TOPIC 4. SENSITIVITY, TRANSMISSION, STABILITY.

SENSITIVITY

Another important attribute of a good measuring instrument is discrimination

or sensitivity. All instruments have some limitation to the precision with which
the measurement is displayed, the markings on the scale of an analog
instrument (see figure 2) or the number of figures displayed by a digital
instrument. Take a digital thermometer, for example, displaying in whole
numbers. If it is indicating in degrees Fahrenheit then it will have a better
sensitivity than if it were indicating in degrees Celsius. Sensitivity is measure
of the smallest signal the instrument can measure. Usually, this is defined at
the lowest range setting of the instrument.

150 160

150 160

Figure 2

Notice that the accuracy of an instrument cannot be better than its

repeatability and its repeatability cannot be better than its sensitivity.

In most cases improvements can be made by concentrating on a narrow

range of measurements. A three digit display can indicate over the range 0 to
999 or 0 to 0.999. In each case the sensitivity is 0.1% of the range of the
instrument, but in absolute terms, the sensitivity is either unity or 0.001. In
the same way, a level installation covering the range 75% to 85% of a vessel
will give ten times better sensitivity than if it were measuring the level over the
whole vessel.
 Vessel wall
Level Transmitter

Figure 3

A balance always has to be sought between the sensitivity required (and

hence the measurement accuracy limitation in absolute terms), the range to
be covered and the cost.

If the accuracy specification is made tight, the cost will increase greatly. It
must not be forgotten that the maintenance of an instrument of high accuracy
will also increase if the accuracy is to be retained. Frequent and careful
calibration will be required. Thus greater accuracy than is really required
must not be specified. Equally, the narrowest practical range should be used,
increasing accuracy without any cost penalty.

1.1. TRANSMISSION

The importance of setting the narrowest practical range to cover the

measurement of interest can also be seen when considering transmission.

It will be found that some of the measurements made on process plants

involve delicate equipment and small currents or voltages. Such signals are
subject to invasion by unwanted electrical voltages, known as “pick-up” or
“noise”. There is considerable advantage in using relatively high powered
signals which are less susceptible to these unwanted voltages to transmit
these measurements over any distance greater than a few feet. From this
 concept comes the idea of the transmitter, the transmission signal and the
receiver.

The earliest forms of transmission signal were pneumatic, historically

because the oil industry was in the forefront of development and electrical
signals could have provided incentive sparks if faults had occurred. There is
no such risk with pneumatic signals. The standard until recently has been to
use 3 psi to represent 0% of range of 15 psi to represent 100% or full scale.
Now, with the advent of metrication, that has been converted to 0.2 to 1.0
barg.

Electrical signals are now most common, largely because of the advent of
solid state electronics, hand in hand with development of intrinsic safety
techniques. The common transmission signal is 4 to 20 mA, but 0 – 10 volts
and 1 – 5 volts are used for short distances, that is behind control room
panels.

Signal transmission is any kind of detectable quantity used to communicate

information. An analog or digital signal is a signal that can be continuously, or
infinitely, varied to represent any small amount of change. Pneumatic, or air
pressure, signals were once common in industrial instrumentation signal
systems.

1.2. STABILITY

Another quality of an instrument sometimes quoted is its stability. This is, of

course, the ability of the instrument to maintain its accuracy of calibration over
a period of time, and is generally quoted in terms of a drift of so many per
cent of full scale over a year.

Stability refers to the ability of an instrument to maintain a certain physical

property at a constant value, while rejecting any perturbations in the
environment. Stable instrument ensures that results are repeatable and
reproducible.

1.3. GENERAL PROBLEMS OF MEASUREMENT

It should be appreciated that it is difficult to make accurate measurements of

certain materials.
Slurries are a prime example.

Impulse lines will block up, samples will be unrepresentative, separation will
occur causing the variations and so on.

Precautions can be taken in most cases such as purges for impulse lines,
short sample lines, heat tracing and so on. This makes the installation and
maintenance more expensive and less reliable.