Hi there ! I am Almera, I am a student in the first license in the faculty of computer science. I am hereby asking for your help for my end-of-year project that I decided to do in arduino.
in fact, it is a system for detecting fuel levels in service station reserves. the fuel levels are displayed on a screen, and also sent to the central level of all the service stations to inform them in real time of which station needs refueling, how much they are supposed to receive on a day from the account officer. And so on.
but the problem is that I don't have a very good level in arduino, that's why I come to ask for your help.
What equipment used
the programming language
An overall idea of the connection of this equipment
etc
I could manage, I just wish you could enlighten me a little.
You might get lucky and some people on this forum would know what sensors and so on are required, but surely the safety requirements will be of supreme importance here: all the things you use will surely need to be certified flash-proof as a minimum, and more likely certified intrinsically safe. For those I think you may need to contact the industry suppliers and have a budget above that of a normal student level project.
Over and above the components, your whole method of working will surely need to be approved: tools, clothing, esd protection and the like. I don't think this is a field that's safe for amateurs, and you may find you're not even allowed near a fuel tank at a service station without the necessary Permission to Work approvals.
You might be able to do some proof-of-concept work with uncertified sensors and water tanks?
Hi, @archipp
First work out the mechanics of how to measure the level in the tanks.
Remember the fuel is flammable/explosive.
The only way I know that service stations measure their tank volumes is with a long dipstick at the end of the day, and use the petrol pump figures to extrapolate the volume left during the next 24hours.
Most tanks are in the ground too and access is governed by safety regulations, so adding an extra hole for a sensor of some sort may not be possible.
The temperature of the fuel will also have to be measured as petrol/gasoline volume changes with temperature.
Time for you to do some basic study....service stations, like light and ultralight aircraft, ALWAYS dip their tanks with a dip stick....zero errors...zero problems.
Perhaps OP's intention is to help them move past that old approach. But of course, one would assume that if there was a good, worthwhile, foolproof way to introduce tech to this, the oil industry would have done so already.
Each car has a fuel indicator, so it is not impossible...
But if you know what you put in a tank and you know how much you deliver to your clients, it cannot be difficult to simply calculate how much is left...
I guess that, because it is a student project, it will not really be implemented in a live situation but there will have to be a convincing small scale demo.
Maybe use an ultrasonic sensor or infra red proximity sensor to measure the depth of fuel in the tank. There will be a relationship (but not necessary linear) between the depth and the volume of fuel.
Now look at methods of transmitting that information to a control centre maybe using a wlan/radio/wired solution.
I have watched the tanker truck begin to make his delivery. He uses a stick to measure the tank level before the delivery starts and records the level. When completed he uses the stick to measure the new level of the tank. I presume he has a table to allow the volume that was delivered to also be recorded. I suspect the tanker company would NOT trust a volume shown by the station electronic gauge.
The tanker has a delivery metering method , the stick is to check how full the tank is . Petrol pumps measure what comes out with accuracy. I would imagine You only need to know roughly how full the underground tank is and a “calibrated “ stick will tell the operator if it will take the proposed delivery ( over flow bit tricky) .
There are intrinsic safety issues here - you can’t use anything in such a situation unless it is certified equipment . ( filling stations even have flame proof certified lighting )
Look up ATEX
If this is a school type task ( or any task ) , research of how things work now , any issues with it , and why your project would be better , would serve you well
