Massive cement silo is no problem for the VG6 Radar at the Lafarge facility in South Africa as this case –study explains.

Lafarge in South Africa was formerly Blue Circle Limited and consequently embodies two companies with proud histories. Lafarge can trace its origins to a small lime works, started in 1833, in southern France. Blue Circle had been providing innovative products and services to the South African construction industry since 1914 and had its origins in the UK. The local company was taken over in 1998 and in 2001 the Lafarge Group took over Blue Circle (UK) together with the rest of its international operations.

One of the major cement producers in Southern Africa, Lafarge Cement operates a 2.4 million tonnes per annum cement clinker facility at Lichtenburg in the North West Province. It is one of the largest and most technically advanced cement works in the country. A project to increase the company’s cement capacity by one million tonnes is due to come on stream by the end of 2010.

With a tradition of technical and production innovations, Lafarge Cement manufactures and markets a range of top performance, quality cements. SABS/ISO 9001-2000 listed, the facilities produce a range of innovative cement products that comply with the latest EN standards and carry the SABS mark of approved quality.v To this end a number of new concrete silos were built on site with one 72m high. This massive concrete silo, believed to be the largest in the country, was built on site for the purpose of storing finished cement product in sufficient quantities to supply other facilities in the region. Obviously the measurement of the contents of such a large silo was very important and Lafarge put their trust in the VG6 FMCW Radar, which had been used successfully on other silos within the group, all be it half the height of this monster!

A DN150 Polypropylene Drop Antenna was installed and its performance evaluated over a number of weeks to see if it was up to the job. As the trends show it was more than a match for this monster silo. The VG6 FMCW Radar with its unique design Drop Antenna and improved software for solid applications is proving to be very successful in these types of application as its unique design antenna is immune to dust build up so requires no purging systems or aiming kits which helps to keep the total cost of ownership to a minimum. The VG6 FMCW Radar can be fitted with a range of antenna depending on application, measuring range and temperature making ranges of 80m possible.

Lafarge is the world leader in building materials, with top-ranking positions in all of its businesses: Cement, Aggregates & Concrete and Gypsum. It employs more than 84,000 people in 79 countries, Lafarge posted sales of Euros 19.0 billion in 2009. The company has also consistently been listed in the ‘Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World’.

With the world’s leading building materials research facility, Lafarge places innovation at the heart of its priorities, working for sustainable construction and architectural creativity. Innovation is one of the Group’s key driving forces. To develop building materials Lafarge puts its clients first and offers complete innovative solutions to industry professionals and the general public for improved safety, comfort and quality in daily life. Hycontrol are pleased to be able to assist them in achieving their goals.

Courtesy: Pune Techtrol Pvt Ltd, exclusive distributors of Hycontrol Ltd for India, Bangladesh & SriLanka. Tel: 020-66342900, 27121052. Fax: 91-20-66342998. Email: ho@punetechtrol.com