Fuel oil tank level

tcarafi · Jul 10, 2015

Good day everyone.

I have a pending project regarding tank level. This company wants us to set up a sensor for the amount of fuel oil in a single tank at any given time.
Our idea as a company was to install a pressure meter at the bottom of the tank, in order to find the height of the liquid, then the volume.
My question is the following: would a Siemens SITRANS P DS III sensor work for it, considering the liquid in question (fuel oil)? Would the sensor become corroded at all?

boneless · Jul 10, 2015

When we have level transmitters for oil tanks, we usually mount them on top of the tank (non contact). As you state, depending on what oil you are measuring, there could be corrosion.

I think this is the one we have used in the past: http://www2.emersonprocess.com/en-us/brands/rosemount/level/ultrasonic-transmitters/pages/index.aspx

Tom Jenkins · Jul 10, 2015

If you are measuring oil level with a pressure transmitter make sure you know the specific gravity of the oil. If you are worried about corrosion use an isolation diaphragm similar to this: http://www2.emersonprocess.com/en-u...sure-level/1199-remote-seals/pages/index.aspx

Bullzi · Jul 10, 2015

What size is your tank? How accurate do you need it to be? Do you need to interface with a PLC or HMI?

tcarafi · Jul 10, 2015

It's a 2.5 meter diameter, 5 meter long bunker C fuel oil tank.
I need an HMI, and the purpose is to calculate the volume of oil in the tank.
Is it a better idea to get an ultrasound sensor and set it on top instead?

danw · Jul 10, 2015

Head pressure works for level, but the result is density/specific gravity dependent. Physical level (elevation) is a calculation: head pressure/specific gravity.

Say the level is constant but the density changes due to temperature. The indicated level (from the transmitter) will not change because the head pressure is the same, but the physical level will change due to the temperature related expansion or contraction.

Corrosion is unlikely, because Siemen's wetted parts are at least stainless steel.

Bullzi · Jul 10, 2015

That is a small tank compared to what I am use to.

You should have a bunch of options for a tank like that. You an use Float, Pressure, Magnetostrictive, Ultrasonic and Radar. A lot will depend on how accurate you want to be, what is available in your area and the budget.

I would take a look around and see what you can get your hands on maybe call a local company that specialises in level measurement and see what they have.

a062549 · Jul 10, 2015

How much do you have to spend??

I have used static pressure instruments in the lower part of the tank with good success. And you can make the display tell you how much is in the tank, and not have to HMI it??
John

Bullzi said:
That is a small tank compared to what I am use to.

You should have a bunch of options for a tank like that. You an use Float, Pressure, Magnetostrictive, Ultrasonic and Radar. A lot will depend on how accurate you want to be, what is available in your area and the budget.

I would take a look around and see what you can get your hands on maybe call a local company that specialises in level measurement and see what they have.

Bullzi · Jul 10, 2015

One important thing: Make sure that you get a system that is rated for the hazardous environmental conditions of the material in the tank. If it is a vented tank you will need Class 1 Div.1 rated equipment if you will have any electrical connections on it.

keshik · Jul 10, 2015

I've used ultrasonics for this sort of thing (tank level measurement) on a few different projects and it's worked well. Pretty simple to program and install.

milldrone · Jul 10, 2015

tcarafi said:
It's a 2.5 meter diameter, 5 meter long bunker C fuel oil tank.

Is this a round tank with the axis horizontal?

keshik · Jul 10, 2015

milldrone said:
Is this a round tank with the axis horizontal?

That is a good question. My tank have always been vertical. An ultrasonic won't work as well on a horizontal tank.

Edmhydraulics · Jul 10, 2015

Up here we use Titan Logix TD-80 Level Sensors on fuel and oil trucks, great mobile product, good temp ratings, also Class 1 Div 2 rated for explosion risk areas. It uses Radar and time of flight to measure the distance from the top of the tank to the fluid level, volumes are calculated by the unit with a strap chart. To connect to an HMI, the unit comes with a 4-20ma output and I convert that to distance, from there I have a strap chart in the HMI or PLC.

Unit runs on 12-24Vdc, I typically use 24Vdc as the 4-20 seems to react better. There are probably hundreds of thousands of these units in service around North America, most oil field tankers use them, but they can be used on all types of fuel and water/liquids. The in-tank components are all stainless.

Might look them up and see if that is what you need.

shooter · Jul 11, 2015

be sure the tank has a pressure outlet on top, as otherwise you can measure wrongly with a pressuresensor.

Fuel oil tank level

tcarafi

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