Accessories

As Hycal probes are introduced into molten aluminum, the presence of atmospheric humidity becomes a potential source of hydrogen. Upon immersion, entrained moisture within the probe undergoes dissociation, yielding both hydrogen and oxygen. This extraneous hydrogen may lead to artificially high readings, so it is imperative that the probe is dry prior to taking a measurement.

Additionally, certain components of the probes are hygroscopic, thereby retaining water even after drying regardless of duration. Consequently, it is deemed prudent to proactively avert moisture absorption altogether.

The Hycal vacuum probe storage tube kit has been designed to address these specific requirements and comprises the following:

The Hycal probe simulator has been developed to speed up the process of system diagnosis / verification.

It can be challenging to diagnose faults when the system has multiple components (analyser, cable and probe) each of which could potentially be the source of a problem.

The hand-held battery-powered Probe Simulator when connected to the probe cable emulates the conditions of a healthy probe immersed in molten aluminium providing a stable output in terms of hydrogen concentration, temperature and impedance.

In the case of a suspected fault or dubious reading, by replacing the probe with the Probe Simulator it can immediately be determined if the combination of the analyser and the cable yield accurate and stable results thereby isolating the cause of the issue to the probe alone.

If the fault were to remain then by exchanging the probe cable, it can be quickly determined if the fault resides with the analyser or the cable.

Historically, it was not uncommon for dissolved hydrogen measurement equipment to be mounted directly at the edge of the launder. However, Hycal does not have any requirement for the analyser to be located close to the metal. Therefore, EMC advises against such practice where at all possible.

Reasons for keeping Hycal away from metal:

• The analyser can overheat when close to the molten aluminium which may damage the equipment
• Molten aluminium splashes droplets are very likely to land on the touchscreen rendering it inoperable
• There is no technical advantage in doing so whereas other predecessor technologies need to be as close as possible to optimise response time.
• Health and Safety and general wellbeing of operators.

The portable probe mount below can be fixed at the point of measurement allowing the analyser to be placed a safe convenient distance away. Cable lengths of up to 20m are available.