Data logger: What is it, who uses it, and how to calibrate it

Posted on 6 de February de 2023 by Roberta Roth

Since it is a common device for different industrial automation processes, the data logger is critical to digitally monitor variables and have a reliable and validable record of them over time. Providing information for the user to understand the process parameters and how they affect quality and procedures, and to ensure quality and process standardization, many industries require data recording.

Data loggers record data acquired from different sensors and transmitters and are commonly used in a wide variety of industry segments and applications. Its main function is to register data that indicate environmental variables or a process where the accuracy of the quantities is indispensable for maintaining the quality of the processes or final products.

Who uses data loggers and why

This is the main application of a data logger: To monitor temperature, pressure, humidity, and other parameters in a given space and, at the same time, to provide a reliable history of the variables so that it is possible to check the data and ensure that standards and regulations are being met.

In industrial processes, data loggers are indispensable for controlling variables in procedures, including temperature, pressure, and flow. In this case, data is collected from specific points or parts of the process, and not from the environment.

In other situations where there is no need for environmental monitoring, data logger applications work in building automation, monitoring energy efficiency. In the logistics sector, the data recorded by the data logger are used to monitor routes and travel times between transport points.

In agribusiness, agriculture and livestock, the data logger is used to monitor soil moisture, temperature and its variations, and other parameters needed to optimize the planting area and the harvest. In livestock, temperature is once again the main variable to be monitored and recorded over time. It promotes the animals’ thermal comfort and, consequently, improves the quality of the process of raising animals for breeding or slaughter.

Applications such as weather stations, including in photovoltaic power generation plants, and in the aerospace industry are also common. In the oil and gas industry, the use of a data logger provides data for logging and allows the analysis of wells, tanks, and pipelines.

FieldLogger, NOVUS most complete data logger, is mainly used for:

Register equipment performance variables (chillers, fancoils, filters) in the healthcare segment.
Record boiler variables and perform a performance analysis in the hospitality and chemical industry.
Monitor temperature, pressure, level, flow, etc. and evaluate the cleanliness of filters in sanitation.
Supervise and monitor incoming signals in cold stores.
Record and monitor temperature of bearings, stators, rotors, and other points in power distribution.
Offer qualification to conduct studies in ovens or furnaces to evaluate thermal stability and temperature homogeneity.
Verify heat treatment curves in industrial furnaces.
Compile data and generate reports with high sampling rate and accuracy in pharmaceuticals.
Gather data by keeping a backup of the logs and perform the integration with legacy systems in warehouses. This allows you to meet the demands of certifying bodies.

Calibrated data logger for pharmaceutical industries, industrial laboratories, and hospital environments

In hospital and scientific research environments, data loggers store physiological data for analysis, such as heartbeat and brain activity, important parameters for studies and trials.

Environmental monitoring in pharmaceutical companies, laboratories, hospital environments, and in warehouses for storing drugs and thermolabile products is essential to certify the viability and quality of everything that comes from the local activities. There are norms, quality standards, qualifications, and regulations that must be followed according to the type of activity performed and/or the type of product handled in the environment.

The accuracy of the data, which is acquired on a regular basis and stored securely, provides the confidence needed to perform audits and ensure the maintenance of the activities on site. Therefore, a data logger such as FieldLogger is the most suitable data logger for these applications.

Besides being an excellent data logger for the pharmaceutical industry, NOVUS has its own Metrology Laboratory. This allows the device to be delivered with a calibration already performed according to the customer’s operating standards.

Thus, FieldLogger fills the demand for data loggers with a calibration certificate issued by a laboratory that belongs to the Brazilian Calibration Network (in Brazil, known as “RBC”). The periodic calibration of data loggers is also performed by the specialized team at NOVUS Metrology Laboratory and can be carried out at the customer’s facilities or at the laboratory itself.