Power Plant Evaporation Pond Level Measurement

Project Goal: Precisely measure the depth of the water at a given point in an evaporation pond and transfer the data approximately three miles to a facility to be stored and tracked over time.

Current methods use manual measurement to gauge the depth of wastewater in an evaporation pond at a natural gas powerplant. The Depth Measuring System, or DMS, is a low-cost, low-maintenance, self-powered, easily accessible alternative that is accurate within 1.0 foot. Depth data can be wirelessly transmitted to a remote server for retrieval or read by an operator from an analog system.

Trigonometric analysis found the angle of water depth related to the orientation of the DMS. The team enabled wireless data transmission by integrating the system with existing infrastructure, using a combined microcontroller/GSM transmitter. Power analysis ensured that the system could operate using solely a solar panel.

Testing proved the system could measure the depth of water in an evaporation pond with a high degree of accuracy, transmit the information for later use, function under its own power and operate easily.