Terminal Management
      Back to home
      1. Knowledge Base
      2. Terminal Management

      Improving dry tower precision

      This guide describes the purpose of the anticipation and bumping parameters, how they are used to improve precision, and when/how they should be changed along with where they may be changed. This applies to dry tower systems.

      Poor precision (over- or under-delivery of dry product) can cause problems both in the quality of a blend and in the performance of the system (time to complete a blend).

      Bumping

      When dispensing dry product, once the system is near the set-point, it is sometimes necessary to open and close the product gates allowing small amounts of product to fall on the scale to reach the set-point without overshooting. This process is called bumping. 

      The time that the system holds the gate open and closed while bumping is configurable. The time that the system holds the gate open (bump open time) controls how much product is allowed to fall on the scale per bump. Generally this time should be decreased if the system is overshooting even when the system is bumping several times (3 or more) to reach the set-point. The bump open time should be increased if there is no or little product flow while bumping.

      The time that the system holds the gate closed (bump close time) controls how long the system waits to get a steady scale reading before determining if it should continue bumping. Generally this time should be increased if the system is overshooting or undershooting when the system is bumping several times (3 or more) to reach the set-point. The bump close time should be decreased if the system is able to hit the set-point, but is taking a long time to reach the set-point.

      Anticipation - Product anticipation, for dry product, specifies the how close to the set point that the system will start bumping the gates. The anticipation for a product should be increased if the system is overshooting the request without bumping a couple times. The anticipation for a product should be decreased if the system is bumping excessively (5 or more times) to reach the set-point. Additional information about anticipation can be found in the "Understanding Anticipation" page.

      Note: Anticipation Update Factor is not commonly recommended for use in dry facilities and should be set to "0" to disable updating. Refer to Liquid Panel settings for chem inject systems.

       Start Bumps - The “start bumps” setting may be used to help break up bridged product when first opening the gate to dispense product. When set to a value greater than zero, the gate will bump the number of times set in the “start bumps” (a.k.a. starting parameter) setting before opening the gate to dispense product. If “start bumps” is set to 99 the system will bump until the product set point is reached, which can be used to dispense smaller requests.

      Further Reading

      Still Need Help?

      Submit an online web ticket or call us at Kahler Automation 507-235-6648 Option 2.