The most common application for a Pi particle counter is in water treatment and the optimization or ongoing monitoring of filter effluent.
The CounterSense can be coupled with turbidity and differential pressure sensors and offers on-board PID control of automatic backwash and can provide data logging and optional remote access via the mobile phone network such that you can have your filtration expert in your plant wherever they are in the world. The CounterSense is possibly the most advanced online particle analyzer in the world.
The FilterSense is designed for multi-point monitoring of filter banks, lowering the cost per point with up to 15 particle analyzer sensors.
Other applications for Pi particle counters include:
- Pre-RO monitoring
- Make up water monitoring
- Ultra-clean medical device washing monitoring
- Membrane filtration monitoring
Across the developed world failures in coagulation and filtration have led to outbreaks of Cryptosporidiosis and other illnesses caused by organisms such as Cryptosporidia and Giardia.
Continuous monitoring of the turbidity at the outlet of a filter is essential and even a legal requirement in some countries. Turbidity is a good measure of the clarity of the water and gives a single, understandable output for operators and is most sensitive to smaller particles (particles <1µm in size).
Particle Counters look at larger particles (usually larger than 2µm) and provide additional information over and above that provided by turbidity meters, particularly information regarding the break down of a filter and the passing of Crypto sized particles, often undetectable by a turbidity meter.
In the past many water companies, water authorities, local county councils, etc. have put turbidity meters on filters but not particle counters, largely due to the higher cost of particle counters.
As particles in a water stream pass through a measurement cell they break a laser beam inside the particle counter. This break is measured by a detector opposite the laser beam and the number of breaks is equal to the number of particles and the size of signal (created as the particle passes through the beam) is proportional to the size of the particle. The Pi instruments are unique in the marketplace in that they allow:
- Simple user calibration
- Set up direct from the instrument (no software/PC required)
- Multiple sensor capability (can be combined with other sensors such as UV254, Turbidity, etc.)
- Control with PID functions based on particle counts
- Multipoint capability