Process Control

Process: Sequence of operations, within an industrial or manufacturing environment, that transforms

inputs into outputs, and which is monitored and regulated to achieve a desired outcome or maintain
specific parameters, is called process.

Examples of processes include:

 Change of energy state, such as from hot to cold, or liquid to gas, distillation of water

 Change of composition, as occurs in a chemical reaction or in mixing

 Change of dimension, as in breaking coal

 Change in level, as in reservoir or tank filling

 Change in media velocity, as in a reservoir feed pipe

 Holding a pressure level, as in a water distribution network

Control: To maintain desired conditions in a physical system by adjusting selected variables in the
system.

Process control is a branch of automatic control that is used to maintain process conditions at their
desired values by manipulating certain process variables to adjust the variables of interest.

Note: Process automation involves using computer technology and software engineering to help e.g.
power plants and factories in industries as diverse as paper, mining and cement to operate more
e iciently and safely

What are the objectives of process control?

A control system is required to perform either one or both task:

(1) Safety

(2) Environmental protection

(3) Equipment protection

(4) Smooth operation

(5) Product quality

(6) Profit

(7) Monitoring and diagnosis

Process control is the automatic control of an output variable by sensing the amplitude of the output
parameter from the process and comparing it to the desired or set level and feeding an error signal back
to control an input variable

The temperature control system of a mixer pre-heater

Thermocouple Sensor, TC, measures the exit stream temperature, TC. The TC output is electronically
conditioned in the Temperature Transmitter, TT, to 4–20 mA DC current signal and transmitted as the
measured variable, TM, to the Temperature Indicator Controller, TIC. Such a Controller, beside its control
capability has the facility of displaying the Measured Variable, TM, and Set value, TR. Error is found as, e =
TR – TM, and the Controller Output, CO, is produced as a function of error. The low energy output from the
Controller is amplified through the FCE (which may be a Thyristor type power regulator) that changes the
power mains current to the resistance heater in the tank.

Generalized Process Control System

1. Process Variable

A process variable is a condition of the process that can change the process in some way. This variable
shows the e ect of the surroundings on the process. It normally refers to those factors that influence the
process. An example of this would be the flow rate of the steam through a heat exchanger that would
change the amount of energy put into the process. There are e ects of the surrounding that are
controllable and some that are not. These are broken down into two types of inputs.

Measured Variable: The measured variable is the condition of the process that is being measured by the
sensor and must be kept at the designated setpoint. In the temperature control loop example, the
measured variable is temperature, which must be held close to the set point value. In this example and in
most instances, the measured variable is also the process variable.

The measured variable is the electronic or pneumatic representation of the value of the controlled
variable.

The measured variable typically comes from a transmitter, which measures the controlled variable and
produces an output representative of it.

Manipulated variable: The manipulated variable is the parameter that is adjusted to bring the process
back to the desired setpoint. This is the variable that the controller can adjust or change to influence the
process variable.

The manipulated variable in this case is power regulation to keep the temperature at the desired value.
Manipulated variable is indicated with the letter “m.”

The factor that is changed to keep the measured variable at setpoint is called the manipulated variable.

Setpoint – The measured variable is sent to the controller in the loop, where it is compared to a desired
value called the setpoint. The setpoint and the measured variable are compared in order to produce an
error signal.
Controlled Variable –This is the process variable that the control system aims to maintain at a desired
value, also known as the setpoint.

The control system continuously compares the measured value of the controlled variable to the setpoint
and adjusts the manipulated variable to minimize the di erence (error).

The controlled variable is a process parameter being controlled. In the example here, temperature is the
controlled variable.

ERROR Error is the di erence between the measured variable and the setpoint and can be either positive
or negative.

The objective of any control scheme is to minimize or eliminate error. Therefore, it is imperative that error
be well understood. Any error can be seen as having three major components. These three components
are shown in the figure on the folowing page

Types of control loops

a) Feedback control loop:

If either the output or some part of the output is returned to the input side and utilized as part of the
system input, then it is known as feedback. Feedback plays an important role in order to improve the
performance of the control systems. In a feedback control system, information about performance is
measured and that information is used to correct how the system performs.

In the below example, the tank level is maintained at a set point (hsp). The level transmitter (LT) measures
the level of the liquid. Then the measured value is sent to level controller (LC). The LC compare measure
level with the set point value (hsp). Then it generates error signal. This error is feedback to the input of the
system to control the valve position to control the input flow rate.

There are two types of feedback control loops:

a. Closed loop feedback control system: in this type the controller automatically acts to return the
controlled variable to its desired value.

b. Open loop feedback control system: the measurement signal disconnected from the controller, and
the controller output would have to be manually adjusted to change the value of the controlled variable.

Negative and positive feedback control systems

There are two main types of feedback control systems: negative feedback and positive feedback.
In a negative feedback control the set point and output values are subtracted (error signal is computed
from the di erence between the set point and the measured signal)

As a rule negative feedback systems are more stable than positive feedback systems

In a positive feedback control system the set point and output values are added

Advantages of feedback control system

1. Corrective action occurs as soon as the controlled variable deviates from the set point, regardless of
the source and type of disturbance. (counts for all disturbances)

2. Feedback control requires minimal knowledge about the process to be controlled; it particular, a
mathematical model of the process is not required, although it can be very useful for control system
design. (Easy to control)

• Rejection of disturbances

• The system sensitivity will be very less to the plant uncertainties

• The steady-state error reduction of the system is increased

• The transient response can be easily controlled

• System stability is improved

• The overall system gain is improved

• High bandwidth

• The e ect of variation of the system parameters are reduced

• There is no need to know what disturbance will a ect the process

• The relation between the process and the final control element is not a problem

 Disadvantages of feedback control system

 No corrective action is taken until after a deviation in the controlled variable occurs. Thus,
perfect control, where the controlled variable does not deviate from the set point during
disturbance or set-point changes, is theoretically impossible. (Allow error propagation)

 2. Feedback control does not provide predictive control action to compensate for the e ects of
known or measurable disturbances. (source of error is not defined)

 If the system is not designed properly then there is a possibility for instability
 The feedback inherently couples di erent art of a system

 The whole feedback process with control system could be complex

 The feedback control won’t take any action till there is a change in the controlled variable

 The feedback control won’t be able to do the predictive control action in order to compensate
for the e ects of known or measurable disturbances.

 In certain cases, the controlled variable can’t be measured online

 The feedback system can’t handle large time constant or long time delays, in case if there is a
large and frequent disturbance then the process would operate continuously at a transient state
and it would never achieve the desired state

 b) Feed forward control system

 The basic concept of feedforward control is to measure important disturbance variables and
take corrective action before they upset the process. (Does not allow error propagation).

 The feed-forward control can anticipate the e ect of disturbances that could a ect the process,
this type of control would sense and compensate these problems before it a ects the process.

 This type of control has the limitation that it can’t completely compensate for the disturbance
because of the variation and imperfection of the mathematical model and also because of the
imperfections in the control action. So basically a feedforward control would measure the
important disturbance variables and they would take proper actions before it a ects the
process. In order to prevent the disturbance in a system before it happens, this system would
require to know the plant behavior or the plant model. So if the feedforward system gets a proper
plant model then it can prevent the errors before it a ects the process.

 The following scheme is a simple presentation of a feedforward control:

What are the advantages of the feedforward control?

1. It would take proper action in case there is any chance of deviation in the controlled variable so it
would act before the error a ects the process

2. It can act quickly according to the process model

Feedforward control has several disadvantages:

1. The disturbance variables must be measured on-line. In many applications, this is not feasible.
(Di icult to control)

2. To make e ective use of feedforward control, at least a process model should be available. In
particular, we need to know how the controlled variable responds to changes in both the disturbance
and manipulated variables. The quality of feedforward control depends on the accuracy of the
process model.

3. Ideal feedforward controllers that are theoretically capable of achieving perfect control may not be
physically realizable. Fortunately, practical approximations of these ideal controllers often provide
very e ective control.

What is the di erence between feedback and feedforward control?

The major objective of the feedback system is to reduce error when it happens

In the feedforward control it would control or reduce the transient response

The feedback control can compensate for any disturbances that a ect the control variable

In the case of feedforward control, it would compensate the disturbance before it a ects the control
variable

The feedback control won’t do anything until there is a deviation in the controller variable, while the
feedforward control does take preventive actions.

The feedforward control takes predictive control action while the feedback control doesn’t

A feedforward control system has a feedback structure, while the feedback control system doesn’t
have a feedforward structure

The major advantage of the feedback over the feedforward is that the feedback control can detect all
the disturbances while the feedforward control can’t do this.

The feedforward control can’t be used for adaptable, non-linear, or time varied systems but there is
no such problem for the feedback control.

The feedback control only requires minimal knowledge of the process that is to be controlled but the
feedforward would need maximum details about the process.

c) Cascade control

Cascade controllers means to connect the output signal of one controller to the setpoint of another
controller, with each controller sensing a di erent aspect of the same process. The first controller
(called the primary, or archaically, master) essentially “gives orders” to the second controller (called
the secondary or archaically, slave) via a remote setpoint signal.

Thus, a cascade control system consists of two feedback control loops, one nested inside the other:

Cascade control is used to improve control system performance over single-loop control.

In this type of control system at least two control loops are used with two controllers.

One controller is the master controller which monitors the controlled variable.

The other controller is the secondary or slave controller which monitor the disturbances.

The set point of the master controller is the desired value of the controlled variable and the set point
of the secondary (slave) controller is the output signal from the master controller.

In a cascade control arrangement, there are two (or more) controllers of which one controller’s
output drives the set point of another controller. For example: a level controller driving the set point of
a flow controller to keep the level at its set point. The flow controller, in turn, drives a control valve to
match the flow with the set point the level controller is requesting.

When Should Cascade Control be Used?

Cascade control should always be used if you have a process with relatively slow dynamics (like
level, temperature, composition, humidity) and a liquid or gas flow, or some other relatively-fast
process, has to be manipulated to control the slow process. For example: changing cooling water
flow rate to control condenser pressure (vacuum), or changing steam flow rate to control heat
exchanger outlet temperature. In both cases, flow control loops should be used as inner loops in
cascade arrangements.

Does Cascade Control Have any Disadvantages?

Cascade control has three disadvantages. One, it requires an additional measurement (usually flow
rate) to work.

Two, there is an additional controller that has to be tuned. And three, the control strategy is more
complex – for engineers and operators alike. These disadvantages have to be weighed up against the
benefits of the expected improvement in control to decide if cascade control should be
implemented.

d) Ratio control

Ratio control is a special type of feedforward control that has had widespread application in the
process industries. The objective is to maintain the ratio of two process variables as a specified
value. The two variables are usually flow rates, a manipulated variable u, and a disturbance variable
d. Thus, the ratio R is controlled rather than the individual variables.

𝑅=𝑢/𝑑, here u and d are the physical variables.

Typical application examples of ratio control include:

• Setting the relative amounts of components in blending operations

• Maintaining a stoichiometric ratio of reactants to a reactor

• Keeping a specified reflux ratio for a distillation column

• Holding the fuel-air ratio to a furnace at the optimum value

• Ratio control of feed flow to the column and steam to the re-boiler of a distillation column.

• Ratio control of added chemicals to waste water in water treatment and pollution control
applications.
SYMBOLS

 FT, Flow transmitters.

 PV, Process variables.

 SV, Set variables.

 RC, Ratio controller.

 CV, Control valve.

 Ratio controls are used where we have to control one physical quantity with the ratio of two
di erent physical quantity as shown in figure.

Adaptive control system

Adaptive Control is a control technique used for systems with uncertain or time-varying parameters,
where the controller modifies itself in real-time to ensure desired behavior.

Adaptive control is capable to adapt itself changing control parameters, keeping a good control along
the process.

Adaptive control relates to a control procedure and is used by a controller that must adapt to a
controlled system with deviating or uncertain parameters.

An adaptive control system detects the changes in the performance of the process and automatically
regulates the controlling parameters. This is required to compensate for the changing process
conditions. At last, its job is to optimize the loop response.

For example, as an aircraft flies, its mass will slowly decrease as a result of fuel consumption; a
control law is needed that adaptsitself to such changing conditions.

This control is a special type of non-linear control, and the process can be separated into two-time
scales: fast time (feedback loop) and slow-time (variation of the control parameters, which a ects
the automatisms).
Override control system

There could be several dangerous situations in an industrial process plant, because of the
unpredictable process conditions which could destruct the operations of the process. During this
condition, the normal process must be stopped and maintenance must be started to change the
unacceptable situation. In order to do this, we can use a single-purpose switch that would take
instructions from a certain controller to vary the final control element in a way that the dangerous
situations can be changed. In this type of control, there could be two or more loops and one of the
controllers would control the output so that the more important loop can vary or manipulate the
output.

Override control is a method which employs two or more controllers in a process, for manipulating a
single variable. In normal conditions, the variable will be controlled according to the
various controllers.

But, in case of an emergency, all these controllers will be bypassed and a critical controller will bring
the system to normalcy. Once normal, the critical controller will go out of the picture and the
remaining controllers will come into process again.
So, override control means various processes are bypassing each other according to the situation.
For this, the engineer must define priorities, instrument performance, and logic accordingly.

What is the need for an override control?

This is a protective control strategy to maintain the process variables within the limits and it should
be enforced to ensure the safety of the process, equipment, personnel, and also the quality of the
product. In many processes, there could be several manipulative variables and also many output
variables. Override control is a type of selective control where the manipulative variable would be
controlled by one output at a time.

What is an Actuator?
· An actuator is a component of a machine that is responsible for moving and controlling a
mechanism or system, for example by opening a valve.

In simple terms, it is a "mover".

· An actuator requires a control signal and a source of energy. The control signal is relatively low
energy and may be electric voltage or current, pneumatic or hydraulic pressure, or even human
power. Its main energy source may be an electric current, hydraulic fluid pressure, or pneumatic
pressure. When it receives a control signal, an actuator responds by converting the signal's energy
into mechanical motion.

· An actuator is the mechanism by which a control system acts upon an environment. The control
system can be simple (a fixed mechanical or electronic system), software-based (e.g. a printer driver,
robot control system), a human, or any other input.

Di erent Types of Actuators

Ø Mechanical Actuator

Ø Pneumatic Actuator

Ø Hydraulic Actuator

Ø Electrical Actuator

Ø Hybrid Actuator

Hydraulic Actuator:

Unlike air, liquid cannot be compressed and hence hydraulics generates higher energy than any other
system. All systems involving high loads are operated by hydraulic actuators in which oil pressure is
applied on mechanical actuator to give an output in terms of rotary or linear motion.

A hydraulic actuator consists of cylinder or fluid motor that uses hydraulic power to facilitate
mechanical operation. The mechanical motion gives an output in terms of linear, rotatory or
oscillatory motion. As liquids are nearly impossible to compress, a hydraulic actuator can exert a
large force. The drawback of this approach is its limited acceleration.
The hydraulic cylinder consists of a hollow cylindrical tube along which a piston can slide. The term
single acting is used when the fluid pressure is applied to just one side of the piston. The piston can
move in only one direction, a spring being frequently used to give the piston a return stroke. The term
double acting is used when pressure is applied on each side of the

piston; any di erence in pressure between the two sides of the piston moves the piston to one side or
the other.

Electrical Actuator

It is one of the cleanest and readily available forms of actuating system as it does not involve oil; as
there is no need to compress air, hence no extra machinery. Electrical energy is always available on
ship. The electrical energy is used to actuate a mechanical system using magnetic field i.e. EMF.

Basic example are electrical motor operated valve and magnetic valve actuator or solenoid valve.

An electric actuator is powered by a motor that converts electrical energy into mechanical torque.
The electrical energy is used to actuate equipment such as multi-turn valves. Additionally, a brake is
typically installed above the motor to prevent the media from opening valve. If no brake is installed,
the actuator will uncover the opened valve and rotate it back to its closed position. If this continues
to happen, the motor and actuator will eventually become damaged. It is one of the cleanest and
most readily available forms of actuator because it does not directly involve oil or other fossil fuels.

Electrical Actuator

Advantages of Electric actuators:

• Provide precise control and positioning in comparison to pneumatic actuators.

• Response time is essentially instantaneous.

• High degree of stability.

• Help adapt machines to flexible processes.

• Low operating cost. Controllers and drivers low voltage circuitry consume power to afar lesser
degree.

Limitations of Electric Actuators:

• The primary disadvantage of an electric actuator is that, should a power failure occur,the valve
remains in the last position and the fail-safe position cannot be obtainedeasily unless there is a
convenient source of stored electrical energy.

• Higher cost than pneumatic actuators..

Here's your content rewritten as well-organized study notes for the Stepper Motor:

Stepper Motor

Definition:

 A stepper motor is an electromechanical device that converts electrical pulses into precise
mechanical steps.

 Each input pulse rotates the motor shaft by a fixed angle, enabling precise control without the
need for feedback.
Construction:

1. Stator:

o Contains electromagnetic coils (windings) arranged in poles.

o Coils are energized in a sequence to produce rotating magnetic fields.

2. Rotor:

o Made of permanent magnet, soft iron, or both (in hybrid types).

o Aligns with magnetic field created by stator.

3. Shaft:

o Attached to the rotor; transmits rotary motion.

4. Bearings:

o Support smooth rotation of the shaft.

Working Principle:

 When stator coils are energized in a specific sequence, a magnetic field is created.

 The rotor aligns with this field, causing it to rotate.

 Each energizing step results in a fixed angular displacement (step).

 By changing the order of coil activation:

o Direction of rotation and speed can be controlled.

 Common step angles: 0.9°, 1.8°, 5°, 7.5°, 15°

Types of Stepper Motors:

Type Description

1. Permanent Magnet
- Rotor is a permanent magnet- Low cost, simple- Step angle: 7.5°–15°
(PM)

2. Variable Reluctance - Rotor is soft iron- No magnets- High stepping rate- Step angle: 5°–
(VR) 15°

- Combination of PM and VR- High precision and torque- Step angle:

3. Hybrid Stepper
0.9°–3.6°

Labeled Diagram:

+----------------------+

| STATOR |

| (with Coils A-D) |

+--------+-------------+
 |

[ COIL A ] <-- Electromagnetic poles

/ \

[ COIL D ] [ COIL B ]

\ /

[ COIL C ]

+------------+

| ROTOR | <-- PM or Iron Teeth

+------------+

[ Shaft ]

Applications: CNC machines, 3D printers , Robotics ,Printers and plotters, Hard disk drives, Medical
instruments

Stepping Modes of a Stepper Motor

Stepper motors can be driven in di erent stepping modes, which define how coils are energized and
how the rotor moves.

1. Full Step Mode

 Definition: The motor moves by one full step for each input pulse.

 Step Angle: Equal to the motor’s rated step angle (e.g., 1.8°, 7.5°).

 Types:

o Single-phase: Only one winding energized at a time.

o Dual-phase: Two windings energized together for more torque.

Advantages:

 Simpler control

 Good holding torque (especially in dual-phase)

2. Half Step Mode

 Definition: Alternates between one and two phases being energized, resulting in half the step
angle.

 Step Angle: Half of full step (e.g., 0.9° if full step = 1.8°)

Advantages:

 Smoother motion than full step

  Increased resolution

Disadvantages:

 Slightly less torque in single-coil energized steps

3. Microstepping Mode

 Definition: The coils are partially energized using PWM or analog current control, allowing the
rotor to move in very small increments.

 Step Angle: Can be divided into 256 or more microsteps per full step.

Advantages:

 Very smooth motion

 High positional accuracy

 Reduced vibration and noise

Disadvantages:

 Requires more complex driver circuitry

 Torque per microstep is reduced

4. Wave Drive (Single-Coil Excitation)

 Only one winding is energized at a time.

 Simplest drive method.

 Less torque than full-step mode (since only one coil is used).

Comparison Table:

Mode Step Angle Torque Smoothness Complexity

Full Step Standard High Moderate Low

Half Step ½ of full step Medium Good Medium

Microstepping Very small steps Low per step Excellent High

Wave Drive Full step Low Poor Very Low

Strain Gauge
Strain gauge is a passive resistive transducer which is when subjected to some force/stress, there is
change in strain resulting change in resistance of the material. The change in resistance is measured in
terms of either load or displacement.

It basically measures strain on the application of stress. Strain gauge directly is used for the
measurement of load and indirectly it is used for the measurement of displacement and pressure.

The strain gauge was invented in 1938, by Edward E Simmons and Arthur C Ruge.

Strain gauges are employed as secondary transducers in many detectors and transducers. Such as load
cells, torque meters, temperature sensors, accelerometer etc.

The working principle of strain gauge is based on the fact that when stress is applied on the metal
conductor , its resistance changes owing to the change in length and cross-sectional area of the
conductor. The resistance of the conductor under stress is also changed due to change in resistivity of the
conductor, this property is called the piezo-resistive e ect. That is why strain gauges are also called the
piezoresistive starin gauges.

Let us take a wire having length ‘L’ and cross-section area ‘A’

The resistance of the wire will change if the wire is stretched or compressed. This is due to dimensional
change and the property of material called the piezo-resistive e ect which indicates the dependence of
resistivity on the strain.

For Instrumentation system, strain gauge used, must have gauge factor as high as possible so that
for unit change of strain, per unit change of resistance will be high which will simplify the signal
conditioner circuit.

Now, in case of metal, change of resistivity when strained is very small which can be neglected, but in
case of semiconductor it is predominant.

So, in case of metal, neglecting piezoresistive e ect eq. 5 can be written as:

G = 1 + 2µ ( only valid for metal)

The poisson’s ratio for all metals is between 0 to 0.5. this gives the maximum gauge factor is 2.0 for
metal. In case of wire wound strain gauges, poisson’s ratio is constant in the elastic range is equal to
0.3. The gauge factor is equal to 1.6 when only considering the dimensional change.

Types of Strain Gauges

Bonded type strain gauges are three types, namely

1. Wire Strain Gauges

2. Foil Strain Gauge

3. Semiconductor Strain Gauge

1. Wire Strain Gauges:

Wire Strain Gauges has four types namely,

Grid type

Rosette type

Torque type

Helical type

Signal Conditioning
• Signal conditioning is the operation

performed on the signal to convert them to

a form suitable for interfacing with other

elements in the process control

6.1Signal-level and bias changes

• The method to adjust the level

(magnitude) and bias (zero value) of

voltage signal

• For example
6.2Linearization

• Often, the

characteristic of a

sensor is nonlinear

• Special circuit were

devised to linearize

signals

• Modern approach is

to use computer

software to linearize

6.3Conversion

• The circuit to covert one form of signal or

physical values into the other form

– Resistance to voltage

• Typical conversion is to convert resistance

or voltage to 4 to 20 mA and convert back

to voltage at the receiving end

• Thus, voltage-to-current and current-tovoltage

circuits are essential

6.4Digital Interface

• The use of computer is process control

requires the conversion of analog to digital

signal

– ADC

– DAC

6.5Filtering

• Some signals input are spurious (contain more than 1 frequency)

• It is necessary to filter the frequency matched with the devices

• Example

– Highpass, lowpass, bandpass filter

– Band Pass Filters passes signals within a certain "band" or

"spread" of frequencies without distorting the input signal or

introducing extra noise. This band of frequencies can be any

width and is commonly known as the filters Bandwidth.

The passive filter networks use only passive elements such as

resistors, inductors and capacitors.

• The active filter circuits use the active elements such as opamps,

transistors along with the passive element.

• Modern active filters do not use inductors as they are bulky,

heavy & non-linear.

• The inductors generate the stray magnetic fields. They

dissipate considerable amount of power.

 6.7Concept of Loading

• When the sensor or circuit is connected to

load, this will introduce the uncertainty in

the measurement (amplitude of voltage)

 Sensor Protection Circuit

Fuse: An important element that is often present with signal processing is protection against high
currents or high voltages. For example, sensors when connected to a microprocessor can damage it
if high currents or high voltages are transmitted to the microprocessor. A high current can be
protected against by the incorporation in the input line of a series resistor to limit the current to an
acceptable level and a fuse to break if the current does exceed a safe level (Figure 2.60).

Zener Diode: Protection against high voltages and wrong polarity voltages may be obtained by the
use of a Zener diode circuit (Figure 2.60). The Zener diode with a reverse voltage connected across it
has a high resistance up to some particular voltage at which it suddenly breaks down and becomes
conducting (Figure 2.61A). Zener diodes are given voltage ratings, the rating indicating at which
voltage they become conducting. For example, to allow a maximum voltage of 5 V but stop voltages
above 5.1 V being applied to the following circuit, a Zener diode with a voltage rating of 5.1 V might be
chosen. For voltages below 5.1 V the Zener diode, in reverse voltage connection, has a high
resistance. When the voltage rises to 5.1 V the Zener diode breaks down and its resistance drops to a
very low value. Thus, with the circuit shown in Figure 2.61B, with the applied voltage below 5.1 V, the
Zener diode, in reverse voltage connection, has a much higher resistance than the other resistor and
so virtually all the applied voltage is across the Zener diode. When the applied voltage rises to 5.1 V,
the Zener diode breaks down and has a low resistance

As a consequence, most of the voltage is then dropped across the resistor, the voltage across the
diode drops and so the output voltage drops. Because the Zener diode is a diode with a low
resistance for current in one direction through it and a high resistance for the opposite direction, it
also provides protection against wrong polarity.

Optoisolator: To ensure protection, it is often necessary to completely isolate circuits so that there
are no electrical connections between them. This can be done using an optoisolator. Such a device
converts an electrical signal into an optical signal, transmits it to a detector which then converts it
back into an electrical signal (Figure 2.62). The input signal passes through an infrared light-emitting
diode (LED) and so produces a beam of infrared radiation. This infrared signal is then detected by a
phototransistor. To prevent the LED having the wrong polarity or too high an applied voltage, it is likely
to be protected by the Zener diode circuit (of the type shown above in Figure 2.61). Also, if there is
likely to be an alternating signal in the input a diode would be put in the input line to rectify it.

Here's your content rewritten clearly and concisely in the form of well-structured study notes on
Analog to Digital Conversion (ADC):

Analog to Digital Conversion (ADC)

Why ADC is Needed:

 Sensors (e.g., thermocouples, RTDs, strain gauges, LVDTs) produce analog signals.

 Microcontrollers/Microprocessors only accept digital signals (binary).

 Therefore, analog signals must be converted to digital using an ADC.

 Also, DACs (Digital-to-Analog Converters) are used to convert digital output back to analog for
actuators.

Analog vs Digital Signals:

Feature Analog Signal Digital Signal

Nature Continuous and smooth Discrete and in steps (binary)

Representation Amplitude of waveform Sequence of on/o (0 and 1) pulses

Usage Sensor output Microcontroller input/output

ADC Block Diagram & Operation:

The ADC process involves four main stages:

1. Sample

 Takes periodic snapshots of the analog signal.

 Sampling rate must meet the Nyquist Theorem:

Fs ≥ 2 × fh, where fh is the highest frequency of the signal.

2. Hold

 Holds the sampled value constant until the next sample is taken.

 Ensures stable input for the next stages.

3. Quantize

 Converts the held continuous amplitude into discrete levels.

 Introduces quantization error but allows digital representation.

4. Encoder

 Converts the discrete value into a binary code.

 Output is a digital signal usable by microcontrollers.

Summary of ADC Process:

Analog Signal → [Sample] → [Hold] → [Quantize] → [Encoder] → Digital Output

Types of ADCs:

Type Description

1. Dual Slope ADC - Integrates signal over time- High accuracy, slow conversion

2. Flash ADC - Uses multiple comparators- Very fast, expensive

3. Successive Approximation - Approximates input bit by bit- Balanced speed and precision