FUEL LEVEL SENSOR

Level sensors are used to monitor the level of liquids and other substances in
various commercial and industrial processes. When fluid is poured into a container
it seeks the shape of the container. There are many types of level sensors available
in the market for various applications. One such level sensor, commonly used by
the automobile industry is the fuel level sensor which continuously monitors the
fuel level in the fuel tank.

Figure: Courtesy Bajaj Pulsar

This article sheds some insight into the working of the simplest fuel level
sensor used widely in today’s automobile. This safe and reliable fuel level sensor
is based on the property of variable resistance.

A float is connected to an arm of certain length, at one end, which is in turn

connected to a variable resistor, at the other end. This variable resistor has an
electrical contact that moves across conductive plastic element, typically used as a
voltage divider.
 When the fuel tank is empty the float rests at the bottom of the fuel tank,
which causes the moving contact of the variable resistor to slide, thereby providing
a high resistance output. When the resistance is high it turns on a “low fuel” light
which is present on the fuel gauge of every vehicle. When the fuel tank of the
automobile is full the variable resistor in the fuel level sensor provides low
resistance output which is indicated as “Full fuel” by turning on the respective
colored light on the fuel gauge of the vehicle.

Such liquid level sensor can also be used in measuring the liquid levels in
other industries such as food processing, waste treatment, marine industries and
other applications. Depending on the type of chemical liquid and specific gravity
and some other factors that affect buoyancy, choice of float and stem (arm)
materials are considered.