Decentralised Level Monitoring With Digital Technology

Purely analogue measurement of liquid, gaseous and vapour media is increasingly becoming a technology that does not meet today’s requirements. Digitalised level monitoring, on the other hand, offers the possibility of monitoring tank installations in real-time – no matter where they are located. This involves automated data collection, data transmission as well as data visualisation and analysis, which ultimately serves to reduce operating costs and optimise the transaction between industrial consumers and suppliers. The manufacturer’s tank monitoring data acquisition hardware continues to consist of proven gauges for differential pressure and flow. The docked microprocessor-controlled digital unit records the fill level as well as the absolute operating pressure on stationary or transport vehicle-mounted (pressure) tanks by measuring the differential pressure. Additional functions for determining the density of gases and liquids in the tank, as well as volume and mass measurements for any container shape, are also possible and can even be switched on and off by remote maintenance, used as required. The data is transmitted via the cellular network. This is normally independent of the mobile phone provider, which ensures almost complete, cross-border radio coverage.

Economic Advantages Through Digital Fill Level Monitoring

When supplying geographically widely distributed buyers of industrial gases and liquids, information on the fill level and consumption behaviour is a decisive feature for optimised route planning by suppliers, write Christian Brockschnieder (Product Manager Digital Solutions) and Matthias Gast (Sales Manager Sam Tank Management, Samson) in the October 2020 issue of the trade journal ‘Chemie Technik’. This also allows, for example, a consumption trend to be read, which accurately predicts the day of the next filling for the supplier based on the historical withdrawal pattern by the consumer. In addition, the consumption trend is an indicator for the appropriate tank size. If this shows the need for short refuelling intervals, it makes sense to resize a tank to reduce the refuelling intervals and thus the kilometres to be driven. Another great advantage of digital, decentralised measurement technology is that it is continuously updated and one can thus react immediately to unplanned events. For example, individual alarms can be generated that are triggered as soon as a previously defined limit value is reached. In this way, suppliers can guarantee significantly increased security of supply and, under certain circumstances, achieve an additional economic advantage.