Another important item that must be understood is that higher viscosity fluids cause greater pipe friction loss. The opposite is also true in that when the temperature of the fluid decreases the viscosity increases which causes the material to become thicker and require a greater amount of force to cause the material to flow. Some other particulars regarding viscosity are that viscosity usually decreases when the temperature of the fluid increases which causes the material to become thinner and flow with less force applied. Essentially, viscosity indicates a fluid’s ability to resist the forces that tend to produce a flow of that material. We look forward to hearing from you.Viscosity is the measure of a fluid’s thickness, and in particular, its ability to resist deformation at a given rate. If you have experience dealing with viscous fluids and have some expertise to add, please feel free to contact us. As long as the fluid, no matter how viscous, doesn’t give off heavy vapors and is relatively flat on the surface, an ultrasonic sensor will work splendidly. Ultimately, the wisest choice would be to use a non-contact solution like an ultrasonic sensor. Furthermore, if you attempt to try to clear out the pressure port you risk damaging the sensor. If the viscous fluid were to dry, it would block the transducers pressure port creating a nightmare of a maintenance project. But periodic washing will be required as crystallization on the stem would still occur.Ī pressure transducer is another good example of a sensor that would not be ideal for viscous fluids. The “runny” honey won’t cause the float to get stuck. You could then consider using a magnetic float level transmitter to measure warm honey. Take Honey for example, how often do you heat it up in your kitchen to allow it to flow better? However, the temperature of the fluid heavily influences viscosity. So we are confident it will work well with thicker fluids, just don’t use it with fluids like Honey, Corn Syrup, Peanut Butter, or anything that is really sticky. Our RPM is used to measure drilling mud, sewage tanks, and works just fine with a variety of oils. Even in applications where you might think the fluid is too viscous, our RPM probe, for example, still might work just fine. Highly viscous fluids will gum up the stem and most assuredly cause the float to get stuck.īut don’t let this change your mind about magnetic float level transmitters in general. Obvious examples are our magnetic float level transmitters. Measuring the Level of Highly Viscous LiquidsĬan you imagine trying to measure the level of pitch with a float level transmitter? We can’t either.Īs you may have already guessed, some sensors are not suitable for measuring liquids that are highly viscous. You can even watch the 10th drop falling live on a webcam here. The 8th drop fell in 2000 and the 9th fell just last year. The pitch was placed in a funnel and a cup was placed underneath the funnel to catch the drops of pitch as it flowed down. To prove this, the world’s longest ongoing science experiment taking place at the University of Queensland demonstrates the flow of a piece of pitch over many years. Though these may seem to be solids, they are actually liquids. Pitch refers to a variety of super viscous materials like tar, asphalt, and bitumen. We've provided a chart of common fluids with their cP measure. The unit of measure for viscosity is cP or mPa For example, water is not a very viscous fluid whereas honey and molten glass are. Another way to think of it is the thickness or stickiness of a fluid. Viscosity for a fluid is the measure of its resistance to a gradual change in shape by shear stress or tensile stress. What is Viscosity?īefore we get into a discussion about which level sensors work best with viscous liquids, let’s take a few moments to understand the definition of viscosity. While some sensors work just fine, others require a little extra maintenance, and some should simply be avoided. Liquids with high viscosity present a unique challenge to level measurement sensors.
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