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February23,2012

ADozenWaystoMeasureFluidLevel
HowTheyWork


























Themoreyouknowaboutfluidlevel
sensorsfromsightglassestoguidedwave
radartolasersthehappieryouwillbe
withthetechnologyyouchooseforyour
ownapplication.KevinHambrice,Global
Sales&MarketingManagerLevel
Measurement

Thedemandsofsophisticatedautomatedprocessing
systems,theneedforevertighterprocesscontrol,andan
increasinglystringentregulatoryenvironmentdriveprocess
engineerstoseekmorepreciseandreliablelevel
measurementsystems.Improvedlevelmeasurement
accuracymakesitpossibletoreducechemicalprocess
variability,resultinginhigherproductquality,reducedcost,
andlesswaste.Regulations,especiallythosegoverning
electronicrecords,setstringentrequirementsforaccuracy,
reliabilityandelectronicreporting.Thenewerlevel
measurementtechnologieshelpmeettheserequirements.

1.LevelMeasurementTechnologyinTransition
Thesimplestandoldestindustriallevelmeasurement
deviceis,ofcourse,thesightglass.Amanualapproachto
measurement,sightglasseshavealwayshadanumberof
limitations.Thematerialusedforitstransparencycansuffer
catastrophicfailure,withensuingenvironmentalinsult,
hazardousconditionsforpersonnel,and/orfireand
explosion.Sealsarepronetoleak,andbuildup,ifpresent,
obscuresthevisiblelevel.Itcanbestatedwithout
reservationthatconventionalsightglassesaretheweakest
linkofanyinstallation.Theyarethereforebeingrapidly
replacedbymoreadvancedtechnologies.
Otherleveldetectiondevicesincludethosebasedon
specificgravity,thephysicalpropertymostcommonlyused
tosensethelevelsurface.Asimplefloathavingaspecific
gravitybetweenthoseoftheprocessfluidandtheheadspace
vaporwillfloatatthesurface,accuratelyfollowingitsrises
andfalls.Hydrostaticheadmeasurementshavealsobeen
widelyusedtoinferlevel.
Whenmorecomplexphysicalprinciplesareinvolved,
emergingtechnologiesoftenusecomputerstoperformthe
calculations.Thisrequiressendingdatainamachine
readableformatfromthesensortothecontrolormonitoring
system.Usefultransduceroutputsignalformatsfor
computerautomationarecurrentloops,analogvoltagesand
digitalsignals.Analogvoltagesaresimpletosetupanddeal
with,butmayhaveseriousnoiseandinterferenceissues.

Figure1:LevelMeasurementdeterminesthepositionofthelevel
relativetothetopofbottomoftheprocessfluidstoragevessel.A
varietyoftechnologiescanbeused,determinedbythe
characteristicsofthefluidanditsprocessconditions.

Thesimplestandoldestindus420mAcurrentloops(where
theloopcurrentvarieswiththelevelmeasurement)arethe
mostcommonoutputmechanismtoday.Currentloopscan
carrysignalsoverlongerdistanceswithlessdegradation.
Digitalsignalscodedinanyofanumberofprotocols(e.g.,
FoundationFieldbus,Hart,HoneywellDE,Profibus,andRS
232)arethemostrobust,buttheoldertechnologiessuchas
RS232canhandleonlylimiteddistances.Newwireless
capabilitiescanbefoundinthelatesttransmitterssignals,
allowingthemtobesentovertremendousdistanceswith
virtuallynodegradation.
Asforthemoreadvancedmeasurementtechnologies(e.g.,
ultrasonic,radarandlaser),themoresophisticateddigital
encodingformatsrequiredigitalcomputerintelligenceto
formatthecodes.Combiningthisrequirementwiththeneed
foradvancedcommunicationcapabilitiesanddigital
calibrationschemesexplainsthetrendtowardembedding
microprocessorbasedcomputerinvirtuallyalllevel
measurementproducts(seeFigure1).

EstablishedLevelSensingTechnologies
Throughoutthisarticleweassumethedensityofthevapor
intheheadspace(typicallyair)tobenegligiblecompareswith
thatofprocessfluid.Wewillassumealsothatthereisonly
one,uniformprocessfluidinthetank.Someofthese
technologiescanbeusedformultilevelapplicationswheretwo
ormoreimmisciblefluidsshareavessel.
2.Floats.Floatsworkonsimpleprincipleofplacinga
buoyantobjectwithaspecificgravityintermediatebetween
thoseoftheprocessfluidandtheheadspacevaporintothe
tank,thenattachingamechanicaldevicetoreadoutits
position.Thefloatsinkstothebottomoftheheadspacevapor
andfloatsontopoftheprocessfluid.Whilethefloatitselfisa
basicsolutiontotheproblemoflocatingaliquidssurface,
readingafloatsposition(i.e.,makinganactuallevel
measurement)isstillproblematic.Earlyfloatsystemsused
mechanicalcomponentssuchascables,tapes,pulleysand
gearstocommunicatelevel.Magnetequippedfloatsare
populartoday.

Figure2:DisplacementlevelgaugesoperateonArchimedes
principle.Theforceneededtosupportacolumnofmaterial
(displacer)decreasesbytheweightoftheprocessfluiddisplaced.
Aforcetransducermeasuresthesupportforceandreportsitas
analogsignal.

Earlyfloatleveltransmittersprovidedasimulatedanalogor
discretelevelmeasurementusinganetworkofresistorsand
multiplereedswitches,meaningthatthetransmittersoutput
changesindiscretesteps.Unlikecontinuouslevelmeasuring
devices,theycannotdiscriminatelevelvaluesbetweensteps.
3.HydrostaticDevices.Displacers,bubblersanddifferential
pressuretransmittersareallhydrostaticmeasurementdevices.
Anychangeintemperaturewillthereforecauseashiftinthe
liquidsspecificgravity,aswillchangesinthepressurethat
affectsthespecificgravity,aswillchangesinpressurethat
affectthespecificgravityofthevaporovertheliquid.Both
resultinreducedmeasurementaccuracy.Displacersworkon
theArchmedesprinciple.AsshowninFigure2,acolumnof

Figure3:Bubblerssenseprocessfluiddepthbymeasuringthe
hydrostaticpressurenearthebottomofthestoragevessel.

solidmaterial(thedisplacer)issuspendedinthevessel.The
displacersdensityisalwaysgreaterthanthatoftheprocess
fluid(itwillsinkintheprocessfluid)anditmustextendfrom
thelowestlevelrequiredtoatleastthehighestleveltobe
measured.Astheprocessfluidlevelrises,thecolumn
displacesavolumeoffluidequaltothecolumnscross
sectionalareamultipliedbytheprocessfluidlevelinthe
displacer.Abuoyantforceequaltothisdisplacedvolume
multipliedbytheprocessfluiddensitypushesupwardonthe
displacer,reducingtheforceneededtosupportitagainst
thepullofgravity.Thetransducer,whichislinkedtothe
transmitter,monitorsandrelatesthischangeinforceto
level.
AbubblertypelevelsensorisshowninFigure3.This
technologyisusedinvesselsthatoperateunder
atmosphericpressure.Adiptubehavingitsopenendnear
thevesselopencarriesapurgegas(typicallyair,althoughan
inertgassuchasdrynitrogenmaybeusedwhenthereis
dangerofcontaminationoforanoxidativereactionwiththe
processfluid)intothetank.Asgasflowsdowntothedips
tubeoutlet,thepressureinthetuberisesuntilitovercomes
thehydrostaticpressureproducedbytheliquidlevelatthe
outlet.Thepressureequalstheprocessfluidsdensity
multipliedbyitsdepthfromtheendofthediptubetothe
surfaceandismonitoredbyapressuretransducerconnected
tothetube.

Figure4:Differentialpressuresensorsmonitorfortheprocessfluid
levelbymeasuringthetotalpressuredifferencebetweenthefluidat
thebottomofthetankandthevesselpressure.

Adifferentialpressure(DP)levelsensorisshowninFigure4.
Theessentialmeasurementisthedifferencebetweentotal
pressureatthebottomofthetank(hydrostaticheadpressureof
thefluidplusstaticpressureinthevessel)andthestaticorhead
pressureinthevessel.Aswiththebubbler,thehydrostatic
pressuredifferenceequalstheprocessfluiddensitymultiplied
bytheheightoffluidinthevessel.TheunitinFigure4uses
atmosphericpressureasareference.Aventatthetopkeeps
headspacepressureequaltheatmosphericpressure.
Incontrasttobubblers,DPsensorscanbeusedinunvented
(pressurized)vessels.Allthatisrequiredistoconnectthe
referenceport(thelowpressureside)toaportinthevessel
abovethemaximumfilllevel.Liquidpurgesorbubblersmaystill
berequired,dependingontheprocesssphysicalconditions
and/orthetransmitterslocationrelativetotheprocess
connections.
4.LoadCells.Aloadcellorstraingaugedeviceisessentially
amechanicalsupportmemberorbracketequippedwithoneor
moresensorsthatdetectsmalldistortionsinthesupport
member.Astheforceontheloadcellchanges,thebracket
flexesslightly,causingoutputsignalchanges.Calibratedload
cellshavebeenmadewithforcecapacitiesrangingfrom
fractionalouncestotons.
Tomeasurelevel,theloadcellmustbeincorporatedintothe
vesselssupportstructure.Asprocessfluidfillsthevessel,the
forceontheloadcellincreases.Knowingthevesselsgeometry
(specifically,itscrosssectionalarea)andthefluidsspecific
gravity,itisasimplemattertoconverttheloadcellsknown
outputintothefluidlevel.
Whileloadcellsareadvantageousinmanyapplications
becauseoftheirnoncontactnature,theyareexpensiveandthe


Vesselsupportstructureandconnectingpipingmustbe
designedaroundtheloadcellsrequirementsofafloating
substructure.Thetotalweightofthevessel,pipingand
connectingstructuresupportedbythevesselwillbe
weighedbytheloadsysteminadditionaltothedesirednet
orproductweight.Thistotalweightoftencreatesavery
poorturndowntothenetweight,meaningthatthenet
weightisaverysmallpercentageoftotalweight.Finally,
thesupportingstructuresgrowth,causedbyuneven
heating(e.g.,morningtoeveningsunshine)maybe
reflectedaslevel,ascansideload,windload,rigidpiping
andbindingfromoverturnpreventionhardware(for
bottommountedloadcells).Inshort,loadcellweighing
systemrequirementsmustbeaparamountconsideration
throughoutinitialvesselsupportandpipingdesign,or
performanceisquicklydegraded.

Figure5:Magneticlevelgaugesuseamagneticallycoupled
shuttletolocateafloatspositioninthechamber.

5.MagneticLevelGauges.Thesegauges(seeFigure5)are
thepreferredreplacementforthesightglasses.Theyare
similartofloatdevices,buttheycommunicatetheliquid
surfacelocationmagnetically.Thefloat,carryingasetof
strongpermanentmagnets,ridesinanauxiliarycolumn
(floatchamber)attachedtothevesselbymeansoftwo
processconnections.Thiscolumnconfinesthefloat
laterallysothatitisalwaysclosetothechamberssidewall.
Asthefloatridesupanddownthefluidlevel,amagnetized
shuttleorbargraphindicationmoveswithit,showingthe
positionofthefloatandtherebyprovidingthelevel
indication.Thesystemcanworkonlyiftheauxiliary
columnandchamberwallsaremadeofnonmagnetic
material.

Manymanufacturesprovidefloatdesignsoptimizedforthe
specificgravityofthefluidbeingmeasured,whetherbutane,
propane,oil,acid,water,orinterfacesbetweentwofluids,as
wellasalargeselectionoffloatmaterials.
Thismeansthegaugescanhandlehightemperatures,high
pressuresandcorrosivesfluids.Oversizedfloatchambersand
highbuoyancyfloatsareavailableforapplicationswhere
buildupisanticipated.

Figure6:Capacitivelevelsensorsmeasurethechangein
capacitancebetweentwoplatesproducedbychangesinlevel.Two
versionsareavailable,oneforfluidswithhighdielectricconstants
(A)andanotherforthosewithlowdielectricconstants(B).

Chambers,flangesandprocessconnectionscanbemade
fromengineeredplasticssuchasKynarorexoticalloyssuchas
HastelloyC276.Specialchamberconfigurationscanhandle
extremeconditionssuchassteamjacketingforliquidasphalt,
oversizedchambersforflashingapplications,andcryogenic


temperaturedesignsforliquidnitrogenandrefrigerants.
Numerousmetalsandalloyssuchastitanium,Incoloyand
Monelareavailableforvaryingcombinationsofhigh
temperature,highpressure,lowspecificgravityand
corrosivefluidapplications.Todaysmagneticlevelgauges
canalsobeoutfittedwithmagnetostrictiveandguidedwave
radartransmitterstoallowthegaugeslocalindicationtobe
convertedinto420mAoutputsanddigitalcommunication
thatcanbesenttoacontrollerorcontrolsystem.
6.CapacitanceTransmitters.Thesedevices(seeFigure6)
operateonthefactthatprocessfluidsgenerallyhave
dielectricconstants,,significantlydifferentfromthatorair,
whichisverycloseto1.0.Oilshavedielectricconstantsfrom
1.8to5.Pureglycolis37;aqueoussolutionsarebetween50
and80.Thistechnologyrequiresachangeincapacitance
thatvarieswiththeliquidlevel,createdbyeitheran
insulatedrodattachedtothetransmitterandtheprocess
fluid,oranuninsulatedrodattachedtothetransmitterand
eitherthevesselwallorareferenceprobe.Asthefluidlevel
risesandfillsmoreofthespacebetweentheplates,the
overallcapacitancerisesproportionately.Anelectronic
circuitcalledacapacitancebridgemeasurestheoverall
capacitanceandprovidesacontinuouslevelmeasurement.
7.ModernTechnologies.Perhapsthemostsignificant
differencebetweenearliercontinuousliquidlevelmeasuring
technologiesandthosenowgainingfavoristheuseoftime
offlight(TOF)measurementstotransducertheliquidlevel
intoaconventionaloutput.Thesedevicestypicallyoperate
bymeasuringthedistancebetweentheliquidlevelanda
referencepointatasensorortransmitternearthetopofthe
vessel.Thesystemtypicallygenerateapulsewaveatthe
referencepoint,whichtravelsthrougheitherthevapor
spaceoraconductor,reflectsofftheliquidsurface,and
returnstoapickupatthereferencepoint.Anelectronic
timingcircuitmeasuresthetotaltraveltime.Dividingthe
traveltimebytwicethewavesspeedgivesthedistanceto
thesurfaceofthefluid.Thetechnologiesdiffermainlyinthe
kindofpulseusedtomakethemeasurement.Ultrasound,
microwaves(radar),andlightallhaveprovenuseful.

Figure7:Magnetostrictiveleveltransmittersusethespeedofa
torsionalwaveinawiretoproducealevelmeasurement

8.MagnetostrictiveLevelTransmitters.Theadvantagesof
usingamagnetcontainingafloattodetermineliquidlevelhave
alreadybeenestablished,andmagnetostrictionisaproven
technologyforverypreciselyreadingthefloatslocation.
Insteadofmechanicallinks,magnetostrictivetransmittersuse
thespeedofatorsionalwavealongawiretofindthefloatand
reportitsposition.
Inamagnetostrictivesystem(seeFigure7,page18),thefloat
carriesaseriesofpermanentmagnets.Asensorwireis
connectedtoapiezoceramicsensoratthetransmitteranda
tensionfixtureisattachedtotheoppositeendofthesensor
tube.Thetubeeitherrunsthroughaholeinthecenterofthe
floatorisadjacenttothefloatoutsideofanonmagneticfloat
chamber.
Tolocatethefloat,thetransmittersendsashortcurrentpulse
downthesenorwire,settingupamagneticfieldalongitsentire
length.Simultaneously,atimingcircuitistriggeredON.The
fieldinteractsimmediatelywiththefieldgeneratedbythe
magnetsinthefloat.Theoveralleffectisthatduringthebrief
timethecurrentflows,atorsionalforceisproducedinthewire,
muchlikeanultrasonicvibrationorwave,Thisforcetravelsback
tothepiezoceramicsensoratacharacteristicspeed.Whenthe
sensordetectsthetensionalwave,itproducesanelectrical
signalthatnotifiesthetimingcircuitthatthewavehasarrived
andstopsthetimingcircuit.Thetimingcircuitmeasuresthe
timeinterval(TOF)betweenthestartofthecurrentpulseand
thewavesarrival.


Fromthisinformation,thefloatslocationisveryprecisely
determinedandpresentedasalevelsignalbythe
transmitter.Keyadvantagesofthistechnologyarethatthe
signalspeedisknownandconstantwithprocessvariables
suchastemperatureandpressure,andthesignalisnot
affectedbyfoam,beamdivergence,orfalseechoes.
Anotherbenefitisthattheonlymovingpartisthefloatthat
ridesupanddownwiththefluidssurface.

9.UltrasonicLevelTransmitters.Ultrasoniclevelsensors
(seeFigure8,page18)measurethedistancebetweenthe
transducerandthesurfaceusingthetimerequiredforan
ultrasoundpulsetotravelfromatransducertothefluid
surfaceandback(TOF).Thesesensorsusefrequenciesinthe
tensofkilohertzrange;transittimesare~6ms/m.Thespeed
ofsound(340m/sinairat15degreesC,1115fpsat60
degreesF)dependsonthemixtureofgasesintheheadspace
andtheirtemperature.Whilethesensortemperatureis
compensatedfor(assumingthatthesensorisatthesame
temperatureastheairintheheadspace),thistechnologyis
limitedtoatmosphericpressuremeasurementsinairor
nitrogen.

.
Figure8:Ultrasonicleveltransmittersusethespeedofsoundto
calculatelevel.

Figure9:Alasertransmitterusesashortburstoflaserenergyto
measurelevel.

10.LaserLevelTransmitters.Designedforbulksolids,slurries
andopaqueliquidssuchasdirtysumps,milk,andliquidstyrene,
lasersoperateonaprincipleverysimilartothatofultrasonic
levelsensors.Insteadofusingthespeedofsoundtofindthe
level,however,theyusethespeedoflight(seeFigure9).A
lasertransmitteratthetopofavesselfiresashortpulseoflight
downtotheprocessliquidsurface,whichreflectsitbacktothe
detector.Atimingcircuitmeasurestheelapsedtime(TOF)and
calculatesthedistance.Thekeyisthatlasershavevirtuallyno
beamspread(0.2degreebeamdivergence)andnofalseechoes,
andcanbedirectedthroughspaceassmallas2in.2lasersare
precise,eveninvaporandfoam.Theyareidealforusein
vesselswithnumerousobstructionsandcanmeasuredistances
upto1500ft.Forhightemperatureorhighpressure
applications,suchasinreactorvessels,lasersmuchbeusedin
conjunctionwithspecializedsightwindowstoisolatethe
transmitterfromtheprocess.Theseglasswindowstoisolate
thetransmitterfromtheprocess.Theseglasswindowsmuch
passthelaserbeamwithminimaldiffusionandattenuationand
mustcontaintheprocessconditions.

11.RadarLevelTransmitters.Throughairradarsystemsbeam
microwavesdownwardfromeitherahornorarodantennaat
thetopofavessel.Thesignalreflectsoffthefluidsurfaceback
totheantenna,andatimingcircuitcalculatesthedistanceto
thefluidlevelbymeasuringtheroundtriptime(TOP).Thekey


variableinradartechnologyisthedielectriccontactofliquid.
Thereasonisthattheamountofreflectedenergyat
microwave(radar)frequenciesisdependentonthedielectric
constantofthefluid,andifErislow,mostoftheradars
energyentersorpassesthrough.Water(Er=80)producesan
excellentreflectionatthechangeordiscontinuityinEr.
Guidedwaveradar(GWR)transmitters(seeFigure10)are
alsoveryreliableandaccurate.Arigidprobeorflexiblecable
antennasystemguidesthemicrowavedownfromthetopof
thetanktotheliquidlevelandbacktothetransmitter.As
withthroughairradar,achangefromalowertoahigherEr
causesthereflection.Guidedwaveradaris20Xmore
efficientthatthroughairradarbecausetheguideprovidesa
morefocusedenergypath.Differentantennaconfigurations
allowmeasurementdowntoER=1.4andlower.Moreover,
thesesystemscanbeinstalledeithervertically,orinsome
caseshorizontallywiththeguidebeingbentupto90degree
angled,andprovideaclearmeasurementsignal.
GWRexhibitsmostoftheadvantagesandfewofthe
liabilitiesofultrasound,laser,andopenairradarsystems.
Radarswavespeedislargelyunaffectedbyvaporspacegas
composition,temperature,orpressure.Itworksinavacuum
withnorecalibrationneeded,andcanmeasurethroughmost
foamlayers.Confiningthewavetofollowaprobeorcable
eliminatesbeamspreadproblemsandfalseechoesfromtank
wallsandstructures.

Figure10:Guidedwaveradarusesawaveguidetoconduct
microwaveenergyandfromthefluidsurface.

Summary
Generaltrendsacrossdifferentmeasurementtechnologies
reflectmarketdrivers.Refineddigitalelectronicsaremaking
levelsensorsandothermeasurementdevicesmoreuser
friendly,morereliable,easiertosetup,andlessexpensive.
Improvedcommunicationinterfacesfeedlevelmeasurement
dateintoacompanysexistingcontroland/orinformation
system.
Todayslevelsensorsincorporateanincreasingvarietyor
materialsandalloystocombatharshenvironmentssuchasoils,
acids,andextremesoftemperatureandpressure.New
materialshelpprocessinstrumentsfulfillspecialized
requirementsaswell,suchasassembliesmadeofPTFEjacketed
materialforcorrosiveapplicationsandelectropolished316
stainlesssteelforcleanlinessrequirements.Provesmadeof
thesenewmaterialsallowcontacttransmitterstobeusedin
virtuallyanyapplication.
Thetrendtodayistoreplacemechanicalandpressurebased
measurementtoolswithsystemsthatmeasurethedistanceto
thefluidsurfacebyatimingmeasurement.Magnetostrictive,
ultrasonicguidedwaveradarandlasertransmittersareamong
themostversatiletechnologiesavailable.Suchsystemsusethe
sharpchangeofthemephysicalparameter(density,dielectric
constant,andsonicorlightreflection)attheprocessfluid
surfacetoidentifythelevel.
Thesetechnologiesmakeuseofthelatestelectronic
techniquesandincorporateembeddedmicroprocessorbased
digitalcomputersforcontrol,analysis,andcommunication
functions.

Formoreinformationpleasecontact:

ABBInc.
LevelMeasurement
18321SwampRoad
Prairieville,Louisiana70769USA
Telephone:1800735.5835or+12256736100
Email:juan.pereira@us.abb.com

www.abb.com/level

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