(ITI), supplier of wireless mesh networked applications to the industrial marketplace, will demonstrate its BioMESH™ System at the U.S. Composting Council's (USCC) annual conference & trade show in Albuquerque, NM tomorrow. The demo is sponsored by the USCC and will be held at the Albuquerque City compost site. The BioMESH™ System includes radio-equipped temperature probes that enable operators of large composting facilities to monitor and regulate the internal temperature of compost.
ITI has field trials of the BioMESH™ System underway at multiple compost facilities across the country. The BioMESH™ System uses an ITI developed software application to monitor temperature probes that are inserted into piles of composting material in various locations throughout a facility.
The temperature probes integrate temperature sensors with radio modules in sealed, weather proof, caustic proof housings. The radio modules utilize a patented wireless mesh communications protocol to support connectivity to the temperature sensors. The probes operate on battery power and feature a scheduled "sleep" mode to provide extended battery life.
Since each BioMESH™ probe has the ability to act as both a temperature sensor transmitter and as a repeater for temperature signals from other probes, the probes all act together to help get signals through to the monitoring application. The patented mesh software is licensed from Nokota and is built into radio modules manufactured by RF Monolithics.
The BioMESH™ housing is made from heavy-duty PVC and stainless steel components. The result is a sealed, weather proof, caustic proof device which is resistant to UV penetration yet does not interfere with radio signals. Its design allows the MESH radios to communicate omnidirectionally with good performance. The ruggedized industrial housing also protects the connectivity to the sensors in the stainless steel probe, as well as securing the long life battery which powers both the sensors and the radio. Some of the ITI temperature probes are manufactured by ReoTemp Instruments, Inc.
Unlike point-to-point radio technology, which requires line of sight for maximum performance, mesh networking is better able to provide complete coverage within large composting facilities.
Catch the Waste@ Sensors Magazine
THE CHALLENGE: Automate temperature monitoring of municipal composting operations | |
Municipalities typically generate a large amount of compostable material as a byproduct of their wastewater treatment operations. The “green” cities turn this unappealing substance into something of benefit to everyone, but the transformation doesn’t happen all on its own.
Compost is made by first creating large windrows or piles of bio-solid waste material mixed with an amendment such as wood chips. The windrows are laid out in huge, covered warehouses or barns, or outdoors. Once a windrow is created, it is allowed to biodegrade in accordance with EPA guidelines. The temperature, moisture, and oxygen content of the compost during this exothermic process must be monitored and controlled to prevent the matter from spoiling or igniting.
Until recently, the only way to keep an eye on the compost’s working entailed putting fixed, hardwired sensors or manual probes into the windrows. But the sensors were invisible to machine operators who came with rotating tillers to turn the piles and add water as needed, or to remove a composted windrow and replace it with new raw material. Goodbye, sensors! Manual monitoring requires someone to walk up and down the windrows, inserting a long probe here and there and writing down the data. Local “hot spots” make such data unreliable, and, if the compost is outside and the weather’s bad, the job might not get done.
Embedding removable temperature sensors into the windrows to wirelessly monitor the composting process proved tricky. Compost absorbs radio waves, limiting both the communication range and acceptable sensor placement sites. And the sheer size of the processing barns keeps individual radio signals from sensors at the far reaches of the structure from reaching a central wireless communications hub.
Industrial Telemetry figured out a solution. The BioMESH™ system embeds wireless-enabled temperature probes into the compost piles. A mesh networking scheme designed by RF Monolithics sends the temperature readings to the next probe closer to the hub, which in turn relays the data on to the hub along with its own report. The sensors are attached to a long metal pole. The tops of the sensors are painted so that the machine operators can readily see and remove them before turning or removing a windrow. And in time, community waste becomes food for community parks and gardens.
