Ford's fanfare as diesel and dust are dispatched from Dagenham
15 Jan 2000
Ford's goal of being 'the greenest automotive manufacturer' has led emissions specialist Chris Ansell to research how the company's Dagenham engine plant could improve its monitoring of particulate emissions.
The plant's problem area is the wet collectors and coalescent filters on the in-line and diesel engine production lines. Ansell's task was to find a reliable system which could monitor the output of particulate and oil mists from these filters, and was capable of measuring low concentrations.
Eventually, Ansell hit on the TriboACE measuring system, manufactured by Cambridgeshire-based PCME. The system uses a sensor probe installed inside a duct. Particles in the air stream interact with the sensor, generating an AC signal which is directly proportional to the concentration of particles. The probe is totally insulated, making it immune to particle build-up, claims PCME; it is also unaffected by changing velocities in the air stream. 'As well as monitoring, it provides an effective predictive maintenance facility,' says Ansell.
