Hello

I'm looking for a sensor for sensing the volume of beer in a tank. The tank is an 1Ton horizontal cylindrical tank, with double alumminium wall and a plastic that protects the beer from the direct contact with the tank. Between the two walls is the refrigerator liquid that keeps the temperature in 3ºC.
I'm thinking in using a load cell to weight the tank. Anyone has a better solution?
There's a lot of restrictions because of the beer properties and the type of tanks..

Thanks in advance

 

Sensing the level might be more economical with a pressure transmitter or an ultrasonic level sensor. Displaying the volume in a Horizontal cylindrical tank can be done with a display that has a built in scaling ability for such tanks. Precision digital is one company that makes these.
Good luck,
James Johnson
M/D Control Systems, Inc.

 

If you can give me a chance to test the contents I should be able to tell you how much it (had) contained.

 

Hello all,

LOL!!!

I was going to reply to this one too.

 

Rosemount makes a radar transmitter that works really well.

 

There are a number of volumetric totalizers available which essentially measure level perform a math calculation and display the results. I have done the same thing with diesel storage tanks and sumps at power plants. In one case the conversion into gallons was fed to a DCS and recalculated with the pump capacity and displaying the amount of time to empty the tank.

If you are looking for a sensor it depends on the application. If it is a vertical free standing tank that is accessible, the best and most accurate method is to install a pressure transmitter just above the drain point.

 

Me first!

 

You can use a differential pressure system consisting of a pressure sensor at the bottom and another pressure sensor at the top of the tank. this would compensate for variation caused by CO2 pressure in the headspace. Endress & Hauser offers a good system.

Alternatively, a non-intrusive ultrasonic system could be used provided you have accurate dimensions of the tank. Canongate Technologies offers a good system.

 

Yes radar may be a possibility, however, if there is foam floating around, the results may be questionable.

ThermoMeasureTech, Ohmart/Vega, Endress Hauser are all manufacturers of radar.

 

Differential pressure would probably work best. I have had severe problems with radar and ultrasonic transmitters when used in a foaming application. Previous trials developed false signals when applied to foamy water for salad processing. Same went for capacitance based transmitters. I found the best solution for our application was to go to a continuous level float transmitter. The floats can be ordered with heavier weights to penetrate the foam and float only on the media to be sensed. The units we order have integrated transmitters (4-20ma) and are 100% 316SS material. Good luck!

 

You can use a pressure transmitter mounted in the bottom. The hydrostatic pressure will tell you the level. We (Smar) make a pressure transmitter with a built-in linearization table that permits you to convert the level to a direct readout in volume. See:
http://www.smar.com/products/ld301.asp

Contact me directly at the address below. Like many others I have a feeling that a site visit is required...

Jonas Berge
==================
[email protected]
www.smar.com

 

Thats really easy - if its in Canada - its empty.

Cheers from: Jeremy Pollard, CET The Crazy Canuckian!
Integration and Automation Training, Consulting, and Software

 

Jeremy,

You should qualify that with "If it is an I&C department in Canada - it's empty"

Dennis

 

True enuff. The I&C guys are the real contributors to the beer economy

Cheers from: Jeremy Pollard, CET The Crazy Canuckian!
Integration and Automation Training, Consulting, and Software

 

About Radars sensors, I would just add that they are several wavalength. The 24 Ghz seems to work well in harsh environments.

B.R.

Philippe

 

I have designed a system for a very large company in Holland (). It uses a weight sensor under the tank. The tank used is a stainless steel tank with the same Principe you described. The system uses a priva hx3 control unit an send it's data using gprs to a central database. it also can alarm when the temperature is not ok an when the refrigerator is down.

 

I would try a recoil float level sensor. It basically floats at the fluid level, and thed amount the shaft has recoiled determines the height of the fluid in the tank.

I have seen these that actually remain in the up (totally coiled position) position, then once a minute or what ever time interval you desire, they lower until the fluid surface is reached. at that point the switch is tripped and the encoder feeds back the fliud level height.

hope this helps

 

With de difference of the pressure up and down of the tank...