Quantum Description

Quantum units can be programmed to provide an alarm based on the time remaining before the station or well spills over. This is, for instance vital for utilities, who face the risk of prosecution if a station pollutes the local environment.

The likelihood of a ‘spill’ depends both on the rate of change of the level and the operating efficiency of the pumps, which can be affected by failure, blockage or under performance. If a pump has failed, the rate of change may not be important, because the level may well creep up slowly to reach a dangerous level. More important is to know how much time remains before a critical high level, or an overspill level, is reached. Quantum takes all the inflow and outflow rates of the station together and calculates the time remaining before a spill, warning so site operators can take remedial action.

In addition to the ‘time to spill’ feature, Quantum 2 adds a valuable ‘burst rising main’ alarm, which compares the optimum pump efficiency with the measured rate of change to identify a possible burst main or to warn of a blocked pump.

Calibration against the volume of the sump allows Quantum 2 to provide flow measurement in real world units. This can remove the need for a magnetic flow meter and a second mA output is provided and can be calibrated to flow rate.

The Tariff Guard software built into Pulsar’s Quantum controllers monitors well inflow and outflow rates to override the normal on/off levels of the control unit to keep pump usage to an absolute minimum during the high tariff period.

Both Quantums include ten relays (digital outputs) and seven digital inputs. Digital inputs are used to detect the status of the pump trip circuit. If a pump has tripped, digital outputs can be assigned to provide a reset to the trip circuit (after a programmable time delay). Quantum counts the number of consecutive trips and the number of trips in a rolling 24 hour period. If any of these counts reach a predetermined maximum, the pump is considered to be faulty and the auto reset process is ceased. A digital output can be assigned to provide indication that a pump is faulty and site attendance is required.

Options include RS485 digital communications (Modbus and Profibus DP V0 and DP V1) allowing status monitoring and remote programming, and data logging.

Quantum 2 datasheet and manuals.