Class Instrumentation Ltd, manufacturers of ultrasonic hand-held test equipment for the fire-safety, marine and off-shore industries have announced the launch of the PLI Digital, an extension of their world renowned PLI liquid level indicator range.

“We are delighted to be able to continue in the spirit of innovation and new product development that our customers have always associated with Class Instrumentation” said Ken Hawes, CEO and Technical Director of Class Instrumentation Ltd “The PLI Digital combines our extensive knowledge of ultrasonics with the needs of our customers. They want affordable, quick, accurate and reliable methods of determining the level of liquefied gases without incurring health and safety implications and the PLI Digital provides all that”.

Class Instrumentation Ltd first launched the analogue PLI unit in 1996 for the firesafety industry as a method of determining the level of liquefied gases in fixed fire suppression systems. The unit is also now widely used in the marine sector for onboard surveying of fire suppression systems on merchant and cruise vessels and offshore in the oil and gas industry.

Since its launch, the PLI unit has been upgraded to the PLI Plus and the PLI Digital will join the range on 25th June 2013. The new PLI Digital is a powerful new upgrade of the successful PLI unit, with all the features of the original design, the PLI Digital has the ability to take a reading from cylinders in poor condition, or suffering from a layer of rust, it also has an in-built thermometer (in both C & F), an easy-to-read digital display, one-button-set-up function for faster cylinder testing and smart plugin, which enables the signal strength to be monitored by an audio signal from an internal speaker.

The PLI Digital is intended for use on a range of liquid gases in fire extinguisher systems, including CO2, FM200, Halon and replacements, the PLI Digital will indicate the level of any liquefied gas in a cylinder, including propane. It will also indicate the level of oil or water in a container.

“The 25th June is a busy day for us” said Kat Sinclair International Business Manager for Class Instrumentation Ltd “we are exhibiting at Seawork International, launching the PLI Digital and as Class Instrumentation Ltd is sponsoring the Seawork 2013 Innovation Showcase, Ken is presenting the Spirit of Innovation Award to the winner at the Showcase Dinner in the evening. It’s a wonderful sense of coming full circle and being able to lend our support to other innovators.”

Until the PLI range was on the market, the only way of determining the level in liquefied gas fire suppression systems was to weigh the cylinders individually. This process is time-consuming, has many health and safety implications and ironically often leads to gas leaks when the cylinders are removed or re-attached from the system.

Ken Hawes explains how the unit functions “The PLI Digital Portable Liquid Level Indicator works by generating an ultrasonic sound wave that travels through the steel cylinder and into the liquefied gas. The instrument interprets the changes in the echoes that occur as the sound beam responds to the different characteristic impedance of the liquid and the gas above it. The change in the response is indicated by the digital bargraph. The set up procedure for the instrument ensures maximum change at the gas/liquid interface, thus making a reliable determination of the liquid level.”