Advantages and disadvantages of external measuring level gauges in petrochemical tank farms

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In recent years, safety issues related to tank farms have emerged one after another, **and corresponding standards and regulations have been established. Petrochemical plants involve complex processes, often under high temperature and pressure, and deal with flammable and explosive materials; thus, safety issues cannot be overlooked. The chemical storage areas contain large quantities of various chemicals, most of which are flammable, explosive, toxic, and harmful. In the event of an accident, these chemicals can easily cause serious harm or threats to people’s lives and property. Relevant enterprises and safety supervision departments at all local levels must further enhance their awareness of the importance of strengthening safety measures in chemical storage areas, earnestly fulfill their primary responsibilities for ensuring safe production, carry out strict supervision and inspections, promptly identify and eliminate various potential hazards, and effectively strengthen safety efforts in chemical storage areas. Level gauges can promptly reflect the operating conditions of the tank area, and are closely related to the safety of the entire factory. There are various types of level gauges, and it is crucial to select the appropriate one. In applications involving high viscosity or crystallization, traditional contact-type level gauges can experience issues such as ball jamming, cable entanglement, leakage, fluctuations, and false readings. To address these problems, external-type level gauges were developed. 1. Advantages of ELL external-type level gauges: (1) These level gauges are installed using magnetic attachment or bonding methods, without coming into contact with the medium inside the container; thus they represent a true non-contact measurement method. They offer high safety levels, are suitable for extremely harsh operating conditions and dangerous environments, are less prone to wear and corrosion, are reliable and durable, and require minimal maintenance. (2) Without the need for holes, it eliminates the problems associated with on-site installation and debugging; its installation is simple and convenient. It represents an excellent choice for liquid level measurement in tank areas, as well as a superior solution for technical upgrades and replacements. (3) It adopts a \"self-calibration\" precision technology for automatic, real-time on-line calibration, ensuring high measurement accuracy and thus maintaining high precision in the measurement of instrument levels at all times. (4) There are various options for the measurement range, with a maximum of up to 30m ； It features high measurement accuracy, with a maximum precision of ±0.1%. (5) Suitable for continuous level measurement in tank trucks and vehicles used for transporting chemical liquids, without the need to modify the tank trucks. 2. Disadvantages of the ELL external-type level gauge: (1) It cannot measure media such as solid materials, slurries, emulsions, and suspensions, nor can it be used with liquids that have severe sedimentation or crystallization. (2) The dynamic viscosity of the medium must be less than 30 mPa·s, and the medium temperature cannot exceed -60 to 220°C (customization required). (3) When the container wall is made of multiple layers of material, the layers must be in close contact with no bubbles or gas interlayers present. The inner and outer wall surfaces of the container must be smooth, with no excessive curvature. ELL external-type level gauges are widely used due to their ability to be installed and calibrated online without the need for drilling holes in the container, as well as their complete isolation from the process medium. They are particularly advantageous in applications involving flammable and explosive substances, highly toxic materials, corrosive agents, viscous fluids, high pressures, or sterile environments. As awareness of environmental protection grows and greater emphasis is placed on personal safety, in this era of rapid economic development, these contactless external level gauges will become increasingly popular due to their high safety levels and low maintenance requirements, thus emerging as the best choice among level measurement instruments.