Pulsar Process Measurement have supplied HMG Paints in Manchester with non-contacting ultrasonic level measurement equipment to improve stock control within two tank farms containing a variety of solvents.

Equipment:

Thirteen wall-mounted UltraTWIN controllers each measure two tanks across a variety of vessel shapes including horizontal dome ended tanks split into multiple compartments. Compact ultrasonic transducers with solvent-resistant faces provide the measurement and a Service Agreement gives the system a thorough annual health check to make sure that everything continues to perform perfectly.

HMG Paints is the UK’s largest independent paint manufacturer with a specialist portfolio of industrial coatings that cover everything from aircraft to commercial vehicles to canal barges. Many of the coatings and other additives are solvent based and the wide variety solvent stock is held in two tank farms.

Before the Pulsar equipment was installed, outdated and unreliable ‘bubbler’ type level measurement was in use, each gauge requiring to be pumped by hand before a reading could be taken.

Pulsar supplied UltraTWIN controllers each fitted with two chemical-resistant ultrasonic transducers which were mounted into the top of each vessel. Pulsar Product Support Engineer, Tom Edwards, commissioned each controller after installation by the site. He said, “I adjusted the calibration of the UltraTWINs for an accurate measurement by correcting for the speed of sound in each solvent vapour.” The systems automatically convert the level reading to read out in litres, applying a calculation based on the size and shape of each tank. Graham Sedman, Site Engineer, said, “The Pulsar equipment makes monitoring the tanks very straightforward. We’re really pleased with the reliability and accuracy that we are seeing.”

The UltraTWIN controllers are mounted in cabinets by each tank farm protected by Zener barriers. HMG Paints also purchased the optional Modbus interface and Pulsar Ultra Scan software so that they can display levels and see at a glance the level and most efficient re-order point for each material.

HMG Paints also purchased a Service Agreement from Pulsar. This comprises of a six-monthly visit from a Pulsar Product Support Engineer. Tom Edwards explains, “We take the opportunity to update firmware to the latest specification and view the echo profile for each point of measurement to make sure it remains optimised to the application. We check the outputs and the relays. We will also access the top of the tank to check each transducer to keep it in perfect operation.”