The powder and bulk solid industry relies on sampling to ensure their production meets compliance, efficiency, and safety standards. Sentry Equipment’s PR and RX automatic samplers ensure that plants can satisfy these regulations by easily and safely obtaining samples without the need for direct human contact.
Sentry Equipment recently updated the PR and RX samplers to provide innovative representative sampling while minimizing process, financial, and personnel impacts.
The Monitor sat down with Tod Myers to discuss the samplers’ new design.
The Monitor ™: What are PR and RX samplers used for?
Tod Myers: PR and RX samplers deliver automated, reliable, accurate representative sampling for the bulk solids industry.
The RX automatic strip sampler works with dry, free-flowing materials such as granules, powders, flakes, pellets, grain or seed from positive or negative pressure systems, gravity chutes, and hoppers. It captures a sample strip across the diameter of a process stream, usually where there’s material segregation.
The PR automatic point sampler works with free-flowing materials such as granules, powders, flakes, or pellets from positive or negative pressure systems. It captures samples from a point in a process stream, usually when the material is homogenous.
TM: How do the PR and RX samplers support bulk solid production?
Tod Myers: These automatic samplers help ensure sample integrity and operator safety. Since there are no moving parts in conveying the sample from the sampling equipment to the container, material characteristics stay consistent. This ensures representative sampling, where attributes of each sample match that of the entire lot or batch – so samples are repeatable, leading to accurate sample analysis data.
TM: Why did you update the PR and RX Sampler design?
Tod Myers: At Sentry Equipment, we know that plants face high personnel and production costs from manual sampling efforts. Many are unable to sample without causing significant downtime or interrupting production. And manual sampling can cause safety concerns due to sampling locations.
The PR and RX samplers are great solutions to these challenges, but we heard from existing customers that the samplers’ design made them difficult to maintain and repair. We also know that space constraints are a concern for many plants, and the size of the samplers made it challenging to install them on a line.
We updated the PR and RX samplers’ design so that more customers could implement representative sampling of bulk solids in their plants to improve sample integrity and operator safety.
TM: How is the new design different from existing units?
Tod Myers: The new units are more compact and lighter weight, allowing customers more flexibility in the location where the sampler is placed. The PR and RX samplers’ updated efficient design will fit in tight process conditions and adapt to safety and quality needs. This allows companies to implement representative sampling without causing dreaded process interruptions.
TM: How does the new design affect maintenance?
Tod Myers: The updated PR and RX designs allow operators to easily maintain and clean their samplers with little downtime and technical knowledge. The new maintenance protocol will empower customers to keep their equipment upkeep in-house without a Sentry technician.
Having to call out a technician or extending downtime for maintenance leads to lost revenue and can increase overhead costs. Simplifying the product design reduces these risks to a plant’s bottom line.
TM: Will customers need to use a different controller with the updated samplers?
Tod Myers: Customers can still use their existing controllers, whether an SBC controller or manual pneumatic levers. The samplers can also work with process lines that require explosion-proof, timer-based controllers.
TM: Will the new sampler design impact the ability to obtain parts or future replacement needs?
Tod Myers: Sentry Equipment has made no significant changes in the functionality of the samplers, and we will continue to provide spare parts and support to previous PR and RX models. When necessary, we can install the updated samplers in the exact location with minor process impacts.
The internal components of the sampler are similar, so parts and support materials will continue to be provided for existing units in the field. By supporting current PR and RX models, our customers have peace of mind that their equipment can be easily maintained or replaced, regardless of product redesign or updates.
Sentry experts work with companies that sample bulk solids to ensure sampling equipment meets their needs. By updating the PR and RX samplers, Sentry has ensured that these samplers can easily be adapted to current processes and cause even less downtime than before.
Contact us at +1-262-567-7256 or complete our online contact form to discuss how Sentry the PR and RX samplers can help you achieve reliable, accurate representative sampling.
