Tank Level Monitoring
Tank Level Monitoring
Has anyone been able to design a tank level monitoring system that is integrated into an Omnimeter V4/Xbee network? Due to my limited programming skills I am seeking help to come up with a way to monitor my remote water tank levels. I have a deployed network of 485Bees I am using for gathering of data from my Omnimeters and would like to see if there is a way to use the same hardware and interfaces rather than overlaying a different radio network over the sites.
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
I don't know if there is such a device on the market but if there was such a thing as a linear pulse generator that could generate a pulse for say each "x" cms. or inches of movement up or down in elevation I could use the pulse inputs of the Omnimeter V.4. Say one input for "up" (as in the tank filling) and the other input for "down" (as in the tank emptying) and then subtract one count from the other to look for the difference??? Or maybe ultrasonic flow meters on the inlet and outlets of the tank and then look at the differential?? It would be difficult to calibrate but could be a simple solution. Any ideas??
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
In my search for ideas on how to do something like this, I stumbled across an Australian company that makes a range of mechanical tank level indicators
that are simple, reliable and with a unique design that might be adaptable for use in remote monitoring. This type of device would be much simpler than complex electronics such as hydrostatic sensors or ultrasonic systems, etc. The company name is Yaktek and they manufacture and market a product called Liquidator-2. It consists of a flooded float suspended on a cable inside the tank that can freely move up and down. Externally the cable is routed through a couple of pulleys to a counterweight and high visibility indicator. My idea is to put some sort of hall effect or proximity sensor on the pulleys to "count" the verical movement of the cable. Similar to the output from a mechanical water meter pulse sensor that we use to monitor water use using the pulse inputs of the Omnimeter V4's. The only trick here would be how to determine what is a pulse from an upward movement of the cable from that of a downward movement. Any ideas??
that are simple, reliable and with a unique design that might be adaptable for use in remote monitoring. This type of device would be much simpler than complex electronics such as hydrostatic sensors or ultrasonic systems, etc. The company name is Yaktek and they manufacture and market a product called Liquidator-2. It consists of a flooded float suspended on a cable inside the tank that can freely move up and down. Externally the cable is routed through a couple of pulleys to a counterweight and high visibility indicator. My idea is to put some sort of hall effect or proximity sensor on the pulleys to "count" the verical movement of the cable. Similar to the output from a mechanical water meter pulse sensor that we use to monitor water use using the pulse inputs of the Omnimeter V4's. The only trick here would be how to determine what is a pulse from an upward movement of the cable from that of a downward movement. Any ideas??
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
It may be possible to mount the pulleys of a device like this on the shaft of rotary pulse generators - something like the inexpensive Shimpo RE1B-60C that output 60 pulses per shaft rotation.
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
A little more investigation seems to point to the best way to do this is to use a shaft driven rotary optical encoder that has two phases (A and B outputs phase shifted by 90 degrees) that will give a quatrature output of square wave signals. These are very commonly used for linear machine movement in industrial automation. They are very inexpensive and available in a wide range of pulses per shaft rotation. They have a standard 1/4" (6mm.) shaft size and a range of different pulley sizes (circumferences) are available depending on the application. For a tank level monitoring application the speeds and resolution are very low making the design very simple. The quadrature output can then be decoded with a simple dual D-type edge-triggered flip-flop (eg. 74LS74 I/C) to produce to two pulse streams, one for an "up" trigger and the other for a "down" trigger. These outputs than then be connected to the pulse inputs of an Omnimeter V4 and then post processed to monitor the tank level with an API query from the Push3. I have ordered some parts to try this out and will report my findings here.
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
Hello Ezzie,
Sorry I did not see your posts earlier.
I love your ideas here and where your head is at. Yes, it seems like you could use an Omnimeter Pulse v.4 to count the up pulses as the float rises, and then count the down pulses as the float goes down. Then the difference between the 2 numbers should give a rough idea of where you stand at the moment.
Another easy one is to use a float switch, but this only gives a the tank is full or the tank is not full answer. Or the tank is empty or the tank is not empty answer.
Or, you go with what we have come up with, which is to use an EKM ioStack, connected to your same 485Bee wireless network, and then connect a tank level sensor to the EKM ioStack. The analog value can then be converted to a "0-100% Full" human readable value in the EKM Widget. This works great for us (but maybe not as much fun to setup as your pulley system
):
https://www.ekmmetering.com/collections ... ts/iostack
https://www.ekmmetering.com/collections ... vel-sensor
Here is an example that is from a water tank:
https://widget.ekmmetering.com/widget/? ... wj3megYAAA
Sorry I did not see your posts earlier.
I love your ideas here and where your head is at. Yes, it seems like you could use an Omnimeter Pulse v.4 to count the up pulses as the float rises, and then count the down pulses as the float goes down. Then the difference between the 2 numbers should give a rough idea of where you stand at the moment.
Another easy one is to use a float switch, but this only gives a the tank is full or the tank is not full answer. Or the tank is empty or the tank is not empty answer.
Or, you go with what we have come up with, which is to use an EKM ioStack, connected to your same 485Bee wireless network, and then connect a tank level sensor to the EKM ioStack. The analog value can then be converted to a "0-100% Full" human readable value in the EKM Widget. This works great for us (but maybe not as much fun to setup as your pulley system
):https://www.ekmmetering.com/collections ... ts/iostack
https://www.ekmmetering.com/collections ... vel-sensor
Here is an example that is from a water tank:
https://widget.ekmmetering.com/widget/? ... wj3megYAAA
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
I looked at the ioStack idea but I didn't think it would work for me because it seems to require that the Push3 be located at the well/tank site. Problem is, I have no internet access at those locations since they are fairly remote and too far from anywhere to be hardwired. I already have the 485Bee network over the whole area and need something simple that I can hook into an Omnimeter V4 with. In my topology, I use only one Push3 at my home office location which is used to collect data from all of the deployed Omnimeters.
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
Maybe I misunderstand how the ioStack can be used. I see you have added the ability to mount it standalone in the bottom half of a Push3 enclosure. Does this mean we can deploy an ioStack alone at a remote site, powered by 12VDC solar and connect a 485Bee directly to it to communicate with a Push3 elsewhere on the network?
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
You can connect an ioStack to your RS485 network or wireless 485Bee network in the same way that you connect an EKM Omnimeter.
At the remote site you could could have an EKM ioStack powered by a 12 volt DC power supply, it is hardwired to a 485Bee. You can have other iostacks or Omnimeters hardwired to that same 485Bee. The EKM Push will read all of the EKM Omnimeters and EKM ioStacks that it is assigned to. They can be connected to the EKM Push by either hardwire or wireless 485Bee communications.
The EKM Push will read the ioStacks, including the analog values that are coming from your water tank level sensor, and transmit that data to your EKM Push account in the same way that it does with your EKM Omnimeter data.
I hope this helps.
At the remote site you could could have an EKM ioStack powered by a 12 volt DC power supply, it is hardwired to a 485Bee. You can have other iostacks or Omnimeters hardwired to that same 485Bee. The EKM Push will read all of the EKM Omnimeters and EKM ioStacks that it is assigned to. They can be connected to the EKM Push by either hardwire or wireless 485Bee communications.
The EKM Push will read the ioStacks, including the analog values that are coming from your water tank level sensor, and transmit that data to your EKM Push account in the same way that it does with your EKM Omnimeter data.
I hope this helps.
Re: Tank Level Monitoring
Definitely helps a lot. Worth considering for a couple of sites (such as standalone remote tanks) where I don't need Omnimeters. I don't know how I missed this.