CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO
MEASUREMENT AND
INSTRUMENTATION
By Tesfaye Meseret
 The word measurement is used to tell us the length, the
weight, the temperature, the colour or a change in one of
these physical entities of a material.
Or
Measurement provides us with means for describing the
various physical and chemical parameters of materials in
quantitative terms.
Two requirements which are to be satisfied to get good result from the
measurement.
The standard must be accurately known and internationally accepted.
The apparatus and experimental procedure adopted for comparison must be
provable
 METHODS OF MEASUREMENT
Direct and,
Indirect

Direct Measurement
The value of the physical parameter is determined by comparing it directly with
different standards.
• Eg: Mass, Length, and Time
Indirect Measurement
The value of the physical parameter is more generally determined by indirect
comparison with the secondary standards through calibration.
• Eg: The measurement is converting into an analogous signal which
subsequently process and fed to the end device to present the result of
measurement.
Con’t
Based upon the complexity of the measurement systems, the
measurement is generally grouped into three categories.
Primary
Secondary
Tertiary
 Primary measurement
The sought value of physical parameter is determined by comparing it
directly with reference standards the required information is obtained to
sense of side and touch.
Example
a) Matching of two lengths is determining the length of an object with ruler.
b) Estimation of the temperature difference between the components of the
container by inserting fingers.
c) Measurement of time by counting a number of strokes of a block.
 Secondary & Tertiary Measurement
The indirect measurements involving one transmission are called secondary
measurements.
And the indirect measurements involving two convergent are called tertiary
measurements.
Examples
a) The convergent of pressure into displacement by means of be allows and
the convergent of force into displacement.
b) Pressure measurement by manometer and the temperature measurement
by mercury in glass tube thermometer.
c) The measurement of static pressure by boundary tube pressure gauge is a
typical example of tertiary measurement.
 Contact and Non-contact Type Of Measurements.
Contact type:
Where the sensing element of measuring device as a contact with medium
whose characteristics are being measured.
Non-contact type:
Where the sense doesn't communicate physically with the medium.
Example:
The optical, radioactive and some of the electrical/electronic measurement
belong to this category.
INSTRUMENTATION
The human senses cannot provide exact quantitative information about the
knowledge of events occurring in our environments.
The firm requirements of precise and accurate measurements in the technological
fields have, led to the development of mechanical aids called instruments.
OBJECTIVES OF INSTRUMENTATION
The major objective of instrumentation is to measure and control the field
parameters to increase safety and efficiency of the process.
 To achieve good quality.
To achieve auto machine and automatic control of process there by reducing
human.
To maintain the operation of the plan within the design exportations and to
achieve good quantity product.
GENERAL MEASUREMENT SYSTEM AND ITS FUNCTI
ONAL ELEMENTS
Measurement systems are traditionally used to measure physical and electrical
quantities, such as mass, temperature, pressure, capacitance and voltage.
However, they can also be designed to locate things or events, such as the
epicenter of an earthquake, employees in a building, partial discharges in a
high voltage power cable, or a land mine.
Often, a measurement system is called upon to discriminate and count objects,
such as red blood cells, or fish of a certain size swimming past a checkpoint.
A measurement system is often made a part of the control system.
The old saying ‘if you can’t measure it, you can’t control it’ is certainly a valid
axiom for both the control engineer as well as the instrumentation engineer.
 Con’t

Note the distinction between a sensor and a transducer—both devices are

sensors, however, transducers have the capability to convert an input signal to
some analog quantity
Con’t
 Note that there are three major sources of noise
in the measurement system shown in Figure
1. Noise sensed along with the QUM (environmental noise)
2. Noise associated with the electronic signal conditioning system (referred
to its input)
3. Equivalent noise generated in the analog to digital conversion process
(quantization noise).
These noise sources generally limit the resolution and accuracy of the
measurement system.
 PLANNING OF EXPERIMENTS
Text Figure below provides a road map to help plan an experimental
program.
Do You Really Need the Experiments?
The following questions will help you dig deeper into your project.
Why perform the experiments?
Can the information you are seeking be found elsewhere (such as literature
journals, books, company reports, etc.)?
Can you do some calculations instead?
Have sufficient time and money been budgeted for the program?
Are you restricted to specific materials or equipment?
Will the safety of the investigators be endangered to such a degree that the
program should not be carried out?
Define the Objectives of the Experiment

Prepare a list of all the things you want to accomplish. Next try to prioritize
your list, keeping in mind the following:
What questions regarding your problem would you most like to answer?
Are you sure you are not losing sight of the overall objectives and other
possible alternative solutions ("can't see the forest for the trees" syndrome)?
How comprehensive does the program need to be? Are you looking at an
exhaustive study or a cursory examination of a narrow set of conditions?
 Choose the Responses You Want to Measure

• There are generally two different types of variables that are considered in an
experimental program. Independent and Dependent
The independent variables make things happen. Changes in the independent variables
cause the system to respond.
The responses are the dependent variables. Changing any one of the independent
variables will change the system response (the dependent variable). As the experimental
program is designed, the important dependent variables to be measured must be
identified.
What are the controlled or independent variables?
What are the dependent variables?
Are instruments or techniques available to make the measurements?
Do they need to be calibrated? If so, have they been?
Will the accuracy and precision of the expected results be sufficient to distinguish
between different theories or possible outcomes?
 Identify the Important Variables
In any experimental program there will always be many, many quantities you
can measure.
However, you must decide which independent variables have the greatest
influence on the dependent variable.
What are the really important measurements to make?
What are the ranges or levels of these variables to be examined?
Instead of changing each independent variable separately, can dimensionless
ratios or groups be formed (i.e., Schmidt or Sherwood numbers) and varied
so as to produce the same end results with fewer measurements?
 Design the Experiment
To obtain the maximum benefit from a series of experiments, they must be
properly designed.
How can the experimental program be designed to achieve the experimental
objectives in the simplest manner with the minimum number of measurements
and the least expense?
A successfully designed experiment is a series of organized trials which enables
one to obtain the most experimental information with the least amount of
effort.
Three important questions to consider when designing experiments are:
What are the types of errors to avoid?
What is the minimum number of experiments that must be performed?
When should we consider repeating experiments?
 Types of Errors
There are two types of errors that should be avoided in experimental design.
A type I error is one in which you declare that a variable has an effect on the
experimental outcome when in fact it really doesn't.
 A type II error occurs when we fail to discover a real effect. A type II error
results in lost information; a variable gets incorrectly classified as insignificant
to the process or ignored and as a result, no further examination of it takes
place.
Type II errors can be avoided by researching fundamental principles related
to the experiments, gathering sufficient information, and planning
thoughtfully.
 The Minimum Number of Experiments

The minimum number of experiments that must be performed is related to

the number of important independent variables that can affect the
experiment and,
 to how precisely we can measure the results of the experiment.
One of the most important strategies to remember is to carry out first
experiments at the extremes (maximum and minimum setting) of the range of
the controlled variables.
 Performing the Experiment: How Many Times?

If there is some error associated with measuring the outcome of an experiment,
we must consider repeating some of the trials to be sure we have accurate
information.
But how much data is enough? The answer to this question depends on how
precise (reproducible) the experiments are and on how small a change in the
outcome or result of an experiment we wish to detect.
Obviously, the less precise the measurements (i.e., the more error that is
present) and the smaller the change we are interested in, the more data we
must collect and average to be confident in our result.
Averaging several runs under the same conditions is the best way to deal with
such a situation to ensure reliable results. The required number of times that
each run should be repeated prior to averaging can easily be calculated using a
statistical procedure which is beyond this topic.
 Con’t
How good are the measurements? What modifications, if any, of the existing
equipment are necessary to improve the accuracy or precision of the
measurements or to better achieve the overall experimental objectives?
Is there software available to perform least-squares analysis, set confidence
limits, or other statistical analyses?
Is there any mathematical model or theory available that suggests how the
data might be plotted or correlated?
What generalizations can be made from the data? Should other experiments be
run to extend the data into different regions?
Has an error analysis been performed, and sources of error listed and discussed
in relation to how they affect the final result (i.e., by what magnitude and in
what direction?).
 Finally, have all experimental objectives been satisfied?
 Report
• Communicate the results of your work with other members of your team. This is usually
done by means of a technical report. Typically, a report will include the following sections:
• 1. Abstract. This one-page summary of the report is usually written last. It defines the
problem, tells how you approached the problem, and states the important results that were
found.
• 2. Introduction. The introduction section defines the problem, tells why it is an important
problem worthy of being studied, gives background information, describes the fundamental
issues, and discusses and analyzes how they relate to published work in the area.
• 3. Materials and methods. This section describes the equipment used to carry out the
experiments, as well as instruments used to analyze the data. The purity of the raw
materials is specified, as are the brand names of each piece of equipment. The accuracy of
each measurement taken is discussed. The step-by-step procedure as to how a typical run is
carried out is presented, and all sources of error are discussed. (If you developed a new
model or theory, a theory section would come after section 3. The theory section would
develop the governing equations that mathematically describe your phenomena and justify
all assumptions in the development.)
 Con’t
• 4. Results. This section tells what you found. Make sure that figures and tables
all have titles and the units of each variable are displayed. Discuss all sources of
error and describe how they would affect your results. Put an error bar on your
data where appropriate.
• 5. Discussion of results. This section tells why the results look the way they do.
Discuss whether they are consistent with theory, either one you developed or
that of others. You should describe where theory and experiment are in good
agreement as well as those conditions where the theory would not apply.
• 6. Conclusion. The conclusion section lists all important information you learned
from this work in numerical order; for example:
• (a) The reaction is insignificant below 0°C.
• (b) The results can be described by the Buckley-Leverette Theory.
• 7. References. List all resource material you referred to in this work in the proper
bibliographical format.
 CALIBRATION
Calibration is a comparison between a known measurement (the standard) and
the measurement using your instrument.
Typically, the accuracy of the standard should be ten times the accuracy of the
measuring device being tested.
However, an accuracy ratio of 3:1 is acceptable by most standards organizations.
Sure Controls provides preventive field service to help you ensure your
instruments and controls are accurately calibrated.
Calibration of your measuring instruments has two objectives:
it checks the accuracy of the instrument and
it determines the traceability of the measurement.
In practice, calibration also includes repair of the device if it is out of calibration.
A report is provided by the calibration expert, which shows the error in
measurements with the measuring device before and after the calibration.
Why calibration is important?

The accuracy of all measuring devices degrade over time. This is typically
caused by normal wear and tear.
However, changes in accuracy can also be caused by electric or mechanical
shock or a hazardous manufacturing environment (e.x., oils, metal chips
etc.).
 Depending on the type of instrument and the environment in which it is
being used, it may degrade very quickly or over a long period of time.
The bottom line is that calibration improves the accuracy of the measuring
device. Accurate measuring devices improve product quality.
 When should you calibrate your measuring device?
A measuring device should be calibrated:
According to the recommendation of the manufacturer.
After any mechanical or electrical shock.
Periodically (annually, quarterly, monthly)

The hidden costs and risks associated with un-calibrated measuring device
could be much higher than the cost of calibration. Therefore, it is
recommended that the measuring instruments are calibrated regularly by a
reputable company to ensure that errors associated with the measurements
are in the acceptable range.
THANK YOU
 Chapter 2
Static and Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments
 Performance characteristics of a measuring instrument
The performance characteristics of an instrument system is conclusion by
how accurately the system measures the required input and how absolutely
it reject the undesirable inputs
The performance characteristics may be broadly divided into two groups,
namely
‘Static’ and
 ‘Dynamic’ characteristics
• Static characteristics
• The performance criteria for the measurement of quantities that
remain constant, or vary only quite slowly.
 Range and span,  Sensitivity,
 Accuracy, error, correction,  Threshold

 Calibration,  Resolution,
 Repeatability,  Drift,

 Reproducibility  Hysteresis, dead

zone
 Precision,  
•Measurement
  Sensitivity
The sensitivity denotes the smallest change in the measured variable to which
the instrument responds.
It is defined as the ratio of the changes in the output of an instrument to a
change in the value of the quantity to be measured

While defining the sensitivity, we assume that the input-output characteristic

of the instrument is approximately linear in that range
EX. if the sensitivity of a thermocouple is denoted as 10 0 μV /oC,it indicates the
sensitivity in the linear range of the thermocouple voltage vs. temperature
characteristics.
 Similarly sensitivity of a spring balance can be expressed as 25 mm/kg,
indicating additional load of 1 kg will cause additional displacement of the
spring by 25mm.
sensitivity of an instrument may also vary with temperature or other external
factors. This is known as sensitivity drift.
Suppose the sensitivity of the spring balance mentioned above is 25 mm/kg at 20
oC and 27 mm/kg at 30 oC. Then the sensitivity drift/oC is 0.2 (mm/kg)/oC.

Note that:-In order to avoid such sensitivity drift, sophisticated instruments are
either kept at controlled temperature, or suitable in-built temperature
compensation schemes are provided inside the instrument.
Range (or span)
It defines the maximum and minimum values of the inputs or the outputs for
which the instrument is recommended to use.
Or to define in the other way, the range or span of an instrument defines the
minimum and maximum values of a quantity that the instrument is designed to
measure.
For example, for a temperature measuring instrument the input range may be
100-500 o C and the output range may be 4-20 mA.
Accuracy:
Accuracy indicates the closeness of the measured value with the actual or
true value, and
is expressed in the form of the maximum error (= measured value – true
value) as a percentage of full scale reading.