Product History

Digital Data Systems (DDS) has more than 30 years experience in calorimetry. The first unit was designed and produced in 1972. The AMPC (Automatic Micro Processor Calorimeter) was a dual water isothermal unit controlled by a microprocessor. The unit was fully designed, developed and produced in South Africa. After proving to be very successful in SA, it was exported to USA, Europe and Australia. Development in technology at that time was very rapid especially with the introduction of the desktop PC into South Africa and as such the components and technology used in the AMPC soon became outdated.

Early in 1980 work began on a revolutionary design of vessel, namely the DRY vessel or CP510. The patented construction of this unit did away with the surrounding water jacket. The water jacket is conventionally used to absorb the heat from the vessel and it is the temperature rise of the water that is measured and used to determine the calorific value of the sample.

In the new design a copper sleeve pressed over the vessel replaced the water jacket and the temperature sensors where placed inside the vessel. The heat transfer to the copper sleeve was extremely fast as compared to the heat transfer to a mass of water mainly because the mass of the copper is far less than the mass of the water. This had the dramatic effect of reducing the determination time from 15-20 down to 4-5 minutes, increasing unit efficiency by 4 times.

The processing power of the microprocessors that were available, was also tremendously increased which meant that mathematical compensations for external temperature effects and mathematical predictions could now be included into the units software.

This led to the development of the CP500 calorimeter, the first unit being released onto the South African market in 1981. The striking colour (buttercup yellow) of the CP500 had the coal industry in South Africa all talking about the YELLOW MACHINE and soon it was warmly accepted as it gave a splash of colour to the then very drab laboratories.

The CP500 proved to be a very fast and reliable machine for doing CV determinations. This caught the eye of overseas suppliers and end users. In the mid eighties units were being exported to USA, Europe, Scandinavia, Australasia, Africa and India. The interest soon spread to industries other than coal and the CP500 is now extensively used in the following sectors: Food (production and research), animal feeds, cement industry, brick manufactures, ammunition, explosives, pyrotechnics and liquid fuels.

During the late eighties and nineties the CP500 was in full production and exported worldwide. The long life of the CP500 was mostly due to its innovative and advanced design at the time of conception. However progress in technology and non-availability of certain components necessitated the redesign of the electronics of the CP500.

In the early part of 2002 work was started on the CAL2k. The tried and tested DRY system was retained as the basis of the new unit. Again only the very latest electronic technology was used, including surface mount devices. Because of the power and size of the latest microprocessors the electronic cards where very small. The vessel is now an INTELLIGENT or "SMART" vessel with a microprocessor and memory built into the base. The CAL2k calorimeter is a very compact unit requiring considerably less bench space than the CP500. In 2005, DDS came to realize the need for a smaller, low sample volume, inexpensive calorimeter system with the same accuracy and reliability of the CAL2k. The ECO was then created as an alternative system to the CAL2k. The ECO is suitable for the following markets: Universities, Research facilities, Brick manufacturers, Animal Feed Industries, Food Quality and Food Production. In 2007 work began on a system which would be language compatible. The e2k has been created for this purposes. The system is a cost effective system available in a variety of system options to suit different customer budgets.