Company Press Sensor can withstand direct lightning strike
22 August 2008
When it comes to harsh environments, direct lightning strikes take some beating.
Zettlex sensors are often fitted with devices to protect their onboard electronics from voltage spikes or reverse polarities. However, the usual few extra volts or amps from a battery or mains supply spike pale in to insignificance when it comes to the energy stored up by mother nature in a lightning strike. She can easily throw a few hundred amps in to a sensor if she decides to.
Nevertheless, as well as a requirement for reliable operation during complete submersion in freezing & aggressive fluids, these were the over voltage and current conditions recently requested by a Zettlex customer.
The first units were delivered on 22nd August 2008 following successful trials featuring potentially lethal voltage discharges.
The test results show that the sensors worked fine. They simply carried on as if nothing had happened.
Zettlex's staff witnessing the trials described the simulated lightning strikes as 'pretty shocking'.
NOTES TO EDITORS:- Zettlex is a sensors company.Our non-contact position sensors measure accurately & reliably even in harsh conditions - hence our motto - 'Precision in the Extreme'. We
- Design & make position sensors
- Supply sensor components - notably integrated circuits for inductive position sensors
- Develop non-contact sensing solutions to customer requirements.
Unique technology and laminar, printed construction enables inductive sensors with no contacts, no bearings, no delicate parts, no maintenance, no bother.....just accurate measurements - all day, every day.
We sell our sensors to OEMs and system integrators in a range of sectors. About half of our business is for safety related or safety critical control systems and we are familiar with the demanding requirements of industrial, aerospace, defence, oil & gas sectors. We can supply fully documented and qualified sensing solutions to DO-254 and DO-178.
Applications include position measurement, user interfaces, servo controls & motor encoders. This covers linear transducers and rotary encoders as well as measurement of 2D displacement, 3D displacement, multi-turn angle, tilt, weight, pressure, vibration, strain and flow.
Zettlex inductive position sensors are an economical, lightweight and robust alternative to potentiometers, optical encoders, rotary encoders, resolvers, RVDTs, LVDTs, magnetic sensors and capacitive encoders.
Zettlex is ISO 9001 and BS EN 13980 certified for the manufacture of position sensors including intrinsically safe ATEX transmitters and position feedback controls for potentially explosive environments.
