Automation helps make industrial processes more efficient at producing quality goods that help fuel the nation’s economy. Automation also helps make industrial organizations more profitable by reducing waste and ensuring the materials needed are available right away to maintain a high level of productivity.
The advent of smart technology enables greater efficiency while improving manufacturing tolerances to greatly enhance productivity and the quality of goods produced. Level and float switches are an important part of many of those smart systems.
Simple Sensors Enable Smarter Industrial Processes
So-called smart technology often relies on relatively simple devices, such as sensors and switches, that simplify industrial processes and ensure things are done without having to think about them. A float switch is a good example of how a relatively simple sensor can keep production going in industrial operations.
A float switch simply reacts to a level inside a container that might be very small or very large. The substance might be a liquid or a solid, but it is often a liquid. As the name implies, the float switch has a float that reacts when the level inside a container or vessel rises or falls to such a degree that it activates the float switch. Once activated, the switch activates an automated system that either removes or adds to the level.
The float switch isn’t necessarily “smart” because it just reacts to the level of whatever substance it is supposed to track. A sump pump uses a float switch to expel excess water from locations where it does not belong, such as in the basement or first floor of a home. That same simple technology can work on sewage systems.
Many Potential Uses for Level Switches
Very similar to a float switch is a level switch, which is designed to maintain ideal levels of liquids inside containers. Level switches can work in tandem to ensure ideal levels for many types of equipment used in industrial capacities. For example, a fuel tank might have a level switch triggered when the fuel level is too low. Once triggered, the level switch might open a pipe that leads to a holding tank containing fuel.
Inside that holding tank might be another level switch that stays inactive when the level is sufficient to allow fuel to flow through a connecting pipe to a relatively empty tank so it has enough fuel to continue operating. If the fuel level inside the holding tank is low, the level switch could activate an indicator, such as a light, that tells the people in charge of the operation that more fuel is needed to ensure a steady supply for the industrial operation.
Level and Float Switches Make Systems Smart
Although level and float switches are simple items, they are integral to smart technology – especially for industrial operations. The simplicity of levels and float switches makes them affordable and very reliable. Yet, they enable automated supply systems that support productivity using advanced technology.
The combination of simple devices and sensors with advanced computing and communications systems, such as Wi-Fi and the Internet of Things, enable truly astounding industrial capabilities.
When devices can communicate with one another and automatically perform tasks that previously required human intervention, the entire industrial process becomes more efficient and cost-effective. Human error is removed from the equation, which makes it easier to accurately solve relatively simple problems, like replenishing fuel supply or other needed items, such as water stored in a large tank.
Conclusion
The switches can enable a single water holding tank to send water where it is needed based on float and level switches that automatically open and close pipes that enable the liquid to flow where it is needed.
While float and level switches aren’t necessarily “smart,” they enable smart technologies that greatly improve industrial processes, capacities, and products. The switches ensure greater efficiency from various equipment needed to ensure industrial processes continue and improve over time.
