Innovative Boiler Water Level Gauge Delivers High Visibility

The Simpliport boiler water level gauge provides the type of performance always wanted by operators. It is visible from great distance at angles up to 180 degrees. The brightly illuminated display clearly shows what portion of the boiler contains water and what portion contains steam.

The short video provides a good demonstration. More information is available from steam system specialists. Share your combustion and steam system requirements and challenges with experts, combining your own knowledge and experience with their product application expertise to develop effective solutions.

LED Illuminator for Flat Panel Water Gauges

LED Water Level Gage Illuminator
Courtesy Clark Reliance

Illuminators improve the visibility of flat panel water gages used for boiler water level monitoring. They serve as a backlight source that accentuates the display of the water-vapor line in the gage.

The DuraStar, from Clark-Reliance, can be fitted to
their flat glass panel level gages. The heatless LED illuminator is available in configurations for ordinary or hazardous classified locations. It provides high contrast visibility in all ambient lighting conditions, can be retrofitted to most existing gages, and is maintenance free.

Share your boiler trim instrumentation and control requirements and challenges with application specialists. Combine your process and facility knowledge with their application expertise to develop effective solutions.

LED Illuminator for Flat Glass Level Gages from CTi Controltech

Armored Liquid Level Gauges With Specialty Indicators

Armored liquid level gauges provide protection from
mechanical stress and impact
Courtesy Jerguson / Clark Reliance

Sight glass liquid level gauges are a mainstay of fluid processing operations that store raw materials, intermediate, or final product in tanks and other vessels. Having a direct visual indication of fluid level at the tank enhances safety and provides the all important data point about what is happening inside the tank.

These level gauges are installed on the exterior of the tank, exposed to whatever environmental or operational hazards existing or occurring at the location. Armored level gauges are appropriately named because of their construction. They are designed to resist impact and mechanical stress, as well as a range or environmental conditions.

There are generally two versions of armored level gauges, reflex and transparent. The names refer to way in which light is handled by the gauge to reveal the liquid level. One manufacturer of armored level gauges and other level instruments, Clark-Reliance, provides a good description of the two gauge types. Their brand of armored level gauges is Jerguson, and I provide their description here of the two types (source)

Jerguson® Reflex Level Gauges are ideal for clean total level indication applications for refining, petrochemical and general use applications. The reflex prisms are molded and polished to provide a crisp black-silver bi-color indication of the fluid level. As light passes into the reflex glass, if there is fluid present, the light continues through the glass and reflects off the back of the level gauge, providing a black color for fluid level regardless of the actual color properties of the process fluid. If fluid is not present, the light is reflected off the glass back towards the user, providing a shiny silver or mirror-like appearance to indicate vapor space.

Cross section of reflex level gauge 

Jerguson® Transparent Level Gauges are selected for interface level indication, dirty service or any application that requires the use of a shield to protect the glass from corrosion. A transparent gage is also known as a “thru-vision” gauge since the gauge is constructed with two pieces of flat polished glass assembled on opposite sides of the level gauge chamber. Since the user can see straight through the gauge, it is also easy to view the fluid properties, such as color, whereas this would not be possible with a reflex gauge. The use of an illuminator is always recommended on a transparent gauge.

Cross section of transparent level gauge

Selecting an armored level gauge is an exercise in preparing for known and unknown events that might disable your ability to directly read fluid level. Armored level gauges are employed extensively in chemical, petrochemical, and other industries where reliability under challenging conditions is essential. Wherever there are mechanical hazards, an armored level gauge may ultimately prove to be cheap insurance against downtime or delay.

Share your level measurement challenges with a product application specialist. Combine their product expertise with your process knowledge to produce an effective solution. Below is a data sheet for one of several series of Jerguson armored level gauges, so you can explore more detail. Contact the product application specialists for more information about larger sizes, higher vessel operating pressures, and optional configurations that will best suit your application.

Jerguson armored liquid level gage series 300 l from CTi Controltech