CEBU INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY – UNIVERSITY

CEBU CITY

COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING AND ARCHITECTURE

DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

ChE 501
ChE Laboratory 2

LEVEL SENSOR
Experiment No. 2

Harold R. Tangcay

BSChE 5
 ABSTRACT

Level sensors detect the level of substances that flow, including liquids, slurries, granular
materials, and powders. Fluids and fluidized solids flow to become essentially level in their
containers (or other physical boundaries) because of gravity whereas most bulk solids pile at an
angle of repose to a peak. For this experiment, a Process Control Trainer-dl-2314 which is
available in the ME Department of the CIT-U was used in performing an experiment on level
sensor. Based on the results, the level sensor indicates that as the level of the water in cm
decreases the voltage in volts also decreases. It is clearly shown that level sensor is a very
sensitive equipment because minor changes in the water level directly changes the voltage
readings. Increase of amount of voltage from the source would allow the equipment to supply
enough amount of energy to allow increase of fluid in the tank and it also implies decreasing
the voltage supplied would lessen the flow of the fluid in the tank. Therefore, in a level sensor,
voltage is directly proportional to the level of the fluid in the tank. As the water/fluid in the tank
decreases, the voltage supplied in the equipment decreases.
OBJECTIVE

To determine the characteristics of the differential transformer as position transducer

MATERIALS / APPARATUS

 DL 2314
 Digital multimeter
 Set of leads
 water

SKETCH

Figure 1. Process Control Trainer-dl-2314

METHODS

Using leads, Bush N1 of the level sensor was connected to the bush N1 of the
correspondent interface while the bush N2 of the level sensor was also connected to the bush 2
of the correspondent interface as shown in the figure 1. A digital voltmeter set in DC was
inserted to bush N13 of the level interface and the other one in the earth bush as shown in the
figure 1. The bush N18 of the linear driver was connected to the bush of set point 1, bush N19
was also connected to bush N19 and bush N20 to bush N20 as shown in the figure 2.

The main switch was turned on. The pump regulating the voltage on set point 1 was
started and the level of the water in the process tank was adjusted to 6cm. The pump setting
was adjusted to 0 voltage. The level of the water in the tank was gradually adjusted to 4 cm by
turning the knob needle valve and/or the knob drain valve. The voltage value read in the
voltmeter was verified if it is equally to 0, otherwise the offset trimmer was regulated until the
desired values were obtained. The water level of the tank was increased to 14 cm. The pump
was stopped and was verified if the voltage reading is 0V, otherwise the gain trimmer was
regulated until the desired value was obtained

By repeating step 7, the voltage and level values were verified if it is correct. The tank
was slowly drained to different the level values (14,13,12,11,10,9,8,7,6,5,4) and the voltage
value of each level was read and recorded. After the experiment, the main switch was turned
off. All connection was removed.
TABULATED DATA AND RESULTS

LEVEL
14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4
(cm)
VOLTAGE
10.07 9.29 7.99 6.85 5.75 4.65 3.45 2.55 1.70 0.75 0.06
(V)

GRAPH

16

14

12

10
LEVEL (cm)

6 Y-Values

0
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
VOLTAGE (V)

DISCUSSION OF RESULTS

The results from the experiment were plotted in a graph as shown above. The decrease
in the level of the water also corresponds to a decrease in voltage. Any minor changes greatly
affect the voltage reading. The decrease in voltage reading upon decreasing the level of water
in the tank indicates that the voltage is directly proportional the water level. The differential
transformer directly detects the sudden change in position of the water by the confirmation of
the voltage. In real practice the position/level of water can be controlled by adjusting the
voltage supply.
CONCLUSION / RECOMMENDATION

From the data obtained, I conclude that the voltage is directly proportional to the level
of the fluid. In other perspective, under a given supply of voltage the pump shall create flow of
water that also depends on the specification of the system.

REFERENCES

 http://insterteck.com/process%20control.html
 http://www.feedback-
instruments.com/products/education/process_control/process_control_trainer
 http://www.gilsoneng.com/reference/Levelpap.pdf
 http://www.engineersgarage.com/articles/what-is-level-sensor
 http://mech207.engr.scu.edu/SensorPresentations/Long%20-
%20Capacitive%20Level%20Sensor%20Combined.pdf