Everything You Need to Know About Level Measurement : An Integral Part of Process Control

There are many industries that manufacture products that would be measured in some fashion. How and why they are measured is the big question here. The companies first and foremost need to know how much product they are making for control factors as well as to keep up production and stay on track for the trends. Another reason they would need to measure is removing a certain amount of product from their facilities to another location. Measurements would again be required to know how much of the product to remove and how much a client might need at a given moment.

What is Level Measurement?

First off, what exactly is the level measurement? Flow measurement is an intelligent way of essentially taking a reading of how much of a substance is in a specified container. The containers could be anything from a drum, tank, silo, pipes, or bins that hold a variety of goods. These goods are manufactured in the Industrial field and include oil, gas, cement, coal, and minerals as their primary outputs.

How is Level Measurement Used?

Let’s talk about some of the ways level measurement is used in process control across these many industries. When these industries make their products, they are often moving their product from one place to another where they need to be precise about exactly tracking what is going and out of each place. The owner would need to know exactly how much product to put into a tanker to send to a client, and how much that particular tanker holds so they would know how much to bill the client.

Picture getting your oil tanks or propane gas tanks filled at your home. The company would take a reading and would need to measure how much was left in a tank so they would know how much was needed to fill them. The oil or gas company that was delivering would also need to know how much product was left in their tanker truck to see how many gallons they had left to make deliveries with. If a pool needed filling, how much the tanker held would be an efficient way to see how many trucks were needed to ensure a proper water level. A measurement would also need to be taken for each tanker to see if that last truck was fully emptied so they would know how many gallons to charge for.

Level Measurement Tools

There are different kinds of level measurement tools. Continuous control level measurement tools create a non-stop reading at a very accurate level. An interface device or neutron backscatter foam level is a compact way for industries like refineries to ensure output in coke drums is at maximum capacity as well as minimize foam. A point level switch automatically senses the level of liquids in a variety of vessels.

Level Measurement is not just used to tell how much of something is in a container. It can also prevent things from happening, such as overflow. If a bin is filling or there is liquid flowing from one bin to the next, level measurement products can prevent the bins from overflowing with the gauges they use for measuring such as a point level control. Point level controls can also sense a bin being empty when it shouldn’t be. This can be beneficial if a drum or bin has to always have a certain level of liquid in it, the sensor would tell you when it got too low or too high for the range it should usually be in, thus preventing any damage or long-range lapse in production that might be caused by the level being off from its’ normal capacity.

Probe sensors can make sure that hazardous materials aren’t being moved by outside factors. Something that can spill over or be influenced by outside factors, especially in areas of the country where vibrations may occur either from weather factors, or other influences like machinery, a probe sensor could alert one to something catastrophic happening.

Continuous level indicators obviously provide a continuous indicator, but they also will help maintain accuracy in an industry where any sort of monitoring levels on a very minute level and helping to maintain quality control throughout the whole process.

Although these devices are used in an industry where many of the liquid devices are produced and sold in bulk, they still are able to be used on a smaller level as well. Anything from a small drum to a large gas tanker would need a level measurement and many different styles are needed.

The cement and coal industries would find that level measurement would help give accurately detailed quantities for the output of their products. A quick analysis of a given drum or vat would greatly reduce the need for other methods of how much cement or coal might be inside, or on a longer measuring of transferring the product from one place to another.

Conclusion

Level measurement has come a long way and also provided a very precise way of reading how much of something is in a given container. There are various ways to take these readings, but with the level measurement products that are on the market now, it really takes the guesswork out of the game. Companies now have various tools to be able to take the appraisals they need to as well as being as accurate as they need to be to be efficient in the industry.

Technology is making leaps and bounds every day and providing corporations, like the gas industry, with ways of taking their jobs and finding tools to help them do these jobs daily is a great benefit to all involved. Accuracy is one of the most important details of the industrial market and with tools like level measurement, there will be more focus on industrial arts growing in the future and creating a better overall product. Level measurement has a wide span of uses across many industries and will only create a more efficient manner for all.