FUEL TANK LEVEL MONITORING SYSTEM
Described herein are embodiments of a system for monitoring and detecting a level of a tank storing a material. The system may be used in making a determination of whether and/or when to provide additional material to the tank, to refill the tank partially or entirely. In some embodiments, the tank may be disposed at a premises such as a residence or commercial building and the system may be disposed in part at that premises to monitor the level of the material in the tank. In some embodiments, the material may be a fuel and the tank may be a fuel tank, to provide fuel to utilities equipment at the premises. In other embodiments, the tank may include other materials, such as other utilities materials. In some embodiments, the utilities material may be potable water.
1 . A system to determine a level of fuel in a fuel tank at a premises, the apparatus comprising:
a pair of electrically isolated conductive elements suspended inside the fuel tank at a fixed distance from each another, each of the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements comprising:
a proximal end positioned above a highest level of fuel in the fuel tank, and
a distal end opposite the proximal end positioned a distance from a bottom surface of the fuel tank;
an electrical circuit that includes the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements, the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements forming a capacitor in the electrical circuit; and
a control circuit configured to calculate, based on capacitor response data determined by the electrical circuit, the level of fuel in the fuel tank.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical circuit further comprises a resistor.
3 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical circuit is arranged to output capacitor response data including a plurality of points, each point comprising a time and voltage of the capacitor at the time.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the control circuit is configured to receive the capacitor response data responsive to application of an electrical voltage to the electrical circuit.
5 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the control circuit comprises at least one processor that is a component of a computing device disposed remote from the premises; and
the at least one processor is configured to receive the capacitor response data via one or more networks.
6 . The system of claim 5 , wherein:
the at least one processor is configured to receive the capacitor response data together with an identifier for the system and/or the premises; and
the computing device retrieves dimensions of the fuel tank from a dataset containing the dimensions, based at least in part on the identifier, and calculates the level of fuel based at least in part on the capacitor response data and the dimensions of the fuel tank.
7 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the control circuit is configured to calculate the level of fuel in the tank by calculating a volume of fuel remaining in the tank.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein the control circuit is configured to calculate the volume of fuel by calculating, based on the capacitance, a ratio of a current fuel height to a maximum fuel height in the tank.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein the control circuit is configured to calculate the ratio based at least in part on a time constant for the electrical circuit determined based at least in part on the capacitor response data, a first known time constant for the electrical circuit corresponding to the tank at full fuel capacity, and a second known time constant for the electrical circuit corresponding to the tank empty of fuel.
10 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the electrical circuit comprises a timer chip and at least one of the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements connected to a threshold input of the timer chip.
11 . A method comprising:
determining a level of fuel in a tank using a pair of electrically isolated conductive elements disposed within the tank at a fixed distance from each other, wherein determining the level of fuel in the tank comprises:
exciting an electrical circuit that includes the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements acting as a capacitor;
determining capacitor response data for the electrical circuit; and
calculating, based on the capacitor response data, the level of fuel in the fuel tank.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein each of the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements is disposed within the tank with a proximal end positioned above a highest level of fuel in the fuel tank and a distal end opposite the proximal end positioned a distance from a bottom surface of the fuel tank.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein determining the capacitor response data comprises determining capacitor response data including a plurality of points, each point comprising a time and voltage of the capacitor at the time.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein calculating the level of fuel in the tank comprises calculating a volume of fuel remaining in the tank.
15 . The method of claim 14 , wherein calculating the volume of fuel comprises calculating, based on the capacitance, a ratio of a current fuel height to a maximum fuel height in the tank.
16 . The method of claim 15 , wherein calculating the ratio comprises calculating based at least in part on a time constant for the electrical circuit determined based at least in part on the capacitor response data, a first known time constant for the electrical circuit corresponding to the tank at full fuel capacity, and a second known time constant for the electrical circuit corresponding to the tank empty of fuel.
17 . The method of claim 12 , wherein the electrical circuit comprises a timer chip and at least one of the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements are connected to a threshold input of the timer chip.
18 . At least one computer-readable storage medium having encoded thereon executable instructions that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to carry out a method comprising:
determining a level of fuel in a tank using a pair of electrically isolated conductive elements disposed within the tank at a fixed distance from each other, wherein determining the level of fuel in the tank comprises:
exciting an electrical circuit that includes the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements acting as a capacitor;
determining capacitor response data for the electrical circuit; and
calculating, based on the capacitor response data, the level of fuel in the fuel tank.
19 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein each of the pair of electrically isolated conductive elements is disposed within the tank with a proximal end positioned above a highest level of fuel in the fuel tank and a distal end opposite the proximal end positioned a distance from a bottom surface of the fuel tank.
20 . The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 18 , wherein calculating the level of fuel in the tank comprises calculating a volume of fuel remaining in the tank.