d-PPC Paste Pressure Cell
YieldPoint’s d-PPC is a paste Pressure Cell specifically designed for monitoring pressure in pastefill and tailings. The pressure sensor opertes over a range of 0-600kPa (absolute) with a resolution of 0.01kPa. At SL the d-PPC will read approximately 102kPa.
The choice of a Silicone rubber to house the sensor reflects the lower pressures developed in paste and tailing slurries. Although the flexural rigidity of silicone is low, its Bulk modulus is approximately 1.8GPa (due to the very high Poisson’s ratio >0.49), which is well matched to the bulk stiffness of water, pastes and tailings mixtures.
An oil-filled sleeve surrounds the pressure sensor and microcontroller PCB resulting in a perfectly water resistant device with no extraneous tubing or and pressure cells. The Temperature (C) and Pressure (kPa) are transmitted as an ASCII string using RS485. The signal is much more resilient than a vibrating wire signal. Each d-PPC is individually calibrated and assigned a Unique ID.
The d-PPC can be seamless integrated into YieldPoint’s BluTech Ecosystem. Once attached to a BluLink, the BluPoint Android App can be used to take readings and download datafrom the logger(30,000). The d-PPC can be connected directly to all types of gateways, LTE-M BluGateway, WiFi/Ethernet BluGateway and Blu900Gateway.
Potential applications include:
- Paste fill barricade
- UCF sill mat pressures.
- Mine Development in or adjacent to fill
- Tailings dam construction
- Soil Retaining walls
- lateral loading of Piles
Technology:
The d-PPC pressure sensor that can monitor . The gauge is attached to the structure using the #8-32 threaded rod at either end. The length of the sensor is 250mm and the diameter of the body is 7mm.
Signal Conditioning:
An on-board microcontroller provides temperature compensation, applies a 10-point calibration algorithm, and outputs an ASCII encoded RS485 (9600, 8, N, 1) signal.
Output Signal:
The output signal includes the instrument’s unique Sensor_ID, the Sensor_Type as well as the temperature and displacement data. The balanced differential RS485 output signal used is widely recognized for reliability in harsh environments. The signal can be routinely transmitted over 1,000m/3,000ft of lead-wire.
Features:
- Low cost and durable.
- Easy to install. Delivered fully assembled
- 5-pin Connector.
- 24bit digital Pressure Transducer
- 0-600kPa absolute range. Other ranges available.
- On board Signal Processing
- 0.01kPa Resolution (about 1mm).
- +/-0.1%FS Accuracy.
- Individually calibrated
- On board Temperature Sensor.
- -35C to +85 C Temperature Range.
- 0.1C Temp Resolution
- Operable with BluTech for data storage and telemetry.
- ASCII encoded output string with Unique ID.
- Operates with Bluetooth 5 data-loggers with sealed or replaceable batteries.
- Operates with BluTech Gateways and other wireless telemetry solutions from YieldPoint.
- 200x140x20mm and weighs 500g.
- Custom length lead wire.
Datalogging:
Data from the d-PPC can be collected using YieldPoint’s BluLink, and d4BluGateway (30,000 readings) dataloggers . A population of instruments can be monitored using the Blu900 mesh. The data-loggers require no configuration and are fully interchangeable with any other type of YieldPoint instrument.
Telemetry:
Clusters of (i) wired or (ii) BT5 enbled instruments can be monitored using d4BluGateway. Wifi/Ethernet or LTE-M BluGateways can autonomously backhaul readings to cloud based storage and visualization platforms (VantagePoint). For a mesh configuration of d-micros use the Blu900 telemetry system.
Configuration and local data download are provided by the BluPoint App.