Ionix HPZ enables gas flow metering at temperatures exceeding 400°C, utilising the same cabling technology, electronics, and software, significantly extending market reach for OEM manufacturers of flow systems. With plug-and-play compatibility for PZT, Ionix HPZ maintains the same physics and physical form as PZT, ensuring seamless integration. This allows OEMs to easily adopt Ionix HPZ without needing to alter their existing systems.
Integrating Ionix’s HotSense flare gas transducers provided frequent, consistent, and high-quality methane gas velocity data across a wide temperature range (-200 to +400 °C), enabling our partner to expand market penetration into chemical processing and refining. By using our HotSense ultrasonic technology, our partner achieved rapid market entry without significant in-house product development costs, launching a product within eight months. HotSense, a certified intrinsically safe ultrasonic platform, optimised system certification for safe, easy integration into existing electronics, and ensured worldwide operation, delivering accuracy better than ±1% with a high turn-down ratio.
Ionix’s flow meter OEM expands product offering to target high-value, low-competition, high-temperature flow metering applications with our HPZ piezoceramic-powered HotSense™ ultrasonic platform. This initiative includes the accelerated development and production of clamp-on ultrasonic transducers, reducing the product development cycle by threefold. A flow OEM partner outsourced production to Ionix to utilise our high-temperature assembly expertise, economies of scale, and adherence to ISO 9001 and ATEX/IECEx quality standards.
Ionix delivered a steam flow Lamb wave transducer operating at up to 220°C (15 barg), ensuring high accuracy and compact size. The technique accurately measures flow speed in up to 90% dry steam, saving their partner development time and costs, and accelerating market entry. This advanced technology enhances efficiency, reduces costs, and provides a competitive edge.
This technical note explores the suitability of Ionix’s HotSense platform for acoustic emission ( AE ) transducers for such applications, without the need for waveguides or IEPE electronics due to its high sensitivity across a wide temperature range, by the application of a standard pencil break test conducted at 350 °C. The outcomes demonstrate that the HotSense AE transducer exhibits outstanding sensitivity at this temperature, maintaining a performance level similar to that at room temperature.
A novel solution was sought by a leading high-performance automotive manufacturer to monitor the speed and position of the camshaft, crankshaft, gear box and other positions of interest up and down the drive train, in a package which would enable a step change in physical size requirements for a sensor. Explore this latest case study to find out more.
Ionix has begun the development of the next generation of lead free piezoceramic materials to address the challenge of potential future RoHS lead exemption reviews banning the use of lead in a wider range of applications.
There are currently no suitable lead-free piezoelectric materials for many critical devices and as such now is the time to explore alternative solutions.
A solution was sought by a renewable energy plant operator to monitor the thermophysical properties of molten sodium- potassium nitrate “solar salt” at temperatures exceeding 360 °C / 680 °F.
Our plug and play feature can be a key element to any customer who is looking to enhance their devices with Ionix HPZ and who currently uses a PZT ceramic. Here is a quick explanation as to why that is!
Toughness, strength and machineability are key attributes when selecting a piezoceramic for integration into your devices. Many devices require the piezoceramic to be able to withstand high pre-loads or the ceramic may be exposed to high forces during operation. This short blog explores how a new alternative material, Ionix HPZ, addresses some of these limitations.