Pump diagnostic

A line of pump diagnostic pressure sensors that detect potential pump damage caused by cavitation, trapped air or gas, blockages and deposits has been introduced by ifm efector. The PIM sensor can perform two functions in one compact housing: pump monitoring and pressure detection. The sensor continuously monitors a pump to provide numeric indication of the operating system pressure and offers independent continuous diagnosis of the pump’s condition.

Operating as a pump diagnostic sensor, the PIM sensor measures the high-frequency pulsations of a properly operating pump and stores them as a reference. If changes occur in the system, the pulsations will change. These changes are immediately detected by the sensor. If a critical pump condition occurs, such as cavitation, the sensor will provide an alarm signal to a controller. The condition-based pump monitoring sensor increases machine uptime and reduces damage caused by poor pump operating conditions. In addition to monitoring a pump, any disturbances around the pump such as trapped air in the medium, clogged filters, deposits in pipes or improperly opened valves are also monitored.

The sensor and its teach function are quickly set up using the numeric push-button display. The sensor’s display alternately provides the numeric system pressure and the operating state of the pump via a trend display that graphically depicts the operating state of the pump.

The sensor’s second output can be configured as a switching output with hysteresis or window function or as a scalable analog output. Due to the high overload resistance of the ceramic capacitive measuring cell, the sensor is suitable for switch-off in case of overpressure. FDT programming software enables the display of the measured values, analog output, limit values and the parameter setting of the thresholds for diagnosis.

The stainless steel PIM pressure sensor is designed for sanitary applications. A variety of M12 connectors suitable for these conditions are available.