Electronic Displacer Liquid Level Transmitter - How it Works, When to Use It

Electronic displacer liquid
level transmitter using spring
technology
Courtesy Magnetrol

An electronic displacer liquid level transmitter is intended for industrial applications requiring the continuous measurement of liquid level in a tank, vessel, or other containing space.

Magnetrol, a globally recognized leader in the design and production of level measurement instrumentation, describes the operating principle of their Digital E3 Modulevel® displacer level transmitter:

Electronic displacer level transmitter technology operates by detecting changes in buoyancy force caused by liquid level change. These forces act upon the spring supported displacer causing vertical motion of the core within a linear variable differential transformer.

The movement of the core within the LVDT generates an electrical signal which is further processed and serves as the output of the transmitter. The unit is designed to be externally mounted on a tank. Isolation valves are recommended.

The spring technology employed as a counterforce to the buoyancy of the displacer results in a stable signal that is not impacted greatly by vibration, agitation, or turbulence of the measured liquid.

The video below provides more detail, covering the features and advantages of this level measurement technology and the Magnetrol instrument. Share your level measurement challenges and requirements with a product application specialist. The combination of your process knowledge and their product application expertise will produce effective solutions.

Tank Blanketing Valve Function and Useful Features

Tank Blanketing Valve
Caschco - Valve Concepts

The filling of vapor space in a liquid containing tank with a gas is referred to as "tank blanketing", and sometimes "padding". Specialized valves are available, designed to simplify the incorporation of a tank blanketing function in an operation.

Often, the gas employed to fill the vapor space in a tank is nitrogen. The purpose of blanketing can vary, but generally involves preservation of the stored product or safety. In both cases, one goal is to keep oxygen levels in the vapor space sufficiently low to inhibit ignition of flammable products, or minimize oxidation and its impact on stored product quality. The inflow of blanketing gas can also be used to keep the tank under positive pressure relative to the surrounding space, considered to harbor contaminants which could otherwise leak into the tank.

What are some functions of a tank blanketing valve?

• Maintain positive pressure in the tank at a selected setpoint.
• Provide gas control at very low flow rates, or close bubble tight, when tank liquid level is static.
• Adjust gas flow to compensate for the maximum liquid draw down rate.
• Provide sufficient closure to prevent supply gas from excessively pressurizing tank.

Blanketing valves are used in conjunction with vents to provide a full range of control over the pressure and content of the vapor space within a tank. A single valve solution eases the design and component selection burden of amassing individual components and combining them into a working assembly. Some useful features of a blanketing valve include:

• Bubble tight shutoff to prevent wasting of purge gas.
• Self cleaning flow path design.
• Pressure balanced pilot, so supply pressure fluctuations do not impact the setpoint.
• Setpoint not appreciably affected by changes in temperature.
• Low maintenance requirements, including complete access to valve internals without removing the valve from the tank.

More detail, including a description of the elements required for proper valve sizing, is found in the document below. Share your fluid process measurement and control challenges with application specialists, combining your process experience and knowledge with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.

Process Tank Blanketing Valve from Miller Energy, Inc.