MARITIME COMMUNITY

Back in the old days.. gauging was done with an external gauge glass for visual viewing of the tank level. There was also some sensor type gauging systems the cam along using a sensor with a tube connection to an external indicator gauge.

How do you covert an old system like this to a more modern system using digital displays etc.

Here are one senario using a day tank for 3.35 tons of  diesel fuel with a density of .8284 as a sample;

You need a pressure transducer that can be physically adapted to the bottom of the tank, and it would be electrically hooked up to a digital indicator programmed to read the pressure but is scaled (programmed) to convert the pressure into volume. The scaling would be calculated from the depth and dimensions of the tank, using the density of oil.

In this case, you need a pressure transducer that reads 1.72 PSI, or 47.63 in. H2O, or 3.5 in. Hg, minimum. (Don’t get one that reads more than twice that, however. You lose resolution.) This is quite low. Be sure that the ‘wetted’ components of the transducer are compatible with Diesel fuel. (Usually not a problem as most of the time they use Stainless Steel.)

The pressure of oil when the tank is full is 47.63 in. H2O as you supplied a density of .8284 for Diesel. If your tank is 57.5 in. deep then that is how you select the transducer. The digital indicator is scaled accordingly to convert into litres, gallons, etc. for every inch of depth.
Mounting brackets for the transducers are usually available from most dealers