Weighing a tank is one of the most accurate ways to know what is inside it. The load cells sit outside the vessel, so the reading does not care what the contents are doing — and that is precisely the advantage over level probes and flow meters.
Why weight rather than level
- Weight control is among the most accurate methods of stock control available.
- Tank systems can measure solids, high-value liquids and even gases in a vessel.
- Because the cells are mounted outside, the method beats other techniques on materials that expand and contract with temperature.
- The result is unaffected by the shape of the vessel or by the physical and chemical properties of the material — temperature, viscosity and the rest.
Compression mounting
Most vessels from 10 kgf up to 30 tf and beyond are weighed on compression column cells or on compression weigh modules. The vessel sits on the cells; its weight passes straight down through them.
Column cells hold their accuracy where the structure expands or contracts with heat — the case on almost any process vessel that is heated, cooled or filled with something warm.
Smaller vessels can simply be stood on a bench or floor scale, which is often the practical answer for batching in production.
Suspended mounting with S-type cells
A tank or hopper can instead be hung from S-type cells, with the reading derived from tension rather than compression.
This arrangement needs clear space all round the weighing system — anything touching the vessel takes load off the cells and the reading drops.
Suspended weighing suits capacities from about 20 kgf to 30 tf.
Why outdoor tanks need a mounting kit
A tank standing outside has to be weighed safely. The mounting kit protects the cells both during installation and in service, and it deals with two forces the cells alone cannot.
Wind. A tall vessel catches wind, which means the mounting has to cope with uplift on one side while the other side takes a much larger compressive load.
Thermal movement. Temperature changes make the supporting structure expand and contract. The kit is designed to absorb that movement instead of passing it into the cells as a false weight.
Piping is the other thing that quietly ruins a tank scale. Rigid pipework connected to a weighed vessel carries part of the load away from the cells, and the amount changes with temperature and pressure. Flexible connections are not an optional refinement here.
Application note
KALA Technical Notes
Choosing between compression and suspended mounting is usually decided by the headroom and the pipework, not by capacity alone. Send us the vessel dimensions, the contents and how it is connected, and we will set out which arrangement fits.
● Compression and S-type load cells, weigh modules and mounting kits for tank and silo weighing.