When most think about inventory management, they immediately associate it with managing physical, hard goods in a warehouse. However, inventory management pertains to all types of items: solids and liquids, innocuous and hazardous materials, and foods and chemicals.
When it comes to storing liquids, a tank method is often put in place, with fluids monitored and dispensed. So those managing your facility have an idea of when a tank’s contents are too low, a sensor is installed to alert you.
Within this setup, liquid level sensors are used to monitor tank storage levels. How does this work?
Operation
Typically, a liquid level sensor gets added to each unit to remotely monitor the tank’s:
⋅ Volume
⋅ Liquid level
⋅ Density
⋅ Mass
⋅ Temperature
Called hydrostatic management, this process gives real-time data on the tank’s contents and, should something not align with preset figures, sets off an alarm.
Benefits
Liquid level sensors ultimately assist with improving a plant’s productivity. Specifically, the data and immediate alarm help:
⋅ Reduce product shortage
⋅ Eliminate extra deliveries for materials
⋅ Prevent employees from doing extra tasks
Further, sensors are rather versatile. When you have a storage system in place, one can be used regardless of the tanks’ size or location, and is even strong enough to be used with hazardous materials. In this latter instance, a wireless sensor solution is considered an optimal approach. This way, your team continues to monitor the materials remotely, without wires and other equipment getting in the way.
Uses
For this specific type of inventory management, a sensor may be part of a hydrostatic solution in:
⋅ Custody Transfer
⋅ Reconciliation applications
⋅ Bulk liquid inventory management
⋅ Processing plants using liquids
⋅ Farms storing and managing liquids
⋅ Storage units for chemicals
Sensors from SMD Fluid Controls
SMD Fluid Controls offers a number of standard sensor models ideally suited to these and other applications. For instance, the FS20 is a vertically-mounted, stainless steel switch is designed to use in highly-pressurized environments common to many larger industrial applications.
For applications with difficult or corrosive liquids, a non-contact level sensor like the FL-LL ultrasonic sensor is ideal.
In addition to these and other standard liquid level sensor models, SMD Fluid Controls also specializes in the creation of custom and OEM switches to meet specific needs.