Patent ID: 8402822

Claim:
The combination of a flashing process tank with a magnetostrictive level detector, wherein said magnetostrictive level detector includes a sensor wire and sensor electronics, said flashing tank having an interior and an exterior, and includes a first opening into said interior, said first opening terminating in a tank flange, an instrument flange body removably and sealingly coupled to said tank flange, said coupled instrument flange body and tank flange defining a flanged joint, said instrument flange body in a covering relationship with said first opening in said flashing tank and having an instrument opening therein, a float well attached to said instrument flange body but not extending through said instrument flange body, said float well having a sidewall and a closed bottom, said float well extending into said tank interior, said float well having openings in said sidewall, a float disposed in said float well, and movable in said float well, in response to the level of said liquid in said flashing tank, said float having at least one magnet, a magnetostrictive wire positioned in a guide well, said guide well being sealingly mounted to said flanged joint through said instrument opening, and said magnetostrictive wire not extending through said float but being within sensing distance of said magnet in said float, said magnetostrictive wire contained in said guide well in the interior of said flashing tank, said guide well being sealed from the environment in the interior of said flashing tank.