Recently the newspapers and media were
in frenzy over the fire that broke out in a chemical manufacturing
factory. The fire was so intense that it took many hours to bring it
under control but the factory was burnt completely. Fortunately there
were no casualties because the fire broke out when the entire staff has
signed off. The fire broke out in the storage area and spread like
wildfire and engulfed the entire facility within seconds. The forensic
reports indicated that a chemical storage tank had sprung a leak which
caused the liquid to find its way into the sacks that were stacked
nearby. The combination of the liquid with the powdered chemical caused
the reaction which resulted in a huge fire.
It may be termed as
human error because they failed to learn about the leak before the
calamity took place, or it can also be related to the non availability
of the ultrasonic level indicator in the factory. The
ultrasonic level detecting device
is a handy gadget which can easily measure every tank from the outside.
It also has the ability to detect leaks in the body because it measures
real time liquid flow in the pipes and also from the tank. Measuring
with the device could have easily pointed out the unnatural flow of the
liquid and the maintenance staff would have learned about the leak
easily.
The device also provides a unique function of pointing
out the thickness of the tank’s walls. This function easily points out
the defective area in the tank. As the person in charge of measuring the
liquids in the tanks would have neared the weak point in the tank using
the ultrasonic device, the thinning of the wall would have been
indicated at that time. He would have informed his seniors about the
indication and they would have taken the necessary steps to prevent the
calamity. But since the factory didn’t house an ultrasonic device, the
leak couldn’t be pointed out and it happened when there was no one
around to control it.
The normal mechanical
liquid level indicator
does not point out leaks or anything about the condition of the storage
tank. It just indicates the level of the liquid inside and the staff
can only learn about how much is available inside. It is good for record
keeping and production planning, but for a more detailed report about
the liquid level plus the condition of the tank holding the liquids, it
is best to use the ultrasonic level indicator.