August 19th, 2011
With the end of summer quickly approaching, your MTNW team is hurrying to complete preparations for the ITMA show in Barcelona, Spain(September 22-29) and the IFAI Expo in Baltimore, Maryland (October 25-27).
At ITMA, Measurement Technology NW will be displaying a 26-zone Newton sweating thermal manikin with physiological control model, a SGHP-8.2 sweating hotplate, an RPP (Radiant Protective Performance) device, and, hopefully, a TPP (Thermal Protective Performance) device. For those of you traveling to Barcelonafor the big ITMA show, you’ll find Measurement Technology NW in Hall 2, Booth A164.
At the IFAI Expo, we plan to display the 26-zone Newton sweating thermal manikin with physiological control model, an RPP (Radiant Protective Performance) device, and the TPP (Thermal Protective Performance) device. We may include some other items too, but until final decisions are made you’ll just have to find a way to deal with the suspense. October is a beautiful time of the year to be on the East coast, and if attending the IFAI Expo is part of your travel plans you’ll find Measurement Technology NW in Booth 2509.
Oh, and we have new booth display banners too!
New Booth Display Banners
Tags: 26-zone, Baltimore, Barcelona, IFAI Expo, ITMA, Maryland, Newton, physiological control model, RPP, SGHP, Spain, sweating, sweating guarded hot plate, thermal manikin
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July 22nd, 2011
As our blog readers may recall from past postings, Measurement Technology NW has a much-appreciated tradition of “celebrating the wins” by hosting lunch for employees whenever a new thermal order has been completed and shipped off to the customer. However, the 110% team effort that was behind our first Flame Test Manikin and Burn Chamber shipment (to Donghua University, Shanghai, China) called for something more than your typical in-house lunch. The kind of dedication and perseverance shown by our project engineers and techs could only be properly rewarded with something flame-related… like a Hawaiian pig roast!
The requirements were simple. Wear a Hawaiian shirt and be ready to eat! Our talented machinist Brian Welch is also a pig-roasting connoisseur, and thanks to his watchful eye over the 10-hour roasting period, this particular pig was moist, delicious, and reduced to a pile of scraps by the time lunch was over.
For more information on the Flame Test Manikin and Burn Chamber system installed at Donghua University, keep an eye out for our next thermal newsletter, coming soon!
Tags: burn chamber, donghua university, flame test system, MTNW, pig roast, thermal manikins
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June 22nd, 2011
While Newton was busy showing the crowd at VTMS 10 how comfortable he was, Measurement Technology NW was preparing other thermal test equipment for the big Techtextil 2011 show in Frankfurt, Germany. We had a SGHP-8.2 sweating guarded hotplate on display at the Mesdan S.p.A. booth, and the device generated a great deal of interest from textile labs and companies who evaluate the thermal insulative and evaporative properties of fabrics. In fact, by the end of the show the SGHP-8.2 had been sold to Carvico S.p.A. in Italy – a fabric testing lab for high performance bicycle apparel.
After the show and before my flight home I saw one of Frankfurt’s more unique sights: the “Beer Bike”. A human-powered beer bar, five seats on a side, each seat with a set of bicycle pedals underneath. If you were thirsty and a seat was open all you had to do was run alongside, hop onto the seat, and start pedaling while the driver/bartender served you a beer from the keg in front!
It was a memorable example of German efficiency – a place to have fun, drink beer, and work off the calories, all at the same time.
Tags: beer bike, comfort manikin, display, human simulation, Newton, techtextil 2011, thermal manikin, thermal simulation
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June 14th, 2011
Tension Monitoring for Subsea Cable Laying
In subsea cable laying operations, it is imperative to understand the tension on the cable that you are laying on the ocean floor. Too little tension and the cable will potentially kink under the vessel, too tight and the cable could break internally. Once a cable has been bent or broken the entire span is unusable.
Subsea Cable Laying Ship
Often subsea cables will cost millions of dollars and the laying of the cable is a high-profile event with many observers…the cable manufacturer, the insurance company, the cable laying service providers and the vessel operators. Everyone eager to ensure (and prove) that their piece of the operation doesn’t stress the cable.
Subsea Cable Laying
In March, one of our engineers flew down to Mexico to support a leading Oil & Gas services company in Mexico. The service provider was working with PEMEX to lay a 2 mile subsea electrical and communications cable between 2 offshore platforms. This service provider purchased a running line tensiometer (RLT) from MTNW to measure the tension, speed, and payout of the tugger winch cable which was used to pull the subsea cable into place.
You can see in the picture below that a RL-05K running line tensiometer was used to measure the tension, speed, and payout (scope) of the cable.
The MTNW RL-05 Running Line Tensiometer
This is our smallest RLT with a wire rope diameter limit of 20mm and a tension range of up to 13,000lbs. They also purchased the LCI-90i winch display which provides tension, speed, and payout data. This display is installed in a Pelican case for portability. For data-logging they connected the LCI-90i display to a local PC and installed our WinchDAC (winch monitoring) software which provides all of the graphing and long-term data storage that they could need. WinchDAC provides Demar the opportunity print out the force-over-time graphs , which can illustrate the peak tension of the cable lay operation.
The LCI-90i display in a Pelican Case connected to WinchDAC for data-logging.
WinchDAC Line Graph – Tension, Speed, & Payout
This cable lay operation was a success and the service provider, insurance company, and customer all had the real-time monitoring and data-logging to prove it.
Tags: cable lay operation, cable ship, cable tension, line control instrument, line control systems, line measurement, MTNW, subsea cable laying, tension measurement, tension monitoring
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May 25th, 2011
Newton at VTMS
If you happen to be at the VTMS 10 show in Warwickshire, UK this week, Measurement Technology NW is there too, displaying a 26-zone Newton thermal manikin running ManikinPC2 human comfort model software (as part of the ThermoAnalytics booth).
ManikinPC2 (Manikin Physiology Control and Predictive Comfort) software is a closed-loop feedback control package that accurately mimics the human thermoregulatory system and provides metrics for thermal comfort and thermal sensation. The software permits variable activity levels that simulate the human metabolism while resting, working, or exercising.
Set an activity level and appropriate metabolic wattages will be imposed onto the manikin. Want to learn more? Well, you could come by the ThermoAnalytics booth to see if Newton is comfortable. Or, you could ask us to set up a demonstration to show how comfortable Newton is. Thanks to ManikinPC2 software, he’ll be able to tell you!
Tags: comfort software, human comfort model, human comfort simulation, human comfort software, human metabolism simulation, ManikinPC2, Measurement Technology NW, metabolic rate simulation, Newton thermal manikin, physiology simulation, ThermoAnalytics, VTMS
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April 7th, 2011
New people to work with, new projects to work on, a mad dash for parking spaces each morning – yes, Measurement Technology NW is definitely a busy, growing place.
In fact, sometime next week we will welcome aboard MTNW’s 40th team member. We’re not sure where to put his desk, but we do know his engineering skills will quickly be put to good use. Thankfully there is no shortage of things to work on these days, and that happy fact is a clear testament to the company’s dedication to continuous product improvement and new product innovation – even during the down times.
That dedication is the main reason we now offer a new, state-of-the-art Flame Test Manikin system, smartly designed TPP and RPP test devices, an advanced physiological comfort model (ManikinPC2) for our Newton thermal manikins, and a new Integrated Chamber for the SGHP hotplate. Couple these high-profile achievements to a long list of “under the hood” refinements made to our existing lineup of thermal testing products and you can see that the growth we’re enjoying today is no accident.
So we’ll continue to invest in product innovation and improvement. We’ll accept the fact that growth is a very good problem to have. Somewhere, we’ll find room for another desk. And the new guy will have to fight for a parking space just like the rest of us.
MTNW Staff
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February 23rd, 2011
Mark your calendars and make plans to visit Measurement Technology NW at the ITMA textile trade show in Barcelona, Spain, September 22-29, 2011. ITMA (International Exhibition of Textile Machinery) is the world’s largest international textile and garment machinery exhibition. This huge exhibition is held every four years, and this year, for the first time, MTNW will be there – in Hall #2, space/booth #A164.
ITMA 2011
We are still putting together plans on what equipment to bring, but the chances are good that the list will include a Newton sweating thermal manikin and one or two other examples of our thermal comfort and protective apparel test equipment. If you have any specific requests for MTNW equipment you would like to see displayed at ITMA, let us know and we’ll do our best to make it happen.
ITMA is a great trade show, so for anyone who plans to attend let this be an advance invitation for you to come by the MTNW booth and introduce yourself. So much of our international communications are by email, and it is trade shows like ITMA that let us connect face-to-face with existing clients and get to know potential new customers.
If that’s not a good enough reason to attend ITMA, I also understand Barcelona is beautiful in September…
Tags: Barcelona, International Exhibition of Textile Machinery, ITMA, ITMA 2011, measurement technology northwest, Measurement Technology NW, Spain
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February 23rd, 2011
This January we had the opportunity to bring our barge winch monitoring system to Port Harcourt, Nigeria in support of a local oil and gas services company based there.
The Gulf of Guinea is one of the hot new oil patches and it is becoming as criss-crossed with sub-sea pipes as any ocean in the world. Oil companies operating there have to be very careful about where they place their anchors for mooring. And, they need to know immediately if one of their anchors is slipping and could potentially pull through other nearby pipelines. Hence their call to us. We have a growing reputation across the globe for building high-quality, rugged, anchor winch monitoring equipment.
For this barge, we installed nine, RL-20175K running line tensiometers and four local dual-winch displays. Four winches aft and four winches foward, the ninth RLT was for the A&R winch near the bow of the barge.
Here is an image of an RLT getting ready to be installed in front a winch. The hanging chain support allows the RLT to move with the rope as tension increases and decreases during an operation.
Running Line Tensiometer
Here is an image of the winches on the barge. These winches have 1-3/4” IWRC wire rope that will be tensioned up to 90,000lbs.
Winches on the barge
We integrated our LCI-90i Multi-Winch displays to their existing winch controls station. The LCI-90i Winch Displays provide precise tension, speed, and payout readings to the operator as well as preset alarm conditions to alert the crew of a hazardous operating condition. The PC monitors are used as video monitors of the winches and the deck of the barge.
LCI-90i Displays
We look forward to spending more time in Port Harcourt and developing partnerships in that beautiful part of the world.
Tags: anchor monitoring, anchor winch monitoring, barge line control, barge winch monitoring system, cable measurement, cable tension, dual-winch displays, LCI-90i, pipelay barge anchor winch monitoring, port harcourt, Running Line Tensiometer, running line tension, tensiometer
Posted in Line Control Systems | No Comments »
February 23rd, 2011
Being from the Pacific Northwest, and specifically from the Norwegian/Fisherman’s Terminal area of Seattle, we have always thought that our products and services should play a bigger role in the fishing industry. And now, they are!
In the last year, we’ve started to sell trawl winch monitoring systems into the Pacific and Atlantic trawl fishing fleets.
Like most industries, winch operators in the fishing industry have worked from “gut feel” about how much tension or speed their winch systems, nets, and cables could support.
Now, however, active monitoring of trawl winches has become an important part of fishing efficiently, and data-logging from trawl casts is seen as an important review tool to ensure safety and maximize productivity.
Our combination of running line tensiometers (or dynamometers), local winch displays and software for the bridge are priced competitively with more established and specialized fishing technologies.
Below is an image of our running line tensiometer attached to an articulating arm riding the line of a trawl vessel.
Running Line Tensiometer
Here is an image of our TrawlDAC software showing how operators can quickly see differences in the line tension, speed and total payout.
Trawl DAC
If you are looking to retrofit your trawl monitoring system, please email or call. We’ll be happy to put together a plan for your vessel.
Tags: fishing industry, measurement, payout, Running Line Tensiometer, speed, tension, trawl measurement, trawl monitor, trawl software, trawl winch monitoring, TrawlDAC, winch monitoring
Posted in Line Control Systems | No Comments »
