Apparatus for determining a vertical level or density of a material column

An apparatus for determining a vertical level or density of a material column including a granular solid or a solid-liquid mixture, the apparatus comprising:

• a support member;
• and
• at least one measurement module;
• wherein the measurement module comprises:
• a support arm mounted to the support member and extending outwardly from the support member;
• a displacer mounted to the support arm;
• and
• a force measurement device configured to measure a force attributable to a mass of the displacer mediated by a buoyancy of the displacer in the material column,
• wherein the measurement module has a data connection to a data processing unit for transmitting measurement data from the measurement module to the data processing unit to generate level or density information about the material column,
• wherein the apparatus further comprises a vibration actuator configured to vibrate material surrounding the displacer in the material column to fluidize the material surrounding the displacer in the material column,
• wherein the data processing unit is configured to process the measurement data to remove vibrational noise from the vibration actuator.

An apparatus for determining a vertical level or density of a material column including a granular solid or a solid-liquid mixture, the apparatus comprising:

• a support member;
• and
• at least one measurement module;
• wherein the measurement module comprises:
• a support arm mounted to the support member and extending outwardly from the support member;
• a displacer mounted to the support arm;
• and
• a force measurement device configured to measure a force attributable to a mass of the displacer mediated by a buoyancy of the displacer in the material column,
• wherein the measurement module has a data connection to a data processing unit for transmitting measurement data from the measurement module to the data processing unit to generate level or density information about the material column,
• wherein the apparatus further comprises a vibration actuator configured to vibrate material surrounding the displacer in the material column to fluidize the material surrounding the displacer in the material column,
• wherein the displacer is mounted to the support arm via the force measurement device and the force measurement device is contained within the displacer.