Muhammad Rizwan

ME-12A
341482

LAB NO. 04
TITLE:
Introduction to LVDT transducer and plot the characteristics curve between water level
(cm) and output reading of LVDT which is in voltage(V).

OBJECTIVES:
 To understand the working of LVDT as the level transducer.
 To plot the characteristics curve between water level (cm) and output reading(which is in
form of voltage quantity) of LVDT.

APPARATUS USED:
1. Liquid-level process module
2. Digital multimeter
3. Set of leads

APPARATUS DESCRIPTION:
Gear Pump:
A gear pump is a type of positive displacement (PD) pump. It moves a fluid by
repeatedly enclosing a fixed volume using interlocking cogs or gears, transferring it mechanically
using a cyclic pumping action. It delivers a smooth pulse-free flow proportional to the rotational
speed of its gears.

Solenoid Value:
Solenoid valve function involves either opening or closing an orifice in a valve
body, which either allows or prevents flow through the valve. A plunger opens or closes the orifice
by raising or lowering within a sleeve tube by energizing the coil. Solenoid valves consist of a coil,
plunger and sleeve assembly.

Gate Value:
It allow the discharge of water. We operate it manually.

Needle Value:
It used for allowing minute flow of water.

No Return value:
It allow flow in one direction and blocks in other direction.

Strainer:
It removes impurity from water.

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341482

Float Switch:
The float switch moves up and down with the liquid level, detecting the amount of
liquid in a tank, it closes the pump when water level reaches a specific level.

Pressure Tank:
It is the tank in which fluid is stored. It is calibrated.

Presssure Switch:
A pressure switch is a simple electromechanical device that is triggered by
pressure to turn an electrical circuit on or off.

Digital Multimeter:
It measures the voltage at different levels in the circuit.

Figure 1: Liquid Level Process Module

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 Muhammad Rizwan
ME-12A
341482

THEORETICAL BACKGROUND:
A LVDT is a sensor that can convert input vibrations or
mechanical motion into variable electric signals. The LVDT acts as a secondary transducer which is
when physical quantities are first converted to displacement by a primary transducer after which
LVDT measures it in terms of corresponding electrical signal.

CONSTRUCTION OF LVDT:
LVDT construction involves mounting a primary winding, P, and
two secondary windings, S1 and S2, on a cylindrical former. The secondary windings have the same
number of turns and are placed identically on either side of the primary winding.

Then, a movable soft iron core is placed inside the cylindrical former. This movable core is usually
made of nickel-iron with hydrogen annealing which helps to reduce harmonics and residual voltage
of the core, consequently increasing LVDT sensitivity. The movable core is also laminated to reduce
eddy current losses. During usage, the unknown displacement is attached to this movable soft iron
core. To complete the setup, the assembled components are placed in a cylindrical steel housing
with end lids to provide electromagnetic and electrostatic shielding.

WORKING PRINCIPLE:
The working principle of LVDT as a displacement transducer is based
on mutual induction. When an AC excitation of 5-15 V at a frequency of 50-400Hz is applied to the
primary winding, P, a magnetic field is produced. This magnetic field induces a mutual current in the
secondary windings, S1 and S2. As a result, the secondary windings have induced voltages of E1 &
E2, respectively. However, both secondary windings are connected in series. Hence, the net output
voltage becomes the difference between the induced voltages in the secondary windings .

LEVEL SENSOR:
A level sensor is designed to monitor, maintain, and measure liquid levels.
Once liquid level is detected, the sensor converts the perceived data into an electric signal. Level
Sensors are of following types:

 Point Level Sensor: They measure the level of the liquid at certain fixed point. The
examples of this type of level sensors are LVDT, RVDT, Optical, and Float Switch.
 Continuous Level Sensor: This type of sensor indicates the continuous level of a product
as it rises and falls. The examples include Ultrasonic Detectors and Radar Based
Detectors.

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 Muhammad Rizwan
ME-12A
341482

PROCEDURE:
The procedure for this experiment is as follow;

 Connect bush No. 1 of the Level Sensor to bush No. 1 of the correspondent interface and
bush No.2 to bush No.2 through leads.

 Insert one terminal of the digital voltmeter (DC) in bush No.5 of the level Interface and the
other one is grounded.

 Connect bush No. 1 of the water pump driver to the bush of SET POINT 1, bush No.11 to
bush No.11 and bush No. 12 to bush No. 12.

 Press the main switch (ON).

 Start the pump regulating the voltage on SET POINT 1 and bring the level of the water in
the PROCESS TANK.

 Once reached the level of the water, stop the pump.

 Gradually decrease the level of the water in the tank by turning the knob NEEDLE VALVE,
and/or the knob DRAIN VALVE.

 Verify that the voltage value, read on the voltmeter, corresponds to output voltage:
otherwise regulate the OFFSET trimmer until you obtain the desired value: in this way you
have fixed the minimum working point of the Level Sensor.

 Starting the pump, increase the level of the water.

 Stop the pump and verify that the voltage value corresponds to 10 V, otherwise regulate
the GAIN trimmer until you obtain the desired value.

 Verify that the voltage and level values are correct by repeating the steps from step No. 7.

 Slowly drain the tank until you reach all the level values shown in table and write down, for
each level value, the corresponding voltage value.

 Put OFF the main switch.

 Remove all the connections.

 Represent the characteristic of the level sensor in the graph.

FIGURE: LEVEL CONTROL TRAINING SYSTEM

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 Muhammad Rizwan
ME-12A
341482

OBSERVATIONS AND CALCULATIONS:

Table 1: Water Level (cm) vs Output Voltage (V) for filling of tank

FILLING OF TANK
S.No Water Level (cm) Output Voltage (V)
1 6 2.9416
2 9 3.368
3 12 7.797

Table 2: Water Level (cm) vs Output Voltage (V) for emptying of tank

EMPTYING OF TANK
S.No Water Level (cm) Output Voltage (v)
1 12 7.76
2 9 5.34
3 6 3.07

GRAPHS:

FILLING OF TANK:

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 Muhammad Rizwan
ME-12A
341482

Filling of Tank
14
12
Water Level(cm)

10
8
6
4
2
0
2.9416 3.368 7.797
Output Voltage(V)

EMPTYING OF TANK:

CONCLUSIONS AND DISCUSSION:

After this lab, we’ve become able to understand the
function and working of LVDT as a level transducer. In this experiment, we measured the water level
and compared it with the output voltage. We observed that there exists almost linear relation
between Water level in tank and the Output Voltage since with increasing the water level, the
output voltage also increases and with the decrease in water level, the output voltage displayed on
the voltmeter also decreases. Also, the values are a little bit change for filling and emptying of tank.
This change is due to a little bit sensitivity error in the instrument. And it can also be due to response
delay in control systems.

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