Measure distance in a steel pipe

[Davon322]

Hi Folks,

I have a problem, I am trying to find the distance of a ball inside a steel pipe.
see attached picture. currently using a piece of string with a ball on either end,
manually checking the silos is an inconvenience and would like to remotely know the level
of the silo. radio side of this project isnt an issue.

thanks
Davon

[coromonadalix]

laser range finder   but it must hit a reflective surface    well aligned in the pipe an a mirror at the other end worked for me for 30 ft 6 inch diameter pipe


@davon322      i dont see any attached picture

[Davon322]

sorry new to the forum

3" diameter pipe 30ft silo

[KrudyZ]

I would look into an ultrasound range finder right inside the tank.
This would allow you to get rid of the pipe system altogether.

[ice595]

is the liquid in the tank conductive? if so you can insert 2 conductive rods at a fixed distance from each other measure the resistance between them

[IDEngineer]

I second the ultrasound rangefinder. Looks like you already have an opening in the top of the tank, so no new penetrations would be required. It's a seasoned technology, nothing new to invent.

Another option not yet mentioned is the fact that liquid in a tank generally results in a temperature difference in the wall of the tank, with a dividing line above and below the liquid's level. Some installations I've seen have instrumented this, and you could also literally view it with a handheld IR imager. The latter approach would require no installation and zero time to implement once the imager was purchased. Also no moving parts and zero maintenance. Resolution and accuracy would have some human factors but on a tank that large a few percent may be sufficient.

[chris_leyson]

Time of flight ultrasound distance measurement would be the cheapest option. A capacitive probe might also be an option but then again you could turn the empty space into a resonant tuned cavity and use RF probing techniques. Laser range finding is expensive, been there.

[drussell]

I have a problem, I am trying to find the distance of a ball inside a steel pipe.
see attached picture. currently using a piece of string with a ball on either end,
manually checking the silos is an inconvenience and would like to remotely know the level
of the silo. radio side of this project isnt an issue.

There are many ways to measure the level of liquid in a container...

eg. see:
https://new.abb.com/products/measurement-products/level/a-dozen-ways-to-measure-fluid-level

There are probably several companies with entire catalogs of options. 

Somewhere I have a big yellow Omega temperature measurement catalog from the '70s or 80s and I remember being absolutely flabbergasted as a kid seeing how many ways there were to measure the temperature of different things.

Even Omega has some ultrasonic and radar sensor units:
https://www.omega.ca/en/search?q=liquid+level%3Arelevance%3Acategories%3AUltrasonic%2BSensor%3Acategories%3ARadar%2BSensor&text=liquid+level&view=grid#

[Etesla]

+1 for ultrasonic sensing the level. The el cheapo HC-SR04 modules are apparently good to about 13 feet. If you need a longer distance, just use some waterproof version like this one (https://www.dfrobot.com/product-1505.html?gclid=Cj0KCQjw09HzBRDrARIsAG60GP8CsqIEr0OjmzZrEM71TjS52ZwkqvqRpGV2vUJCkJBODpeE10TqS4IaArukEALw_wcB) and stack them every 13 feet, and use some sort of float valve switch like mechanism to tell the controller which sensor to use for sensing.

[Ground_Loop]

I’ve done this several ways:  ultrasonic, fluid pressure at the bottom of the tank, radar, laser, and external sight glass with multiple optical or proximity sensors

[rvalente]

Check these, Amazing product.

https://www.burkert.com/en/products/sensors-transmitters-and-controllers/level/guided-radar

Also, check balluff bes003, used it a lot, works fine and its cheap