Automatic. Tank Gauging of Liquid Hydrocarbon.

Measurement
Class. # 2033.
Srini Sivaraman
SK, Japan

Summary
Float gauge

The paper deals, with. automatic tank gauging.

technologies (ATG's)from. the old float gauges, to.
the most modern, systems. The. modern systems
have achieved, such a level of maturity, system.
reliability,, and capability that they not only meet but
exceed custody application, criteria for liquid.
hydrocarbon measurements.. All. that is needed is a
shift in mind set, a fundamental, change, in operative.
philosophy and courage to. apply ATG's for custody
and. inventory applications.. It is time. for the industry.
as. a whole, to replace, manual gauging, to. ATG's.

Mechanical Float Gauge

~ a t e " A " Frame

Background
Manual. gauging has. been. in existence for more. than
half century,, and still, dominates, crude, custody
volume determination. More. than. 70%. of crude.
custody transfer is. still based on volumes
determined by custody tank gauging while more
than 40% of products sold to day are based, on tank
gauging, with manual gauging, being the primary
method. The. application of ATG. is making slow but
steady progress, but total, shift from manual, to.
automatic systems, is still a long. ways. off.

- -

I~ - 12 In Typ.
D:. By Tank Owner

Perforated ~ d Tape

'J
FLOAT

GAUGE

FIGURE

An overview of the following systems is. discussed

along with their application and performance, in
custody service and. naturally for inventory purposes..

Float gauge
Servogauge
Radar gauge
Hydrostatic tank gauge. (HTG)
Hybrid. Tank gauge.

This. is. the. oldest design, of ATG in. use since the.
thirties or so. and historically been. in use. of
operational, purposes only. The. system, consists of a
float (for a specific gravity of fluid), with. a gauge, tape.
controlled by a spring motor at the. base. of the. tank.
The tape. ride over guided with. pulleys, at the top..

Hydrostatic tank gauge is basically a mass based.

system, nonetheless is covered, under tank gauge
and. presented, here for completeness.

This. design,, while it had its own design limitations,

had significant mechanical problems that were
further augmented with a lack of maintenance

150

programs. Net result, the industry developed a very

bad perception of the ATG and that perception.
dominates the industry even to. day in spite of other
advances and reliability of the modern, systems.
The float gauge is generally not considered as the
most desirable ATG device for custody service,
however it is still used by few (for custody)with.
proper verification and calibration programs.

Servo
Servo Gmge Ulit

The. system is covered under API Chapter 3.1B

uge
Nete:.Scrvogaugennmted d i m ~ on top of the

s~t~gwU

Servo Gauge
I/--~\l
!

S~WdlSim_ '0 l
r

Servo Motor

lVSmuringWa-e

IT
B

11

Displacer

SERVOGAUGEASSEMBLY
F I ~ 2B

Omtrei l~trenics

Displacer ,,_~Appa~g~
W

The apparent weight of the displacer is monitored by

the transducer and the servo motor is activated, to
coil the wire up or down as. the case. may be (Figure
2A).

SERVO GAUGE: P R I N C I P I ~
FIGURE 2A

Servo gauge is capable of providing product density

as well as interface measurements. The overall
performance meets and exceeds custody transfer
criteria (3 mrn repeatability and 5. mm compared, to
manual long term). The long term reliability is also
excellent with verification and re calibration cycles
around 6 months to 9. months, for most products.
Performance can. be monitored through, control
charts.

The servo gauge has four basic elements (Figure

2A) namely a displacer, a force transducer, high
tension wire and a precision, measuring drum that is
operated by a servo motor. The. displacer, the liquid
buoyancy and the wire tension are in equilibrium.
(Figure 2B)maintaining the displacer in positive
contact with liquid all the. time..

The most important consideration is to maintain PM.

programs by monitoring the control, chart to. ensure.
long term. performance. Based on their proven
performance and. long term reliability, they lend
themselves ideally for custody application especially
on refined products and chemicals. The system is
covered under API Chapter 3.1B.

151

Radar Gauge

Radar gauges, are ideally suited, for custody

application, for clean refined, products, for crude
service and for hostile, services. The system, is
covered under API Chapter 3.1B.

Radar Gauge
_

].i"

Radar Gauge

Hydrostatic. Tank Gauge

............122_'

i; .....

/.

ltbm hlmme=

:Z

Li~ ]uid L e v e l

T~cal Syste

v~,.,=

RADAR GAUGING SYSTEM

FIGTIRE 3

H1

H2
I

Radar gauge, is a non. contact,, non invasive device

that uses microwave signal around 6 to 10 Ghz that
strikes the. liquid surface. The return signal is.
captured, by the antenna located, at the top (Figure.
3).. The difference in frequency of the forward signal
and the echo is a measure, of the. liquid level in the.
tank (often referred as the. frequency modulation)

H
,

Z,

HYDROSTATIC

The antenna designs have evolved over many years

and may range from parabolic to horn design to
planar design. It is important to ensure that the radar
signal passage is free from any metallic interference
and also the liquid surface must be free from any
solids or wax residues to ensure echo signal
integrity.

TANK GAUGING SYSTEM (HTG)

FIGURE 4

This is. mass based, device, and. level is a computed.

value.. For volume based, custody transfers,, this is.
not recommended, at least for now..

All. designs have in. situ cleaning, capability to clean

the antenna, surface, and. thus ensuring signal.
integrity..
Radar gauge overall, performance,, like the. servo, has
been excellent. The. radar ATG like. the servo, not
only meets, custody criteria but exceeds in many
cases, well with. 1. to 3. mm. repeatability and. long
term performance, well. within. 5. mm.

The. basic principle is. that the. liquid, level, results, in a.

hydrostatic head. This. can. be. measured by two.
smart pressure, transmitters (Figure 4)mounted at a
known, exact distance on. tank shell.. Using this.
distance, and. the. liquid heads, as. measured, and
knowing the. tank cross sectional, area. the mass. of
the tank contents, are. computed..

Like. any other device, the radar system, must have

PM. programs, in. place, with. performance monitored.
through control chart and verification and calibration
undertaken, as dictated by control, charts.

The level is. back calculated, and the uncertainty of

the. computed, level far exceeds, the custody criteria
of 3. mm for level and hence, is. not suited for volume
level, based, custody transfers.

152

Hybrid Tank Gauge

Hybrid system is a combination of hydrostatic tank
gauge and a level gauge and hence the combination.
provides for both. mass and volume based custody
transfers ..

Automatic Temperature Measurement

Temperature. measurement is an integral part of tank
gauging and ATG will have no value if one has to
manually measure the temperature.
All. tank gauging systems also carry variable RTD's
that are integrated with level measurements and
installed along the stilling well.
The microprocessor can. select the RTD that is fully
immersed in the liquid and provide an integrated
temperature, along with the level.

Volume Computation using ATG

While ATG application has gained limited
acceptance, yet for volume computation tank
sampling is still being undertaken manually (for
gravity determination). This. defeats the very purpose
of using ATG.
In order to use ATG to its fullest capacity, the
computational procedures still have to be developed
and standardized. There is a proposal within API
and. if accepted,, a standardized procedure may
become available in future.
An option would, be to start off with a good base line.
density from. the tank (by manual, method)that can
be continuously updated with each. tank movement.
The density for incoming, product may be based on
auto sampling or ship gravity or bill of lading. The
objective simply is to avoid, manual sampling as
otherwise, the purpose, of using ATG will not be fully
realized.. This. issue of computation needs, to be
finalized, and agreed upon within API, ISO or both.

Conclusions
ATG's have achieved remarkable degree of
reliability (mean time. between calibration, once. every
6 to. 9 months) and accuracy that far exceeds
manual measurements. Application of ATG for
custody transfers would, very much depend on. an
attitude, change on the. part of sellers,, buyers,
customs and other regulatory changes. It is hoped
that this presentation, will initiate, promote and
expedite, such. a change for universal application, of
ATG to its fullest capability.

153