Detect Foam on Liquid Level in a Tank

[terry56]

Hey guys,
I have an application where the customer NEEDS TO DETECT the foam on liquid. The reason is that they don't want to overfill their Tank.



Liquid is FeCl2 and Soda Ash is added, so it starts to foam.


FeCl2 is an acid so I ideally need a non-contact instrument.


Any ideas?


( My internet searches only find instruments that ignore foam. I need the opposite! )

 

[rupej]

Cheap ultrasonic transmitter with any noise cancelling disabled?

 

[Lare]

Or foam detector with liquid level.



Hycontrol with quick googling.
https://www.hycontrol.com/products/foam-control/suresense-

 

[terry56]

Thanks Guys! I will investigate now.

 

[Flopro]

This Worked

I had a customer with the same problem - foam overflow. Unable to detect or measure when there was a foam head in a wastewater treatment tank. They tried radar and U-sonic but unable to sense and measure the top of the foam.

I called IFM Efector and they recommended we try one of their optical sensors. They're pretty cheap so I gave them a try. It worked well right out of the box. That was 8 years ago this month. It's still online. One catch - the liquid and foam cannot be crystal clear.

Look at the IFM Efector optical level sensor O1D300, bracket E21120 and maybe cordset EVT001 - if you need a cord.

 

[terry56]

@Flopro
Thanks, I will concider the IFM Efector O1D300 as well.

 

[baref00t25]

We have an application where we have a liquid that foams, but also the emissivity changes from 0 to 1 and everywhere in-between constantly. We use the IFM O1D100 and have a 30 second first order digital filter in the PLC code.

 

[terry56]

Moisture?

Can it handle moisture, as I suspect the surface might get Wet?
I see there is an exhaust fan at the top of the tank.

 

[Lare]

Datasheet of IFM O1D100 says IP67.

 

[John Daly]

www.foamcontrol.co.uk. Hycontrol sensing probe sits in the headspace and reliably senses the foam whenever it cones into contact with it. Works like a champ and ignores coating/fouling! For corrosive material, there is a Hastelloy version. Well worth a look.

 

[goghie]

@John, I hope you are not using this platform for marketing purposes. This is ancient thread you are replying to and it is second one in two days .

 

[John Daly]

Hi Goghie - no, not for marketing... I was looking up foam control a couple of days ago and these threads popped up. Just sharing - foam is not easy! The Hycontrol link above is related (I guess) to the foamcontrol.co.uk site in the UK

 

[goghie]

Cool