HydroLevelControl

Description

HydroLevelControl is a bundle of hardware and software designed to measure, present and control the level of fluids. Measurement is based on the hydrostatic pressure provided by the fluid above the pressure sensor. The measured pressure value is converted to a requested data format, according to inserted data, like fluid density, reservoir surface, etc. The measured value can be used to activate the visual alarm (blinking LCD display), sound alarm, and two relays. All this can be configured independently.

Take care that this device can be used only on atmospheric pressure. Installation in an over or under pressured environment can permanently damage the sensor and the device!

Background

The device has a pressure sensor, actually a pressure transducer, that is powered with 5 VDC. Depending on the pressure, it produces a different voltage on output that is measured and converted to pressure. Based on the fluid density, is possible to calculate the height of the fluid above the sensor. With the known height and the reservoir surface, can be calculated the volume and the mass of the fluid.

Specification

Specification table

Parameter	Value
Hardware
Power	220 VAC or 5 VDC over USB
Sensor type	Pressure transducer, 5 VDC
Sensor range	5 - 15 psi
Sensor offset	0.5 VDC (at 0 pressure) to 4.5 VDC (at maximal pressure)
Inlet size	1/8”-27 NPT
LCD	2.9" with blue background light
Relay	2 independent relays, maximal load 2A at 220VAC
Software
Operation system	Windows 8 and Windows 10
Communication	Serial over USB, TTL on device
Software functions	Configuration and measurement

Hardware

The hardware information.

Software

HydroLevelControl software is a program designed to read measured data and configure the hardware. It communicates with a USB to Serial TTL, where the TTL is on the hardware side. The software can be downloaded from this page for free. It supports 16 languages: English, German, French, Spanish, Dutch, Hungarian, Croatian, Slovenian, Serbian (Latin), Czech, Slovakian, Polish, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, and Finnish.

File:HydroLevelControl-Software.png Main screen of HidroLevelControl
Developer	RAPMAS
Written in	C#
Operating system	Windows
Size	Under 1MB
Licence	Proprietary software
Website	www.rapmas.com/HydroLevelControl/

Installation

The installer can be downloaded online. After starting the install process, You will be asked to choose the language of the installation. Please note that a chosen language will be the default language at the first start of the program. It can be changed later at any time. Executable and the supporting files will be installed (by default) to the Program Files folder, and can be started from the Start menu. Also in the Start menu can be accessed the Uninstaller.

Configuration

Connect the device to the USB port. After starting the program, You can see the main configuration window. It is used to configure a device, read the measured data and to save the configurations into the device, and also file.

In the upper right corner is the Connection group box. You must choose the correct Serial port. After this, You have to click on the Connect button. If the Serial port was correct the Status message will be changed to Connected. Under the Status box can be selected the programming language, after a change, the program will restart automatically in a new language. In the left bottom corner will be presented the measured value with the relay status in a blue box with a white text.

Configuration can be loaded and saved from a device and from a file. To read the initial configuration from the device, click to Load button close to "Load from device". It will connect to the device and read out the configuration. The same can be done with a previously stored file, that contains the configuration parameters. Saving the configuration can be done by clicking on the Save button, close to the destination of saving (Device or File). Please note that a program will check is the input data for any parameter is correct or not. In a case of incorrect value, it will not write the configuration to the device or file.

• Device language is a parameter that changes the information language on the LCD screen. It can be different from Program language.
• Pressure sensor (psi) is a maximal value of the installed pressure sensor. Is engraved on the sensor body (5 psi, 15 psi, etc). Can be only a round number, a decimal number is not allowed.
• Fluid density (kg/m³) can be a round number in kilograms per cubicle meter. Below is a table with the density of the most used fluids in the industry:

Fluids density

Fluid	Density (g/m3)
Wather	1000
Ethanol (99%)	789
Disel	845
Gasoline	755
Molasses	1600