Sensors and Actuators A 109 (2003) 2124

A novel liquid level detection method and its implementation

Eldar Musayev, Sait Eser Karlik
Department of Electronics Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Architecture, Uludag University, 16059 Gorukle, Bursa, Turkey Received 21 October 2002; received in revised form 21 October 2002; accepted 13 July 2003

Abstract There are various methods and implementations for level detection. Optical methods display a rapid growth among these with their high sensitivities and low costs. In this paper, we propose a new method that uses reciprocally placed LEDs and phototransistors whose optical axes are shifted according to each other. Shifting distance is determined by the direction of the change in the uid level. The minimum value of the shifting distance depends on dimensions of the LED and the phototransistor. The advantage of this method is that optical properties of the liquid do not have signicant effects on level detection phenomenon. Our method can be used in detecting levels of water and inammable uids (gasoline, fuel oil, alcohol, etc.). 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Optics; Optoelectronics; Liquid level sensors; LED; Phototransistor

1. Introduction Level detection plays an important role in commercial and technological applications. Level can be detected with various methods such as mechanical, capacitive, inductive, ultrasonic [1], acoustic [2] or optical [316]. The basic principle that must be considered in selecting the detection method is the property of the material that will be detected. For example, mechanical and ultrasonic methods are used to detect the level of solid materials that are in the form of dust. Capacitive and optical methods give better results in detecting the level of uids. For inammable uids, optical methods are more appropriate since light does not have any effect on the material that is to be detected. Also optoelectronic methods are more simple and can be adapted to any medium easily. A new method is proposed for level detection in this paper.

2. The novel level detection method The material whose level will be detected is inserted between reciprocally placed light source and photodetector and cuts off the light in classical optoelectronic level detection methods. But for liquids, applications of these methods are
Corresponding author. Tel.: +90-224-4428178x1138; fax: +90-224-4428021. E-mail addresses: eldar@uludag.edu.tr (E. Musayev), ekarlik@uludag.edu.tr (S.E. Karlik).

limited with optical properties of the liquid, e.g. the level of any transparent liquid cannot be detected by reciprocally placed LED-phototransistor method. That is, although the liquid is placed between LED and the phototransistor, light can reach to the phototransistor. This limits the application elds of optical methods. To expand application areas of optical methods and to minimize the effect of liquid properties, we propose a new method which does not depend on liquid properties. The optical diagram of this method is shown in Fig. 1. As shown in Fig. 1, where PT is the phototransistor, dL and dPT are diameters of LED and the phototransistor, respectively, L is the angle of the LED radiation diagram, P is the detection angle of the phototransistor, a is the distance between LED and the phototransistor, L is the liquid level variation between the lower end of the phototransistor and the higher end of LED, LED and phototransistor are placed reciprocally but their optical axes are shifted by a distance a. Let us explain our new detection principle. When there is no liquid between LED and the phototransistor, light that is being emitted from LED can fall on the phototransistor. As liquid level rises, it begins to block the detection surface of the phototransistor and some percent of the light reects from the liquid surface. When the liquid level reaches to L + dL , detection surface of the phototransistor is completely blocked and LED light reects from the liquid surface. This goes on till the level L + a. When the liquid level rises to a higher extent, LED light falls on the phototransistor by passing through the liquid. The

0924-4247/$ see front matter 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/S0924-4247(03)00347-9

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E. Musayev, S.E. Karlik / Sensors and Actuators A 109 (2003) 2124

Fig. 1. Optical diagram of the new level detection method.

transmitted power of light can be computed with VCC P L = KL I L = KL RL

Fig. 2. Optical diagram of the level detection system with optical ber connection.

(1)

3. Design and experimental results of the optoelectronic level detection sensor To simplify the research, water is used as the liquid. The diagram that explain locations of sensors which detect minimum and maximum levels of the water is shown in Fig. 3. In general, either analog or relay type systems are used in level detection. The method that we propose can be used in both systems. Minimum and maximum levels of the liquid are determined and sensors are set to these levels in relay type level detection systems, as shown in Fig. 3. Sensors in Fig. 3 are composed of LED1 PT1 and LED2 PT2 pairs which are located at Lmax and Lmin levels. The liquid whose level will be detected is moving up and down in a basin between LED-phototransistor pairs. The minimum level of the liquid is detected by T1 R1 pair and the maximum level is detected by T2 R2 pair, as shown in Fig. 3. Each transmitter is composed of a LED and a bipolar transistor while phototransistors, which are connected in the form of emitter followers, are used as receivers. Simplied circuit diagram of the level detection sensor is shown in Fig. 4. The system is controlled by a microprocessor. Pulses that have a duration of 100 s and a duty cycle of 25% are generated at A and B outputs of the microprocessor. These pulses are shifted in time domain with a duration of 150 s according to each other and are given to sensors for minimum and maximum level detection. Pulse shifting in time domain prevents low and high level detection sensors from effecting each other, i.e. if these sensors are located too close to each other, light coming from L1 can be detected by

where RL is the current-limiting resistor, VCC is the source voltage and KL , which is generally given in catalogues, is the conversion constant of current to light. For an infrared LED, PF (2) KL = IF where IF is the LED nominal current and has a value of 100 mA and PF is the power of light under nominal current. Considering that the distance between LED and the phototransistor is small, the light power that reaches to the phototransistor can be given by BuggerBer Law PPT = PL exp(cd) (3)

where c is a coefcient which depends on liquid properties, d is the distance between LED and the phototransistor. If = ec is considered as the light permeability coefcient of the liquid, the power that reaches to the phototransistor can be expressed as VCC VLED d PPT = KL (4) RL As it is seen in (4), where VLED is the LED threshold voltage, the amount of light that is transmitted to the phototransistor depends on the output power of LED, light permeability coefcient of the liquid and the distance between LED and the phototransistor. Considering that the distance between LED and the phototransistor is small, one can assume d = 1 to simplify computations. Using electrical connections in the control region can be dangerous in some cases, e.g. inammable uids. Optical ber connections can be used in these cases. The optical diagram of the level detection system that uses optical ber connection is shown in Fig. 2. Optical ber connections allow the design of a more sensitive level detection sensor. Level detection principle is similar to the previous method. Optical axes of bers are shifted in this system and the distance a can be smaller. The value of a is limited by dimensions of LED and the phototransistor in the previous system.

Fig. 3. Location of sensors detecting minimum and maximum levels.

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Fig. 4. Circuit diagram of the level detection sensor.

PT2 while light coming from L2 can be detected by PT1 and this will cause a serious problem unless there is a precaution like pulse shifting in time domain. Operating transmitters in pulse mode decreases the amount of the current supplied from the source. Passing through the basin of the liquid, pulses generated by transmitters are detected with phototransistors PT1 and PT2 and are converted to photosignals. Having been processed in comparators, these photosignals arrive to inputs In1 and In2 of the microprocessor. The microprocessor produces a signal proportional to the liquid level. Some other circuits can be connected to the output of the microprocessor according to system requirements. An SFH409 type LED and an SFH309F type phototransistor are used in the structure of the level sensor. Some important characteristics of these devices are given in Table 1. The distance between the transmitter and the receiver is designed to be d = 6 mm in the implementation. Designed sensors are located to minimum and maximum levels of the basin of the liquid and are connected to the master electronic board. First, the distance between optical axes of the transmitter and the receiver (LED and the phototransistor) is selected to be a = amin = dL dPT + = 3 mm 2 2

Fig. 5. Normalized photosignal variation vs. change in the uid level when the distance between the axes of LED and the phototransistor is a = 3 mm.

Fig. 6. Normalized photosignal variation vs. change in the liquid level when the distance between the axes of LED and the phototransistor is a = 8 mm.

As it can be easily seen from Figs. 5 and 6, increasing the value of a causes a gap to occur and does not effect the shape of the graphic. If the comparator is adjusted to the half-level of the photosignal, maximum error of such a sensor can be computed as max = Lr (L + dL /2) 100% Lr (5)

Changing the level of the liquid, the normalized photosignal variation for one of the sensors is found as shown in Fig. 5. Then, the distance between axes of LED and the phototransistor is changed to a = 8 mm and the graphic of photosignal variation versus liquid level is obtained as shown in Fig. 6.
Table 1 Characteristics of LED and the phototransistor used in level sensors LED SFH 409 Forward current (IF ) (mA) Forward voltage (IF = 100 mA) (V) Total radiant ux (IF = 100 mA) (mW) Wavelength at peak emission (peak ) (nm) Half angle (L ) ( ) 100 1.5 15 950 20

where Lr is the real level of the liquid detected with a more sensitive method, dL is the diameter of LED and dL = dPT . The error depends on the radius of the LED as it is shown in (5). To decrease this error, transceivers with smaller radii can be used, e.g. optical ber connections.

Phototransistor SFH 309F Collector-emitter voltage (VCE ) (V) Collector current (IC ) (mA) Dark current (VCE0 = 25 V, E = 0) (nA) Wavelength of maximum Sensitivity (max ) (nm) 35 15 1 900

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E. Musayev, S.E. Karlik / Sensors and Actuators A 109 (2003) 2124 [10] J.A. Morris, C.P. Yakymyshyn, C.R. Pollock, Fiber optic fuel level sensors, ISA Trans. 26 (3) (1987) 2532. [11] C.P. Nemarich, Time domain reectometry liquid level sensors, IEEE Instrum. Meas. Mag. 4 (4) (2001) 4044. [12] M. Borecki, J. Kruszewski, K. Kopczynski, Concepts of bre optic intensity sensors for liquid level measurement, Opt. Appl. 30 (1) (2000) 141150. [13] L. Levin, D. Royer, O. Legras, Liquid level sensor based on elastic wave absorption, J. Phys. 4 (5) (1994) 291294. [14] A. Wang, M.F. Gunther, K.A. Murphy, R.O. Claus, Fiber-optic liquid-level sensor, Sens. Actuators A: Phys. 35 (2) (1992) 161164. [15] P. Raatikaainen, I. Kassamakov, R. Kakanakov, M. Luukkala, Fiber-optic liquid-level sensor, Sens. Actuators A: Phys. 58 (9) (1997) 9397. [16] E. Musayev, Optoelectronic Circuits and Systems, Birsen Press, Istanbul, 1999, p. 285 (in Turkish).

4. Conclusion A new optical level detection method has been proposed in this study. Axes of LEDs and phototransistors are shifted according to each other in our method. Shifting distance is determined by the direction of the change in the liquid level. Minimum value of the shifting distance depends on dimensions of LED and the phototransistor. It is found that amin = dL = dPT . An optoelectronic level detection system based on this method has been designed and graphics of photosignal variation versus uid level have been obtained.

References
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Biographies
Eldar Musayev received his MSc degree in electrical and electronics engineering from Fergana Polytechnique University, Fergana, Uzbekistan, in 1974. Between 1979 and 1986, he received his PhD and associate professor degrees from Moscow Giredmet Scientic and Technical Research Center, Taskent Technical University and Fergana Technical University. Currently, he is an associate professor in Electronics Engineering Department of Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey. Dr. Musayev is the author or co-author of 6 books, 4 course notes, 98 scientic papers and holds 19 international patents. His research interests include electronic and especially optoelectronic circuit and system design, optoelectronic sensors and optical measurement techniques. Sait Eser Karlik received his BSc degree in electronics and telecommunication engineering from Istanbul Technical University, Istanbul, Turkey in 1997 and his MSc degree in electronics engineering from Uludag University, Bursa, Turkey in 1999. Currently, he is a research assistant and working toward his PhD degree at Electronics Engineering Department of Uludag University. His research interests involve ber optic communication systems, distributed ber sensors and optoelectronic transducers.