General Principles of Measurement Systems

• Introduction to Measurement Systems

• Functional Elements
• Classification of Instruments
• Performance Characteristic of Instruments
• Error Analysis

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 1
 Introduction to Measurement Systems
• Measurement: means quantification of a parameter.
• Measuring Instrument: is a device that determines the value of a
quantity or condition.
• An instrument converts a physical or chemical condition (e.g.
Heat, pressure, light etc. ) to a signal that can be measured or
interpreted.

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 2
 Purpose of Measurement
“when you can measure what you are speaking about and express it
in numbers, you know something about it, but when you cannot
express it in numbers, your knowledge about it is of a meagre and
an unsatisfactory kind” Lord Kelvin
• The fundamental purpose of measuring in an industrial setting is
to obtain a numerical value corresponding to the variable being
measured to improve on the;
• Quality of a product
• Efficiency of production (process operations should be
profitable, safe for human, environment and equipment)

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides
 Purpose of Measurement
• The important measurements which must be made on a
processing plant are those of;
• Temperature
• Pressure
• Composition
• Quantities of matter ( often determined as mass or
volumetric flowrates)
• Liquid level

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 4
 Measurement Applications
Application of any measurement can be usually be put into one of
these categories;
• Monitoring of Processes and Operations
• These instruments simply measures and display their
measured values or condition e.g. Thermometers, barometers
simply indicates weather condition.
• Control of Processes and Operations
• Experimental Engineering Analysis
• Test the validity of predictions from theories
• Develop models from raw data collected using instruments
• Characterisation of materials, devices etc.
General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 5
 Types of Measurements

• Direct Measurement
• Indirect Measurement

TASK:
Find out how many Direct measurement is

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General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 6
 Functions of an Instrument

When an instrument measures the value of a parameter or

condition the following functions are performed by the
instrument (in any combination);
• Transmitting
• Signaling
• Registering
• Indicating
• Recording

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 7
 Functional Elements
• Functional Element is a very useful concept to describe the
operation of an instrument in a generalised way.
• Instruments consist of serval elements, these elements
perform specified functions in converting a quantity or
condition into a corresponding indication (measured
value).
• Instruments can be broken down to an unlimited number of
functional elements.
• How do we breakdown an instrument into its building
block or functional elements?
General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 8
 Functional Elements Cont’d

Sensing Element: Interacts with the process, produces an input

related to the process variable being measured.

Signal Conditioning Element: Converts the output signal of the

sensing element to a more suitable form for further processing.

Signal Processing Element: Converts the output of the signal

conditioning element to a form more suitable for presentation e.g.
Analog to Digital
General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 9
 Functional Elements Cont’d
Data Presentation Element: Presents the measured quantity to
the observer in a recognisable form e.g. Pointer and Scale, Visual
Display Unit

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 10
 Functional Elements Cont’d
Example: A Pressure Thermometer

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 11
 Functional Elements Cont’d

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 12
 Classification of Instruments
• Classification on the Basis of Energy Consideration
• Passive
• Active

• Classification on the Basis of Contacting or Non

Contacting
• Contacting
• Non Contacting

• Classification on the Basis of Analog and Digital mode of

Operation
• Analog
• Digital

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 13
 Performance Characteristics of Instruments
Performance Characteristics: are quantitative bases for comparing the
performance of an instrument with possible alternatives.

• Two classes of characteristics are used to evaluate instruments:

• Static Characteristics
• Dynamic Characteristics

• Static Characteristics
▪ Attributes associated with static measurements
▪ Set of criteria that are used when we measure a quantity,
parameter or condition that is constant or changes slowly with
time (Steady State Situations).

• Dynamic Characteristics
▪ Attributes associated with dynamic measurements
▪ Set of criteria that are used when we measure a quantity,
parameter or condition that rapidly varies or changes with time.
General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 14
 Static Characteristics
Desirable Characteristics Undesirable Characteristics

• Accuracy • Static Error

• Sensitivity • Dead Zone
• Precision • Drift
Accuracy; describes how close a measurement of a quantity,
parameter or condition of a process variable approaches the true
value of the process variable.

Static Error; is the difference between the measured value and the
true value of the process variable (under static condition).

Precision; is the ability of an instrument to reproduce a set of

readings within a given accuracy of a process variable.

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 15
 Static Characteristics

Drift; is the change in the indicated reading of an

instrument over time when the value of the measuring
quantity remains constant.

Sensitivity; is the ratio of change in the output (response)

of an instrument to a change of its input.

Dead Zone; largest range of values of a measured variable

to which the instrument does not respond.

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 16
 Dynamic Characteristics
Desirable Characteristics Undesirable Characteristics
• Speed of Response • Lag
• Fidelity • Dynamic Error

Speed of Response; Is the rapidity with which an instrument

responds to changes in the measuring medium.

Lag; Is the delay in response

Fidelity; Is the degree to which an instrument indicates the

changes in measured variable without the dynamic error (faithful
reproduction)

Dynamic Error; True value minus value indicated by the

instrument

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 17
 Error Analysis of Instruments
Error – is a measure of deviation of the observed, measure or
calculated value from the true value.

Types of Errors
• Gross Error

• Systematic or Determinate Error

• Random or Indeterminate Error

Gross Error
▪ Caused by human mistakes; wrong reading or wrong using of
instruments

▪ Cannot be eliminated completely but can be minimized by taking

proper care and appropriate usage of instruments

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 18
 Types of Errors
Systematic or Determinate Error
▪ It affects all the readings in a particular fashion

▪ This is caused due to shortcomings of the instrument (such as

defective or worn parts and improper design of the instrument
etc.)

▪ When determined this error can be corrected by careful

calibration of the instrument

▪ May be of a constant or proportional nature

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 19
 Types of Errors
o Instrumental error - is inherent with measuring instrument
because of their mechanical structure (bearing friction,
irregular spring tension, stretching of spring etc.)

o Environmental error - is due to external condition affecting

the measurements such as change in temperature, humidity,
pressure etc.

o Observational error – is the error introduced by the observer

most common; parallax error and estimation error while
reading the measurement

• Random or Indeterminate Error

▪ Causes one measurement to differ slightly from the next

▪ Cannot be determined (no control over) due to unknown causes

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 20
 Basic Statistics
• Average
• A number expressing the central or typical value in a set of data, in
particular the mode, median, or (most commonly) the mean, which is
calculated by dividing the sum of the values in the set by their number.

• Deviation
• Is the difference between a particular value and its mean

• Variance or Mean Squared Deviation

• Measures how far each number in the set is from the mean and thus from
every other number in the set.

• Simple Standard Deviation

• Is a measure of how spread out a set of numbers are.

General Principles of Measurement Systems E. Abotar (2021) Process Instrumentation Lecture Slides 21