SIEMENS

Technical Information

1. Information about possibly incorrectly Level control

measurement
Level control measurement in pressurized tanks, using Differential Pressure measurement
with temperature correction, produces an error in the measurement transducer level value.
The resulting measurement error (< 3%) can mean that protection triggering is not carried out.
This is particularly a concern where protection triggering should be activated near the
measurement limits (<5% or >95%).
The measuring fault occurs as a result of incorrect assumptions about the density in the
comparison column in the cold water condition. The measurement transducer may be
calibrated for a temperature in the reference column of 4 Celsius (corresponds to a density
of 1.000 kg/m3) and in application the correction calculation of e.g. 50 Celsius (corresponds
to a density of 988 kg/m3) was carried out.
Affected are:
SPPA-T3000 corrections block LEVEL and F_CLEVEL
SPPA-T2000 corrections block K_HOEHE
All Level control measurement (e.g. drum, feed water tanks, pre-heater) can be affected.
Please, check and correct the adjustments of the measurement transducers in accordance
with the enclosed description. To avoid disturbances in the working sequence, the corrective
action should either be carried out during an outage or suitable precautions must be taken.

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2. Corrective guidance manual for Level correction

calculation
2.1.

Transducer adjustment

Following inputs have to be known:

Distance between the upper and the lower nozzle (H)

Distance between the lower nozzle and the measurement range beginning (UM)
Distance between the lower nozzle and the measurement range end (OM)
Distance are to be provided in metric units (meter)

OM

Tank or
Container

UM

In addition following values need to be determined:

Temperature of the reference water column (TEMP), usually 50C within buildings,
40C for open air
Gravity (g), usually 9.81 m/s2, respectively the on location depending value.

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The density RHO of water at 1 bar absolute and the chosen temperature TEMP of the
correction water column has to be determined
TEMP
40 C
50 C

RHO
992,2 kg/m3
988,0 kg/m3

If other correction water column temperature is used, the water density can be found in watersteam table.
The measurement range calculation of differential pressure based level measurement is
carried out as follow (density of water at 100 C and 1 bar = 958,63 kg/m, density steam at
100 C and 1 bar = 0,59 kg/m )
po = (RHO-958,63 kg/m3) * H * g / 100
pu = (RHO-0,59 kg/m3) * H * g / 100
With
po: Differential pressure while water filled up to upper nozzle in mbar
pu: Differential pressure with empty tank in mbar
If the measurement range is identical to the upper nozzle, therefore OM = H and the
measurement range beginning is the lower nozzle, UM=0 one is ready now. . The
measurement range of the pressure transmitter has to be adjusted to po to pu. This
corresponds to one uncorrected level of 0 (zero) up to H. This measurement range has to be
entered into the corresponding function block of control system software as (uncorrected)
measurement range of the level.
If other measurement ranges have been chosen, calculate the corresponding measurement
range of differential pressures as follow:
pOM = OM / H * (po - pu) + pu
pUM = UM / H * (po - pu) + pu
With
pOM: Differential pressure with tank filled up to measurement upper limit
pUM: Differential pressure with tank filled up to measurement lower limit
The measurement range of the pressure transmitter can be adjusted from pUM to pOM (in
mbar). This corresponds to an uncorrected level from UM to OM. The changes should,
compared with the old values, not be larger then max. +3% at pOM and -3% for pUM. We
recommend to re-check the adjustments if larger difference exists.
The level entries corresponding to the measurement range have to be checked and corrected
if necessary at the corresponding software component of the control system. The
corresponding constituents are listed in the following table:
-

T3000 non Failsafe SIM

T3000 non Failsafe FUM
T3000-Failsafe:
T2000 non Failsafe:
T2000 APF (Failsafe):

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Hardware-Proxy
FUM_ASMON
F-CH_AI
GA
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If Failsafe measurement must be changed, the country specific certification authority should
be informed as necessary.
If measurements have to be checked by routine proof tests, the corresponding
documentation has to be updated. Generally, it has to be taken into account that the
documentation (e.g. calibration protocols) has to be updated on the correct values.

Example calculation:
H = 10,55 m
The nozzle correspondent to measurement range of (UM = 0 m, OM = 10,55 m).
g = 9,81 m/s2.
The temperature of the reference water column TEMP = 50 C. Resulting into RHO = 988,0
kg/m3
po = (988,0 kg/m3-958,63 kg/m3) * 10,55 m * 9,81 m/s2 / 100 = 30 mbar
pu = (988,0 kg/m3-0,59 kg/m3) * 10,55 m * 9,81 m/s2 / 100 = 1022 mbar

2.2.

The settings of the corrections calculator:

a) in SPPA-T3000
Function block LEVEL, F_CLEVEL
Parameter name in T3000
TEMP
T_REF
EN_T
DISTANCE
UL
LL

Adjusted value
TEMP (e.g. 50C)
TEMP
1 (binary)
H
H
0 (Null)

b) in SPPA-T2000
Function block K_HOEHE
Parameter name in T2000
T
TEMPMESS
STABST
STABSMA

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Adjusted value
TEMP (z. B. 50C)
1 (binary)
H in cm
0

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