A Smarter Way to Monitor Liquid Levels

With advanced video analytics, IVC delivers accurate, real-time measurement without intrusive sensors or costly maintenance.

In industrial environments, accurately monitoring liquid levels in tanks and vessels is crucial for maintaining process efficiency and ensuring safety. Yet, in many applications, traditional level sensors simply aren’t practical. Harsh conditions, chemical exposure, and maintenance challenges often make these sensors unreliable or impossible to install.

Industrial Video & Control (IVC) has developed a non-intrusive solution that overcomes these limitations: video analytics-based liquid level detection.

Why Video Analytics?

IVC’s solution uses a rugged industrial video camera positioned to view an existing sight glass or transparent gauge tube. Advanced video analytics software continuously tracks and determines the liquid level in real time.This approach is especially valuable when internal sensors cannot withstand process conditions or when contamination and sensor failure result in costly downtime. Unlike mechanical or ultrasonic sensors, video analytics can monitor levels by simply viewing the existing sight glass or gauge tube, without contact with the process material. This makes it ideal for sensitive or challenging environments.

Added Benefit: The system can be installed quickly, with no downtime or interruption to processes.

How It Works

The system displays the current liquid level and thresholds and easily integrates with the process control system, communicating the liquid level and alarms:

1. Continuous Level Monitoring: The software transmits the current liquid level to the process control system over Modbus or MQTT protocols. Levels are displayed as a percentage of the sight glass or gauge tube height, from 1% at the bottom to 99% at the top.
   
2. Configurable Alarms: High and low thresholds can be set easily through the interface. If the level crosses either threshold, the system generates alarms, which can trigger notifications or automated responses. Visual and audible alerts are also available.

Operators can easily configure the system – defining the area of interest by selecting a section of the sight glass or gauge tube in the video display. Thresholds are then positioned with a simple drag-and-drop action. The live display shows the current level. False alarms can be reduced or eliminated by setting a triggering confidence level.

Customer Success in Action <SIDE BAR>

A specialty chemicals producer faced repeated failures with ultrasonic sensors used in high-pressure tanks. Corrosion and buildup caused unreliable readings, leading to downtime and safety concerns. By deploying IVC’s video analytics solution, the company achieved continuous, accurate liquid level monitoring without intrusive hardware. Operators now receive alarms before levels exceed safe limits, improving both safety and efficiency while eliminating recurring maintenance costs.

Benefits at a Glance

• Non-Intrusive – Uses existing sight glasses or gauge tubes; no contact with process materials.
• Real-Time Data – Continuous monitoring for better process control.
• Cost-Effective – Reduces maintenance costs and avoids expensive sensor failures
• Easy Installation – No downtime, process interruptions, or new penetrations required.

Seamless Integration

The system integrates with IVC’s video management software for centralized viewing and control, and feeds data directly into existing process systems. The result is an accurate, reliable, and low-maintenance alternative to conventional liquid level measurement.

IVC’s liquid level detection solution proves that advanced video analytics can solve problems where traditional instrumentation falls short—keeping processes safe, efficient, and compliant.

For more information, visit www.ivcco.com or call IVC’s technical sales team at 001 (617) 467-3059.