MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

Measurement and Instrumentation (MEng5104 )

2016 EC

Chapter 4
Measurement of Temperature and Pressure
Temperature Sensors
 Temperature Sensors
• Changes that are commonly used to monitor
temperature are
– expansion or contraction of solids, liquids, gases,
– change in electrical resistance of conductors and
semiconductors and
– thermoelectric e.m.f.
 Bimetallic strips
• Two metal strips having different coefficient of
expansion are rigidly joined together.
• When the temperature changes the composite strip
bends in to curved strip with the higher coefficient
metal on the outside of the curve.
• A modification of this bimetallic strip serves as the
basis for one of the simplest and most commonly
encountered temperature-measuring instruments, the
bimetallic thermometer.
• A bimetallic strip is wound in the form of
a long helix. One end of the helix is held
rigid. As the temperature varies; the helix
tries to wind or unwind.
• In the industrial type, the strip is twisted
into a long thin coil inside a tube.
• This causes the free end to rotate.
• The free end is connected to a pointer.
The pointer actually indicates angular
rotation of the helix; however, since the
rotation is linear and a function of
temperature, the scale is marked in units
of temperature.
 This deformation may be used as
a temperature-controlled switch.
 Resistance temperature detectors(RTDs)
• These work on the principle that the electrical resistance
of a conductor change with temperature.
• If a constant voltage is applied to the conductor then
the current flowing through it will change with
temperature.
• The following law relates the resistance and
temperature.
• is the temperature coefficient of resistance. Ro is the
resistance at 0oC, Rt is the resistance at temperature t.
• RTDs are simple resistive
elements in the form of coils
of wire of such metals as
platinum, nickel, or nickel-
copper alloys.
• RTDs are commonly
categorized by their
nominal resistance at 0 °C.
Typical nominal resistance
values for platinum thin-film
RTDs include 100 and
1000 Ω.
 Thermistor
• A special type of resistance sensor
• They are made from a small piece of semiconductor
material(mixtures of metal oxides).
• Available in the form of beads, discs and rods.
• The material is special because the resistance changes a
lot for a small change in temperature(very non-linear)
and so can be made into a small sensor and it costs less
than platinum wire.
• They are only used for a typical range of -20 to 120oC
and are commonly used in small hand held
thermometers for every day use.
 Thermocouple
• When two wires with dissimilar electrical properties are
joined at both ends and one junction is made hot and the
other cold, a small electric current is produced
proportional to the difference in the temperature.
• It is important that thermocouples are standard so that
the same e.m.f will always represent the same
temperature.
• Thermocouples come in several forms. They may be wires
insulated from each other with plastic or glass fiber
materials. For high temperature work, the wire pairs are
put inside a tube with mineral insulation. For industrial
uses the sensor comes in a metal enclosure such as
stainless steel.
 Thermocouple
• The basis of thermocouples was established by Thomas Johann
Seebeck in 1821 when he discovered that a conductor generates a
voltage when it is subjected to a temperature gradient.
• Measuring this voltage requires the use of a second conductor
material that generates a different voltage under the same
temperature gradient.
• If the same material is used for the measurement, the voltage
generated by the measuring conductor simply cancels that of the first
conductor.
• The voltage difference generated by the two dissimilar materials can
be measured and related to the corresponding temperature gradient.
• They need a known reference temperature to yield the absolute
readings.
• Several types of thermocouples are available, and different
types are designated by capital letters that indicate their
composition according to ANSI conventions. For example, a J-
Type thermocouple has one iron conductor and one constantan
(a copper-nickel alloy) conductor. You can see a complete list of
thermocouples in Table below.
Type Conductors – Positive Conductors – Negative

B Platinum-30% rhodium Platinum-6% rhodium

E Nickel-chromium alloy Copper-nickel alloy

J Iron Copper-nickel alloy

K Nickel-chromium alloy Nickel-aluminum alloy

N Nickel-chromium-silicon alloy Nickel-silicon-magnesium alloy

R Platinum-13% rhodium Platinum

S Platinum-10% rhodium Platinum

T Copper Copper-nickel alloy

13
 How a Thermocouple Works
• To use a thermocouple, you cannot simply connect it to a
voltmeter or other measurement system, because the
voltage measured is proportional to the temperature
difference between the primary junction and the junction
where the voltage is being measured.
• Therefore, to know the absolute temperature at the
thermocouple tip, the temperature where the thermocouple
is connected to the measurement device must also be
known.
• Eg: J-Type thermocouple in a candle flame
• The two thermocouple wires are connected to the copper leads of a data
acquisition device.
• The circuit contains three dissimilar metal junctions: J1, J2, and J3. This results
in a Seebeck voltage between J3 and J2 that is proportional to the
temperature difference between J1, which is sensing the temperature of the
candle flame, and J2 and J3.
• J2 and J3 should be close enough together so that they can be assumed to be
at the same temperature. Because copper wire is connected to both J2 and
J3, there is no additional voltage contributed between the temperature
difference of the J2/J3 junction and the point where the voltage is measured
by the data acquisition device.
• To determine the temperature at J1, you must know the temperatures of
junctions J2 and J3. You can then use the measured voltage and the known
temperature of the J2/J3 junction to infer the temperature at J1.
 Cont…
• In order to make a thermocouple conform to some
precisely defined e.m.f.– temperature characteristic, it is
necessary that all metals used are refined to a high
degree of pureness and all alloys are manufactured to an
exact specification. This makes the materials used
expensive, and consequently thermocouples are typically
only a few centimeters long.
• It is clearly impractical to connect a voltage-measuring
instrument at the open end of the thermocouple to measure
its output in such close proximity to the environment whose
temperature is being measured, and therefore extension
leads up to several meters long are normally connected
between the thermocouple and the measuring instrument.
 Cont…
• Thermocouple Law of Intermediate Metals:
– Inserting any type of wire into a thermocouple circuit has
no influence on the output as long as both ends of that
wire are the same temperature, or isothermal.

a short length of constantan wire is

inserted just before junction J3 and
the junctions are assumed to be held
at identical temperatures.

=
Cont…
 Cold Junction compensation:
– Thermocouples require some form of temperature reference to
compensate for the cold junctions.
– The most common method is to measure the temperature at the
reference junction with a direct-reading temperature sensor then
apply this cold-junction temperature measurement to the voltage
reading to determine the temperature measured by the
thermocouple. This process is called cold-junction compensation
(CJC).
 Reference tables
 Standard thermocouple
reference tables are generated
with the reference junction
held at 0 °C, therefore, to
determine the temperature at
the thermocouple junction:

VMEAS = VTC (TTC – Tref) Eq....2

 Where VMEAS is the voltage measured by the data acquisition device,

and VTC (TTC – Tref) is the Seebeck voltage created by the difference
between TTC (the temperature at the thermocouple junction) and Tref
(the temperature at the reference junction):
Force and pressure Sensors
 FORCE SENSORS

• Force is proportional to displacement.

• Forces are commonly measured by the
measurement of displacement.
• Eg: A spring balance
• The main types of force sensors are
– Mechanical types.
– Hydraulic types.
– Electrical strain gauge load cell.
 MECHANICAL TYPES
• Mechanical types are usually
complete measuring systems
involving some form of spring
such as in a simple spring
balance or bathroom scale. It
is a basic mechanical principle
that the deflection of a spring
is directly proportional to the
applied force so if the
movement is shown on a scale,
the scale represents force.
 HYDRAULIC TYPES
• Hydraulic types are often referred to as hydraulic
load cells. The cell is a capsule filled with liquid.
When the capsule is squeezed, the liquid becomes
pressurized. The pressure represents the force and
may be indicated with a calibrated pressure gauge.
The capsule is often a short cylinder with a piston
and the pressure produced is given by P = F/A
where F is the force and A the piston area.
 STRAIN GAUGE LOAD CELL
• A typical load cell consists of a
metal cylinder with strain gauges
fixed to it. When the cylinder is
stretched or compressed, the strain
gauges convert the force into a
change in resistance and hence
voltage.
• Since temperature change also
produces a resistance change, the
signal conditioning circuit used has
to be able to eliminate the effects
due to temperature.
 Fluid Pressure sensors
• Many of the devices used involve monitoring of
the elastic deformation of diaphragms ,
capsules, bellows and tubes.
• Type of Pressure measurement that are required
are:
– Absolute (measured w.r.t. vacuum)
– Differential(a pressure difference is measured)
– Gauge (measured w.r.t barometer)
• Mechanical movement is produced with the
following elements.
– Bourdon Tube, Spring and Piston, Diaphragm, Bellows and
capsules.
 BOURDON TUBE
• Named after the French engineer and inventor Eugene
Bourdon (1808—1884), which consists of a hollow metal
tube bent like a hook whose end is closed and connected
to a dial indicator needle.
• When the tube is open to the atmosphere, the tube is
undeflected, and the needle on the dial at this state is
calibrated to read zero (gage pressure). When the fluid
inside the tube is pressurized, the tube stretches and
moves the needle in proportion to the pressure applied.
• It can also be connected to a secondary device such as
an air nozzle to control air pressure or to a suitable
transducer to convert it into an electric signal.
• Tube made of stainless steel or phosphor bronze
• Can measure103 to 108 Pa
Cont…
 PISTON TYPE
• The pressure acts directly on the piston
and compresses the spring. The position
of the piston is directly related to the
pressure.
• A window in the outer case allows the
pressure to be indicated. This type is
usually used in hydraulics where the
ability to withstand shock, vibration
and sudden pressure changes is
needed (shock proof gauge).
• The piston movement may be connected
to a secondary device to convert
movement into an electrical signal.
 DIAPHRAGMS
• Deformation of diaphragms gives the pressure difference.
• When there is pressure difference b/n the two sides then
the center of the diaphragm becomes displaced.
• Corrugation in the diaphragm gives greater sensitivity.
• Movement can be sensed by displacement sensor.
• Electrical: 4 strain gauges used, 2 in radial direction,
2 in circumferential direction.
• Mechanical: The movement is transmitted to a pointer
on a dial through a fine mechanical linkage.
 CAPSULES AND BELLOWS
• Capsules can be considered to be just two corrugated
diaphragms combined Give even greater sensitivity.
• A bellows is made of several capsules. These are hollow
flattened structures made from thin metal plate.
• If the bellow is encapsulated inside an outer container,
then the movement is proportional to the difference
between the pressure on the inside and outside.
• Bellows and single capsules are used in many instruments.
They are very useful for measuring small pressures.
• Can measure 103 to 108 Pa
• A bellow can be
combined with a
LVDT to give a
pressure sensor with
an electrical output.
 PIEZO ELECTRIC SENSORS
• Refers to a phenomenon in
which forces applied to a
segment of material(ionic
crystals) lead to the
appearance of electrical
charge on the surfaces of the
segment.
• The source of this phenomenon
is the distribution of electric
charges in the unit cell of a
crystal.
• The strain which is induced by
the force leads to a physical
displacement of the charge in
the unit cell.
• Eg: Quartz, Barium titanate
• Eg: quartz crystal, in which forces applied along the x axis of
the crystal lead to the appearance of positive and negative
charges on opposite sides of the crystal along the z axis .
 Tactile sensors
• Form of pressure sensor
• One form of tactile sensor uses piezoelectric
polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) film.
• Reverse piezoelectric effect used here.
• Used in fingertip of robotic hand.
• Also in touch display screen
• The lower PVDF film has an
alternating voltage applied to it
and this result in mechanical
oscillations of the film.
• The soft film transmits these
vibrations to the upper PVDF film.
• As a consequence of the pizoelectric
effect, these vibrations cause an
alternating voltage to be produced
across the upper film.
• When pressure is applied to the
upper PVDF film its vibrations are
affected and the output alternating
voltage is changed.
 LIQUID FLOW AND LEVEL SENSORS
• Rate of fluid flow
– Mass flow rate(more accurate)
• Coriolis flow meter( for liquids)
• Thermal mass flow measurement( for gases) :The
principle of operation is to direct the flowing material
past a heated element. Then either by measuring the
temperature rise in the flowing fluid or by measuring
the heater power required
– Volume flow rate
• Rate of solid flow
– Mass flow rate
• Conveyor based methods
 Volume flow rate measurement
• Volume flow rate is an appropriate way of
quantifying the flow of all materials that are in a
gaseous, liquid or semi-liquid slurry (where solid
particles are suspended in a liquid host).
• Materials in these forms are carried in pipes, and
various instruments.
• There are many hundreds of types of flow meters
depending on the make and application. The main
types are:
– DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE
– INFERENTIAL
– POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT
 DIFFERENTIAL PRESSURE FLOW METERS
• Involves placing a fixed area flow restriction of some type in the pipe
carrying the fluid.
• Are sometimes known as obstruction-type meters or flow-restriction
meters.
• These are a range of meters that convert flow rate into a differential
pressure.
– ORIFICE PLATE.
– VENTURI METERS
– NOZZLE METERS
– PITOT TUBES
o The working principle for all these is based
on the measurement of the pressure drop
occurring when the fluid flows through a
constriction.
 Rotameters
• The rotameter remains a widely used insertion meter for
flow rate indication.
• As depicted in figure below, the meter consists of a float
within a vertical tube, tapered to an increasing cross
sectional area at its outlet.
• Flow entering through the bottom passes over the float,
which is free to move.
• The basic principle of the device is based on the simple
balance between the weight of the float Fw and both the
buoyancy forces FB acting on the float in the moving fluid
and drag force FD.
• The principle of operation is based on the float indicator
with in glass tube which is labeled.
• The forces acting on the float are buoyant force,
Gravitational force, viscous force and pressure forces.
 INFERENTIAL TYPE METERS

• Usually this is a rotor which is made to spin and the

speed of the rotor is sensed mechanically or
electronically.
• The main types are :
–Turbine meter
–Rotary shunt types
–Helical turbine types
 Turbine meter
• If a turbine wheel is placed in a pipe containing a flowing
fluid, its rotary speed depends on the flow rate of the fluid.
• By reducing bearing friction and other losses to a
minimum, one can design a turbine whose speed varies
linearly with the flow rate.
• Thus a speed measurement allows flow rate measurement.
 Cont…
 In the turbine-wheel body a permanent magnet is
enclosed so that it rotate with the wheel.
 The speed can be measured with great accuracy by
counting the rate at which turbine blades pass a given
point, using a magnetic pick up to produce voltage
pulses.
 By feeding these pulses to an electronic-pulse rate
meter, one can measure the flow rate, and by
accumulating the total number of pulse during a timed
interval, the total flow is obtained.
 POSITIVE DISPLACEMENT TYPES
• These types have a mechanical element that makes
the shaft of the meter rotate once for an exact
known quantity of fluid.
• The quantity of fluid hence depends on the number
of revolutions of the meter shaft and the flow rate
depends upon the speed of rotation.
• Both the revolutions and speed may be measured
with mechanical or electronic devices. Some of the
most common listed below.
• Rotary piston type.
• Vane type.
• Lobe type or meshing rotor.
• Reciprocating piston type
• Fluted spiral gear.
 the lobed or Meshing Rotor flow meter
• The MESHING ROTOR type consists
of two rotors with lobes. When fluid
is forced in, the rotors turn and
operate the indicating system.
• The impeller and case are carefully
machined so that accurate fit is
maintained. In this way, the
incoming fluid is always trapped
between the two rotors and is
conveyed to the outlet as a result of
their rotation.
• The number of revolutions of the
rotors is an indication of the
volumetric flow rate.
 Rotary vane flow meter
• The vanes are spring loaded so that they continuously
maintain contact with the casing of the meter.
• A fixed quantity of fluid is trapped in each section as the
eccentric drum rotates, and this fluid finds its way out
from the exit port.
• The jet of fluid spins around the rotating vane and the
speed of the rotor is measured mechanically or
electronically.
 Fluid level
• The level of liquid in a vessel can be measured directly by
monitoring the position of the liquid surface or indirectly by
measuring some variable related to the height.
• Direct method: floats
• Indirect methods: measurement of the weight by load cells.
• Changes in the height of liquid give weight change.
Floats
• The displacement of the float causes a lever arm to rotate
and so move a slider across potentiometer.
• Other forms of this involve the lever causing the core in LVDT
to become displaced, or stretch or compress a strain-guaged
element.
 Cont…

Differential pressure:
• The differential pressure
cell determines the
pressure difference
between the liquid at the
base of the liquid and
atmospheric pressure.
• A vibration sensor is a device that measures the amount and
frequency of vibration in a given system, machine, or piece of
equipment. Those measurements can be used to detect
imbalances or other issues in the asset and predict future
breakdowns.
• An accelerometer sensor is a tool that measures the
acceleration of any body or object in its instantaneous rest
frame. It is not a coordinate acceleration. Accelerometer
sensors are used in many ways, such as in many electronic
devices, smartphones, and wearable devices, etc
• Gyroscope sensor is a device that can measure and maintain
the orientation and angular velocity of an object. These are
more advanced than accelerometers. These can measure the tilt
and lateral orientation of the object whereas accelerometer
can only measure the linear motion.
Assignment reporting format
1) Executive summary – highlights of the
main report. (1 page)
2) Table of Contents – index page. (1 page)
3) Introduction – origin, essentials of the
main subject. (1 page)
4) Body – main report. (3 page)
5) Conclusion – inferences, measures taken,
projections. (1 page)
6) Reference – sources of information. (1
page)