Design and Implementation of an Intrinsically Safe Liquid-Level Sensor Using Coaxial Cable
Real-time detection of liquid level in complex environments has always been a knotty issue. In this paper, an intrinsically safe liquid-level sensor system for flammable and explosive environments is designed and implemented. The poly vinyl chloride (PVC) coaxial cable is chosen as the sensing eleme...
| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2015-05-01
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| Series: | Sensors |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/6/12613 |
| _version_ | 1798041402142097408 |
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| author | Baoquan Jin Xin Liu Qing Bai Dong Wang Yu Wang |
| author_facet | Baoquan Jin Xin Liu Qing Bai Dong Wang Yu Wang |
| author_sort | Baoquan Jin |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Real-time detection of liquid level in complex environments has always been a knotty issue. In this paper, an intrinsically safe liquid-level sensor system for flammable and explosive environments is designed and implemented. The poly vinyl chloride (PVC) coaxial cable is chosen as the sensing element and the measuring mechanism is analyzed. Then, the capacitance-to-voltage conversion circuit is designed and the expected output signal is achieved by adopting parameter optimization. Furthermore, the experimental platform of the liquid-level sensor system is constructed, which involves the entire process of measuring, converting, filtering, processing, visualizing and communicating. Additionally, the system is designed with characteristics of intrinsic safety by limiting the energy of the circuit to avoid or restrain the thermal effects and sparks. Finally, the approach of the piecewise linearization is adopted in order to improve the measuring accuracy by matching the appropriate calibration points. The test results demonstrate that over the measurement range of 1.0 m, the maximum nonlinearity error is 0.8% full-scale span (FSS), the maximum repeatability error is 0.5% FSS, and the maximum hysteresis error is reduced from 0.7% FSS to 0.5% FSS by applying software compensation algorithms. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:21:58Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-7bde9f2199e64eb191f4920283fef807 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1424-8220 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:21:58Z |
| publishDate | 2015-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Sensors |
| spelling | doaj.art-7bde9f2199e64eb191f4920283fef8072022-12-22T04:00:06ZengMDPI AGSensors1424-82202015-05-01156126131263410.3390/s150612613s150612613Design and Implementation of an Intrinsically Safe Liquid-Level Sensor Using Coaxial CableBaoquan Jin0Xin Liu1Qing Bai2Dong Wang3Yu Wang4Key Laboratory of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control Systems, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, No.79 Yingzexi Street, Taiyuan 030024, ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control Systems, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, No.79 Yingzexi Street, Taiyuan 030024, ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control Systems, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, No.79 Yingzexi Street, Taiyuan 030024, ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control Systems, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, No.79 Yingzexi Street, Taiyuan 030024, ChinaKey Laboratory of Advanced Transducers and Intelligent Control Systems, Ministry of Education, Taiyuan University of Technology, No.79 Yingzexi Street, Taiyuan 030024, ChinaReal-time detection of liquid level in complex environments has always been a knotty issue. In this paper, an intrinsically safe liquid-level sensor system for flammable and explosive environments is designed and implemented. The poly vinyl chloride (PVC) coaxial cable is chosen as the sensing element and the measuring mechanism is analyzed. Then, the capacitance-to-voltage conversion circuit is designed and the expected output signal is achieved by adopting parameter optimization. Furthermore, the experimental platform of the liquid-level sensor system is constructed, which involves the entire process of measuring, converting, filtering, processing, visualizing and communicating. Additionally, the system is designed with characteristics of intrinsic safety by limiting the energy of the circuit to avoid or restrain the thermal effects and sparks. Finally, the approach of the piecewise linearization is adopted in order to improve the measuring accuracy by matching the appropriate calibration points. The test results demonstrate that over the measurement range of 1.0 m, the maximum nonlinearity error is 0.8% full-scale span (FSS), the maximum repeatability error is 0.5% FSS, and the maximum hysteresis error is reduced from 0.7% FSS to 0.5% FSS by applying software compensation algorithms.http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/6/12613PVC coaxial cablecapacitive liquid-level sensorintrinsically safe circuitpiecewise linearization |
| spellingShingle | Baoquan Jin Xin Liu Qing Bai Dong Wang Yu Wang Design and Implementation of an Intrinsically Safe Liquid-Level Sensor Using Coaxial Cable Sensors PVC coaxial cable capacitive liquid-level sensor intrinsically safe circuit piecewise linearization |
| title | Design and Implementation of an Intrinsically Safe Liquid-Level Sensor Using Coaxial Cable |
| title_full | Design and Implementation of an Intrinsically Safe Liquid-Level Sensor Using Coaxial Cable |
| title_fullStr | Design and Implementation of an Intrinsically Safe Liquid-Level Sensor Using Coaxial Cable |
| title_full_unstemmed | Design and Implementation of an Intrinsically Safe Liquid-Level Sensor Using Coaxial Cable |
| title_short | Design and Implementation of an Intrinsically Safe Liquid-Level Sensor Using Coaxial Cable |
| title_sort | design and implementation of an intrinsically safe liquid level sensor using coaxial cable |
| topic | PVC coaxial cable capacitive liquid-level sensor intrinsically safe circuit piecewise linearization |
| url | http://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/15/6/12613 |
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