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Solid and Liquid Level

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M Danyal Aslam
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21 views31 pages

Solid and Liquid Level

Uploaded by

M Danyal Aslam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Fair Use Notice

The material used in this presentation i.e., pictures/graphs/text, etc. is solely


intended for educational/teaching purpose, offered free of cost to the students for
use under special circumstances of Online Education due to COVID-19 Lockdown
situation and may include copyrighted material - the use of which may not have
been specifically authorised by Copyright Owners. It’s application constitutes Fair
Use of any such copyrighted material as provided in globally accepted law of many
countries. The contents of presentations are intended only for the attendees of the
class being conducted by the presenter.
SOLID
AND
LIQUID LEVEL
SENSORS
SOLID AND LIQUID LEVELS SENSORS
• The measurement of liquid level ant its control has very
important role in modern industrial plants, which use large
quantities of water, solvents, chemicals and other liquids
which required for processing materials and products.

• The instruments used for liquid level measurement in storage


tanks may be broadly classified as:

• Direct and indirect mechanical methods


• Pneumatic methods
• Electrical methods
• ultrasonic systems
• Nucleonic gauges
Direct and indirect mechanical methods
Dip-Sticks
• Dip-stick is the simplest form of liquid level measurement
device.

• In an ordinary form a dip-stick is a stick marked in unit length.

• It is commonly used for oil level in automobiles engine or the


height of fuel oil in a uniformly shaped storage tank.

• A refinement of the simple rod type dip-stick is the bob and a


tape. Where bob weight is lowered to the bottom of the tank
containing the liquid and the level is found by measuring the
point on the tape reached by the liquid surface.
Hook Gauge
• Hook gauge are used for measurement of small changes in level in a
very large storage tanks.

• A typical hook gauge is consist of a hook fixed to vernier scale, and


the position of hook can be adjusted by screw knob, which can be
shown on the vernier scale as shown in figure.

• In practice the gauge is fixed


at a datum or reference level.

• Small changes in level with


respect to the datum may
then be measured by adjusting
the position of the hook until the
tip just breaks the liquid surface.
Sight Glass
• The sight glass is normally a gradated glass tube mounted
on the side of the tank as shown in figure.
• This method is very simple and gives direct reading of
the level at the sight tube.

• Correction may be made


owing to variation in density,
if the temperature in storage
tank is much higher then the
temperature surrounding
the glass sight tube.

UNIT UNIT
METER METER
Sight Glass
Buoyant float
• This type of device is used for continuous level
measurement.

• The primary element of this device is the float,


which because of its buoyancy will follow the
changing liquid level.

• The movement of the float


is then relayed to pointer
or recorder by using some
form of transducer or any
mechanism.
Buoyant float
• A float level gauge is device using counter weight as
shown in figure.
• In case of float is coupled directly to the indicating
element but other systems are available where the
float movement is used to modulate an external
source of power, hydraulic, electrical or pneumatic.

UNIT UNIT
METER DEGREE
sliding contact

2 1
Vo 3
Vi
Rotary resistance element

UNIT UNIT
METER VOLTAGE
Buoyant float
Buoyant float
An example of float operated method equipped for
electrical transmission as shown in figure.

In this system the movement of float produces an angular


rotation of a take-up drum
which is connected via V

Suitable gearing to rotary


potentiometer type
displacement transducer.

The output voltage from


potentiometer is proportional
to the angular movement of
the drum and hence the linear float movement.
Buoyant float
BATTERY

POTENTIOMETER
V
TAKE UP DRUM
Indirect mechanical methods
Consider a tank of uniform cross section area A which contains a
liquid of density, the level of liquid to be measured being
indicated by the height h above the bottom of tank.

Absolute pressure at bottom of tank = ρ gh + atmospheric


pressure

or
gauge pressure = ρ gh

h = (P) 1/ρ g
Indirect mechanical methods
As the gauge pressure is proportional to the height
h, a meter is requires which will measure gauge pressure.

A typical Bourdon-type pressure gauge be used to


measure gauge pressure at the base of the tank as shown in
figure where the scale of the instrument is calibrated
directly in level measurement units.

h
Pneumatic methods (Bubbler level gauge)
• The principle of bubbler level gauge is based on that air pressure.

• Air supply in the bubbler tube is adjusted until bubbles can seen slowly
leaving the bottom of the tube. gauge

• The pressure gauge


then measures the
air pressure required
to overcome the pressure Air supply

of liquid head above the


bottom of the tube.
Air bubbles

• Normally the gauge is


calibrated directly
in head units but provided
the cross sectional area of the
tank is constant, volume units.
Pneumatic methods (Bubbler level gauge)

gauge

Air supply

Air bubbles
Bubbler level gauge
Electrical Methods (Capacitance gauge Level)
A capacitance transducer can be used to measure the liquid level in a
tank.
The arrangement is made in such manner that a metal electrode is
placed inside the tank and insulated from it as shown in figure.

The tank is itself is earthed and forms one of the electrode


plates of capacitor.

The transducer is therefore is consist of


two concentric metal cylinders and a
change in liquid level alters the di-
electric constant and hence the
capacitance.
o r A
C=
d
l1
l2

electrode
BATTERY
Electrical Methods (Capacitance gauge Level)
The capacitance transducer is connected to one
arm of a wheat stone bridge.

The bridge output voltage can electrode


therefore directly in terms
liquid level.

The capacitance level


gauge can measure from
a few millimeters to hundreds
of meters.
Ultrasonic systems
It is non contact type level measurement system.
It is used for corrosive or radioactive type liquids.
This device uses ultrasonic signal source and matching receiver as
shown in figure.

Where the ultrasonic transmitter and receiver


are placed above the full level of the tank.
Electronic

In this case two echoes are received circuit


one from the surface of the liquid and
one from the bottom of the tank.

The time separation between receiving


two echoes is a measure of the liquid
level in the tank and the echoes may
displayed on a suitable analogue device
such as cathode ray oscilloscope.
ULTRASONIC MEASUREMENT
Ultrasonic systems
Nucleonic gauge
• Nucleonic-type measuring units consist of a
radioactive, radioactive detector and a ratemeter
to detect the changes in radiation intensity
received by detector.

detector ratemeter

relay
On/off Nucleonic level gauge
• A simple on/off level control device consist of a radioactive
source mounted on a suitable shield to provide good
collimation and radiation detector as shown in figure.

• The source and detector are mounted on opposite sides of


the tank at critical level.

radioactive source

detector ratemeter

relay
On/off Nucleonic level gauge
• When the contents of the tank rise above the critical level gamma
radiation is absorbed and the detector output is reduced.
• This reduction in detector output is used to operate the control relay, thus
closing the valve and stopping the flow into the tank.

• Similarly when the tank is being emptied, the increase in signal strength
as the contents fall below critical level may be used to operate the control
valve.

relay
radioactive source

detector ratemeter
Continuous level nucleonic gauge
• In this type gauge a continuous strip gamma ray
source and a long tubular detector as shown in
figure is used.

• The liquid level upon rising and falling inside the


tank absorbs radiation and the change in intensity
received by the detector is a function of liquid level.
• ratemeter
SOLID LEVEL MEASUREMANT
• Many industrial processes require continuous level indication of solid substances like flour
or grain in storage tank.

Electrical weighing using load cell


• It is most popular indirect method of weighing the material in the tank or storage bin.
Provided the cross-sectional area of storage tank is uniform.

• Storage tanks may be weighted on mechanical scales or electrically using strain gauge load
cells.

• This technique of level measurement will only be accurate provided the density and particle
size of the material are uniform the moisture contents should also remain fairly uniform.

W=mg= ρ×A×h×g ρ=m/v → m = ρ×v= ρ×A×h

h =m/(ρ×A×g)
•
PROBLEM:
A storage tank contains oil of specific gravity 0.8 to a level of 3 m above the bottom of the tank. Calculate
the pressure at the tank base resulting from this head of oil.

DATA
specific gravity of oil= ωo = 0.8 h=3m
g = 9.81 m/sec2 P=??

Solution:

P = ρo g h

where ρo = Specific gravity of oil ×density of water ρo = 0.8 × 1000 ρo = 100 kg/m3

then

P = 800 × 9.81×3

P= 235.44 N/m2.

P= 0.23544 kN/m2

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