Case Study: Remote Level Monitoring of Cement Powder Storage Silo

Level measurement in cement silos can be challenging due to the dusty, dirty environment.

Mechanical or contact solutions are maintenance intensive while manual readings are time consuming and potentially unsafe.

For this project, ABM’s non-contact cellular ultrasonic level sensor was selected to monitor a cement tank with a lot of dust.

The ultrasonic sensor tracks echoes from the cement surface to the tanks bottom by automatically changing the transmit energy, gain in the receiver, and echo detection threshold. The self-cleaning operator automatically removes material build-up from the transducers face.

With a built-in cellular modem, the sensor automatically connects to the secured ABM servers and allows the customer to remotely monitor the level in their tank at any time from our web-based customer portal.

In addition, the customer receives full virtual support from ABM around the clock to improve their sensors performance.

At this particular site, the sensor is installed very close to an existing paddle switch and tank ladder that create false echoes. With virtual monitoring, an ABM technician adjusted the sensors parameters to completely eliminate false echoes as well as any influence from build-up on the tanks walls - ensuring accurate and reliable sensor operation. Build-up information is also transferred to the customer for proactive maintenance inside the tank.

Over time, ABM’s technicians observed overfilling patterns. This information was relayed to the customer, who informed their supplier and filling capacity was adjusted.

To learn more about ABM's ultrasonic level sensors and remote monitoring platform, visit our website.