Displacer Level Sensors

Displacer level switches are sensors with an electrical contact output at a specific liquid level.
Models are suspended on a coil spring. Displacers are not affected by turbulence or pressure and
are excellent for applications with viscous or dirty liquids.

Displacers operation is based upon the Archimedes Principle which says that “when a body is
immersed in a fluid it loses weight equal to that of the fluid displaced. By detection of the
apparent weight of the immersed displacer, a level measurement can be inferred.”
Displacers are strictly applied for level detection in case of moderately non-viscous and clean
process liquids. They present their best operation in switching applications and over for small
periods. One can achieve spans of up to 12m also, but in that case their use happens to be
extremely costly.
Applications include foaming liquids, heavy oil refineries, paints & varnishes, and chemical
plants.

Mechanism/Operating Principle:

Electronic Displacer Transmitter Operating Principle

Electronic displacer level transmitter technology operates by detecting changes in buoyancy

force caused by liquid level change. These forces act upon the spring supported displacer causing
vertical motion of the core within a linear variable differential transformer.
As the core position changes with liquid level, voltages are induced across the secondary
windings of the LVDT. These signals are processed in the electronic circuitry and used to control
the current in the 4-20 mA current loop. The enclosing tube acts as a static isolation barrier
between the LVDT and the process media.

Advantages

 They perform extremely well with clean fluids.

 Use of these level sensors proves to be very accurate.
 They are flexible to extensive changes in density of the medium.

Disadvantages

 Affected by the specific weight of the fluid

 Buildup on dispenser(Coatings, depositions, and others)

Application/Example
Displacer level instruments, most commonly employed in oil and petrochemical fields as level
transmitters and local level controllers, are used to detect liquid level by continuously measuring
the weight of a rod immersed in the process liquid. These intelligent buoyancy transmitters
continuously measures and transmits level, interface or density of liquid by sensing changes in
buoyancy force exerted on a fixed displacer element. Major advantages associated with use of
displacers include - extremely well performance with clean fluids, accuracy, flexibility to
extensive changes in density of the medium, and ability to operate under high-pressure
conditions due to greater wall thickness.