METHOD OF AND SPHERE DETECTOR FOR MONITORING THE PASSAGE OF A SPHERE ALONG A SPHERE FLOW PATH

摘要

A sphere detector installation (10) includes a length of pipe (12) which is of an electrically non-conductive material and which defines part of a sphere flow path. The installation (10) includes a sphere detector (14). The detector (14) includes a pair of electromagnetic sphere sensors (16, 18) and processing means (20) for receiving and processing signals generated by the sensors (16, 18). Each sensor (16, 18) includes a coil (24) to which the pipe (12) passes. The sensors (16, 18) further includes a coil (30, 46) to which the processing means (20) is connected. The processing means (20) includes an amplifier (32), a rectifier (34), two comparators (36, 38) and a processor (56) which drives a fieldbus interface (58).