Fuel Tank Sensor Array for Remote Identity and Quantity Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for identifying and quantifying fuel types in tank compartments of fuel transport vehicles are inadequate, as they often require direct access, which is unsafe and cannot distinguish between fuels visually, and are prone to errors due to fuel movement and air mixing during transport.
Innovation Solution
A longitudinally extensive member with pressure sensors and a color sensing device is mounted within the tank, allowing for remote identification and quantification of fuel types by measuring hydrostatic pressure and analyzing light transmission through the fuel, while maintaining separation from the fuel to prevent contamination and ensure safety.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If direct access to the tank is required for fuel identification, then measurement can be performed, but safety risks increase due to operator exposure to volatile hydrocarbon fuels
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical/direct physical access methods with remote electronic sensing technology. Sensors mounted on the exterior of the tank can detect fuel properties through the tank wall, eliminating the need for operators to physically access the fuel interior. This substitution of mechanical access with electronic field-based detection resolves the safety contradiction by maintaining measurement capability while removing operator exposure risks.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary medium (the tank wall itself) through which sensing signals can pass. By using sensors that detect fuel properties through the tank wall rather than requiring direct contact, the system creates a safe intermediary barrier between the operator and the hazardous fuel environment, thus improving safety while maintaining operational capability.
2Device complexity
If visual inspection is used to distinguish fuel types, then the method is simple, but it cannot reliably distinguish between different fuel types
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces simple visual inspection with electronic sensing technology that measures physical properties of the fuel. Sensors detect parameters such as density, dielectric constant, or other characteristic properties that differ between fuel types, providing reliable identification beyond what visual inspection can achieve. This substitution maintains operational simplicity from the user perspective while dramatically improving measurement precision.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent shifts from detecting visual parameters (color, appearance) to measuring physical parameters such as density, dielectric constant, or electrical properties. By changing the detection parameter from optical to electrical/physical measurements, the system achieves accurate fuel type differentiation that visual inspection cannot provide, while the automated nature of the sensing keeps the system simple to operate.
3Measurement precision
If sensors are immersed directly in the fuel, then measurement accuracy improves, but fuel contamination and safety risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses the tank wall as an intermediary medium that allows sensing signals to pass through while preventing direct contact between sensors and fuel. This intermediary barrier maintains measurement accuracy by enabling detection of fuel properties through the wall, while simultaneously eliminating fuel contamination risks and safety hazards associated with direct sensor immersion in the volatile hydrocarbon fuel.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent utilizes the tank wall (a thin film or shell structure) as a non-intrusive interface for sensing. The wall acts as a barrier that permits electromagnetic or other sensing signals to penetrate through to detect fuel properties, while physically separating the sensors from the fuel. This approach maintains measurement precision through the barrier while eliminating harmful fuel-sensor contact.
4Adaptability or versatility
If sampling arrangements are provided for fuel access, then fuel can be tested, but the arrangements increase device complexity and potential ignition sources
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces mechanical sampling arrangements (pumps, valves, sampling lines, containers) with non-contact or contactless electronic sensing through the tank wall. This substitution eliminates the complex mechanical infrastructure required for fuel sampling while maintaining the ability to identify and characterize fuel types. The electronic sensing approach is inherently simpler and removes multiple potential ignition sources associated with mechanical sampling equipment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the tank wall as an intermediary that enables fuel characterization without requiring physical sampling arrangements. By detecting fuel properties through the wall, the system eliminates the need for complex sampling infrastructure including opening mechanisms, sampling lines, and handling equipment, thus reducing device complexity while maintaining adaptability for fuel identification.
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
Enables accurate remote identification and quantification of fuel types without direct access, minimizing safety risks and errors caused by fuel movement and air mixing, while ensuring the system operates effectively in harsh conditions.
Implementation Method 1
first and second pressure sensors spaced apart by a fixed distance, each said pressure sensor having a face exposed in use to the local hydrostatic pressure of the liquid fuel in the tank
Implementation Method 2
a colour sensing device comprising a light emitter and a light detector configured to detect light from the emitter, said emitter and detector being arranged such that in use light from the emitter incident on the detector passes through said liquid fuel in the tank
Data Source
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AI summary
An apparatus for determining the identity and/or quantity of a liquid fuel contained in a fuel transporting tank of a fuel transporting vehicle can comprise: a longitudinally extensive member having a first end and a second end, an internal volume from which liquid fuel in the tank is excluded, and a mounting arrangement configured for mounting in use of the longitudinally extensive member within and in fixed relation to the tank, said second end configured in use to be immersed in the liquid fuel in the tank. The longitudinally extensive member can further comprise: first and second pressure sensors spaced apart by a fixed distance, each said pressure sensor having a face exposed in use to the local hydrostatic pressure of the liquid fuel in the tank; and a colour sensing device comprising a light emitter and a light detector configured to detect light from the emitter, said emitter and detector being arranged such that in use light from the emitter incident on the detector passes through said liquid fuel in the tank. The apparatus can further comprise a data processing device configured to determine the identity of the liquid fuel based on said pressure measurements from said first and second pressure sensors and colour data from said colour sensing device.