Environmental Applications

There is a tendency to pit ultrasonic level sensors and radar level sensors against one another when in reality each sensor has advantages and disadvantages that give each sensor its own place. In this blog, we will look at the differences in how these two technologies work and will cover the applications each sensor is best suited for.

Maintenance is important, but it’s often hard to quantify. How much time does maintenance take? How often does your system need it? Does maintaining one part necessitate a complete system shut down? What does that represent in lost income because your system is not making product? Maintenance is important, but minimizing maintenance is even more important.

Maintenance is also important for your sensors. While everyone (yes, us, too!) would really like for sensors to maintenance free for life, reality dictates that all equipment needs a check-up from time to time. It’s true for pumps and motors, and it’s true for sensors.

So, when’s the last time you gave your ultrasonic sensor a checkup?

Ultrasonic sensors are pretty cool. Transducers send and receive waves, measurements magically get spit out by the sensor, and nothing had to touch anything, right? You can choose sensors based on range, or type of transducer, or even safety ratings. Most sensors declare their range and frequency together, which seems kind of odd. Why is the range of an ultrasonic sensor tied to its frequency? For the answer, we turn again to our old friend, high school physics.

Like a jigsaw puzzle, harsh conditions can excite an eager engineer or control tech. They’re difficult, which only makes them more rewarding to solve. However, they can also be a headache, a thorn in your side.

Design engineers who work with instrumentation are equally intrigued and excited about a good challenge. Some of them become even more versed in the fine details of a harsh condition than the expert in the field once they get the details and begin to recreate the scenario.

Through a lot of R&D, we have a myriad of sensors that pretty well cover the gamut of harsh conditions. So, as an ode to the challenging puzzle that is harsh conditions, we discuss the ins and outs of the harsh.

Defining Harsh

In a subjective world, certain words have a difficult time getting the point across. Harsh is one of those words...

Sometimes we develop myths about certain technologies. None are more frustrating than the belief that floats on continuous float level sensors get stuck.

We like to get as much industry feedback as we can. Trade shows are a good opportunity to do this. Over the last several years attending OTC in Houston, many have told us that they resist using float level transmitters, or magnetic level probes, because they’re worried the float will get stuck.

So we decided to debunk the myth here. Bottom line, we have 10,000 + units in the field (most from long time customers), in anything from Wastewater lift stations to Oil and Gas mud tanks, and the floats never get stuck.

That’s not to say it isn’t possible, but in the applications where this sensor technology works well, it just isn’t happening. This is due to three important factors:

It’s hard to imagine a less predictable and more dynamic environment than nature. However, as unyielding as it is, we continue to develop ways to harness, and be prepared for, natural phenomena. One of the ways you can do it is to put a level sensor on everything from roaring rivers to irrigation canals, from great lakes to small ponds.

This is most common at manmade structures meant to control natural water resources for things like power generation and irrigation...

Pressure transducers come in all shapes and sizes, and some are simply tougher than others. For example, our PT-400 is built for harsher applications than our PT-L1, and therefore costs a little more. So to avoid making the mistake of either spending too much on something you don’t need, or spending too little on something that doesn’t work, be sure to select the right sensor for the right job.

So when is it appropriate to use heavy duty pressure transducers vs. their light duty counterparts? Below is a basic list of factors to look for in your application that will help you make this decision:

Pressure Range

The higher the pressure range the more durable the sensor you will need. Typically, once you are experiencing pressure spikes exceeding 5,000 PSI you will be better off using heavy duty pressure transducers.

Specific gravity is an important factor when purchasing a level probe. A float will rest higher or lower in a liquid depending on the liquids density or specific gravity.

Water is the reference liquid for density, with a specific gravity of 1. Less dense liquids will have a smaller specific gravity, such as propane at 0.5. Higher density materials have a higher specific gravity. For example, Mercury at room temperature has a ...