Method for precision ultrasonic measurement of the liquid level through the wall or bottom of a steel tank

Planned scope and specific place of application: the proposed method can be used in the oil, gas, chemical and transport industries.

Funding source: own funds

Level of innovation: no analogues in Ukraine.

Availability of a patent: an application for an invention was filed in 2020.

Presence of an interested Customer: interest in measuring gas flow in the gas transmission system of Ukraine has been shown.

Implementation: planned.

What additional actions require implementation: it is required to manufacture a sample of a liquid level meter through the wall or bottom of a steel tank with automatic signal processing and test it in real conditions for measuring the level of liquids in railway tanks.

Brief description, technical and economic parameters of advantages and positive qualities.

A method has been developed for the precision ultrasonic measurement of the liquid level through the wall or bottom of a steel tank by the propagation time of signals using their correlation-phase reception. Theoretically substantiated is a technique for generating broadband probing signals from their spectrum, which takes into account the excitation of Lemba waves in an elastic steel wall and the correlation-phase reception of signals. The proposed method provides advantages in liquid level measurement compared to other known methods in terms of reliability and measurement accuracy in a wide range of wall thicknesses and liquid level, energy efficiency and noise immunity in the possibility of measuring the level of more viscous and more sound-absorbing liquids. Experimental verification of liquid level measurement through steel walls with a thickness of 14.5 mm and 20.0 mm using a broadband signal with a linear law of frequency change in the high-frequency and mid-frequency ranges showed the operability of the developed level measurement method with a time measurement accuracy within 1 μs and with high values correlation coefficient at the level of 0.7–0.92. The developed method can be used to measure the level of liquids and gas compounds in the oil, gas, chemical and transport industries, in particular, when transporting hydrocarbons in railway tanks.

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