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)
[12]-[15] to validate the calculated one in this work.
The main advantages of the adopted technique using the
proposed algorithm are;
1. Low cost instrumentation, when used as a gauging
system only.
2. A competitive gauging accuracy, comparing with other
techniques.
3. Levels number to be measured in liquid tanks is
unlimited.
4. Measuring the permittivity enables level content
properties monitoring.
For low viscosity liquids, the sensor can be a perforated
coaxial cable inserted vertically in the liquid tanks to measure
the levels and permittivity, Fig. 2 shows the outer perforated
coaxial conductor, whereas, for high viscosity liquids, TDR
probe can be used, acting as the inner conductor of the coaxial
cable sensor, and the outer conductor is the tank itself. The
bottom of the tank represents a short circuit (S.C.) and the
cover is isolated from the TDR probe. Fig. 3 shows the both
arrangement setups that are suitable for the proposed
computation algorithm.
Fig. 2 A section of the outer coaxial sensor conductor which is perforated to
allow liquids to get-through the space between the inner and outer conductors
of the sensor.
(a) (b)
Fig. 3 Measurement setup for; (a) Low viscosity liquids using a coaxial cable
sensor, and (b) High viscosity liquids using TDR probe.
In this work a multi-level liquid tank with four different
materials; air, combustion engine oil, water, and mud was
examined to measure both the physical height (thickness) and
permittivity of each level (supposing that the levels contents
are unknown). The measurement inaccuracy was less than
0.01. A short circuited coaxial transmission line was used as a
sensor with a pulse generator to generate a pulsating signal of
0.2 ns pulse width. The coaxial line sensor was perforated to
allow liquids to get-through the space between the inner and
outer conductors of the sensor. The adopted technique is based
on measuring the reflected pulse from each level surface and
the time delay between each two successive reflected pulses.
From the relation between the incident and reflected pulses at
each level interface, one can calculate the reflection
coefficient at the surface of each level and then calculating the
level content permittivity, whereas, the physical level of liquid
can be calculated from the time delay between each two
successive reflected pulses
II. MEASUREMENT SETUP
The arrangement setup of the adopted technique is shown
in Fig. 4, where a perforated coaxial line inserted vertically in
a liquid tank contains four different liquid materials. A pulse
generator was used to introduce a pulse signal of 0.2 ns width
at the excitation port and allowed to propagates to and through
the interface, whereas, a high frequency oscilloscope was used
to display input and reflected pulse waveforms. The pulse is
partially reflected at each sample material interface and
partially transmitted. The transmitted portion travels to the
next sample until reaches the end of the line and reflected by
the terminating short circuit at the bottom of the tank. Fig. 5
shows the liquids that held in the perforated short-circuited
coaxial line sensor.
I nternational J ournal of Engineering Trends and Technology (I J ETT) Volume 5 number 1- Nov 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 20
Fig. 4 The adopted arrangement setup used for simultaneous measurement of
both liquid level and permittivity in multi-level liquid tank.
Fig. 5 Liquids are held in a perforated short-circuited coaxial transmission
line. The time histories of the incident and reflection from each interface are
recorded at a location in the measurement port.
All required waveforms are recorded at the same
measurement port, and in order to segregate them from one to
another, time isolation must be provided. This can be
accomplished when the liquid physical height is long (relative
to the pulse width) or by using an excitation with a pulse
width that is narrow, relative to the round-trip propagation
time in the liquid level. These requirements are exist in the
adopted application of this work.
It is important, to let the proposed algorithm be applicable,
that the storage tank should not be filled 100%, i.e., the first
level should be air with a level thickness greater than the pulse
width. This condition usually is guaranteed in most storage
tanks including crude oil storage tanks
III. THE PROPOSED ALGORITHM AND PROCEDURE
The complete time history would consist of the incident
pulse and an infinite number of reflected pulses. This history
is illustrated in the bounce diagram as shown in Fig. 6. Each
sample material is defined by its electrical property, complex
relative permittivity (
), and complex
permeability (
and
(1)
As shown in Fig. 6, supposing that the incident pulse is
2.
3.
4.
where the operator * indicates the convolution, (
) is the
propagation (transient) time in the nth level (region thickness),
is the reflection coefficient, and is the transmission
coefficient.
(2)
(3)
(4)
(5)
(6)
(7)
(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
I nternational J ournal of Engineering Trends and Technology (I J ETT) Volume 5 number 1- Nov 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 21
Fig. 6 A bounce diagram for the geometry depicted in Fig. 5.
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I nternational J ournal of Engineering Trends and Technology (I J ETT) Volume 5 number 1- Nov 2013
ISSN: 2231-5381 http://www.ijettjournal.org Page 22
Fig. 7 The simulated incident and computed first, second, third and fourth reflected pulses.
To determine the liquid levels, the following relation can be
used [4];
(14)
where
(15)
} (16)
}
(17)
}
(18)
] (19)
] (20)
where is the Fourier Transform. The negative sign of
)
should be known. The arrangement setup shown in Fig. 3 can
be used to measure the transient time through each liquid level
(
).
B. Determination of Physical Levels and Permittivity
In case of need to measure both liquid level and
permittivity, simultaneously, the device setup shown in Fig. 3
is used, but a Scalar Network Analyze (SNA) is needed in
addition to the high frequency oscilloscope to measure
incident and reflection amplitudes (
). Based on measuring
(
) and (
), where
. The material
between the port of measurement and the first liquid
interface level is the air.
2. From the amplitude of the measured first reflected
pulse amplitude (
),
can be determined
too using eqn. (14).
3. Repeat step 2 to calculate
and
and .
In case of long coaxial sensor, should be measured and
considered in calculation of the reflection coefficient (), eqn.
(15) - (18). can be computed easily for every level material
by filling the coaxial sensor with the material and measuring
the output voltage (
[] (21)
IV. EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS
To further illustrate the measurement procedure, a liquid
tank contains four different materials; air, combustion engine
oil, water, and mud, with levels of 30-cm, 60-cm, 10-cm and
5-cm respectively, was used. The technique shown in Fig. 3
was used to measure both liquid levels and permittivity in the
multi-level tank. The device setup shown in Fig. 4 was used,
one time with a high frequency oscilloscope to measure (
)
and another time with a SNA (BOONTON 2300 scalar
network analyser available at the MW and Radar Engineering,
The Higher Institute of Electronics, Beni-Walid, Libya) to
measure (
, and
.
The calculation of both physical levels and permittivity was
as in the following two cases;
Case #1; where (
cm.
.
2. The second material (oil) has a permittivity of
cm.
.
3. The third material (water) has a permittivity of
cm.
.
4. The fourth material (mud) has a permittivity of
cm.
.
Case #2; where (
and a physical level of
cm.
.
2. The second material (oil) has a permittivity of
mm.
.
3. The third material (water) has a permittivity of
cm.
4. The fourth material (mud) has a permittivity of
cm.
.
It is obvious that the measurement accuracy was improved
by considering the attenuation in the coaxial sensor (). The
measurement accuracy is affected by the human reading
accuracy via measurement devices, i.e., high frequency
oscilloscope. The suggested setup may be upgraded by way of
replacing the oscilloscope by a signal processing unit with a
display to avoid the human error.
Table I summarises these measurement results.
TABLE I
THE MEASURED LIQUID LEVELS AND PERMITTIVITY
Region
Actual
*
Measured
Measured
Level
Thickness
(mm)
% inaccuracy
(mm)
(
) is not considered
Air 1.00 1.01 298.3
Oil 2.30 2.28 594.3
Water 80.0 80.5 98.90
Mud 5.00 5.10 49.10
(