Process Instrumentation

Course Coordinator
Mrs. P. D. Khurpade
 Content-Lecture 1
• Introduction to process instrumentation and control
• Examples
• Sensors and transducers
• Functional elements of instrument

Learning outcomes:
At the end of lecture, students should be able to understand
1) Need of instrumentation
2) Types of sensor and transducers
3) Functional elements of instrument
 Introduction
• Instrumentation:
– Technology of using instruments – to measure & control the physical
& chemical properties of material
– Measurement of process variables: temperature, pressure, level, flow ,
density & viscosity etc.
– The basic purpose of instrumentation: in process to obtain requisite
information for successful completion of process
– maximum efficiency with minimum cost and desired product quality
– This information indicates progress of process

• Process Control:
– Monitoring and controlling of process variables
– Control methods works : measurement of process variable, error of
that process variable and action to reduce that error
 Introduction cont..
• Measurement is important parameter for controlling of any
process
• Measurement: means to present an observer with an numerical
value corresponding to the variable being measured.
input output
Process or system Measurement Measured value
being measured True value System of variable
of variable
Electrical or Non electrical
√ Quality measurement

• Types of measurement:
• Direct & indirect measurement:
– Meaning of measurement & purpose of processing operation are
identical or not.
– Modern indirect methods of measurement is to go for electrical
methods
Weighing Machine
 Instrumentation Era

Pneumatic Era Electrical/Electronic Era

Control Signals Control Signals

Air, Gas 3-15 psi Current 4-20mA
Human Body is a good example of Instrument.
 What is sensor?
• The sensor is a physical device that senses a physical quantity and
then converts it into signals (electrical or non electrical) which can
be read by an instrument or the user.
• According to the Instrument Society of America, sensor can be
defined as “A device which provides a usable output in response to
a specified measurand.”

• Advantages of sensors:
• Sensors alarm the system operators about the failure of any of the
sub units of manufacturing system.
• It helps operators to reduce the downtime of complete
manufacturing system by carrying out the preventive measures. 
• Reduces requirement of skilled and experienced labors.
• Ultra-precision in product quality can be achieved.
 Sensors:
Physical Quantity Electrical or non electrical quantity

Examples are:

0
Celcius Thermometer displacement

0
Celcius Bimetallic Strip
Thermometer displacement

Also called as primary transducers

 What is transducer/transmitter?
• Transducers are device which converts an input of one form
of energy into an output of another form of energy.
Nonelectrical quantity Transducer Electrical quantity

• A transmitter is a device that converts signal produced by a

sensor into standardized instrumentation signal such as 3-15
PSI air pressure or 4-20 mA DC electric current , which may
be then conveyed to indicating or controlling device or both.
• The transmitter often combines a sensor and transmitter in a
single piece.
• The transducer is a device that is connected to sensor to
convert the measured quantity into a standard electrical
signal such as 0-10V DC, 1 to +5V DC, 4 to 20mADC etc.
 Transducer:
Non electrical quantity Electrical quantity

Examples are:

displacement Potentiometer Output voltage : e

Also called as Secondary transducers

 Advantages of Electrical measurement

• It can be recorded easily and used for further processing.

• Most of the quantities can be converted by transducers into the
electrical signals.
• The measured signals can be transmitted over long distances
with the help of cables without any loss of information.
• An electrical signal can be measured, amplified, filtered or
sampled.
• Electrical signals can be converted to analog and digital signals.
• Digital signals are required for computer processing.
• Higher sensitivity and speed, low power consumption and
higher degree of reliability : important features
 Classification of Instruments:

Classification
Classification based Classification based on source
on function based on working of power

1) Automatic Instruments
1) Indicating Type 1) Self Operated
2) Manual Instruments 2) Power Operated
2) Recording Type
3) Signaling Type
4) Transmitting Type
5) Manipulating Type
 Functional Elements/Parts of an
Measuring Instrument

Primary Secondary Variable

Measure
Sensing Conversion Manipulation
Medium
Element Element Element

Data Display/ Data Transmission

Observer Element
Presentation Element
 Functional Elements of an Instrument
a)Primary sensing element: of an instrument receives energy from the measured
medium and produces an output depending in someway on the value of the
measured quantity.

b)Variable Conversion element: merely converts the output signal of the primary
sensing element (voltage or displacement) into a more suitable variable or
condition useful to the function of the instrument

c)Variable manipulating element: performs certain operations on conditions

produced by variable conversion element. ex. analog to digital converter
converts voltage into digital form for input to a computer.

d)Data Transmission Element: transmits the data from one element to another, as
simple as shaft and bearing assembly or as complicated as telemetry system

e)Data Presentation Element: performs the translation function such as simple

indication of a pointer moving over a scale, visual display unit, chart recorder.
T Bimetallic x
Potenti mv Op V
Thermome ADC Display
ometer Amp
ter

Smart Sensor /Transducer:

If all these are inferred in single chip
Functional Elements of an Instrument (Cont‘d)

Typical Example: Filled system thermometer

Functional Elements of an Instrument (Cont‘d)

Fluid Temperature
Measured Temperature Tube Tubing
Quantity

Primary Variable Data

Process/ Pressure
Sensing Conversion Transmission
Measured medium Element Element Element

Pressure

Variable Motion Variable Motion Data

Conversion Manipulation Presentation
Element Element Element

Observer
Spiral Linkage & Scale &
Bourdon Gear Pointer
Tube
Filled system thermometer
 Content-Lecture 2
• Types of Transducers
• Signal conditioning element
• Display elements

Learning outcomes:

At the end of lecture, students should be able to recognize

1) Types of transducers
2) Function of signal conditioning element
3) Types of display elements
 Components and Types of Transducer
• A Transducer/Transmitter will have basically two main components.
• They are
– 1. Sensing Element
• The process variable or physical quantity or its rate of change is
sensed by sensor and generate a proportional signal.
– 2. Transduction Element
• The output of the sensing element is passed on to the transduction
element. This element is responsible for converting the non-
electrical signal into its proportional electrical signal for onward
transmission to receiving or controlling device.

• Types of Transducer/ Transmitter

– based on the type of output : Electronic or Pneumatic
• Electronic : analog and digital or smart transmitters
– Based on sensing primary and secondary
– based on power requirements  passive and active 
 Types of Transducer
• Primary Transducer: when the input signal (physical quantity) is
converted to mechanical or electrical signal.
• Bourdon tube acts as a primary transducer senses the pressure
and converts the pressure into displacement. So it is called as
primary transducer.
• Thermistor: change in temperature into change in resistance

• Secondary Transducer: when the input signal (mechanical) is

sensed first by some sensor and then it is converted to electrical
form.
• Potentiometer
• LVDT: the output of bourdon tube given to LVDT. Displacement
converted into voltage by LVDT. So it is called as secondary
transducer.
Primary and Secondary Transducer
 Types of Transducer
• Passive transducer: A component whose output energy is supplied entirely
by its input signal (physical quantity under measurement) is commonly called
a ‘passive transducer’.
• In other words the passive transducers cannot work in absence of external
power.
• Potentiometer Type – The change in resistance of a potentiometer reading
due to the movement of the slider as a part of an external force applied i.e.
pressure or displacement.
• Bonded strain guage

• Active transducers: Active transducers are those which do not require an

external power source to produce their output. They are also known as self
generating type since they produce their own voltage or current output.
• Thermocouple- The voltage change developed across a junction of two
dissimilar metals is known by its corresponding value of temperature, heat or
flow.
•  
 Types of Transducer
• Analog transducer:
• Mostly electronic in nature (output signal: current or voltage)
• These transducers convert the input quantity into an analog output
which is continuous function of time.
• The most common standard for transmitting analog signal: 4-20 mA
• 4 stands for lowest range value and 20 upper range value
• Ex. Strain gauge, Thermistor, Thermocouple

• Digital transducer:
• These transducers convert the input quantity into an digital output
which is discrete function of time.
• These transducer are becoming more popular nowadays: digital signal
can be transmitted over a long distances without causing distortion.
Types of Transducer

Piezoelectric Transducer
 Signal Conditioning Element
• Basic component of all measurement devices
• The success of the design of any measurement system
depends on signal conditioning
• Converts incoming measurements into a form suitable
for display or control devices
• Defines:
• What types of signals the system can accept
• but also what additional features the system has to offer.
– Filtering, amplification, linerization, multiplexing, cold junction
compensation, bridge completion.
 Functions of Signal Conditioning Element
• Filtering: The filtering process blocks unwanted signal
frequencies arising from external noise sources (generators,
motors, power lines, etc.) from transducer signals.

• Amplification: magnitude of output of transducer may be so

small to operate indicator or recording elements
• Amplification increases signal amplitude before digitization
occurs.
• Amplification increases the measurement accuracy of small
signals and reduces the effects of surrounding noise sources.
• Linearization: Often sensors do not have a linear relationship
between their signal value and the physical quantity they are
measuring.
• Ex. A thermocouple's nonlinear temperature-to-voltage relationship
• Linearization maps the relationship between a sensor's signal value
and the physical quantity it is measuring so that an incremental
change in the physical quantity corresponds to a similar incremental
change in the signal.
• It can be implemented in either the hardware or software component
of a system.
• Multiplexing: is a way of sending multiple signals or streams of
information over a communications link at the same time in the
form of a single, complex signal; the receiver recovers the separate
signals, a process called demultiplexing.
• Use of multiplexing techniques allows acquisition of more signals
for less money.
• Bridge completion: This specific type of signal
conditioning is used with strain gauges. If a given strain
gauge is either quarter-bridge or half-bridge
configuration, then the measurement device's signal
conditioning must provide the necessary completion
resistors to make a full Wheatstone bridge.

• Cold-junction compensation: This specific type of

signal conditioning is required by thermocouples. Cold-
junction compensation removes small voltage errors
caused by connecting a thermocouple using terminal
blocks made of different metals than the T/C itself. It
does this by reading the ambient temperature at the point
where the thermocouple connects to the system.
 Electrical Characteristics and Basic Signal
Conditioning Requirements of Common Transducers
Sensor Electrical characteristics Requirements

Reference temperature
Low-voltage output Low sensitivity sensor (cold-junction
Thermocouple
Nonlinear output compensation) High
amplification Linearization

Current excitation 4-wire/3-

RTD Low resistance (100 ohm) wire configuration
Linearization

Voltage or current excitation

Strain gauge Low-resistance device Low sensitivity Bridge completion
Nonlinear output
Linearization

Current excitation or voltage

Thermistor Resistive device High resistance and excitation with reference
sensitivity Very nonlinear output
resistor Linearization
 A to D Converters
• It is a system that converts an analog output (Continuous)
of transducer into a digital form (discrete) which is further
processed by digital computer.
• An electronic device that converts an input analog voltage
 or current to a digital number representing the magnitude
of the voltage or current.
• Typically the digital output is a binary number that is
proportional to the input.
• Such 0 and 1, ON and OFF, True and False
• A binary symbol is called bit and group of bit is called byte
 Signal Types
Analog Signals Digital Signals
• Any continuous signal that a time • Consist of only two
varying variable of the signal is a
states
representation of some other time
varying quantity – Binary States
– Measures one quantity in terms – On and off
of some other quantity • Computers can only
– Has an infinite number of instances of time. perform processing on
– Has an infinite number of different voltages
within the range (0 – Vmax). digitized signals

0
 Why ADC Needed
• Microprocessors can only perform complex
processing on digitized signals.

• When signals are in digital form they are less

susceptible to the deleterious effects of additive noise.

• ADC Provides a link between the analog world of

transducers and the digital world of signal processing
and data handling.
 Application of ADC
• ADC are used virtually everywhere where an analog
signal has to be processed, stored, or transported in
digital form.

• Some examples of ADC usage are digital volt meters,

cell phone, thermocouples, and digital oscilloscope.

• Microcontrollers commonly use 8, 10, 12, or 16 bit

ADCs, our micro controller uses an 8 or 10 bit ADC.
 ADC Process
• Two steps
– Sampling and holding (S/H)
– Quantizing and Encoding (Q/E)
 Time Domain Sampling
• Analog signal is sampled at discrete points in time
(Domain Quantization)
• For example: the signal may be sampled at each second:
 Voltage Quantization
• Analog voltage sampled at discrete time t is rounded off
to nearest discrete voltage value.
• For example, the signal may be rounded off to one of 8
discrete levels:
 Digital Representation
• Each Level Is Assigned A Digital Code, And The Signal is
represented as a sequence of digital codes.
• Can store the sequence of digital samples in memory for
future processing.
• For example, for a 3-bit converter:
• 101, 111, 111, 111, 101, 011, 010, 010, 011, 100, 100, 100,
011, 010, 010
 Precision
• The analog voltage range may be split into a power-of-2
different levels, and a digital code is assigned to each level.
• The greater is the number of bits, the greater is the precision
of the ADC
 Types of A/D Converters
• Dual Slope A/D Converter
• Successive Approximation A/D Converter
• Flash A/D Converter
• Delta-Sigma A/D Converter
• Other
– Voltage-to-frequency, staircase ramp or single slope,
charge balancing or redistribution, switched capacitor.
Indicating, Recording And Display Elements

• The final stage in a measurement system

• Gives an indication of the input being measured
• These elements may also be of analog or digital type,
depending on whether the indication or recording is in a
continuous or discrete manner
• Conventional voltmeters and ammeters are the simplest
examples of analog indicating instruments
• Working principle: when a current to be measured is
passed through a coil placed in magnetic field , the coil
rotates and pointer attached to it indicates the magnitude
of current.
• LEDs have high power consumption, which makes them only suitable
for small-scale character displays; they are not used in graphic displays.
• CRTs are used for character and graphics displays, monochrome and
colour, but have the disadvantage of high operating voltages and are
high-volume bulky devices.

• LCDs are used for both character and graphics displays. LCD character
displays, usually monochrome, have much lower power consumption
than equivalent LED displays. LCD graphics displays, monochrome and
colour, are flat screen panels and have lower operating voltages and
power consumption than equivalent CRT devices.

• Electroluminescent displays are also flat screen and are used for both
character and graphics monochrome displays. They have higher
operating voltages and power consumption than equivalent LCD devices
but greater contrast ratio and viewing angle.
 Digital voltmeters (DVMs)

• Convert analog signals to digital signals.

Input voltage Ei is compared with standard voltage Er

When Ei=Er , Galvanometer shows null deflection

Er
Ei

When Ei≠Er , contactor adjusted so that

Galvanometer shows null deflection.

Position of contactor gives the indication of unknown voltage Ei

 Digital Display Elements
• Display Elements: output of digital systems in
visual form
1. Alpha numeric display
2. Light emitting diodes
3. Liquid crystal display
 Alpha numeric display
• used to display alphabets A to Z and numbers
0 to 9.
– either upper or lower case format, and a few
other symbols such as punctuation marks.
• Two types of Character formats for displays:
– Seven-segment character format
– 7 . 5 dot-matrix character format.
Fig. a: Seven segments a to g arranged in a figure
of-
eight configuration and the corresponding
character set.
This is limited to the ten
Numerals and nine upper case letters.

Fig. b: The 7 . 5 dot-matrix format enables : 192 characters-includes all the numerals,
upper and lower case letters together with Greek letters and other symbols.
• Each character format is an array of segments or dots; these
elements are referred to as pixels. To display a character each pixel
must be separately switched ‘on’ and ‘off’ independently of the
other pixels.
• When a pixel is switched on, either it is a source emitting light or it
is modulating light from other sources.
• When a pixel is switched off it is either not emitting light or not
modulating light.
• As an example, suppose we wish to display the numerals 0 to 9
using the seven-segment format (Each of the pixels abcdefg can be
switched individually on or off using a seven-digit parallel binary
code where a ‘1’ corresponds to ‘on’ and a ‘0’ to ‘off’.
• The seven-segment codes are corresponding to the numerals 0 to 9.
• A seven segment decoder is used to convert the input parallel
digital signal, usually in binary coded decimal (b.c.d.) or ASCII
format, into seven-segment code.
Display of
Numerals using
Seven Segment
format
 Light Emitting Diode
• Light emitting diodes: p-n junction
semiconductor device
• It emits monochromatic (electromagnetic)
radiations (single color light) (over a certain band
of wavelength) when operated in forward biased
• LED converts electrical energy into light energy

• When sufficient energy is applied to leads of LED,

electrons have sufficient energy move from n
region to p region

• Each time electron combines with positive

charge, electric potential energy converted to
electromagnetic energy in the form of photon of
light depends on the semiconductor material
which is used in the diode.
 Materials used for LED
• Two commonly used LED materials are gallium arsenide
phosphide (GaAsP), which emits red light, and gallium
phosphide (GaP), which emits green or yellow light.
• The light emitted by a GaAsP (red) diode is distributed over
a narrow band of wavelengths centred on 0.655 μm.
• GaP (green) diode is distributed over a narrow band of
wavelengths centred on 0.560 μm.
• The response of LEDs to changes is extremely fast; turn-on
and turn-off times of 10 ns are typical.
• When used as a display pixel the diode should be switched
‘on’ by a logic signal in the ‘1’ state, and switched ‘off’
when the signal is in the ‘0’ state.
• Figure shows a simple circuit for achieving this, using a
series resistor R of 140 Ω.
• For a ‘1’ input, VS ≈ 5 V, iF = (5 − 2.2)/140 = 20 mA and the
diode is ‘on’.
• For a ‘0’ input, VS ≈ 0 V, iF is negligible and the diode is ‘off
’.
 Seven-segment LED display
• A seven-segment LED display device consists of eight individuals
LEDs, one for each segment and one for the decimal point.
• There are two possible methods of interconnection, common
anode or common cathode.
• Using the above data, the power consumption of an individual
pixel is 2.2 X 20 X 10−3 W, i.e. 44 mW; the total power
consumption of the seven-segment display is therefore around 320
mW.
• This high power consumption means that LEDs are only suitable for
character displays and are unsuitable for graphics displays.

7 segment numeric LED display

 Graphic displays
• Graphic displays are used to show line diagrams, graphs,
waveforms, bar charts, etc.
• consist of a large number of pixels arranged in rows (along
the y-axis) and columns (along the x-axis).

• A typical graphic display consists of 320 . 240, i.e. 76 800,

pixels each of area 0.33 mm . 0.33 mm, giving a total
viewing area of 120 mm . 92 mm.

• To make electrical contact with each individual pixel would

require 76 800 electrical connections occupying an area of
a few square meters!
 Cathode ray tube (CRT) displays
• Cathode ray tubes are used to create large-scale displays.
• These devices are often referred to as monitors.
• A visual display unit (VDU) is a combination of a CRT display and
a keyboard.
• Basic CRT: electrons are emitted at the cathode and accelerated
towards the anode.
• A third electrode, called a grid or modulator, is placed between
cathode and anode: by altering the potential of the modulator
the number of electrons in the beam, i.e. the beam current, can
be adjusted.
• The beam then passes through a focusing system followed by X
and Y deflection systems: the focusing and deflection systems
can be electromagnetic (EM), or electrostatic (ES) as shown in
the diagram.
• The electron beam is brought to a focus on the inside surface
of the screen, which is coated with a large number of
phosphor dots. These dots form the pixels.
• Phosphors are semiconductor materials which emit visible
radiation in response to the impact of electrons: a spot of
light therefore appears on the screen.
• A colour display produces images containing a wide range of colours.
• The screen of a colour CRT is coated with dots of three different types
of phosphor: one type of phosphor emits red light, the second green
light, the third blue light.
• Dots of each type are arranged in equilateral triangles called triads.
• The monitor has three electron guns, one for each type of phosphor.
The corresponding electron beams are deflected horizontally and
vertically to produce a raster display as in a monochrome monitor.
• As the beams traverse the screens, the intensity of each beam is
varied according to the voltage applied to the corresponding
modulator electrode.
• This creates varying color intensities at the triads and color images on
the screen.
• The above colour display system can be used to create graphic
displays.
• In a fixed format alphanumeric display characters occupy fixed
positions in a display and each character is built up using a fixed 7 . 5
or 9 . 7 dot-matrix format.
• In a graphic display the screen contains a full matrix of pixels, each of
which can be turned on or off to produce graphical images or
pictures, alphanumeric characters at any position on the screen or a
combination of both.
• Figure shows, in black-andwhite, a colour line diagram of part of a
chemical plant; alphanumeric data such as descriptions of process
variables and their measured values can be displayed at any
appropriate point on the diagram.
• CRT displays have the disadvantage that they are not ‘flat screen’
technology and occupy more volume than comparable liquid crystal
displays. They have much higher operating voltages (around 16 kV)
than LCDs (around 15 V); power consumption is also higher in CRT
than in LCD displays.
 Liquid crystal display
• Made from organic substance which flow like liquid and
have crystal like characteristics.
• Liquid crystal displays (LCDs) do not emit light but use light
incident on them
• In liquid crystals individual molecules have a rod-like
shape.
• As the orientation of the molecules changes so there is a
corresponding rotation of the plane of polarization of the
incident light.
• An applied electric field can alter both the orientation of
the molecules and the plane of polarization of the light,
thus creating light and dark areas.
• The LC material is in contact with a pair of conducting
electrodes which are transparent to light; a voltage is
applied across these to create an electric field.
• There are glass plates above and below the electrodes.
• An x polarising filter is situated above the upper glass
plate; this transmits only x polarised light.
• Similarly a y polarising filter below the lower glass plate
transmits only y polarised light.
• Figure 11.10(a) shows the situation when the applied voltage V =
0. The molecules near the top of the LC are lined up along the x-
direction. Moving downwards through the liquid, their
orientation gradually changes so that the molecules at the
bottom are lined up along the y-direction.
• The light entering the liquid is x polarised; as it moves
downwards the direction of polarisation rotates so that the light
is y polarised on leaving the liquid.
• The light is therefore able to pass through the y polarising filter
and is reflected back to the observer, the surface appearing pale
grey or green.
• Figure 11.10(b) shows the situation when the applied voltage V
is non-zero. In this case the molecules remain aligned along the x
direction throughout the liquid crystal: this means that the light
remains x polarised as it moves downwards. The light cannot
therefore pass through the lower y polarising filter and is
absorbed; the surface appears black to an observer.
 Recording instruments

• Recording instruments

Analog Recorders Digital Recorders

•Galvanometric type •Digital Printers

•Potentiometric type •Punched Cards
•Magnetic tape type •Paper Tape
•Bar Codes