Industrial Instrumentation

Ch.E- 401
2 Level Measurement Methods
 Level gauges
 Float Type
 Hydrostatic pressure
 Displacement
 Echo
 Weight
 Capacitive
 Radiation

Industrial Instrumentation
3 Hydrostatic pressure
 A vertical column of fluid generates a pressure at the bottom of the
column owing to the action of gravity on that fluid. The greater the
vertical height of the fluid, the greater the pressure, all other factors
being equal. This principle allows us to infer the level (height) of
liquid in a vessel by pressure measurement.

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 Pressure of a fluid column
4
 A vertical column of fluid exerts a pressure due to the column’s weight. The relationship
between column height and fluid pressure at the bottom of the column is constant for any
particular fluid (density) regardless of vessel width or shape.
P = ρgh P = γh
 P = Hydrostatic pressure
 ρ = Mass density of fluid in kilograms per cubic meter (metric) or slugs per cubic foot
(British)
 g = Acceleration of gravity
 γ =Weight density of fluid in newtons per cubic meter (metric) or pounds per cubic foot
(British)
 h = Height of vertical fluid column above point of pressure measurement

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 Transmitter suppression and elevation
5
 Consider the example of a pressure
sensor measuring the level of liquid
ethanol in a storage tank. The
measurement range for liquid height
in this ethanol storage tank is 0 to 40
feet, but the transmitter is located 30
feet below the tank
 This means the transmitter’s impulse
line contains a 30-foot elevation head
of ethanol, so the transmitter “sees”
30 feet of ethanol when the tank is
empty and 70 feet of ethanol when
the tank is full.

Industrial Instrumentation
 Transmitter suppression and elevation
6
 In this example, the transmitter is mounted exactly at the same level as
the vessel bottom, but the level measurement range begins at 4 feet up
from the vessel bottom. At the level of castor oil deemed 0%, the
transmitter “sees” a hydrostatic pressure of 1.68 PSI (46.5 inches of
water column) and at the 100% castor oil level the transmitter “sees” a
pressure of 3.78 PSI (105 inches water column). Thus, these two
pressure values would define the transmitter’s lower and upper range
values (LRV and URV), respectively.

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7 Zero suppression and elevation
 The term for describing either of the previous scenarios, where
the lower range value (LRV) of the transmitter’s calibration is a
positive number, is called zero suppression.
 If the zero offset is reversed (e.g. the transmitter mounted at a
location higher than the 0% process level), it is referred to as zero
elevation.

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8
Transmitter suppression and elevation
 In this example, we see a remote seal system with a fill fluid having a density of
58.3 lb/ft3, and a process level measurement range of 0 to 11 feet of sea water
(density = 64 lb/ft3). The transmitter elevation is 6 feet, which means it will
“see” a vacuum of −2.43 PSI (−67.2 inches of water column) when the vessel is
completely empty. This, of course, will be the transmitter’s calibrated lower
range value (LRV). The upper range value (URV) will be the pressure “seen”
with 11 feet of sea water in the vessel. This much sea water will contribute an
additional 4.89 PSI of hydrostatic pressure at the level of the remote seal
diaphragm, causing the transmitter to experience a pressure of +2.46 PSI.

Industrial Instrumentation
 Compensated leg systems
9
 The simple and direct relationship between liquid height in a vessel
and pressure at the bottom of that vessel is ruined if another source
of pressure exists inside the vessel other than hydrostatic (elevation
head). This is virtually guaranteed to be the case if the vessel in
question is unvented. Any gas or vapor pressure accumulation in an
enclosed vessel will add to the hydrostatic pressure at the bottom,
causing any pressure-sensing instrument to falsely register a high
level

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10
Compensated leg systems
 Fortunately, the capabilities of a differential pressure transmitter make this
a simple task. All we need to do is connect a second impulse line (called a
compensating leg), from the “Low” port of the transmitter to the top of the
vessel, so the “Low” side of the transmitter experiences nothing but the
gas pressure enclosed by the vessel, while the “High” side experiences the
sum of gas and hydrostatic pressures. Since a differential pressure
transmitter responds only to differences in pressure between “High” and
“Low” sides, it will naturally subtract the gas pressure (Pgas) to yield a
measurement based solely on hydrostatic pressure (γh)

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 Compensated leg systems
11
 Unfortunately, it is common for enclosed vessels to hold condensable vapors,
which may over time fill a compensating leg full of liquid. If the tube connecting
the “Low” side of a differential pressure transmitter fills completely with a liquid,
this will add a hydrostatic pressure to that side of the transmitter, causing another
calibration shift. This wet leg condition makes level measurement more
complicated than a dry leg condition where the only pressure sensed by the
transmitter’s “Low” side is gas pressure (Pgas).
 Fortunately, the hydrostatic pressure generated by the wet leg will be constant, so
long as the density of the condensed vapors filling that leg (γ2) is constant. If the
wet leg’s hydrostatic pressure is constant, we can compensate for it by calibrating
the transmitter with an intentional zero shift, so it indicates as though it were
measuring hydrostatic pressure on a vented vessel.

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 Compensated leg systems
12
 We may ensure a constant density of wet leg liquid by intentionally
filling that leg with a liquid known to be denser than the densest
condensed vapor inside the vessel. We could also use a differential
pressure transmitter with remote seals and capillary tubes filled with
liquid of known density

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 Compensated leg systems
13
 An accessory commonly
used with non-sealed (non-
capillary) “wet leg” systems
is a seal pot.
 This is a chamber at the top
of the wet leg joining the wet
leg line with the impulse line
to the upper connection point
on the process vessel. This
“seal pot” maintains a small
volume of liquid in it to
allow for occasional liquid
loss during transmitter
maintenance procedures
without greatly affecting the
height of the liquid column
in the wet leg

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 Advantages of Seal Pots
14
 Regular operation of the transmitter’s three-valve manifold (and drain
valve) during routine instrument maintenance inevitably releases some
liquid volume from the wet leg. Without a seal pot, even a small loss of
liquid in the wet leg may create a substantial loss in liquid column height
within that tube, given the tube’s small diameter. With a seal pot, the
(comparatively) large liquid volume held by the pot allows for some
liquid loss through the transmitter’s manifold without substantially
affecting the height of the liquid column within the wet leg.
 Seal pots are standard on level measurement systems for boiler steam
drums, where steam readily condenses in the upper impulse tube to
naturally form a wet leg. Although steam will condense over time to
refill the wet leg following a loss of water in that leg, the level
measurements taken during that re-fill time will be in error. The presence
of a seal pot practically eliminates this error as the steam condenses to
replenish the water lost from the pot, since the amount of height change
inside the pot due to a small volume loss is trivial compared to the height
change in a wet leg lacking a seal pot.

Industrial Instrumentation
 Compensated leg systems
15
 The following example shows the calibration table for a compensated-leg (wet)
hydrostatic level measurement system, for a gasoline storage vessel and water as
the wet leg fill fluid. Assuming a density of 41.0 lb/ft3 for gasoline and 62.4 lb/ft3
for water, with a 0 to 10 foot measurement range and an 11 foot wet leg height

Industrial Instrumentation
 Tank expert systems
16
 An alternative to using a compensating leg to subtract gas pressure
inside an enclosed vessel is to simply use a second pressure transmitter
and electronically subtract the two pressures in a computing device.
 This approach enjoys the distinct advantage of avoiding a potentially
wet compensating leg, but suffers the disadvantages of extra cost and
greater error due to the potential calibration drift of two transmitters
rather than just one. Such a system is also impractical in applications
where the gas pressure is substantial compared to the hydrostatic
(elevation head) pressure.

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 Tank expert systems
17
 If we add a third pressure transmitter to this system, located a
known distance (x) above the bottom transmitter, we have all the
pieces necessary for what is called a tank expert system. These
systems are used on large storage tanks operating at or near
atmospheric pressure, and have the ability to measure infer liquid
height, liquid density, total liquid volume, and total liquid mass
stored in the tank

Industrial Instrumentation
 Hydrostatic interface level measurement
18

 Hydrostatic pressure sensors may be used to detect the level of a liquid-

liquid interface, if and only if the total height of liquid never drops
down into the sensing range of the interface level instrument.
 This is critically important because any single hydrostatic-based level
instrument cannot discriminate between a changing interface level and a
changing total level within the same range, and therefore the latter must
be fixed in order to measure the former.

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 Hydrostatic interface level measurement
19

 One way to ensure this condition is to fix the total liquid height to some
constant value by using an overflow pipe, and ensuring drain flow is
always less than incoming flow (forcing some flow to always go
through the overflow pipe). This strategy naturally lends itself to
separation processes, where a mixture of light and heavy liquids are
separated by their differing densities

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 Hydrostatic interface level measurement
20

 Another way to address the problem of varying total liquid height is to

use a compensating leg located at a point on the vessel below the total
liquid height. In this example, a transmitter with remote seals is used

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 Displacement Level Measurement
21

 Displacer level instruments exploit Archimedes’ Principle to detect

liquid level by continuously measuring the weight of an object (called
the displacer ) immersed in the process liquid. As liquid level increases,
the displacer experiences a greater buoyant force, making it appear
lighter to the sensing instrument, which interprets the loss of weight as
an increase in level and transmits a proportional output signal.

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 Buoyant-force instruments
22
 Displacer level instruments exploit Archimedes’ Principle to detect
liquid level by continuously measuring the weight of an object (called
the displacer ) immersed in the process liquid. As liquid level increases,
the displacer experiences a greater buoyant force, making it appear
lighter to the sensing instrument, which interprets the loss of weight as
an increase in level and transmits a proportional output signal.

Industrial Instrumentation