Historical Landmarks of Auburn TRIBO Technology

1966

Soon-to-be founder of Auburn and inventors of triboelectric particle flow measurement technology first utilized this technology to monitor turbine engine exhaust to detect increased particulate flow signifying the onset of excessive bearing wear signifying the onset of incipient, catastrophic engine failure.  Turbine engines are utilized as natural gas pumps for cross-country natural gas transmission.

Customer: Columbia Gas of Ohio

1973

Auburn was established as a company.

The first product, a triboelectric flow/no flow detector, was installed on pneumatic conveying line to detect loss of flow of polyethylene pellets in a purge blender to minimize explosion hazards occurring when the polymer mass shifts after blockage resulting in electrostatic arc discharge and volatiles ignition.

Customer: DuPont, Orange , Texas. (Recent process application example)

1978

World's first environmental application of DC triboelectric technology for dust emission monitoring installed on the fabric filter dust collector of waste incinerator. It was a simple normal-abnormal dust emissions detector which activates a relay contact when the flow exceeds a preset alarm level.

Customer: GE Power Plant, Lynn , Massachusetts .

1983

The first analog output triboelectric dust emission monitor (model 2200) was installed in a cement plant, to replace an optical system installed in high temperature collector zones causing the lenses to melt. Initial testing indicated that the unit detected a 1cm diameter hole in one of 366 6-meter bags, an astonishing ratio of detection of 26 million to one. An AC triboelectric version utilized by  competitors would not be nearly as sensitive.

Customer: Ideal Basic Cement, Mobile , Alabama.

1985

Model 2600 series was introduced incorporating sophisticated circuitry to compensate for temperature effects causing signal shift and resulting in the granting of several US and foreign patents.

1987

A special adaptation was introduced incorporating an AC coupled probe employing a coated probe for humid applications, well before our competitors adopted this mode as the principle sensing method. We still prefer DC based triboelectric circuitry, which provides higher sensitivity sensing ability suitable for locating bag leaks, and other applications where AC based triboelectric are unsuitable or less responsive. (AC/DC White Paper link)

1990

Introduction of TRIBO.guard I and TRIBO.guard II (model 4001 and 4002), with a completely new, state-of-the-art design. They were designed to incorporate improved user-friendly functionality and measurement options. We have shipped tens of thousands TRIBO.guard units, which represents a large proportion of our sales since 1990. (TRIBO.guard I link) and  (TRIBO.guard II link)

1995

World's first PC based, networked triboelectric dust emission monitoring system, TRIBO.link was released, which incorporated analog signal conditioning combined with digital data processing. The system incorporates numerous sensors for dust and other baghouse operating parameters (such as pressure and temperature) connected through a CAN (control area network) configuration. The triboelectric sensors employ a combination of analog and digital circuitry. Proprietary PC software was also introduced to collect and manage network data. (TRIBO.link)

1996

First USEPA MACT (Maximum Achievable Control Technology) standard for secondary lead processors  is promulgated, which recommends triboelectric dust emission monitoring systems to quickly identify bag leak and location, which represents the first official EPA recognition and recommendation of triboelectric monitoring for bag leak detection. Since then, this technology has been in a number of EPA emission standards. Auburn contributed, and continues to contribute, expert opinion for USEPA and wrote the first draft of the USEPA FABRIC FILTER BAG LEAK DETECTION GUIDANCE document, which is the official operation standard for the use of bag leak detectors today. (Link)

1998

Our PC software for the TRIBO.link system was redesigned to incorporate real-time monitoring, data logging & retrieval, emission data analysis, reporting and exporting functions. It represents the first complete software package for dust emission monitoring and management.

2000

TRIBO.dgd introduced; the world's first all-digital triboelectric dust emission monitoring system for signal conditioning and data processing (the circuit front and back ends). It combines to produce higher precision and wide dynamic range and incorporates a sophisticated digital signal processing algorithm utilizing the most sophisticated, state-of-the-art DSP processing power to achieve the best monitoring results and operational flexibility.

2002

Auburn became the member of OPC foundation, a consortium of industrial instrumentation and automation control system manufactures to promote industrial software connectivity and interoperability. Auburn ?s software, which is OPC compliant, has the ability to exchange the dust emission data with plant floor PLC/SCADA/HMI systems and factory information systems and is the only OPC compliant manufacturer of bag leak detectors. (OPC link)

2004

Introduced a new low cost, easy to deploy, two-wire, 4-20ma, triboelectric dust emission monitoring system, -- TRIBO.d² (model 3400) was introduced, to meet the rising world-wide demand for more sophisticated and economical bag leak detectors for large-scale dust collector applications. (TRIBO.d² link)

2005

Auburn introduces TRIBO.vision and TRIBO.OPC two completely redesigned software packages; these latest innovations are based on, and are compliant with, OPC architecture. Besides collecting data from Auburn 's proprietary triboelectric dust emission monitoring instruments, the software package can also import/export real-time data from OPC compliant software systems. The two new software packages have powerful data processing capabilities specifically designed for emission control and bag house operations and are highly customizable to fit individual customer's needs. Major functions include data collection, real-time monitoring, alarm and events detection, data logging and retrieval, baghouse leak location, custom model processing, historical data exporting and reporting.

the first and still the best