Sensors-transducers

Presented by: I&C Technician

Introduction to process
measurement
The purpose of measurement
Kinds of signals
Remote vs local display
Error in measurement system
Calibration
Calibration laboratory
Field calibration

Function of sensor
1. An instrument must sense the process to be measured.
part of the instrument must stretch bend, or change
position or characteristics when affected by process.
2. The instrument must convert this response into an
electrical or pneumatic signals.

CONTROL LOOP

transmitter

Function of transducer
The process sensing element is
usually a bellow, a diaphragm or a
bourden tube.
The primary conversion element
converts the mechanical action of a
process sensing element to an
electrical signal, usually an electrical
resistance or a voltage.
The secondary conversion element is
usually an electronic circuit that
produces a standard signal according
to the need of the control system.

Sensors transducers

Pressure sensors.
Flow sensors.
Thermometers.
Liquid level sensors.
Vibration and speed sensors.
Proximity and displacement sensors.
Fire, Flame and smoke detectors.
Analyzers.

Transducer principle
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

Capacitive.
Inductive.
Piezoelectric.
Resistive.
Potentiometer.
Strain gage.
Photoconductive.
Thermoelectric.

PRESSURE

BOURDEN TUBE
PRESSURE SENSOR

BELLOWS
DIAPHRAGM
STRAIN GAUGE
CAPACITVE
INDUCTIVE

PRESSURE TRANSDUCER

POTENTIOMETRIC
MAGNETIC
PIEZOELECTRIC
PHOTOELECTRIC

Bourdon tubes

bellows

diaphragm

Strain gauge

Capacitive

potentiometer

piezoelectric

inductive

Working on transmitter
A measurement device is made up of two parts
Primary element
Transmitter
Converts signal (Transducer)
Transmits signal

flow meters
Flow is the motion of fluid.
Flow rate is the time rate of motion fluid.
Total flow is the rate integrated over a specific
time interval.
Flow meter is a flow rate transducer.
Laminar flow.
Turbulent flow.
Reynolds no.

Units of measurement
Cubic foot/minuet.
Gallon/minuet.
Liter/sec.

FLOW

DIFFERENCIAL PRESSURE

PRIMARY ELEMENT

MECHANICAL FLOWMETER

POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT

ELECTRONIC FLOWMETER

TURBINE FLOWMETER MEGNATIC FLOWMETER

ROTARY FLOWMETER

VORTEX FLOWMETER

ULTRASONIC FLOWMETER

Common Devices To Measure Flow

Orifice

plate

Veturi tube
Flow nozzle

Types and use of orifice plate

1. Concentric
opening in center. It is for
normal use.

2. Eccentric
Opening slightly off
center.
Used for the fluid or gas
which has solid particles.

Types and use of orifice plate

3 . Segmental
semi circular in shape. It is for
used for slurries.

Venturi Tube

Flow Nozzle

Variable area instruments

Rota meter

Positive displacement
flow meters
Trap a known volume of fluid and allow it to pass from
meter inlet to outlet.
Total flow measurement.
They have accurate,precise,and have a wide flow range.
They are expensive and object to corrosion.
They are used for water meters and gasoline pumps.

PD flow meters types

Piston flow meter
Notating-disc flow meter
Lobed impeller and oval flow meter
Rotary vane meter
Turbine flow meter

Nutating and rotary-vane flow

meter

Piston type flow meter

Lobed impeller and oval flow

meter

Turbine flow meter

Magnetic flow meter

Vortex flow meter

Ultrasonic flow meter

temperature
Bimetallic and liquid filled system

Resistance temperature detector

thermister

thermocouple

Temperature

Hotness or Coldness of a Substance

Temperature Units
Celsius

Fahrenheit F
Kelvin

Temperature Measuring Instruments

Instrument Inserted or Attached

Located at
Distance

Pyromete
r

Thermomete
rs

Basic Types Of Thermometers

Bimetallic
From 75 C to 540 C

Liquid In Glass
From -120 C to 320 C

Filled System
From -273 C to -185 C
From 650 C to 760 C

Metals expand on heating and contract on cooling.

Each metal has a coefficient of thermal expansion

Bimetallic strip bends toward metal of lower rate of

thermal expansion, on heating.

Bimetallic Thermometers

Spiral
Helix, Multiple Helix

Bimetallic Thermometers (Cont.)

Office

and Home Use

Bimetallic Thermometers (Cont.)

Industrial

Use

Bimetallic Thermometers (Cont.)

Advantages :
Inexpensive,

Read

Reasonably

Carefully
Best

Rugged and Easy to

Accurate, Handle

for Local Use

RTDs
Some Metals Resistance Increase on Increase of
Temperature Metals Used in RTD Must Be

Pure

Uniform Quality

Stable With Given Temperature Rage

Able to Reproduce Resistance Temp. Reading

RTDs

Temperature,
C
0
200
400

Metal

Resistance

Platinum
Copper
Nickel
Platinum
Copper
Nickel
Platinum
Copper
Nickel

100
100
100
175
186
250
250
275
485

RTDs

RTD act just like a variable resistor

Used in resistance bridge circuit
Output voltage resistance of RTD
Heating or cooling cause bridge unbalance
Lead wire error
250 ft copper wire has 1 ohm resistance.
If resistance 139 ohm temp. will be 100C exclude 2 ohm
then R=137 which
show 94.4 C error 5.1 %

RTDs

Compensating Lead Error

Use of Third Wire, RTD Wire Should Be Opposite Arm
Error With 2 Lead Wires 4C, With Three Lead 0.1 C and
by Fourth Wire Error 0.03C

RTDs

Construction of RTD

RTDs
Measuring Surface Temperature RTDS
Protecting Well for RTDs

RTDs

Advantages of RTD
Extremely accurate
Measure temperature within 0.15 C
Fast in response and small in size
Disadvantages of RTD
Expansive and complex
Require bridge circuit, power supply, meter

Thermistors

Special Type Of Resistors

High temp. resistance coefficient

Negative as well as positive Temperature Coefficient

Resistance Increases Temp. Decreases

Advantages
Three & four wire bridge circuit not required
Two lead wire provide sufficient accuracy
Less expansive and less complicated
Disadvantages
Lack RTD accuracy.

Thermocouple

Two Different Metals or Alloy

Two Junction
Reference Junction ( to be at constant temperature)
Measuring Junction
Heating measuring junction produce voltage across MJ
& reference junction

Thermocouple

Extension Wires
Thermocouple wires
Same as thermocouple ( iron constantan, copper constantan
Other material for platinum thermocouple
Copper or copper alloy

Thermocouple
Construction of Thermocouple

Thermocouple

Advantages
In Expansive, Rugged, Accurate
Do not use bridge circuit
Wide temperature range 273 to 2800 oC

Disadvantages
Low voltage.
Reference junction kept to be constant

Level

Sight glass
Pressure head instruments

displacer
Differential pressure

Float switches

Electrical instruments

vibration
ultrasonic

Definition of Some Points

Datum point:

A fixed reference point from which level

is measured

Buoyancy:

Upward force exerted by liquid

on an object submerged &
floating in it

Buoyant force:

Net upward force exerted by

liquid on submerged or
floating
object
equal the weight of the
displaced liquid.
A nearly stationary object whose
purpose is to displace
liquid,
used for
liquid measurement.

Displacer:

Level Measurement by Float

A float, cable, sliding pointer arrangement.

A fixed scale is mounted on the exterior of the tank

A cable connects the float with the pointer through two pullies.

Pointer move up and down and also serve as counter weight.

Float type level indicators are installed on the open tanks and the
tank of the atmospheric pressure.

Float-based level switch

Level Measurement by Displacer

Displacer do not ride on the surface of the liquid but they are design to
submerge as the level rises.
Displacer mechanism transfer the slight mechanical motions due to
loss of weight which can be used in instruments to indicate level.

Torque Tube Displacers

The most common type of displacer mechanism is a torque tube

displacer.
Torque tubes are useful when level measurement is needed on the
liquid under pressure.
As the liquid level changes, the buoyant force moves the displacer
slightly and twist the torque tube.
The motion of the torque tube makes the pointer move to indicate
the liquid level on the scale.

Displacement level

Level Measurement Using Differential Pressure Instruments

Differential pressure measurement is suited to level measurement

in closed vessels

When liquid level is measured in an open tank, piping from the

lower end of the tank is connected to the high pressure side of the
transmitter and the low pressure side is vented.

When liquid level is measured in a closed tank the effect of tank

pressure is compensated by connecting a line from the top of the
tank to the low pressure side of the differential.

The pressure due to the height of the liquid is a measure of its

level.

Hydrostatic tank gauging

Differential pressure cell

design

Ultrasonic level

analyzers
Hydrazine monitor

Sodium monitor
Dissolve oxygen monitor
Flue gas oxygen monitor

Silica monitor
Conductivity monitor

Ph monitor

hydrazine

Main component

sensor

Sample and solution flow

Calibration sequence

Sodium
Reagent solution
Standard solution
Etch solution

Dissolved Oxygen Sensor

Oxygen molecules diffuse
through the membrane based
on the partial pressure of
oxygen.
ORP Reaction
Oxygen is reduced to
hydroxide ions (OH-) at the
gold cathode.
Silver is oxidized to silver
bromide (M-4) or silver
chloride (M-4HD) at the silver
anode

The current flow is directly

proportional to the
concentration of Dissolved
Oxygen in solution

Calibration
Zero calibration
Air calibration

Silica monitoring

Sample and solution flow

Calibration and maintenance

Reagent solution
Standard solution

Flue gas oxygen monitor

installation

Main probe component

Cell and tube assembly

Diffuser and detector

Inner probe assembly

Calibration setup

CONDUCTIVITY ANALYZERS

Measuring principle
Conductance is a measure ability of
electric circuit to pass current.

G = 1/R(siemense)
Na+
Cl-

Variables affecting conductivity

Temperature
Concentration
contamination

Conductivity probes
Electrode type
Inductive type

Na+
Cl-

Typical Conductivity Values

10% NaOH

355,000

Sea Water

50,000

Mains Water Supply

50

Boiler Feed Water

Distilled Water

0.5

Ultra Pure Water

0.055

100

10,000

1,000,000

CONDUCTIVITY IN HUB PLANT

CONDENSER/EXTRACTION PUMPS

STATOR COOLING WATER

BOILER FEED WATER

Calibration
Zero standard solution

Span standard solution

Grab sample

Conductivity ranges vs. resistance input

Decade box

PH monitor

pH Theory
pH is a Unit of Measurement
pH = Power of Hydrogen (H+)
Defined as the Negative Logarithm of
Hydrogen Ion Activity
pH = log (1/H+)

Used for Determining the Acidity or

Alkalinity of an Aqueous Solution
Practical pH Scale for Industrial
Instrumentation
0 - 14 pH

pH Sensor Components
pH Measuring Electrode
pH Measuring Electrode

Reference Cell

Purpose is to Develop a
Millivolt Potential Directly
Proportional to the Free
Hydrogen Ion Concentration
in an Aqueous Solution

Reference Cell
KCl Buffered
to 7 pH
KCl Gel
Ag/AgCl Element

pH Sensitive Glass

Liquid Junction

Purpose is to Maintain a
Constant Reference Potential
Regardless of pH Change or
Other Ionic Activity in the
Solution

Reference Cell Liquid Junction

Purpose is to Maintain
Electrical Contact Between the
Reference Electrode and the
Measuring Electrode by way
of the Solution

pH is a Potentiometric
Measurement
pH Measuring Electrode

Reference Electrode

The Measuring System

consists of a pH Measuring
Electrode and Reference
Electrode
The Potential Difference
Between the Two
Electrodes is a Function of
the pH Value of the
Measured Solution
The Solution Must Be
Conductive and is Part of
the Electrical Circuit

Ion Concentration
Acid

Neutral

Alkaline

pH
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14

Hydrogen Ion (H+)

1
0.1
0.01
0.001
0.0001
0.00001
0.000001
0.0000001
0.00000001
0.000000001
0.0000000001
0.00000000001
0.000000000001
0.0000000000001
0.00000000000001

Hydroxyl Ion (OH-)

0.00000000000001
0.0000000000001
0.000000000001
0.00000000001
0.0000000001
0.000000001
0.00000001
0.0000001
0.000001
0.00001
0.0001
0.001
0.01
0.1
1

Typical pH Values
4.0% NaOH
Crackers
Blood
Pure Water
Milk
Beer
Tomatoes
Oranges
Lemons
4.9 % H2SO4

0.0

1.0

2.0

3.0

4.0

5.0

6.0

7.0

pH

8.0

9.0 10.0 11.0 12.0 13.0 14.0

Ph measurement in hub plant

Boiler feed water

Waist water treatment

calibration

Standard buffers

Grab sample

Fire and smoke detectors

Ionization sensors

Photo sensors

Infrared and ultraviolet sensors

Thermal sensors

Flam detector
heat generated

Ionization

radiation

Fire and smoke detectors

Ionization sensors

Photo sensors

Infrared and ultraviolet sensors

Thermal sensors

Flam detector
heat generated

Ionization

radiation

Proximity and displacement sensors

Capacitive sensors

Inductive sensors

Magnetic sensors

LVDT sensors

Mechanical limit switches

Optical sensors

Ultrasonic sensors

Digital output and encoders