Patent attributes
A capacitive gauge, suitable for measuring a fluid level in a container, includes upper and lower capacitive elements. Also provided is a control unit for calculating the fluid level in the container based on the capacitance of the upper and lower capacitors and a dielectric constant of the fluid in the container. The control unit also includes functionality for determining and storing the dielectric constant of the fluid in the container. The dielectric constant of the fluid is determined by first verifying whether the lower capacitive element is completely submerged based on a comparison of a measured capacitance of the upper capacitor to a reference capacitance of the upper capacitor. If the lower capacitor is verified to be submerged, then the dielectric constant of the fluid is calculated based on a measured capacitance of the lower capacitor.
