Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Level measuring sensors detect the level of substances that flow, including liquids, slurries, granular materials, and powders. The substance whose level to be measured can be
Inside a container or in its natural form (e.g. a river or a lake). In open tank or closed tank
FLOATS
A float operated liquid level control operates on the basic buoyancy principle, which states, "a body (float) immersed in a liquid is buoyed upward by a force equal to the weight of the displaced liquid". As a result, floats ride on the liquid surface partially submerged and move the same distance the liquid level moves.
DISPLACERS
Displacer level sensors are force balance devices in accordance with Archimedes' principle which states that the buoyant force acting on an object equals the weight of the fluid displaced.
The obvious Advantage of this method is that the absolute level does not change. The Disadvantages are that it is dependent on relative density and requires a signicant amount of mechanical equipment. Cost of installation for displacers is high and many refineries are now replacing them due to the inaccuracies experienced under process density changes especially on interface duties.
CONDUCTIVITY
The principle for this form of level measurement is that the presence of a product will cause a change in the resistance between two conductors.
The Advantages of this method are simple, inexpensive and suitable for dual or multiple point control. The Disadvantages are probe cannot become contaminated with grease or other deposits and has limited suitability for products of varying conductivity.
Frequency changes which shift tuning fork Piezo crystal which oscillates forks and Solution causes a reduction in resonant frequency Second crystal detects.
Disadvantages: They are prone to material buildup between the tines. Build up material can cause inaccurate reading.
RADAR
Extremely short microwave impulses with low emitted power in the 6.3 GHz frequency range are emitted by the antenna system to the measured product, reflected by the product surface and received again by the antenna system.
The Advantage of radar is its broad applicability on most liquids and measurement independent of pressure, temperature, vapor, and (to a degree) product dielectric constant. The Disadvantage is that the measurement may be lost because of heavy agitation of the liquid or the formation of foam.
ULTRASONIC
Ultrasonic transmitters work on the principle of sending a sound wave from a peizo electric transducer to the contents of the vessel. The device measures the length of time it takes for the reflected sound wave to return to the transducer.
The Advantages of TDR level measurements are disregard of the presence of vapors, steam, dust, gas layers, buildup, temperature changes, pressure changes, acoustic noise, changing density of the material to be measured, changing dielectric constant of the material to be measured, and changing conductivity of the material to be measured. Some Disadvantages of this measuring system are that it does come in contact with the process and is an intrusive form of measurement. The system is not suitable for highly agitated liquids.
MAGNETOSTRICTIVE
A magnetostrictive system consists of a magnetostrictive wire in a probe and a donutshaped oat containing a permanent magnet. The oat is the only moving part and travels up and down the probe.