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How are ISM diagnostics able to predict how many days remain until a sensor needs maintenance?

The diagnostics are sophisticated algorithms developed using METTLER TOLEDO’s many decades of experience of how analytical sensors are affected by process conditions. Sensor specific parameters, such as the characteristics of a pH sensor’s reference system and pH-sensitive glass, have been determined through extensive, long-term aging tests. Each sensor starts with a fixed lifetime in number of days. Depending on the process conditions a sensor has been exposed to, as well as the sensor’s current ‘health’, that lifetime will adjust. If the process conditions are harsh (e.g., constant high temperature) the lifetime will drop faster than for the same sensor used in a less harsh process. Using the information on process and sensor condition, the algorithms are also able to calculate how many days remain until calibration should be performed in order to restore measurement reliability, and when the sensor should be replaced.

How is it possible to calibrate ISM sensors away from the transmitter they’re connected to?

In an analog analytical sensor system, the transmitter knows the correct value to display depending on the signal it receives from the connected sensor. So, when performing a calibration, it means that it is the transmitter that is being adjusted, not the sensor. In ISM systems, the calculation of the measurement is done in the sensor, not the transmitter. Also, the calibration data for the sensor is stored on its on-board microchip. This means an ISM sensor can be calibrated via the ISM transmitter it is connected to, a different ISM transmitter, or via our ISM Core software.

What is ISM Core?

ISM Core is PC software that can be used for calibrating ISM sensors, performing other maintenance tasks, checking a sensor’s condition, maintaining a database of your ISM sensors, and generating reports on sensor maintenance for compliance purposes. Animations on ISM Core guide operators clearly through all maintenance steps.