calculation
Once the installation checks are complete, please request a clean empty belt for at least
two complete revolutions of the belt. For belts that have excessively long periods (e.g.
overland conveyors) the belt should be run empty for at least 10 minutes. Record the times
displayed on the HMI clock at the commencement and end of the Empty Belt period.

Ramp up the throughput of material on the belt gradually until the normal production level is
reached. This should be performed over a period of at least 15-20 minutes or several belt
cycles. If a gradual increase in material flow is not possible, a series of stepped increases
will be acceptable.

The data recorded on the MoistScans’ Compact Flash (CF) card during this period will be
used by the RTI Commissioning Engineer to calculate the required Empty Belt values. You
will be advised which files from the CF card need to be emailed to RTI.

Note: Empty Belt values are normally calculated prior to the commencement of sampling.
However, if due to operational requirements, sampling can commence first. Data analysis
cannot start until the Empty Belt values have been calculated.

Sample Collection
We suggest you discuss with your RTI Commissioning Technician about sampling options
well prior to the start of the calibration sampling run.

Prior to sampling the transit time for the material to travel from the analyser to the point of
sampling needs to be calculated. This will be used to correlate the laboratory sample
moistures with the correct microwave response value in the analysers’ log file.

To obtain a high quality calibration for your MoistScan a series of samples needs to be
collected and promptly analysed by an appropriately equipped Laboratory, preferably to
Australian Standards. Each sample needs to be truly representative of the material being
analysed by the MoistScan at the time of collection. The Laboratory moisture result for each
sample is then referenced to the MoistScans’ input values at the precise time the sampled
material was between the instruments’ antennas. The input parameters used for calibration
are stored in log files which reside on the MoistScans’ removable CF card.

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We highly recommend the following conditions are met to ensure the most accurate
calibration is derived for your analyser:
• Ensure that each sample taken is truly representative of the material the MoistScan
Analyser was monitoring.
• Ensure the MoistScan and Laboratory is testing the exact same material.
• Carefully collect, prepare and handle all samples to ensure the most accurate
laboratory results are achieved.
• Collect samples over the full moisture range that the analyser is likely to experience
during normal operations.
• A minimum of 30 samples is required to be statistically significant: ideally 10 low, 10
high and 10 moisture values in between.

Sampling Procedure
The sampling procedure will vary greatly depending on the site plant conditions and
facilities. In general a sampling regime needs to be planned so the MoistScan raw inputs
can be easily referenced to the laboratory samples. Careful recording of the date and time
the sample is taken and the time taken for the material to travel from the MoistScan
Analyser to the sampling point is imperative. It is important to record times to the second
using the clock on the HMI (synchronise your time piece with that of the HMIs’) as this is the
origin of the timestamps in the analyser’s log files.

Samples should be sealed immediately and then analysed as soon as possible to reduce
moisture loss or gain prior to laboratory analysis.

The best sampling method uses a mechanical sampling system which takes several
increments or cuts over several minutes and combines the product into one sample. The
number and mass of increments in each sample will depend on the variability of the
material being tested.

If a mechanical sampling system is not available the next best alternative is stop belt
sampling. It is often necessary to drop a marker on the conveyor belt upstream of the
Analyser, carefully noting the time on the HMI when this marker passes under the analyser.
This allows an accurate comparison of the Laboratory results with the Analysers’ log file.

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It is important to note that the volume of material to be collected should follow the Australian
Standard for sample collection. This is related to the size of the largest particles. A full cut
should be taken across the belt of a width equal to 3 times the top size of the material. The
cut should take the full depth of the material on the belt.
Attention: Take careful note of the condition of the material to identify any noticeable
segregation, for example differences in moisture across the belt or from the top to the
bottom of the material.

When there is no other alternative spot samples may be taken. Except for fine and
extremely well mixed material, spot samples are NOT a good representative sample and
will have great variation or error. Therefore calibrations determined in this way will also
show large error. Caution needs to be exercised when taking spot samples to prevent
injury.

In some cases it may not be possible to sample in a representative manner. Whatever the
scenario, every effort must be made to eliminate as many errors as possible.

Data Analysis and Calibration Determination

Once sufficient sampling has been completed, remembering that the samples need to cover
the whole moisture range expected for that material during normal plant operation.

Your RTI Commissioning Technician will require the moisture results from the laboratory
analysed samples and their exact date and time of collection, plus the Analysers’ log files
for the same time period, and that of the empty belt cycle.

NOTE: Before removing or re-installing the Compact Flash Card from the HMI, it is
necessary to power down the analyser (or at least to the HMI) this is to avoid corruption of
the data on the CF Card. Your RTI Technician will advise which files you will need to email
for the calibration determination. This data in conjunction with the sample’s laboratory
results will be used to calculate the calibration for the analyser.

Additional sampling may be required if the MoistScan Analyser is on a conveyor that carries
multiple material types, or in situations when the same material type has a number of
different compositions. If this is the case the analyser will require a Serial or Ethernet
connection to enable calibration switching. The standard MoistScan Analyser has the
capacity to switch between 50 different calibration sets.

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Entry and Verification of the Calibration

The RTI calibration technician will provide a list of the calibration parameters to be input
and instructions detailing which parameters need to be changed via the MoistScans’ HMI
display.

Alternatively we can email the setting and these can be saved to the analysers’ CF card,
and once the card is re-installed into the analyser and powered up the setting will be written
to analyser. In the rare situation where internet access is not available a new card with the
settings can be posted to site.

It is recommended that once the calibration settings are input into the analyser that about
another 6 samples be collected and analysed to verify the accuracy of the calibration.

It is important to note that further sample collection and analysis data can be added to the
calibration determination to refine and improve the calibration.

The process of continued calibration verification and maintenance can be greatly simplified
and made very cost effective by the inclusion within the analyser of a “3G” Modem; this
allows the MoistScan technician to log into the analyser from head office and view the
analysers log files and setting, do trouble shooting and make any necessary adjustments
and fine tuning to the analysers set-up. It just requires a member of staff to collate and
email the results of the laboratory analysed samples with their exact collection time and
date.

It is the objective of Real Time Instruments to provide the support to on-site staff so they
develop a good level of understanding about the analyser, so they feel comfortable and
confident with its’ operation, thus engendering a feeling of ownership of the MoistScan
Analyser.

Should you have any question, or require clarification on any topic within this overview,
please feel free to contact one of the friendly staff at Real Time Instruments via one of the
following means.

Phone: +61 7 49 555 944

Mobile: 0418 152 047
Fax: +61 7 49 657 099
Email: ms@realtimegrp.com

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