ITM Blog Posts

The Blog Post category contains blog posts associated with ITM’s testing services, LabVIEW programming, Test & Measurement Hardware, Boiler Monitoring Systems, and iTestSystem applications.

Clinker Detection System Reduces Boiler Fouling and Boosts Efficiency

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shop clinker detection system

Boiler monitoring technology replaces maintenance guess-work with data-driven accuracy.

SEPTEMBER 13, 2016; MILFORD, OH; USA – Integrated Test & Measurement (ITM), a leading provider of structural test and measurement engineering software and services, introduces its Clinker Detection System. Clinkers, some of which reach the size of a small car, are incombustible residue that forms inside black liquor recovery and coal-fired utility boilers. This build-up (fouling) has a significant impact on the efficient operation of the boiler system.

The ITM Clinker Detection System:
‱ Determines where boiler fouling has occurred
‱ Optimizes soot blower operation
‱ Identifies damaging clinker impacts on the bed/floor
‱ Shortens the duration of chill & blow events

The ITM Clinker Detection System identifies fouling problems and determines the effectiveness of boiler cleaning tools and processes such as sootblowers, sonic horns, pulse detonation cleaning events, and thermal shedding during chill and blow cleaning events. The solution involves mapping and instrumenting the boiler floor with industrial sensors that measure the size and frequency of clinker deposits as they become dislodged impacting the floor. At the same time the system identifies which sootblower caused the clinker to fall. Together this information pinpoints the clinker’s area of origin directing where clean-out should be concentrated.

ITM Founder & President, Tim Carlier, comments:
“Without hard data to pinpoint areas of build-up maintenance is flying blind as to when and where to run sootblowers. The ITM Clinker Detection System in essence provides visibility into the boiler. And because up to 6% of the steam generated by a boiler is used for sootblowers, any decrease, by even a small percentage, will generate significant savings when factored out over the course of a year. In addition to saving money, optimizing sootblowing also carries with it a positive environmental effect as plants don’t have to burn as much fossil fuel to generate electricity since steam is being consumed more efficiently.”

About ITM
Headquartered in Milford, OH (USA), Integrated Test & Measurement, LLC (ITM) focuses on three vertical spaces: Industrial Monitoring, Testing Services, and Configuration-based Test Software, iTestSystem. Founded in 2001, ITM helps companies reduce costs and improve efficiencies in product development, manufacturing, and production activities. Today, ITM provides software development, structural and mechanical testing services, industrial monitoring, strain gauging, and data analysis solutions to clients on six continents.

For more information on ITM, iTestSystem and ITM’s other products and services contact Ryan Welker via email: ryan.welker@itestsystem.com or phone: (844) 837-8797 x702

/solutions/industrial-monitoring-systems/cds-clinker-detection-system/

Clinker Detection System (CDS)

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Do you need to reduce your operating cost and carbon footprint on your recovery or coal fired boiler? If so, we can help. With over 15 years of experience in the development and installation of boiler fouling detection systems, ITM is excited to introduce our latest technology that is targeted at clinker impact detection, The Clinker Detection System (CDS). Click here to learn more or visit the CDS product page at /solutions/industrial-monitoring-systems/cds-clinker-detection-system/.

cds-brochure

CLD – Matt Satcher

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Matt Satcher LabVIEW CLD

Congratulations to Matt Satcher on receiving a 99.9% on his National Instruments Certified LabVIEW Developer (CLD) examination. No one’s perfect Matt. Good work!  Let us know if you need help with any LabVIEW programming.

Contact Mark Yeager or Chase Petzinger at (844) 837-8797 for LabVIEW assistance.

ITM adds NI-9205 compatibility to iTestSystem

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NI 9205 cDAQ Voltage Input Module

We are excited to announce that the NI-9205 general purpose analog input module can now be used with iTestSystem and NI CompactDAQ.  Adding this module allows engineers to expand the use of iTestSystem from structural testing and analysis where signal phase relationship is important, into data logging where phase isn’t as high a priority.  The NI-9205 features 32 single-ended or 16 differential analog inputs, 16-bit resolution, and a maximum sampling rate of 250 kS/s.

Our customers really wanted this module added and I can see why.  If the NI-9205 module is combined with iTestSystem’s free feature set, they could build a flexible and cost effective data logger.  With the extended feature set of iTestSystem, they could also build a standalone logger, with triggering and CAN support.

For more information, visit https://3.133.116.34

CLD – Ryan Matthews

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Ryan Matthews LabVIEW CLD Certificate

Congratulations to Ryan Matthews on passing his National Instruments Certified LabVIEW Developer (CLD) examination. Good work Ryan!

NIWeek 2016 – Marquette University’s “Smart Building”

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NIWeek 2016 ITM Smart Building Booth

Special thanks to the Penny Write, Tommy Glicker, Chris Davis, Rob Reichmeider, and the rest of the NI Team for allowing us to take part in your DAQ pavilion at NIWeek 2016.  See you next spring!

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Marquette University’s “Smart Building” Provides Real-World Data

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Marquette University Engineering

MILFORD, OH– Integrated Test & Measurement (ITM) announces a “Smart Building” program in partnership with Marquette University. This unique initiative allows next generation structural engineers to perform large-scale experiments and obtain real-time results using data collected on the very building in which they are learning. ITM was selected to provide the technology and services for the program.

MU DAQ App

Powerful Software – Powerful Results

The system is powered by ITM’s configurable iTestSystem software platform. The software allows users to organize, acquire and view important engineering data using National Instruments (NI) hardware. Using iTestSystem, a building monitoring system was created to collect data from a weather station together with more than 120 strain gauge sensors installed along beams, braces and columns inside the Engineering Hall at Marquette University.

The system not only measures wind speed on the five story structure; it can actually “feel” the wind load during gusts and record its impact on the facility. Data is broadcast in real time to anyone plugged into the servers through their mobile device. Observing the data allows students to understand how a building’s systems “share lateral load” during wind events. In addition, instruments along support beams in the Engineering Materials and Structural Testing lab allow students to analyze moving loads as the crane moves around the bay. At the same time floor sensors measure the impact of people moving through the building. This information will impact future building design and potential building code modifications.

For more information, visit https://3.133.116.34

Engineering on the fringe of big data

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As test engineers, we are driven by data. It motivates everything we do. The faster we can gather, manage and analyze vast amounts of data, the more effective and efficient we become at understanding the stresses that tax modern machinery.

That is why I’m excited to share some of the recent advances Integrated Test & Measurement (ITM) has made as it relates to our large channel synchronized count monitoring systems.

In many ways, we are hitting the extreme fringes in terms of gathering big data, and these developments have all been made possible by our proprietary iTestSystem software.

(Download a free version of our base software.)

Test Engineering Extremes using iTestSystem and NI cDAQ

  • Collecting and managing terabytes of data during month’s long test
  • Synchronizing 25 NI 9188 cDAQ chassis to collect more than a thousand (1000) channels of strain, acceleration, temperature, voltage and current data
  • Gathering data from on-board systems such as CAN, CCP and customized machine PLC protocols in the same data file as analog data
  • Collecting high voltage and contact temperature data using isolated amplifiers at one megahertz (1MHz)

Train_500Driven by the opportunity to engineer tests for both the rail industry and heavy machinery manufacturers, our team has been able to collect, manage and monitor terabytes of synchronized data during month’s long tests.

The process includes designing and installing data acquisition (DAQ) systems to gather more than a thousand channels of strain, acceleration, temperature, voltage and current data — all at once. Where before we had gathered a couple hundred channels of synced data, we’ve now passed the thousand-count mark. (Incidentally, the manufacturer of our cDAQ hardware platform informed us that our high-channel-count tests are more than double any other application of which they are aware.)

Beyond the volume of channels, we’ve also been able to harvest data from high voltage sources at extreme data rates. One of our colleagues even used iTestSystem to collect 16 channels of data from high voltage sources at 500kHz.

In addition, our engineers have been able to run these tests while at the same time gathering data from on-board systems such as CAN, CCP and customized machine PLC protocols — an advance that allows our clients to gain an even more complete picture of the precise environment at work in their machinery.

ITM Adds New Talent

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control panel

We have had a busy summer at ITM coordinating multiple exciting projects, but among our biggest successes has been expanding our team.

I’m excited to announce that we’ve grown our engineering group by two with the addition of Ryan Matthews and Matt Satcher. Ryan is serving as a field engineer and a vibration analyst, and his main responsibilities include providing on-site installation and support, developing algorithms to process complex vibration data and designing custom control panel assemblies.

Matt is working as a system/component designer and field engineer for ITM, and he is also designing custom panel assemblies and rugged data acquisition systems along with providing on-site installation and support for customers.

You can read more about our entire team here, but here are some some additional details about Ryan and Matt:

  • Ryan Matthews is a recent graduate from the University of Cincinnati with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. During his time at UC, he completed 5 co-op semesters designing and testing high temperature vibration and temperature sensors for turbine engine environments. He conducted many small-scale vibration experiments and also performed modal analyses on military helicopters to investigate alternate positions of the Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) sensors.
  • Matt Satcher previously worked at a large aerospace company in Madrid, Spain, in the stress analysis department. While there, he was responsible for design work with CATIA, performing finite element analyses on the vertical tail of the A350XWB, and the structural design verification of a prototype jet engine. Matt holds a Bachelor of Science in Aerospace Engineering from Saint Louis University.

We welcome both of these talented men to ITM.

iTestSystem: TestView Plus

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Watch this video to learn how to plot data in TestView Plus.  TestView Plus is the tdms data graphing and analysis application for iTestSystem.

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