Abstract: A system for inventory reconciliation and leak detection of particular utility in liquid storage tanks such as the terminal facilities that are used for the storage and distribution of gasoline. The system has the ability to monitor the inventory of several different liquid products on hand at such a facility, account for product deliveries and product dispensations (e.g., to tank trucks which deliver the product from the terminal facility to a gasoline service station), and to continually check the volume of each product dispensed against the inventory on hand so as to provide a real-time system for detecting leaks from the tanks containing each product, losses due to evaporation, volume discrepancies from flow meters which are out of calibration, and other irregularities.

Abstract: The apparatus of the invention is a water level probe comprised of a probe body, a sleeve having openings permitting fluid flow and encasing part of a magnetostrictive sensor, and an external housing encasing electronic circuitry for processing and transmitting the electric signal generated by the magnetostrictive sensor and sealing the circuitry from fluids. The sensor comprises a float slidably mounted on a rod, the float designed to float in water but sink in a petroleum product, thereby ensuring that it will float at the interface between the water and the product. The water level probe is used in the method of the invention to measure the depth of the water in a vessel storing hydrocarbon product at predetermined time intervals. The longitudinal angle of inclination of the vessel with respect of the horizon having previously been determined, the volume of water in the vessel is calculated from the depth measurements.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for nondestructively testing each incremental area of a ferromagnetic sample by first passing a steady magnetic flux field through an area in a first direction and producing an inspection signal in response thereto, and then passing a steady magnetic flux field through the same area in an orthogonal direction and producing a second inspection signal in response thereto. The magnitudes of the two inspection signals corresponding to a given incremental area are added to produce a composite signal whose magnitude is the sum of the two signals. The composite signal associated with a given incremental region is displayed on a visual presentation means at a location corresponding to the location of the incremental region on the ferromagnetic sample and with an indicia, such as color, that is a function of the magnitude of the respective composite signal.