Capacity Building project enables calibration of automatic weighing instruments

Countries new to EMPIR participate in this joint research project for traceable measurement

Countries new to EMPIR participate in this joint research project for traceable measurement

EMPIR Capacity Building projects aim to support the participating organisations to develop their metrological research expertise, and are one of the EURAMET tools that enable the integration of new areas of Europe into a metrology landscape that is coherent, efficient and sustainable

Completed EMPIR project ‘Traceable calibration of automatic weighing instruments operating in the dynamic mode’ (14RPT02, AWICal) developed reproducible calibration methods and measurement uncertainty evaluation models for different groups of automatic weighing instruments (AWIs), which operate in a dynamic mode.

This is the first joint research project coordinated by Slovenia, and one of the first projects with countries and Serbia as participants.

Specific project achievements were:

Three calibration guides for automatic catchweighers, automatic instruments for weighing road vehicles in motion and automatic gravimetric filling instruments respectively were submitted to EURAMET’s Technical Committee for Mass and Related Quantities for consideration as EURAMET calibration guides.
Measurement methods for the calibration of selected AWIs were developed and validated
Error models and uncertainty budgets for the calibration of AWIs were developed
Agreed strategies for the NMIs in all nine internal partner countries (Slovenia, Austria, Czech Republic, Poland, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Estonia, Serbia, Germany, Turkey) for the provision of calibration services and for the long-term development of their research capability in dynamic mass metrology

While some applications of AWIs are subject to legal metrological control, for other applications there is an increasing need to have metrological quality of AWIs confirmed by calibration, mostly required by ISO 9001 or specific rules that apply for regulated industries as pharmaceuticals or food. Therefore, companies across Europe have shown interest in putting the calibration guides into practice and accrediting their laboratories.

The validated calibration techniques, associated uncertainty formulation and new and harmonised calibration guides on AWIs developed by the project will be directly used by calibration laboratories, which will assure traceability of measurements performed by dynamically operated AWIs.

Project Coordinator Matej Grum from MIRS in Slovenia said ‘The main impact of this project to stakeholders is achieved through the availability of guidance on calibration methods for AWIs. But the project has also increased capabilities and expertise of emerging EURAMET members and will assist them in developing their conformity assessment competence, which supports the implementation of the Measuring Instruments Directive and the Pre-packages Directive.’

This EMPIR project is co-funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme and the EMPIR Participating States.

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