How to mount a capacitance level-sensing probe in your vessel
Continuous level-sensing equipment is something everyone in the bulk solids processing and handling industries depends on. The equipment can consistently monitor the amount of material in a storage or process vessel. This article will focus on one type of level-sensing equipment, the capacitance level-sensing probe. More specifically, it will discuss mounting methods and how to adapt probes to various applications.
A capacitance probe is a level sensor that functions like a big capacitor to measure high or low material levels in a vessel. A capacitor is an electrical device consisting of two conductors separated by an insulator. In the case of a capacitance probe, the two conductors are the probe's active portion and the storage or process vessel's metal wall. The unit's electronics energize these two conductors with a small electrical signal that measures the circuit's capacitance. The amount of capacitance is determined by the conductors' size, the physical spacing between the conductors, and the dielectric constant of the material between the conductors.