A planar capacitive precision gauge for liquid-level and leakage detection

Author

Toth, Ferry N. ; Meijer, Gerard C M ; van der Lee, M.

Author_Institution

Delft Instrum. Group, ENRAF BV, Netherlands

Volume

46

Issue

2

fYear

1997

fDate

4/1/1997 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

644

Lastpage

646

Abstract

A new capacitive precision liquid-level gauge has been developed. The sensor consists of a low-cost planar electrode structure, a capacitance-controlled oscillator and a microcontroller. The device is able to measure absolute levels of conducting and nonconducting liquids with a 1 mm uncertainty over a 4 m range. The system has a high resolution of 0.1 mm at short measuring times of only 0.2 s. Slow level movements of 0.02 mm/h can be detected within 18 min

Keywords

capacitance measurement; electric sensing devices; leak detection; level measurement; measurement errors; microcontrollers; voltage-controlled oscillators; 0.2 s; 18 min; absolute levels; capacitance-controlled oscillator; conducting liquids; leakage detection; liquid-level detection; low-cost planar electrode structure; measuring times; microcontroller; nonconducting liquids; planar capacitive precision gauge; resolution; slow level movements; uncertainty; Calibration; Capacitance measurement; Capacitive sensors; Conductivity measurement; Costs; Dielectric liquids; Electrodes; Fuels; Insulation; Leak detection;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.572052

Filename

572052