Level Sensors

ES-423 Industrial Electronics

Engr. Muhammad Bilal Shahid

Assistant Professor
UCET,IUB
 What is measured?
The measured medium can be liquid, gas or solid and
stored in vessels (open/closed tanks), silos, bins and
hoppers.

Units of level can be expressed in:

 feet (meters)
 gallons (liters)
 pounds (kilograms)
 cubic volume (ft3, m3)
Methods – Direct or Indirect (inferential)

 Hydrostatic Head
 Float
 Load Cells
 Magnetic Level
Gauge
 Capacitance
Transmitters
 Magnetostrictive
 Ultrasonic
 Microwave
 Laser
 Radar
 Guided Wave Radar
 Dip Stick
 Vibration
 Direct Methods
Direct methods sense the surface or interface
of the liquid and is not affected by
changes in material density (Specific
Gravity)

Examples:

 Dip Stick
 Resistance Tapes
 Sight Glass
 Floats
 Ultrasonic
 Indirect Methods (Inferential)
Indirect methods “infer” liquid level by measuring some
other physical parameter such as pressure, weight,
or temperature.
Changing materials means a corrective factor must be
used or recalibrating the instrument.

Examples:
 Hydrostatic head methods
 Load Cells
 Capacitance
 Conductivity
 Indirect method
Pressure is often used as an indirect
method of measuring liquid levels.
Pressure increases as the depth
increases in a fluid.

where p is the pressure, is

the specific weight, and h
is the depth.
Example
A pressure gauge located
at the base of an open
tank containing a liquid
with a specific weight of
13.6 kN/m3 registers 1.27
MPa. What is the depth of
the fluid in the tank?
 Simple Sight Glasses
 A visual indication of the level
can be obtained when part of
the vessel is constructed from
transparent material or the
liquid in a vessel is bypassed
through a transparent tube.
 The liquid level then can be
observed directly in the sight
glass
 Glass gauges are cheap but
easily broken, and should not
be used with hazardous liquid.
 The advantage of using stop
valves with the use of a bypass
pipe, is the ease in removal for
cleaning.
 Float sensors
 There are two types of floats
shown: the angular arm and
the pulley
 The advantages of the float
sensor are that they are
almost independent of the
density of the liquid or solid
being monitored, are
accurate and robust, and
have a linear output with
level height.
 One of the significant types
of float is a magnetrol float
level switch which consists of
a plain float and operates via
a magnetic coupling action.
Float sensors
 Displacer Switches
 In a typical displacer switch design, a spring
is provided which is burdened with
weighted displacers.
 The displacers having weights greater than
the process fluid gets submerged in the
liquid resulting in a buoyancy force
change.
 This will cause a variation in the net force
operating on the spring. In general, the
spring will compress with the raise in
buoyancy force.
 Just like the float level switches, a
magnetic sleeve and a non-magnetic
barrier tube is also incorporated in
displacer switches.
 The magnetic sleeve is attached to the
spring and it moves according to the spring
movement resulting in activation of
switching mechanism
Application of Displacer

 Foaming or surging liquids

 Agitated fluids
 Sewage handling
 Dirty liquids
 Paints
 Varnishes
 Heavy oils
 Liquids with solids
 Load cells
 The weight of the container is
subtracted from the total reading,
leaving the weight of the contents
of the container.
 Knowing the cross-sectional area
of the tank and the specific
weight of the material, the volume
and/or depth of the contents can
be calculated.
 This method is well-suited for
continuous measurement, and the
material being weighed does not
come into contact with the
sensor.
 The level (depth) depends on the
density of the material
 the volume (V) of the material in
the container is given
Example

 What is the depth of the liquid in a container if the

specific weight of the liquid is 56 lb/ft3, the container
weighs 33 lb, and has a diameter of 63 in? A load cell
measures the total weight to be 746 lb.
 Conductive probes
 Conductive probes are used in
single and multiple point
measurements systems.
 Low voltages is applied to the
electrodes as they are immersed
in the liquids.
 The conductive liquid completes
the electrical circuit of the
control, which activates a
semiconductor switch.
 The advantage of conductive
probes is their low cost and simple
design.
 The disadvantage is that they are
limited to point measurement and
can be only used with conductive
liquids.
 Capacitive Probes
 They are used for continouse
measurements
 The value of the capacitance
can be change by varying the
dielectric.
 The probe and the metal wall of
the tank form the two plates of
a capacitor, and the contents
in the tank is the dielectric.
 When the tank is empty the
dielectric is the air.
 As the level changes the
dielectric constant changes
and causes the capacitance
change.
 Continue
 Materials placed between the
plates of a capacitor increase the
capacitance by a factor (meo ),
known as the dielectric constant of
the material.
 For instance, air has a dielectric
constant of 1, and water has a
dielectric constant of 80.
 When two capacitor plates are
partially immersed in a
nonconductive liquid, the
capacitance (Cd) is given by:
 Where Ca is the capacitance with
no liquid, is the dielectric constant
of the liquid between the plates, r is
the height of the plates, and d is
the depth or level of the liquid
between the plates.
Example

 A 1.3m-long capacitive probe has a capacitance of

31 pF in air. When partially immersed in water with a
dielectric constant of 80, the capacitance is 0.97 nF.
What is the length of the probe immersed in water?
 Ultrasonic Level Sensors
 Ultrasonic or sonic devices can be
used for single point or continuous level
measurement of a liquid or a solid.
 A pulse of ultrasonic waves (more than
20 kHz) from the transmitter is reflected
from the surface of the liquid to the
receiver, and the time for the echo to
reach the receiver is measured.
 The time delay gives the distance from
the transmitter and receiver to the
surface of the liquid, from which the
liquid level can be calculated,
knowing the velocity of ultrasonic
waves (approximately 340 m/s)
Problematic aspects of
ultrasonic
 Radar Measurement
 Radar gauges differ from
ultrasonic in that they use
microwaves instead of sound
waves.
 Like ultrasonic devices they
measure from the top of the
vessel to determine the
product level.
 Two examples of radar
gauges are the 5.8GHz and
24GHz systems.
 The higher transmission
frequency can be used to
detect dry, non-conductive
materials with very low bulk
density.
Radar Applications
Radar level measurement
 Top mounted
 Solids and liquids applications
 Non-contact

RADAR is virtually unaffected by

the following process conditions:
 Temperature
 Pressure and Vacuum
 Conductivity
 Dielectric Constant (dK)
 Specific Gravity
 Vapor, Steam, Dust or Air
Movement
 Build up (depends on radar
design)
References

 Fundamentals of Industrial Instrumentation and

Process Control by Willium C. Dunn