Kobold’s electromagnetic flowmeter duo the MIM and MIS, aim to bring precise dosing to the smallest quantities and provide precise readings for cross-industry use. Nicki Teumer reviews the two products, which have an IO-Link to meet Industry 4.0 requirements.
When conductive media such as cooling water are added to a process, magnetic-inductive flow meters are usually installed for monitoring purposes. This can be in the pharmaceutical industry, water treatment or food production, but is particularly important in the context of dosing where the measuring flowmeters must possess precise response times and should also be easy to configure, otherwise incorrect dosing or insufficient repeatability will occur.
Although there are already many accurate devices for small and medium flow rates available, they are often limited in their functionality or lack flexibility at the installation stage. Kobold Messring now provides these features as standard with its new flowmeter duo, the MIM and MIS. Due to the extensive options for on-site programming, they are suitable for cross-industry use, particularly for dosing applications.
Configurable optical buttons can be used to display parameters such as flow rates or temperatures. A changing colour system in the display also warns when the limit is exceeded. Since the MIM model is the first variant produced in a remote version, in which the display and electronics are not integrated in the sensor unit, the flowmeter can also be used for media temperatures up to +140 °C.
Measuring conductive media "Magnetic-inductive flowmeters work without moving parts, unlike rotating vane flowmeters, and for this reason they hardly show any signs of wear and tear. As a result, these devices have proven to be effective in measuring the flow of conductive media such as water, pulps and pastes, juices or emulsions", explains Raza Ali Agha, sales director at Kobold Messring. Raza Ali Agha continues: “However, this wide range of applications also leads to very different installation situations, since the measuring instruments are used in various industries and processes”.
The nominal size of the connected pipes, possible orientation during installation and integration into certain process chains, such as dosing of media during coating of tablets or during coolant supply, influence the choice of a suitable flow-meter. This particularly so in the context of dosing processes where the measuring instruments must offer the possibility of programming intermediate values in order to document the quantities, and to avoid inaccurate dosing.
In addition, the display should be multi-line and clearly visible so that the plant engineers are warned in good time before exceeding a limit value. Often however, flowmeters only meet some of these requirements, and often at the expense of usability.
Industry 4.0 requirements For this reason, Kobold Messring developed the products MIM and MIS, which are universal flowmeters incorporating an IO-Link to meet Industry 4.0 requirements (if or when required).These flowmeters are suitable for almost any measuring situation and guarantee high programming freedom in addition to good response times of sometimes less than 100 milliseconds.
On the one hand, the numerous functions such as temperature measurement or dosing are performed accurately, which can be set in just a few steps in the programme menu with the hot key buttons. On the other hand, the robust and flexible design enables simple and clear installation, even in tight-fitting pipe systems.
Installation in extreme conditions The two models are made entirely of durable materials, the MIM in stainless steel. In addition to the temperature measurement function, which only MIM has, the devices differ mainly in relation to the pipe sizes on which they are used. While MIS is suitable for nominal sizes DN 80 and DN 100 or 3 in and 4 in, MIM can be used for very small nominal pipe sizes and covers an even larger measuring range, depending on the nominal size, and can be from 30 ml/min upwards.
"The flow meters have two individually configurable outputs that can act as a pulse, alarm or analogue output, depending on the setting," explains Raza Ali Agha. "This makes them easier to integrate into different processes or auxiliary circuits." The colour multi-display can also rotate digitally in 90° increments, so that when changing location, no other model is required, and the display is independent of the position of the connections.
Precise dosing “The response time has now been improved to facilitate more precise dosing quantities. In addition, different subsets can be programmed via the menu in order not to have to navigate awkwardly with each new setting through the menu. The display has also been extended to so-called hotkeys. With this feature, the desired dosage can be conveniently selected by optical buttons on the home screen.
The desired dosing process can be started and stopped via an external control input, and the quantity can also be changed via MIM/MIS at any time. "Precisely measured quantities and a very good response time are indispensable, especially for sensitive processes such as tablet coating," confirms Raza Ali Agha.
To ensure that this possibility is also available for hot media and in extreme temperature-controlled environments such as cooling water circuits, Kobold is offering for the first time a device in a remote version. Unlike conventional devices, the media-contacting unit only contains the sensor. The entire electronics, the control and display, are housed separately and connected via a cable at a safe distance from the sensor unit on the pipe. As a result, even temperatures up to +140 °C do not cause a problem and the flowmeter can work trouble-free because the electronics remain protected.
Basic building block The flexibility of this flowmeter family is also reflected in the user guidance and the range of functions. Almost all settings can be comfortably done on the display via four optical buttons.
Functions such as partial counter display, temperature measurement or maximum flow can also be applied to the hotkeys so that the user does not have to constantly navigate through multiple control levels in the menu. This can also be done with a glove, as the buttons have different sensitivity levels.
The multi-line display offers a better overview than comparable compact devices and can also display the corresponding unit, or other information in addition to the measured value. This clarity is further enhanced by the multicoloured display.
For example, the colour changes when a certain flow rate has been reached. As a result, the user also sees from a distance when, for example, a certain amount has been dosed or a limit has been exceeded.
Testimonials "During the conception phase, we used testimonials from our customers in a wide range of industries to develop a very flexible and reliable universal device. With MIM and MIS, there are now the cubes for almost every measurement project,” summarises Agha.
