Precision sensor and instrumentation manufacturer, Michell Instruments, is celebrating 40 years of business this year. Michell is very much part of the ‘Cambridge phenomenon’ of scientific and engineering companies that started life in the city.
From humble beginnings in a small building with just a handful of employees, Michell has grown to become one of the largest high-tech manufacturers in the region, with over 90% of its output exported to Europe, Asia and the Americas.
To mark the key points in its history and to track its growth over the last 40 years, Michell has created an interactive timeline on its website.
Follow the link to discover some interesting facts about Michell’s pioneering work in the field of moisture measurement. For example, back in 1980, Michell worked with the NPL to create the UK’s first humidity transfer standard, and Michell’s calibration laboratory was the first in the world to have accreditation for humidity calibrations.
They were also the first to introduce a 2-wire dew-point transmitter: an innovation that transformed moisture sensing by allowing online measurements in the field with simple transmission of data back to a control room.
Another first for Michell was the development of the ‘dark spot’ technique to measure hydrocarbon dew point in natural gas, which is a key parameter in ensuring the quality of natural gas, especially at points of custody transfer.
The resulting instrument, the Condumax, became the most reliable automatic method of measuring hydrocarbon dew point, and was only superseded by the Condumax II which was introduced in 2006. Currently the majority of the online hydrocarbon dew-point analyzers installed around the world today are Condumax or Condumax II.
The timeline covers all these innovations, and more – such as Michell’s global growth. You can find the timeline on the Michell website here: www.michell.com/timeline.