EBGE 2061:

Process Control and Instrumentation

Lecture #1
Measurement Systems
 Contents

• Introduction

• Instrumentation systems

• Performance terms

• Reliability
INTRODUCTION
 Definition
• Measurement
– A method to obtain information regarding the
physical values of the variable.

• Instrumentation
– Devices used in measurement system
 Terminologies
• Physical quantity: variable such as pressure,
temperature, mass, length, etc.
• Data: Information obtained from the
instrumentation/measurement system as a result of
the measurements made of the physical quantities
• Information: Data that has a calibrated numeric
relationship to the physical quantity.
• Parameter: Physical quantity within defined
(numeric) limits.
 What is Measurement System?

measurand Sensor, signal conditioning, Man, tracking control

display
 Why Measurement?
• In the case of process industries and industrial
manufacturing…
– To improve the quality of the product
– To improve the efficiency of production
– To maintain the proper operation
 Types of Measurements
• Direct comparison
– Easy to do but… less accurate
• e.g. to measure the length of a steel bar

• Indirect comparison
– Calibrated system; consists of several devices to
convert, process (amplification or filtering) and
display the output
• e.g. to measure force from strain gages located in a
structure
 Why Instrumentation?
• To acquire data or information (hence data
acquisition) about parameters, in terms of:
– putting the numerical values to the physical
quantities
– making measurements otherwise inaccessible.
– producing data agreeable to analysis (mostly in
electrical form)
 Instrumentation Devices
• Transducer: A device that converts one form of energy to
another. Eg. A speaker.
• Electronic transducer: It has an input or output that is
electrical in nature (e.g., voltage, current or resistance).
• Sensor: Electronic transducer that converts physical quantity
into an electrical signal. Eg. Temperature sensor
• Actuator: Electronic transducer that converts electrical energy
into mechanical energy. Eg. Electrical motor
Generalised Measuring System

Stage 1: A detection-transducer or sensor-transducer, stage;

e.g. temperature sensors, gears, valves

Stage 2: A signal conditioning stage; e.g. gearing, filters,

bridges, amplifiers

Stage 3: A terminating or readout-recording stage; e.g.

printers, oscilloscope, multimeter
Instrumentation
Systems
 Types of Instruments
• Active Instruments
– the quantity being measured simply modulates (adapts to)
the magnitude of some external power source.

• Passive Instruments
– the instrument output is entirely produced by the quantity
being measured

• Difference between active & passive instruments is the level

of measurement resolution that can be obtained.
 Active Instruments
• e.g. Float-type petrol tank level indicator

Circuit excited
by external
power source
(battery)
 Petrol Tank Level Indicator
• The change in petrol level moves a potentiometer arm,
and the output signal consists of a proportion of the
external voltage source applied across the two ends of
the potentiometer.
• The energy in the output signal comes from the external
power source: the primary transducer float system is
merely modulating the value of the voltage from this
external power source.
 Passive Instruments
• e.g. Pressure-measuring device
 Passive Pressure Gauge
• The pressure of the fluid is translated into a
movement of a pointer against scale.

• The energy expanded in moving the pointer is

derived entirely from the change in pressure
measured: there are no other energy inputs to the
system.
 Analogue Instruments
• An analogue instrument gives an output that varies
continuously as the quantity being measured; e.g.
Deflection-type of pressure gauge
 Digital Instruments
• A digital instrument has an output that varies in
discrete steps and only have a finite number of
values; e.g. Revolution counter
 Analogue Instrument vs.
Digital Instrument
Analog Digital
1. Low precision High precision
2. Continuous stepless deflection Numerical readout
3. More flexible Limited flexibility, different instruments
for various ranges and applications
4. Frequency response is large, from DC or Frequency response can also be very high
low-frequency range to high-frequency
range
5. Parallax error in readout is possible No such error due to digital display
6. Not convenient for readout Convenience in readout, visible in low
light, from a distance, etc.
7. Errors due to friction, spring tension can No or very less errors as such
arise.
8. No direct PC or µP or µC compatibility Compatibility with microprocessors (µP),
microcontrollers (µC), and personal
computers (PC) is possible
 What have we learn so far?

Generalised Measurement System

Signal
Output /
Measurand Conditionin
observer
g
 What have we learn so far?

Direct
Types of
Measuremen
t
Indirect
What have we learn so far?

Types of
Instrument

Active Passive

Analogue Analogue
or Digital or Digital
 Units Of Measurement
• To define physical quantities in type and magnitude
• Units of measurement may be defined as the
standard measure of each kind of physical quantity.
• Efforts were made to standardize systems of
measurement so that instrument professionals and
specialist in other disciplines could communicate
among themselves.
 Standard Of Measurement
• As a physical representation of a unit of
measurement
• Results of a measurement need to be reported using
a standard value.
• In 1960, an international committee established a set
of standards basic quantities – called the SI system of
units.
• The abbreviation SI comes from the system’s French
name “Système International.”
 Fundamental Units & Derived Units
• Two types of units are used in science and engineering
– Fundamental units (or quantities)
• E.g. meter (length), kilogram (mass), second (time)

– Derived units (or quantities); i.e. All units which

can be expressed in terms of fundamental units
• E.g. The volume of a substance is proportional to its
length (l), breadth (b) and height (h), or V= l x b x h.
• So, the derived unit of volume (V) is cube of meter (m3).
International System (SI) of Units
Performance Terms
 Instrumentation Characteristics
• Shows the performance of instruments to be used.
• Divided into two categories: static and dynamic
characteristics.
• Static characteristics refer to the comparison
between steady output and ideal output when the
input is constant.
• Dynamic characteristics refer to the comparison
between instrument output and ideal output when
the input changes.
 Static Characteristics
1. ACCURACY

– Accuracy is the ability of an instrument to show

the exact reading.
– Always related to the extent of the wrong
reading/non accuracy.
– Normally shown in percentage of error which of
the full scale reading percentage.
 Example #1: Accuracy
A pressure gauge with a range between 0 – 1 bar with an
accuracy of ± 5% (full-scale) has a maximum error of:

Notes: It is essential to choose an equipment which has a

suitable operating range.
 Example #2: Accuracy
A pressure gauge with a range between 0 - 10 bar is found to
have an error of ± 0.15 bar when calibrated by the
manufacturer.

Calculate :
a. The error percentage of the gauge.
b. The error percentage when the reading obtained is 2.0 bar.

 
 Static Characteristics
2. PRECISION

– An equipment which is precise is not necessarily

accurate.
– Defined as the capability of an instrument to show
the same reading when used each time
(reproducibility of the instrument).
Accuracy vs. Precision
 Accuracy vs. Precision

High accuracy means that the mean is close to the true value,
while high precision means that the standard deviation σ is
small.
 Static Characteristics
3. TOLERANCE
– Closely related to accuracy of an equipment where the
accuracy of an equipment is sometimes referred to in the
form of tolerance limit.
– Defined as the maximum error expected in an
instrument.
– Explains the maximum deviation of an output
component at a certain value.
 Static Characteristics
4. RANGE OF SPAN
– Defined as the range of reading between minimum value
and maximum value for the measurement of an
instrument.
– Has a positive value e.g..: The range of span of an
instrument which has a reading range of –100°C to 100
°C is 200 °C.
 Static Characteristics
5. BIAS
– Constant error which occurs during the measurement
of an instrument.
– This error is usually rectified through calibration.
– Example : A weighing scale always gives a bias reading.
This equipment always gives a reading of
1 kg even without any load applied. Therefore, if A with
a weight of 70 kg weighs himself, the given reading
would be 71 kg. This would indicate that there is a
constant bias of 1 kg to be corrected.
 Static Characteristics
6. LINEARITY
– Maximum deviation from linear relation between input and
output.
– The output of an instrument has to be linearly
proportionate to the measured quantity.
– Normally shown in the form of full scale percentage (% fs).
– The graph shows the output reading of an instrument when
a few input readings are entered.
– Linearity = maximum deviation from the reading of x and
the straight line.
 Linearity

Output
Readings

Measured Quantity
 Static Characteristics
7. SENSITIVITY
– Defined as the ratio of change in output towards the
change in input at a steady state condition.
– Sensitivity
– Example 1: The resistance value of a Platinum
Resistance Thermometer changes when the
temperature increases. Therefore, the unit of
sensitivity for this equipment is Ohm/°C.
Sensitivity
Most sensitive
 Static Characteristics
8. DEAD SPACE / DEAD BAND
– Defined as the range of input reading when there is
no change in output (unresponsive system).

Output
Reading

- +
Dead Space Measured
Variables
 Static Characteristics
9. RESOLUTION
– The smallest change in input reading that can be
traced accurately.
– Given in the form ‘% of full scale (% fs)’.
– Available in digital instrumentation.
 Static Characteristics
10. THRESHOLD
– When the reading of an input is increased from zero,
the input reading will reach a certain value before
change occurs in the output.
– The minimum limit of the input reading in order for
the output to response is called the ‘threshold’.
 Dynamic Characteristics
• Explains the behaviour system of instruments
system when the input signal is changed.
• Depends on a few standard input signals such as
‘step input’, ‘ramp input’ and ‘sine-wave input’.
 Dynamic Characteristics
• Step Input - Sudden change in input signal from
steady state.
• The output signal for this kind of input is known as
‘transient response’.
 Dynamic Characteristics
• Ramp Input - The signal changes linearly.
• The output signal for ramp input is ‘ramp response’.
 Dynamic Characteristics
• Sine-wave Input - The signal is harmonic.
• The output signal is ‘frequency response’.
 Dynamic Characteristics
• Response time - One would like to have a
measurement system with fast response.
• In other words, the effect of the measurement
system on the measurement should be as small as
possible.
 Response Time
Response from a 2nd order
instrument:
Rise Time ( tr ) - Time taken for
the output to rise from 10% to
90 % of the steady state value.
Settling time (ts) - Time taken
for output to reach a steady
state value.
Reliability
 Reliability
• Reliability - Degree to which measures are free from
random error and, therefore, provide consistent data.
• There are three ways to assess reliability:
– Test-retest
– Equivalent forms
– Internal consistency
 Test - retest
• The same instrument is given twice to the same
group of people.
• The reliability is the correlation between the scores
on the two readings.
• If the results are consistent over time, the scores
should be similar.
 Equivalent Forms
• Two different versions of the instrument are
created.
• We assume both measure the same thing.
• The same subjects complete both instruments
during the same time period.
• The scores on the two instruments are correlated to
calculate the consistency between the two forms of
the instrument.
 Internal Consistency
• We use our single measurement instrument
administered to a group of people on one occasion
to estimate reliability.
• In effect we judge the reliability of the instrument
by estimating how well the items that reflect the
same construct yield similar results.
• We are looking at how consistent the results are for
different items for the same construct within the
measure.