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Knowledge Sharing Program: - :by:-Mohammad Zulfequar Ali Khan Dy. Manager - Quality E&I

The document discusses level measurement techniques using pressure transmitters. It describes how hydrostatic pressure from a liquid column is used to determine the liquid level in an open or closed tank. It also discusses different level measurement methods like dry leg, wet leg, zero suppression and zero elevation which are used to compensate for factors like transmitter placement or gas pressure effects.

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33 views

Knowledge Sharing Program: - :by:-Mohammad Zulfequar Ali Khan Dy. Manager - Quality E&I

The document discusses level measurement techniques using pressure transmitters. It describes how hydrostatic pressure from a liquid column is used to determine the liquid level in an open or closed tank. It also discusses different level measurement methods like dry leg, wet leg, zero suppression and zero elevation which are used to compensate for factors like transmitter placement or gas pressure effects.

Uploaded by

khanzulfi
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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KSP

KNOWLEDGE SHARING PROGRAM


Topic- LEVEL MEASUREMENT
-:by:-
Mohammad Zulfequar Ali Khan
Dy. Manager -Quality E&I
(3.0 MTPA Blast Furnace Project, Nagarnar)
LEVEL MEASUREMENT
 The pressure at the base of a vessel containing liquid is directly
proportional to the height of the liquid in the vessel. This is termed
hydrostatic pressure.
 As the level in the vessel rises, the pressure exerted by the liquid at
the base of the vessel will increase linearly. Mathematically, we have:
 P = S⋅H
where
P = Pressure (Pa)
S = Weight density of the liquid (N/m3) = ρg
H = Height of liquid column (m)
ρ = Density (kg/m3)
g = acceleration due to gravity (9.81 m/s2)

 The level of liquid inside a tank can be determined from the pressure
reading if the weight density of the liquid is constant.
LEVEL TRANSMITTER
 When a DP transmitter is used for the purpose of measuring a level, it will be
called a level transmitter.
 Open Tank Measurement
 The simplest application is the fluid level in an open tank. Figure shows a
typical open tank level measurement installation using a pressure capsule
level transmitter.

 If the tank is open to atmosphere, the high-pressure side of the level


transmitter will be connected to the base of the tank while the low-pressure
side will be vented to atmosphere. In this manner, the level transmitter acts
as a simple pressure transmitter.
LEVEL TRANSMITTER

 Phigh = Patm + S⋅H


 Plow = Patm
 Differential pressure ΔP = Phigh - Plow = S⋅H
 The level transmitter can be calibrated to output 4 mA when the tank
is at 0% level and 20 mA when the tank is at 100% level.
LEVEL TRANSMITTER
 Closed Tank Measurement
 Should the tank be closed, and a gas phase exist on top of the
liquid• The gas pressure must be compensated for. A change in the
gas pressure will cause a change in transmitter output. The pressure
exerted by the gas phase may be so high that the hydrostatic
pressure of the liquid column becomes insignificant. Compensation
can be achieved by applying the gas pressure to both the high and
low pressure sides of the level transmitter.
 We have:
Phigh = Pgas + S⋅H
Plow = Pgas
ΔP = Phigh - Plow = S⋅H

 The effect of the gas pressure is cancelled and only the pressure due
to the hydrostatic head of the liquid is sensed. When the low-
pressure impulse line is connected directly to the gas phase above
the liquid level, it is called a dry leg.
LEVEL MEASUREMENT

 Dry Leg System


 A full dry leg installation with three-valve manifold is shown in Figure below.
 In a closed tank, the bottom most point is the HP or High Pressure point, and
the top most point is the LP or the Low Pressure Point.
 The transmitter is mounted near the HP or bottom most position, and the HP
inlet of the transmitter is connected to the bottom most position of the
vessel through an Isolation valve. The LP inlet of the transmitter is connected
through a pipe to the Top most point. 
LEVEL MEASUREMENT
 Wet Leg System
 When the liquid is hot or much colder than the ambient temperature, the
liquid vapor or the condensate will fill the dry- leg. Under this condition, the
dry Leg measurement does not hold true. In such a situation, wet leg
measurement method is to be adopted.
 In a wet leg system, the low-pressure impulse line is completely filled with
liquid (usually the same liquid as the process or diesel, glycol, glycerin) and
hence the name wet leg. A level transmitter, with the associated three-valve
manifold, is used in an identical manner to the dry leg system.
LEVEL MEASUREMENT
At the top of the low pressure impulse
line is a small catch tank. The gas
phase or vapour will condense in the
wet leg and the catch tank. The catch

tank, with the inclined interconnecting


line, maintains a constant hydrostatic
pressure on the low-pressure side of
the level transmitter. This pressure,
being a constant, can easily be
compensated for by calibration.
LEVEL MEASUREMENT
 If the tank is located outdoors, trace heating of the wet leg might be
necessary to prevent it from freezing. Steam lines or an electric heating
element can be wound around the wet leg to keep the temperature of the
condensate above its freezing point.
Zero Suppression
 In some cases, it is not possible to mount the level transmitter right at the

base level of the tank. Say for maintenance purposes, the level transmitter
has to be mounted X meters below the base of an open tank as shown in
Figure
LEVEL MEASUREMENT
 The liquid in the tank exerts a varying pressure that is proportional to its
level H on the high-pressure side of the transmitter. The liquid in the high
pressure impulse line also exerts a pressure on the high-pressure
side.However, this pressure is a constant (P = S⋅ X) and is present at all
times. When the liquid level is at H meters, pressure on the high-pressure
side of the transmitter will be:

Phigh = S⋅H + S⋅ X + Patm


Plow = Patm
ΔP = Phigh - Plow = S⋅H + S⋅ X

 That is, the pressure on the high-pressure side is always higher than the
actual pressure exerted by the liquid column in the tank (by a value of S⋅ X).
This constant pressure would cause an output signal that is higher than 4
mA when the tank is empty and above 20 mA when it is full. The transmitter
has to be negatively biased by a value of -S⋅ X so that the output of the
transmitter is proportional to the tank level (S⋅H) only. This procedure is
called Zero Suppression and it can be done during calibration of the
transmitter. A zero suppression kit can be installed in the transmitter for this
purpose.
LEVEL MEASUREMENT

Zero Elevation
 When a wet leg installation is used (see Figure 7 below), the low-pressure side of
the level transmitter will always experience a higher pressure than the high-
pressure side. This is due to the fact that the height of the wet leg (X) is always
equal to or greater than the maximum height of the liquid column (H) inside the
tank.
 When the liquid level is
at H meters, we have:
Phigh = Pgas + S⋅H
Plow = Pgas + S⋅ X
ΔP = Phigh – Plow
= S⋅H - S⋅ X
= - S (X - H)

 The differential pressure ΔP sensed by the transmitter is always a negative


number (i.e., low pressure side is at a higher pressure than high pressure side).
ΔP increases from P = -S⋅ X to P = -S (X-H) as the tank level rises from 0% to
100%.
LEVEL MEASUREMENT
 If the transmitter were not calibrated for this constant negative error
(-S⋅ X), the transmitter output would read low at all times.To properly
calibrate the transmitter, a positive bias (+S⋅ X) is needed toelevate the
transmitter output.
 This positive biasing technique is called zero elevation.
THANKS FOR YOUR
PARTICIPATION

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