Basics of level measurement     

This is only from the level measurement and control perspective, but many of the points are just as transferable to other process measurement parameters which offer equally important information, such as temperature, flow, mass and pressure.

What is level measurement?
Level measurement is like any other piece of business information, that’s what it is – Business information, just like the customer database or accounts ledgers and can be just as important, if not more. For any business to function efficiently, safely and profitably it must have accurate information and be fit for purpose reliable and cost effective.

Terminologies in level measurement can vary greatly from industry to industry for liquids or bulk solids; i.e. referred to as ‘level: measurement, indication, sensing, control or gauging’ to name but a few. And vessel terminology varies too, e.g. tanks, vessels, mixers, reactors, pots, containers, chests, sumps, silos, bins and hoppers.

Level information can be utilised for supply of raw materials, in-process control or inventory of finished materials, all of which can be an indirect or direct major contribution to any manufacturing businesses’ profitability. Almost every industry uses level measurement and sensing, it touches our lives every day. Examples of where level measurement it is used in the petrol station forecourt with underground tanks, level controls of the water supply delivered to the tap and almost all foods and medicines we see in our stores, from washing of vegetables in food processors to complex reactor vessels mixing compounds in pharmaceutical plants we even control levels in a water ride at an adventure park. All these need level controls to ensure the product supplied to consumers is available and the correct quality and quantity.

Why is it so important?
In some cases we come across, the decision of what to use and how is left to last, a control and information system has been installed and levels are at the ‘end of the budget’. In our experience, whilst the money spent on information gathering systems like SCADA, DCS and IT systems, is of course important, if the information it is fed from field sensors isn’t reliable or accurate, then the whole systems value can be compromised, or at worst, useless.
By getting any measurement right first time, it can reduce costs, improve outcomes and increase the usefulness of the information it delivers.

The next blog post will look at choices and considerations for selection

This entry was posted on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 2:37 pm and is filed under Aggregates & Mining, Automotive, Beverage, Bulk Solids Handling, Cement, Chemical, Dairy, Distillation of Alcohols, Environment & Recycling, Flour and Milling, Food, Information, Level Measurement, Marine Shipping Harbours, Offshore Oil & Gas, Other, Paper and Board, Petrochemical, Pharmaceuticals, Power Generation, Steels and Metal Manufacturing, Water and Waste. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.