Level Measurement

Chapter 14
14.1 Gauge Glass
14.2 Direct Use of DP Cells
14.3 Use of DP Cells for Density Measurement
14.4 Use of DP Cells for Interface Measurement
14.5 Pneumercators
14.6 Capacitance
14.7 Ultrasonics
14.8 Nucleonics
14.9 Nomenclature

Dp cells are used for the majority of liquid level

vent valve
measurements in the process industries. The de-
sign of an installation varies according to context.
For example, whether the liquid is under pressure,
contains suspended solids, and so on. This chapter
outlines good practice in relation to several com-
mon applications. It also show how DP cell, can be gauge glass
used for the related measurements of density and
interface position. There are many other methods
of level measurement, both for liquids and solids.
Three of the more important ones, capacitance, ul-
trasonics and nucleonics, are considered here too. drain valve
Again the reader is referred to BS6739 and to Bent-
ley (2004). isolating valve

Fig. 14.1 Gauge glass with isolating and vent valves

14.1 Gauge Glass framework. Because of the possibility of breakage,

The simplest form of level indication is the hum-
ble gauge glass, equivalent to the sight glass used
for detecting liquid flow. The gauge glass typically
consists of an externally mounted vertical glass
tube with isolating and drain valves as depicted
in Figure 14.1. The gauge glass is cheap and reli-
able with the major advantage that the level can
be seen. The glass tube must be physically pro-
tected from impact and pipework stresses by a steel
gauge glasses should not be used with flammable
or toxic materials.
14.2 Direct Use of DP Cells
Figure 14.2 shows a dp cell being used for measur-
ing level in a vented tank. The high pressure side of
the dp cell is connected to a branch as close to the
 88 14 Level Measurement

equalising
valve insulated
and/or traced
impulse line

LP side open to
atmosphere

HP side isolating valve catch pot

drain valve

Fig. 14.2 Use of dp cell for level measurement in vented tank Fig. 14.3 Use of dp cell under pressure or vacuum conditions

bottom of the tank as is practicable. The low pres-
sure side of the dp cell is open to the atmosphere.
This arrangement can only be used for clean
liquids: any suspended solids could settle out and
block the connecting pipe. Also, because the pro-
cess liquor is in direct contact with the diaphragm
of the dp cell, there are potential materials of con-
struction problems.
Note that it is a pressure difference that is being
measured, i.e. the static pressure at the bottom of
the tank relative to atmospheric pressure. It is di-
rectly related to the head of liquid by the equation
to be drained off on an intermittent basis. Also
note the isolating, equalising and drain valves for
commissioning purposes.
If condensation is significant, as for example
with liquids close to their boiling point, it is neces-
sary to use a “wet leg” as shown in Figure 14.4.
condensate pot vent/filling
valve

P = Hg
Many tanks and vessels are designed to be oper-
ated under pressure or vacuum. The measurement
of static pressure at the bottom of such items of
plant is therefore relative to the gas or vapour pres-
sure in the space above the liquid. This is achieved
by connecting the low pressure side of the dp cell
to the top of the tank, as shown in Figure 14.3.
This arrangement is suitable for non-volatile
liquids. Note the slope of at least 1 in 20 on the up-
per part of the low pressure side impulse line. This
enables any condensate formed to drain back into
the tank rather than down to the dp cell. If slight
condensation does occur then it may be necessary
to install heat tracing to prevent its formation. Al-
ternatively, a catch pot may be fitted to collect any
condensate that dribbles down towards the dp cell,
(14.1)
specified
head
specified
head
blowdown valves
Fig. 14.4 Use of dp cell under condensing conditions
The strategy is the same as in the use of the dp-cell
for measuring the flow of condensing vapours as
shown in Figures 12.14 and 12.15. Thus the vapour
is allowed to condense and fill the impulse line on
the low pressure side of the dp cell, the condensate

being used to transmit the pressure. Clearly in cal-
ibrating the dp cell it is necessary to bias the zero
setting to offset the head of condensate. A filling
tee is provided to save time during commission-
ing. Thus the wet leg may be pre-filled with liquid
rather than having to wait for it to fill up by con-
densation.
14.3 Use of DP Cells for
Density Measurement
Clearly, by rearrangement of Equation 14.1, den-
sity can be articulated as a function of differential
pressure:
1
= P (14.2)
Hg
Thus, for a fixed height of liquid, a dp cell can be
calibrated to provide a measure of density, as de-
picted in Figure 14.5 in which it is assumed that
the tank is vented and the fixed height of liquid is
established by an internal weir.
weir
Fig. 14.5 Use of dp cell for density measurement
This is not a particularly accurate means of mea-
suring density: the approach is only effective if the
change in density being measured is significant
relative to the accuracy of the dp cell. However, it
does provide an average value of density across the
14.3 Use of DP Cells for Density Measurement 89
depth of liquid which is useful if there are varia-
tions in density with depth due, for example, to
layering effects.
14.4 Use of DP Cells for
Interface Measurement
Dp cells can be used to determine the position of
the interface between two immiscible liquids. Con-
sider the vented tank depicted in Figure 14.6.
H
h
Fig. 14.6 Use of dp cell for interface measurement
The differential pressure is given by
P = hL g + (H − h)U g
Rearranging gives
1 HU
h= P − (14.3)
(L − U )g (L − U )
There is thus a simple linear relationship between
height of the interface and overall differential pres-
sure which enables the dp cell to be calibrated.
Again, this is not a particularly accurate measure-
ment. Noting that the sensitivity of the instrument,
P/h, is proportional to (L − U ), it follows that
the greater the difference in density between the
 90 14 Level Measurement
two layers, the more accurate the measurement be-
comes. However, with interface measurement, ab-
solute accuracy is often not critical: what matters
is that the interface is known to be somewhere be-
tween two given levels, for which this arrangement
is very effective.
14.5 Pneumercators
A pneumercator enables the indirect use of a dp
cell when it may be inappropriate to measure level
through a branch at the bottom of a tank. It utilises
a “dip-leg” which is a rigid tube, typically installed
through a branch in the top of the tank and long
enough to reach down to the bottom. The dip-leg
is used in conjunction with a regulated air supply,
needle valve and bubbler in an arrangement gen-
erally referred to as a pneumercator. The dip-leg is
connected to the high pressure side of a dp cell as
shown in Figure 14.7.
regulator bubbler
air
H L
supply
needle
valve
dip leg
Fig. 14.7 Pneumercator arrangement for level measurement
The regulator is set to some pressure higher than
the static pressure at the bottom of the tank. The
needle valve is adjusted to give a small flow of air
which flows down the dip-leg.When air is bubbling
out of the dip-leg and into the liquid the pressure in
the dip-leg, referred to as the back pressure, must
be equal to the static pressure at the bottom of the
tank. This back pressure is measured by the dp-cell
and corresponds directly to the head of liquid.
The flow rate of air should be low enough for
the pressure drop due to frictional losses in the
dip-leg to be insignificant, but high enough to ob-
serve that the flow exists. Because it is not nor-
mally possible to see the bottom of the dip-leg,
there should be an external bubbler with a window
through which the bubbles may be observed. The
regulator, needle valve and bubbler are normally
located on top of, or adjacent to, the tank for access.
Pneumercators are cheap, easy to install and
very reliable. They are particularly suitable for use
with slurries and dirty liquids because a dip-leg is
inherently self cleaning. If a blockage occurs due to
accumulation of solids,which could only happen at
the bottom of the dip-leg, the back pressure builds
up towards the regulator output pressure. Even-
tually this forces the solids out and the air vents
itself into the liquid. Pneumercators also enable
dp-cells to be used for level measurement in corro-
sive environments, the air acting as a fluid barrier
between the dp cell and process liquid. Sometimes,
for example with biodegradable products, blanket-
ing with nitrogen is necessary in which case the
nitrogen can be bubbled in through the dip-leg.
If a dip-leg is to be used in a tank which is op-
erated under pressure or vacuum, then a separate
regulator
needle valves
bubblers
10% slope down towards vessel
Fig. 14.8 Use of pneumercator under pressure or vacuum condi-
tions

pneumercator may be necessary for measuring the
pressure in the space over the liquid: this is con-
nected to the low pressure side of the dp-cell, as
shown in Figure 14.8.
Again note the slope of at least 1 in 20 for the
impulse lines to enable any condensate formed to
drain back into the tank. Also note the overhead
space requirement for removal of the dip-legs.
14.6 Capacitance
The use of a capacitance probe for level measure-
ment is illustrated in Figure 14.9. In principle, the
capacitance between the probe and the vessel wall
is a function of their geometry and on the dielec-
tric of the medium between them. Thus,as the level
changes there is a proportionate change in capac-
itance which can be measured electronically and
converted into a signal for transmission.
trans
dielectric
Fig. 14.9 Use of capacitance probe for level measurement
Capacitance can be used for measurement of the
level of both liquids and solids, for depths of up to
3 m, over a wide range of temperatures and pres-
sures. For liquids there are no major problems. For
solids a useful feature is that the measurement is
fairly insensitive to uneven surfaces. The principal
sources of error are due to build-up of solids on
the probe, variation of bulk density, and unrepre-
sentative signals due to poor location of the probe.
14.6 Capacitance 91
14.7 Ultrasonics
The principle of operation of an ultrasonic type of
level measurement is as depicted in Figure 14.10.
The sensor consists of a combined transmitter and
receiver. In essence, sonic pulses are emitted by the
transmitter which are reflected off the surface and
detected by the receiver. The transmission time is
obviously a linear function of the level of the sur-
face and is converted by an active circuit into an
electrical signal.
trans
footprint
Fig. 14.10 Principle of ultrasonic level measurement
Ultrasonic sensors can be used for both liquid and
solids level measurement and have a wide range-
ability. They are particularly useful for measuring
the level of solids in hoppers, silos and the like,
where the surface can be very uneven, as the re-
ceiver converts the reflected sound into an average
for the level within the footprint of the transmit-
ter. Although the sensors are non-contact devices
they are, nevertheless, exposed to the process en-
vironment so materials of construction need to
be considered carefully. Ultrasonics should not be
used with liquids where there is foam on the sur-
face as they give false readings. Neither should they
be used in dusty environments where the dust ab-
sorbs and/or scatters the sound pulses resulting in
weak signals. Another potential problem is noisy
environments because of the susceptibility of the
receiver to pick-up spurious acoustics.
 92 14 Level Measurement
14.8 Nucleonics
Nucleonic level measurement is based upon the
absorption of gamma rays. The amount of absorp-
tion for a given material is a function of the density
of the material and the path length. The use of nu-
cleonics is depicted in Figure 14.11. The source is
a pellet of radioactive material which “shines” a
beam of gamma rays through the vessel. The ra-
diation is detected on the other side of the vessel
by a Geiger Muller tube. In essence, the pellet is a
point source whereas the detector is longitudinal.
The intensity of the radiation detected is attenu-
ated linearly in proportion to the level. Calibration
is straightforward, with the level measurement be-
ing scaled on the basis of maximum and minimum
intensity detected. The electronics automatically
trans
source
detector
Fig. 14.11 Principle of nucleonic level measurement
compensate for the declining strength of the source
according to its half life.
The principal advantage of nucleonics is that it
is non-invasive and can be used in “difficult” sit-
uations. For example, with high temperatures and
pressures,in foam,spray or dusty environments,or
with media that are corrosive or abrasive. Nucle-
onic devices are reliable and have very low main-
tenance requirements. Obviously, because of the
radioactivity, there are health physics issues which
require proper shielding but, if installed and oper-
ated properly, nucleonics is perfectly safe.
14.9 Nomenclature
P is the pressure difference Nm−2
h height of the interface m
H height of liquid/weir m
 density of liquid kg m−3
g acceleration due to m s−2
gravity
Subscripts
L is the lower, denser layer
U upper, lighter layer