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Hastings Deering operated sixteen Cannon CAV 2000 Series Automatic Viscometers which provided analysis as individual units. This method of operation was time-consuming requiring laboratory technicians to constantly attend to these instruments. Without constant attention, these instruments would quickly run out of samples to analyse.
Automation of the process had the opportunity to improve the analysis efficiency while reducing the labour required to operate these units.
Hastings Deering required a solution that significantly improved the operating efficiency of these units. They reached out to HF-Innovation for a cost-effective solution to automate their fleet of existing kinematic viscometers, allowing for unattended operation.
We at HF have extensive experience in automating different brands of viscometers, including both new and old models like the Dare Instruments Trivisc, Spectro Ametek SpectroVisc 300, and many others. This led to our selection as the ideal partner to provide industrial automation services to the Hastings Deering SOS Fluid Analysis Laboratory.
Each machine includes eight viscometers and three drawers for loading 40-position sample trays, resulting in a total sample capacity of 120 samples per machine. A high-speed XYZ transport moves samples between the trays and viscometers. Safety is the utmost priority, with all doors and drawers being mechanically interlocked while the equipment is in operation, in accordance with AS 4024.
The design is modular, making it easy to expand and interface with additional laboratory automation and instruments in the future without expensive modifications or engineering.