Oil tank level monitoring.

[mustangcoupe]

Ahhh thanks for the information, with a caped fill tube and the sensor somehow above that, then you may have a solution, (and I am looking for one also) except in my case the tank is vented through a separate pipe further over on the tank and I do not have any other place I could put the sensor, so this may not work, as I dont assume you would want to have a pipe inside your fill pipe and restrict the flow...

 

[apostolakisl]

Ahhh thanks for the information, with a caped fill tube and the sensor somehow above that, then you may have a solution, (and I am looking for one also) except in my case the tank is vented through a separate pipe further over on the tank and I do not have any other place I could put the sensor, so this may not work, as I dont assume you would want to have a pipe inside your fill pipe and restrict the flow...

 
 
Take pictures and post them.  Hard to envision what you are talking about.

 

[gatchel]

I also thought that No. 2 heating oil has to be atomized and ignited with a pretty hot spark to burn. Always good to be on the safe side though.
 
If anyone is interested in reading and interpreting, here is the MSDS for home heating oil:
 
http://www.hess.com/ehs/msds/0088no2fueloil.pdf

 

[mustangcoupe]

 
The pipe closest to me is the fill pipe which goes outside, in the center is my gauge and the farthermost pipe is a vent pipe which goes outside.   The center gauge has that a cap on the side of it, but it does not go straight down so unless it would work by just changing the cap(which If I understand correctly it wont because of the tank vent) you can not stick anything down into the tank through that hole
 
. 

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

Why couldn't you stick something like THIS (linked to earlier in this thread) instead of the cap?  Seems like it is even favorable for the hazardous/combustible concern.

 

[kurtmccaslin]

I also thought that No. 2 heating oil has to be atomized and ignited with a pretty hot spark to burn. Always good to be on the safe side though.
 
If anyone is interested in reading and interpreting, here is the MSDS for home heating oil:
 
http://www.hess.com/ehs/msds/0088no2fueloil.pdf

  The flash point is 100 degrees F from this MSDS.   That means it will burn if it is more than that temperature.   A spark in vapor could easily reach that temp-- especially on a summer day.   It also says that:
 
"Vapors may be ignited rapidly when exposed to heat, spark, open flame or other source of ignition. When mixed with air and exposed to an ignition source, flammable vapors can burn in the open or explode in confined spaces. Being heavier than air, vapors may travel long distances to an ignition source and flash back. Runoff to sewer may cause fire or explosion hazard."
 
Therefore I would use an explosion proof sensor (Class 1 Div 1) or at a minimum something that was specifically designed for fuel oil tanks.     I would not use a sensor designed for water tanks.   It is not worth the risk.

 

[mustangcoupe]

As I said above the center cap does not go straight down into the tank. That would be a good option if it did, or I was going to replace the existing gauge totally. However I want to also keep the existing gauge. I think read switches and a magnetic on the float gauge(outside the tank) would work best. Or something like your garage door position sensor modified for vertical movement.....

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

As I said above the center cap does not go straight down into the tank. That would be a good option if it did, or I was going to replace the existing gauge totally. However I want to also keep the existing gauge. I think read switches and a magnetic on the float gauge(outside the tank) would work best. Or something like your garage door position sensor modified for vertical movement.....

I wonder if they make a gauge replacement that has a magnet on the needle and can register pulse counts, like an LP Gas Tank replacement gauge has (totally safe as it keeps a manual gauge as well as be safe via an inductive connection to the hazardous gas). 

 

[Frunple]

http://rainbowkits.com/kits/ir-2p.html
 
Place it so the float breaks the beam at 1/4 tank or so.

 

[apostolakisl]

 
The pipe closest to me is the fill pipe which goes outside, in the center is my gauge and the farthermost pipe is a vent pipe which goes outside.   The center gauge has that a cap on the side of it, but it does not go straight down so unless it would work by just changing the cap(which If I understand correctly it wont because of the tank vent) you can not stick anything down into the tank through that hole
 
. 

 
 
The vent tube seems like it would work.  Replace that 90 elbow with a T fitting.  This assumes that this port has a straight shot down to the bottom of the tank.  Get a screw in plug for the T-fitting, drill a hole in the middle of it, thread the hole, then use that threaded hole to screw in your dip tube from the bottom side and screw a nipple into the top side.

 

[BraveSirRobbin]

So you are using flexible tubing for this (I never thought of that)?  Also, just a curious question, what differentials in pressure are you experiencing (full to near empty) vs the resolution/accuracy of the transducer?  How did you go about calculating the pressure reading vs tank oil height/volume?

 

[mustangcoupe]

BSR was that flexible tube comment for me or did I miss something reading this from my phone?

 

[znelbok]

The transducer does not go into the heating oil.  That is what I meant by "no touch".
 
 
Heating oil isn't flammable in liquid state anyway.  It needs to be aerosolized or wicked.  It's not like gasoline.

 
Shows how little you know - what about the vapours inthe ullage sapce - that is where the danger lies.
 
I am not going to argue with you - I have 15 years expereince in a chemical plant with industrial instrumentation in hazardous area locations just like this.  There are dangers in what you want to do - that is all I will say.

 

[gatchel]

Shows how little you know - what about the vapours inthe ullage sapce - that is where the danger lies.

I am not going to argue with you - I have 15 years expereince in a chemical plant with industrial instrumentation in hazardous area locations just like this. There are dangers in what you want to do - that is all I will say.

If the transducer is external to the tank and filling tube all together, would that work?

Not every one can afford Class 1 Div 1 or 2 rated monitoring systems so we are trying to come up with something that can be safe on a DIY budget. Maybe you could suggest a solution with you experience in mind.

The mangeto resistive device listed by other earlier in the thread is becoming more of an option the more I think about this. Time to get out the trimpot and do some testing to see which version to buy.

 

[apostolakisl]

So you are using flexible tubing for this (I never thought of that)?  Also, just a curious question, what differentials in pressure are you experiencing (full to near empty) vs the resolution/accuracy of the transducer?  How did you go about calculating the pressure reading vs tank oil height/volume?

 
I would not use a flexible tube for 2 reasons.  1) I have no idea what type of flexible tube is OK to soak in heating oil for years on end.  and 2) You would have no way of knowing exactly how deep in the tank it will end up.
 
As far as the pressure readings.  1psi is 27 inches of water pressure.  I did a google search on heating oil specific gravity, and what I found was "fuel oil".  It comes in different grades.  But it would seem that my best guess is that heating oil is just a little bit less dense than water.  So maybe 1 psi is in the low 30 inches range.  So 0 to 1.5 psi would measure from .2volts to 2.5volts, or roughly empty to 50 inches or so.  It is linear.