Liquids and liquid gases are both part of many important industrial processes. For example, liquid carbon dioxide is used to produce carbonated beverages, to run pneumatic systems, fill fire extinguishers, and process pharmaceuticals. Liquid nitrogen is used in cryogenics. Semiconductor manufacturers use a variety of liquid gases to produce silicon wafers including nitrogen, argon, silicon, tetrachloride, silane, disilane, and dichlorosilane to name just a few. Food production plants also call for a variety of liquid ingredients.
Why It’s Important to Monitor Liquid
For both safety and general production considerations, monitoring the level of liquid or liquid gas in a tank is an operational priority. In filling operations, overfilling a drum can cause a potentially dangerous situation. In manufacturing processes it’s important to monitor liquid levels to ensure that products are being produced properly and that there is no interruption in the flow of material. Excessive or interrupted gas flow can cost companies tens of thousands of dollars. Highly pressurized cylinders are used to store high volumes of gas in its liquid state, which means that even pressure must be maintained so that the gas stays contained. If a tank holding certain kinds of material ruptures, there is a serious risk of fire or explosion.
How to Monitor Levels of Material in a Drum
For standard liquids, a drum can be placed on a scale that will tare the weight of the container and subtract it from the gross weight to give you the weight of the material inside. And since most drums come in standard sizes, it’s a simple matter of knowing the weight at which the drum needs to be refilled or replaced and setting up an alert system. But for liquefied gases, why not use a pressure transducer, which can be less expensive than a scale? However, detecting changes in contents within a pressured cylinder is nearly impossible with this method. The pressure of the cylinder is what keeps a gas in liquid form, but as gas is released more of the liquid evaporates to replace what was lost and maintain that pressure. There will be no sign that liquid levels are low until the liquid has been depleted, which means operators are given very little warning when the drum needs to be replaced. This increases the risk of error and creates a potentially dangerous situation. But just because that method won’t work doesn’t mean there isn’t a method that will. You just need the right equipment. Our scales equipped with our optional set point controller can be used to constantly monitor the level of liquid gas in your drum. Use it to set up an alert system that lets operators know when a drum is nearing and/or has reached its minimum or maximum capacity.
Automating Monitors, Alerts, and Other Systems
Because our scales are completely digital, you also have a few options to automate your system using your scale and set point controller. An analog 4 Ð 20 ma output signal can be used to communicate with other processing equipment. Though these days it’s more common to find a digital RS-232 signal or USB interface sending electronic signals that can open and close valves and turn and shut off other equipment like motors, feeders, mixers and solenoids. You can connect your weighing system to your local area network using an Ethernet connection, which allows operators to monitor and control the level of material in the drum using any computer on the network. Wi-Fi compatibility means you can view the data from any system using the internet, which allows for remote operation and control.
Other Features of an Arlyn Drum Scale
Drums can be pretty heavy, which is why a scale with a low profile is so important. Our drum scales are less than two inches high and include a loading ramp, which makes getting drums onto and off of the platform a really simple task. Our unique design also eliminates the rails found on other scales, which means larger containers can be weighed effortlessly, even if there’s some overhang. We use load cells fabricated from solid stainless steel rather than aluminum or regular steel. This increases the accuracy of the device while protecting it from difficult factory conditions, rough usage, shock loads, overload, and caustic materials. Special digital electronics allow the scale to compensate for changes in temperature, vibrations from other machines, and air currents to ensure that your measurements are always accurate. While other manufacturers put their digital indicators in inconvenient spots that may be hard to see when a drum is on the scale’s platform, our indicators feature a stainless steel swivel bracket that allows you to mount it on any convenient surface and see the large graphics display from any angle. The full function keypad enables alphanumeric data input and the large internal memory can store hundreds of values for tare weights. Up to eight target weights can be set for the set point controller. Drum scales are available in aluminum or full stainless steel construction, but should your work environment be especially corrosive, we also offer a special line of corrosion resistant scales that feature a proprietary garnet-infused triple epoxy coating for added abrasion and corrosion resistance.
Factory Direct is Always Best
When you buy a drum scale from Arlyn Scales, you’re buying directly from the factory. This means you get a higher quality scale at an extremely competitive price. It also means we can work with you to customize any aspect of your scale should none of our standard models quite suit your needs. We gladly invite OEM interest and are always willing to make our design and development services available to those who require weighing components for their unique system. It also means that you get unparalleled customer support. We’re here to answer all of your questions Ð whenever you have them. We can help you choose the scale configuration that best meets your needs and troubleshoot for you should any issues arise. So if you’re looking for a better way to accurately monitor the material in your drums, contact Arlyn Scales today.
