Your business is changing, and you need to make sure you are promoting the products, services, and selling techniques that will keep you growing in 2016. At the time I am writing this, the price of a barrel of WTI oil is $38.50. A year ago, the price was $56.50; and even higher before that. While not everyone may be touched by this kind of change, I am sure that other changes such as municipal budgets, new technologies, or even winter weather patterns will affect your business.
Few things are as ubiquitous in the process control industry as the need to measure the level of a process material in a container. Whether that material is water, waste water, petroleum, sugar, or any other form of liquid or solid, level measurement accuracy can be a determining factor in both profit margins and safety.
On December 11th 2005, malfunctioning level gauges were partially responsible for a massive explosion at the Hertfordshire Oil Storage Terminal in Hertfordshire, England. According to the Health and Safety Executive that investigated the blast, "the tank was full, but gauges and safety devices did not work."1 A high level switch that should have detected the petrol level and cut off flow to the tank failed to operate and workers didn't notice that the tank was overflowing.2 This resulted in a 32-hour inferno which injured 43 people and left many families homeless.
Level sensors are capable of measuring more than just level. Flow rate measurement in an open channel, such as a stream, irrigation canal, or unpressurized sewerage pipe, can be accomplished using hydraulic structures known as weirs and flumes. These measure flow rate using the same technologies often applied to tank level measurement, such as bubblers, radar, and ultrasonic level transmitters.
Don't want to read your tank level in decimal format? Would it be more convenient to read it the way you always have - in Feet and Inches? You can with Precision Digital's unique solutions that allow you to display level the way you want to see it - in a feet and inches format. These displays and controllers can accept 4-20 mA and Modbus inputs, and the most unique thing about them is, they can display the signal in convenient feet and inches designations. The meters can also display fractions of an inch in 8ths or 16ths, and some models even feature a bargraph indicator making it quick to reference the level in the tank.
So, if you need a unique display for your tank level application check out Precision Digital's full line of Feet and Inches Level Meters. After all, it's how tanks get specified. So it makes sense to tank farm operators.
With the summer months ahead, many are looking forward to bright and sunny days. However, to those who work with process instrumentation outdoors, the sun may seem a never-ending source of frustration. All too often the local displays and controllers they count on to do their job become unreadable from the bright and direct sunlight. There are many options available, however, to provide clear displays that can be seen even in the brightest direct sunlight.
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Watch and learn about Precision Digital's ProtEX-F&I explosion-proof loop-powered level meter. This level meter displays level in feet and inches, providing simple and easy-to-understand level indication. Watch video here.
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