Storage tanks holding volatile fluids must have reliable level measurements to avoid unsafe overfill conditions. A Control Engineering Asia article, Wireless vibrating fork technology enables Hengyang Petrochemical to implement cost-effective overfill prevention solution, describes how this petrochemical producer sought to reduce the risk of overfill conditions.
The plant had existing non-contacting radar level measurement devices to measure continuous level changes but wanted to comply with a recent industry standard for the additional use of an independent overfill prevention sensor. The plant engineering staff approached the Emerson team for a recommendation.
A solution based on vibrating forks was recommended because the technology is less prone to failure and requires minimal maintenance.
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…Rosemount™ 2160 Wireless Vibrating Fork Level Switches were selected to provide overfill prevention. The industry’s first WirelessHART® point level switch enables level detection to be made in locations previously inaccessible or cost-prohibitive for wired devices.
Device health diagnostics in these level switches include:
…damage to the forks and sensor, excessive corrosion, and breakages to the internal wiring.
These levels switches were installed:
…to provide high-level alarms on over 30 tanks throughout the tank farm. Data is transmitted via a wireless gateway to the existing PLC. An important reason for the selection of a wireless solution was its lower installation cost and reduced complexity. Without the need for additional cable infrastructure, the project was simple and quick to complete, with no impact on normal operations.
Read the article for the full story of this successful installation on how the second independent layer of level measurement could be added to meet recent tank storage overfill prevention for this region.
You can connect and interact with other level measurement and wireless experts in the Level and Wireless groups in the Emerson Exchange 365 community.