The measurement of pressure and level of fill in sealed storage drums

A non-intrusive technique has been developed which will detect an increase in pressure over ambient levels and alert workers of potential danger. Pressurization within the drum can be detected by measuring the frequency at which the drum lid vibrates; the natural frequencies increase as the pressure increases. It is shown that at high levels, the level of fill affects the frequency of the fundamental mode, but affects the higher modes to a much lesser degree. Thus, by measuring the frequencies of the fundamental and the first axisymmetric modes, the effect of fill level can be separated from pressurization. Analytical and experimental results are presented, along with suggestions for implementation.