A novel method of determining the permittivity of liquids

Author

Weiß, Matthias ; Knöchel, Reinhard

Author_Institution

Tech. Fak., Kiel Univ., Germany

Volume

49

Issue

3

fYear

2000

fDate

6/1/2000 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

488

Lastpage

492

Abstract

A novel method to measure the permittivity of liquids is used in a microwave gauging system, developed for the detection of liquid levels in tanks. The system is described as a frequency stepped continuous wave (FSCW) radar for precision liquid level detection. Usually a radar system is only employed to find the surface of the liquid. With the microwave measurement system described here, one can detect a second level that may be the tank bottom or an impurity level, for example. To monitor the permittivity of the liquid with the same measurement system, a novel algorithm is derived. Measured uncertainties of ±0.2 mm have been achieved for the multilevel range detection performed in the frequency range from 2 to 3 GHz. From these measured data, the error of the calculated permittivity was about 2%. By using this technique to determine the permittivity of the liquid, it is possible to reduce the complexity of the measurement system

Keywords

level measurement; measurement errors; measurement uncertainty; microwave reflectometry; permittivity measurement; radar applications; radar clutter; 2 to 3 GHz; frequency stepped continuous wave radar; impurity level; liquid level; liquid level detection; measurement error; measurement uncertainties; microwave gauging; microwave measurement; multilevel range detection; permittivity measurement; permittivity of liquids; tank bottom; tanks; Frequency measurement; Impurities; Liquids; Measurement uncertainty; Microwave measurements; Microwave theory and techniques; Monitoring; Permittivity measurement; Power capacitors; Radar detection;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.850381

Filename

850381