INTRODUCTION TO

INSTRUMENTATION
Instrumentation

■ Instrumentation is a technology of using instruments to measure and control any

physical variable
■ Instrument
– extension of human faculty
– device used to measure a physical variable and represent in numerical form
with unit
Measurement

■ Measurement which was an act of comparison, now a

process by which the physical variable is converted into
electrical form and then calibrated in terms of the
variable, represented in numerical form with units.
Purpose of Measurement

■ Monitoring
– Weather Forecasting
■ Control
– Control of a variable in a process(next Slide)
■ Commercial
– Weighing machines in Shops
■ Experimental Analysis
– Sophisticated Instruments
 Model of level control system
Inflow

Detailed block diagram of the controller

Outflow

Process control in a tank

Measurement system

Signal Conditioning
Measurement system
■ Measurand
– Variable to be measured
■ Primary sensing element
– convert non electrical physical variable into some form of electrical output
– Transducer: RTD, thermocouple
– sensor and transducer diaphragm and strain gauge

RTD Strain gauge

Measurement system
■ Variable conversion element
– converts one form of electrical signal into more useful form of electrical signal
for further processing, without distorting the information contained in the
signal
– Example: Wheatstone bridge, analog-to-digital converter, digital-to-analog
converter, voltage to current converter, current to voltage converter, etc.,

■ Variable manipulation element

– manipulates the electrical signal to make it suitable for further processing,
without distorting the information contained in the signal
– Example: amplifier, attenuator, filtering, averaging square root extractor etc.,
Measurement system

■ Data transmission element

– any form of transmission to transmit the measured signal from the point of
measurement to the indication point
– Example: mechanical means of transformation wired wireless transmission
etc.,

■ Data presentation element

– presenting the measured signal in the required and presentable form
– Example: analogue indicator, digital display, touch screen display, etc.,
Objective :To measure a load or force
and display it in the measurement site
 Measurement of strain on a cantilever
beam

SIGNAL SIGNAL
SENSOR DISPLAY
CONDITIONING CONDITIONING
•Strain gauge •Wheatstone •Differential •Presentation
bridge Amplifier of output
ΔR ΔV in mV 1 - 5V
Example of Measurement System

■ Measure the temperature of steam at the outlet of the boiler

and display it in digital form in the control room [ 540 ℃]
 Temperature Measurement at Boiler
outlet
Steam
Temperature

SIGNAL CURRENT CONTROL

SENSOR BOOSTER
CONDITIONING TRANSMITTER ROOM
• RTD • Wheatstone • Amplifier • V to I • CONTROL
Resistance bridge Converter
Temperature ΔR ΔV in mV 1 - 5V 4 – 20 mA
Detector

I/V ADC DISPLAY

• I to V Converter • Analog to Digital • Presentation of

Conversion output
 Temperature Measurement at Boiler
outlet
Steam
Temperature

CURRENT CONTROL
SENSOR BOOSTER
TRANSMITTER ROOM
•Thermocouple •Amplifier •V to I •CONTROL
ΔV in mV 1 - 5V Converter 4 – 20 mA

I/V ADC DISPLAY

• I to V Converter • Analog to Digital • Presentation of

Conversion output
Bourdon Tube
Points to be considered while designing
a measurement system:
■ Variable to be measured

■ Process in which the variable to be measured

– Required to have knowledge about other inputs
■ Required performance Characteristics –Static and Dynamic
Generalised Input and Output
configuration of a measurement system
Generalised I/P and O/P Configuration :
■ Inputs
– Desired Inputs
■ Quantities that the instrument is intended to measure
– Interfering Inputs
■ Quantities to which the instrument is unintentionally sensitive
– Modifying Inputs
■ Quantities that cause a change in input-output relations for the desired and
interfering inputs
■ Output
– Sum of output components due to all the three inputs (Desired, Modifying and
Interfering)
Strain gauge
Interference in Strain gauge
■ Interference for strain gauge

Desired input: Strain

Interfering input:60 Hz ac field and temperature
Modifying inputs: Temperature and Eb
U-tube
Manometer
Interferences in manometer

– Example: Spurious inputs for manometer

Desired input: p1 and p2

Interfering input: acceleration and tilt angle
Modifying inputs: ambient temperature, gravitational force and tilt angle
Methods of Correction for Interfering
and Modifying Input
1. Method of inherent insensitivity
2. Method of high gain feedback
3. Method of calculated output corrections
4. Method of signal filtering
5. Method of opposing inputs
Static Characteristics Of Measurement
Systems

■ Instrument performance is described by means of quantitative qualities which are

referred to as characteristics.
■ Static characteristics pertain to a system where quantities to be measured are
constant or vary slowly with time.
■ In other words, these are the relationships which may occur between the output of
the instrument and the input of the instrument when the input is either at a
constant value or changing slowly.
Static Characteristics
■ Static Characteristics is a set of criteria which describes the quality of measurement
when it is subjected to static input.
■ Most of the characteristics can be obtained by a process called Static Calibration.
■ List of criteria are as follows:
– Range & Span
– Accuracy & Precision
– Sensitivity
– Linearity
– Threshold & Resolution
– Hysteresis
– Drift
– Repeatability & Reproducibility
– Loading effect
Specifications of Instrument static characteristics
■ Diaphragm pressure gauge using electrical resistance strain gauges

Static Characteristics Specifications

Maximum bridge excitation 20 V dc
Recommended bridge excitation 12 V dc
Pressure range 0-200 kPa
Bridge output 0.1 mV/V/kPa
Accuracy ±0.5% of FS (Full Scale)
Repeatability ±0.2% of FS
Linearity and hysteresis ±0.4% of FS
Thermal zero shift Less than 0.02% FS/ºC
Thermal sensitivity shift Less than 0.02% /ºC
Bridge resistance 350 Ω
Minimum required impedance of output for indicating unit 2KΩ

Overload capacity 250% of FS

Dynamic characteristics

■ Design, operate, testing, and purchasing the instrument/measurement system are based on the
system's specifications/characteristics.
■ It is of paramount importance to understand the system's performance characteristics to
choose it for the desired application.
■ The performance characteristics are divided into two types, namely,
– Static characteristics
■ The input quantities that are constant or vary slowly with respect to the time
– Dynamic Characteristics
■ The input quantities that are varying rapidly with time and the performance criteria
is based on the dynamic relations between the instrument output and input with the
use of differential equations.

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Contd.

■ Ideally, the system responds to the measurand at the very instant of time it is
applied.
■ In real world, the system requires time to respond to its measurand and exhibits
oscillations before it reaches the steady-state.
■ There are two phases to be considered to determine the performance based on the
system dynamics.
– steady state : When the system settles at the final value after certain time.
– transient state : The time between the beginning of the event and the steady
state period

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Characteristics

Dynamic Characteristics

■ Speed of Response is defined as the

rapidity with which an instrument or Desirable Undesirable
measurement system responds to
changes in measured quantity.
Dynamic Error
Speed of the response
Measuring
■ Fidelity of a system is defined as the Fidelity
Lag
ability of the system to reproduce the
output in the same form as the input. It
is the degree to which a measurement
system indicates changes in the
measured quantity without any dynamic
error.

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Contd.

■ The dynamic error is the difference between the true value of the quantity changing
with time and the value indicated by the instrument if no static error is assumed.
■ The delay in the response of an instrument to a change in the measured quantity is
known as measuring lag. Measuring lag is of two types
– i) Retardation type: In this type of measuring lag the response begins immediately
after a change in measured quantity has occurred.
– ii) Time delay: In this type of measuring lag the response of the measurement system
begins after a dead zone when the input is applied.

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Thank you