Some aspects of COTS ultrasonic fuel level measurement

The paper focuses on utilization of modern level sensors for measuring fuel volume in aviation. Ultrasonic principles of fuel quantity measurement have been introduced onboard aircraft to replace float level and capacitance level sensors. The principle of ultrasonic measurement of the fuel level is based on the reflection of sound waves at an interface of fuel and air. The fuel quantity can be calculated from fuel level if the shape of the tank is known. Specific electronic circuits were designed to employ ultrasonic transceivers operating at higher frequencies. Presented experiments compare characteristics of different ultrasonic sensors for installation in the aircraft fuel quantity measuring system. Tested operating conditions of several COTS ultrasonic sensors are focused on simulation of aircraft attitude changes.