Monthly Archives: June 2014

News

Reducing UKAS calibration uncertainties

Leave a comment

At Rotronic UK our UKAS laboratory have worked hard to make a name for itself in high quality calibrations and service. Thanks to constant improvements in measurement procedures the laboratory is growing into one of the most advanced commercial facilities in this specialised field. The ISO 17025 accredited calibration of humidity and temperature sensors and dew point instruments confirms performance and is increasingly a requirement of industry regulations and company quality management systems. The UKAS laboratory at Rotronic UK has spent the last two years increasing confidence in the calibrations performed and as a consequence lowering the Calibration and Measurement Capability (CMC) of the laboratory. Significant improvements have been made in the measurement procedures for dew point and temperature in air, enabling the following UKAS Accredited CMCs:

Dew/Frost point measurement (°Cdp/fp) • -60 to -40 °Cfp; uncertainty ±0.14 °Cfp • -40 °Cfp to +60 °Cdp; uncertainty ±0.11 °Cdp • +60 °Cdp to 70 °Cdp; uncertainty ±0.12 °Cdp

Temperature in air/ °C • -60 °C to 0 °C; uncertainty ±0.08 °C to 0.06 °C • 0 °C to +70 °C; uncertainty ±0.05 °C • +70 °C to +150 °C; uncertainty ±0.07 °C to 0.16 °C

Relative Humidity (RH)/%rh In the laboratory RH is derived from vapour pressure formulations. Improvements in dew point and temperature in air CMCs therefore affect the RH CMCs profoundly. The improvement lies in the range 0 to 70 °C; in the worst case RH CMC is ±1.0 %rh. In all parts of the HC2-S specified range covered by the accreditation the CMC is better than the specification of the probe. This is the first time this has been achieved. With the new temperature in air calibration range (-60 °C to +150 °C) and new dew/frost point calibration range (-60 °Cdp and up to +70 °Cdp) the laboratory’s RH calibration range has been extended up to 70 °C and 98 %rh. For example, at the new upper limit of 70 °C/98 %rh the CMC is ±0.6%rh and with these levels of calibration measurement uncertainty and range of accredited calibration services the purpose-built laboratory is one of the most advanced commercial facilities in the world.

Dr. Jeremy Wingate
Rotronic UK

News, Training

New states of matter… making a mess of my slide pack

Leave a comment

How many states of matter are there?… Hold that answer, first I’ll explain why…

We regularly provide formal and informal training, in fact it is something we  feel differentiates us, helps us learn and is a great  way to keep in contact with the industry. With a team including ex-NPL staff, Oxford graduates, PhDs, one of the best UKAS laboratories in Europe and years of combined experience in the fields of humidity, dew point and temperature  we feel we are well placed to offer these expertise.

One of the first things we discuss when learning about the principles of humidity, are the states of matter. It s vital to understand solids, liquids and gases before we can go on to vapour pressure, dew point, frost point and triple points etc.

I have yet to find someone who doesn’t know the three states but this light introduction acts as a good starting point to the deeper subject.

However, I am regularly corrected that plasma is the forth state of matter (not relevant for our discussions as such but still valid all the same). So I have corrected my slides accordingly.

What happened next, I struggled to believe at first when I was told… Apparently within chickens we can find another state of matter!! Seriously… chickens. To be exact the chickens eyeball. It is called ‘disordered hyperuniformity’ and in simple terms it is a state that has some crystal like properties and some liquid like properties.

A state of chicken
A state of chicken; Courtesy of Joseph Corbo and Timothy Lau, Washington University in St. Louis

The  arrangement of cells was discovered by researchers at  Princeton University and Washington University in St. Louis. Full details can be found here on the Princeton site. http://www.princeton.edu/main/news/archive/S39/32/02E70/

What next I thought, and where best to look but wikipedia… A quick search highlights that the four fundamental states of matter are just the tip of the iceberg.

There are; Non-classical states, Low-temperature states, High-energy states, Very high energy states … the list goes on and this is just a glance at wikipedia!

The latest (unless another has just been discovered) is the quantum droplet and apart from being the most recently discovered comes with a great picture.

Quantum Droplet
Quantum Droplet; Credit: Baxley/JILA

Part particle, part liquid, it is termed a “quasiparticle”. I wont attempt to explain it here but if you are interested is it nicely explained on the Scientific American website, which includes a link to the original Nature paper. http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/dropleton-quantum-droplet-quasiparticle/

So back to the question; how many states of matter are there? I will stick to answering that with” there are four fundamental states of matter…” I think the rest we’ll leave out of our training courses for now!

Dr. Jeremy Wingate
Rotronic UK

News

Looking internally for the ways forward

Leave a comment

We tend to spend most of our time looking out to the industry and marketplace for the future trends and next opportunities. However, last week the staff at Rotronic UK spent some useful time reflecting on our recent history, current methods of working and how to develop ourselves for the future – whatever it maybe.

In the sessions, led by our in house project and change manager we were encouraged to explore our ideal future both personally and for the UK arm of Rotronic. Sessions were run for our service and calibration teams and separately for sales and admin teams.  The sessions provided a useful opportunity to learn from each other and better understand the internal processes we all take for granted. As well as providing time to explore what the key issues are ad what we would like to see in the future.

Image

Some clear areas were identified for the future but not so broad that we will be unable to tackle them and report back on progress in the coming weeks and months. Our change guru is now digesting the sessions and we will begin a 3 – 6 month period of putting into practice and reflecting on the new goals and actions we have collectively embraced.

As a small team in the UK working in within a complex field and highly diverse marketplaces it is important to maximise the internal knowledge and skills we have. In addition, we are all focused towards precision measurement and quality service; things that cannot be achieved without a consistent effort and shared values.

There is always room for improvement but hopefully we are remaining open-minded and have a positive drive for the future.

Some of the new ventures and changes will be important for our customers and partners… we will keep you posted!!

Dr. Jeremy Wingate
Rotronic UK

CO2, News

CO2 sensors for Schools – Rotronic Success Story

Leave a comment
Rotronic CO2 sensors installed in Högalidskolan school in Stockholm in August 2012

Högalidsskolan school, opened in 1921, is located on the beautiful hills of Southern Stockholm and is home to one of the so-called ”palace” schools. The building consists of the three blocks, A, B and
C. Whereas some years ago the school had to cater for the needs of 1100 (later 900) pupils between 6 and 16, this primary school now  hosts 660 pupils, since their numbers were reduced due to a planned
renovation costing 167 MSEK.

In a meeting with headmaster Mattias Boström we discussed the importance of the indoor climate in the school. Old buildings generally have a natural draft as ventilation, but energy savings and the call for a more comfortable indoor temperature during wintertime resulted in less natural draft and, as a consequence, higher CO2 emissions.

Schools have long ago introduced ventilation routines, but these are difficult to stick to especially during the winter season because ventilation means cooling. In order to quickly reach acceptable CO2 levels, the consultant fi rm MAKAB recommended the installation of CO2 sensors to measure proper CO2 values in all areas where pupils are working.

After the installation of stand-alone CO2 sensors (no regulation system needed) in all 36 classrooms, it can be seen that in some rooms the CO2 level quickly crosses the threshold of 1000 ppm. Now, teachers and pupils are regularly checking whether the red LEDs on the sensors are lit to indicate that the 1000 ppm limit is exceeded.

Sometimes it is impossible to vacate the room immediately for CO2 remediation, but the sensor also displays the actual CO2 value and rate of change and thus is very valuable. The response from teachers and pupils so far has been very positive and shows that the CO2 sensor is a practical tool for keeping the indoor climate at
an acceptable quality.

After the renovation, the building will be equipped entirely with a new ventilation system with an advanced filtering to reduce particles in the air. But there will still remain a need to regularly check on the CO2, temperature and humidity levels.

Dr. Jeremy Wingate
Rotronic UK