A Technique for Designing a Wide-Band Capacitive Level Gauge for Automated Information and Measurement Petrochemical Accounting Systems

This gauge was designed on the basis of a double-sided printed circuit board, which was used for forming its sensitive elements, capacitive reference gauge blocks, as well as all communication lines by the photolithography method with a high accuracy. Each meter of this level gauge is divided into eight continuous measurement sub-bands, ending with a reference gauge block, due to which an auto-calibration of each measurement sub-band with an absolute error of Δ = ±0.3 mm is carried out. An accuracy control with the help of reference gauge blocks is carried out in each measurement cycle evenly throughout the whole range of level measurement of the controlled liquid. A technique has been developed for designing a discrete-continuous capacitive level gauge for a wide class of dielectric liquids with complex manufacturing of sensitive elements and gauge communication lines based on a one-meter printed circuit board. A simple design of the level gauge and manufacturing of sensitive elements in the form of printed circuit boards, and the presence of embedded auto-calibration provide the gauge with initially high metrological characteristics along with low cost of its manufacture.