Configuring Instrumentation and Control Devices

1. Introduction to Elements of Instrumentation

 Instrumentation is the design and use of an electrical system
to collect and process physically meaningful data.
 To get information about the system and to control that
system, the following processes are to be carried out:
1. transduction (Using sensors and transducers)
2. Signal processing (Amplification, rectification, filtration
using op-amps)
3. Displaying (Indicating, recording and controlling)

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 1.1 Setting up /Configuring Signal Conditioning
Unit
 Most signals found from sensors are too weak which needs
conditioning.
 Signal conditioning is the process of modifying the incoming signal as
per the requirement
 There are different conditioning techniques some of them are the
following:
1. Amplification is the process of increasing the amplitude or
strength of the sensor output signal without varying it in any other
way.
2. Modulation and demodulation is the process of imposing or
removing a signal (the information) up on another signal (the carrier)
that is used to convey the original information.
3. frequency selection (the process whereby a signal containing a
group of different frequencies is filtered, allowing only certain desired
frequencies to pass while blocking all other frequencies .filtration) is
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 1.2 Operational Amplifier Basics
 The operational amplifier is an extremely efficient and versatile
device.
 Its applications span the broad electronic industry filling
requirements for signal conditioning, special transfer functions,
analog instrumentation, analog computation, and special systems
design.
 They have two inputs and one output.
 One is an inverting terminal and the other is a non-inverting
terminal
 Thus the amplifier subtracts the value of V1 from V2 and the
output signal is an amplified version of the difference b/n the two
i/p signals.

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 1.2.1. Kirchhoff’s Current Law applied to
Op-amps
 An operational amplifier circuit can be analyzed with the use of a
well-accepted observation known as Kirchhoff’s Current Law
(KCL).
 KCL simply states that the currents entering a node are equal in
magnitude to the currents leaving that same node
 KCL and node voltage analysis apply to all electrical circuits
including operational amplifiers
 The number (1) indicates the main node of significance
 At this node, a current is assumed to leave the inverting terminal
(V-) of the op-amp and go through Ri to ground
 Another current is assumed to feed from the output back to the
inverting input through resistor Rf
 The third current (i-) feeds into the inverting terminal, but i- always
equals zero
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1.2.1. Kirchhoff’s Current Law…

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1.2.1. Kirchhoff’s Current Law…
 In fact, there are two important assumptions that concern op-
amps when it comes to KCL circuit analysis:
1) i− = i+ = 0
2) V + = V −

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1.2.1. Kirchhoff’s Current Law…
 The voltage source is connected directly to V+, so V+ = Vs =
V- , and Gnd always equals zero

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 1.2.3. Supply voltages
 Looking at the op-amp symbol, the V+supply and V-supply
terminals are the dc supply voltages
 The output of the op-amp is influenced by these supply voltages
in three ways
1.2.4. Open/Closed Loop Gain
 An especially notable characteristic of operational amplifiers is
the very high gain achieved at the output
 In general, gain is calculated as Vgain = Vout/Vin, a ratio of the
output voltage to the input voltage
 The output is positive if the non-inverting input is more positive
than the inverting input, and negative if the inverting input is
more positive than the non-inverting input

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 1.2.4. Open/Closed…
 The gain value of an op-amp can be as high as 200,000 when
there is no physical connection between the output and either of
the inputs. This is called open loop gain
 However, if there is a connection between the output and the
input, usually through a resistor, then a feedback network has
been established, and the gain is now a closed loop gain

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1.2.4. Open/Closed…
 The feedback is either negative or positive, but usually negative
feedback is used
 Positive feedback occurs when some of the output feeds the
input in a way that boosts the input value
 Negative feedback exists when some of the output returns to the
input, but it acts contrary to the input, in that it is of opposite
polarity, and so diminishes the value of the input
 When this input value is diminished then the difference between
the inputs is also diminished. So, the voltage gain of a closed
loop op-amp due to negative feedback is less than that of the
open-loop gain

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 1.3. Configuring Basic Op-Amp Circuits

1.3.1. Inverting amplifier ckt

 The inverting amplifier makes use of negative feedback to the
negative input terminal
 Using KCL, the characteristics of the inverting amplifier can be
described. The negative terminal also receives the source signal
which is inverted at the output

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Inverting…

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 1.3.2. Non-inverting amplifier ckt

 The non-inverting amplifier is very similar to the inverting

amplifier except the signal is present at the non-inverting input
and the output is of the same polarity as the input (i.e. the signal
is not inverted)

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Non-inverting…

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 1.3.3. Comparator ckt

 A comparator is a device that can be used to compare an input

voltage to a reference voltage
 The circuitry for comparators can vary in design and thereby
vary in results
 The following configuration uses a voltage divider to create the
reference voltage

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 Comparator…
 The inverting terminal of the op-amp is set at the reference
voltage, which is
 When the input signal (Vs) at the non-inverting input is greater
than the reference voltage at the inverting input then Vout will
equal the positive supply (V+ supply)
 Similarly, when Vs is less than the reference voltage, then Vout
will equal the negative supply (V-supply)

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 2. The Control loop

 Imagine you are sitting in a cabin in front of a small fire on a

cold winter evening
 You feel uncomfortably cold, so you throw another log on the
fire. This is an example of a control loop
 In the control loop, a variable (temperature) fell below the set
point (your comfort level), and you took action to bring the
process back into the desired condition by adding fuel to the fire
 The control loop will now remain static until the temperature a
gain rises above or falls below your comfort level
 Control loops in the process control industry work in the same
way, requiring three tasks to occur:
Measurement
Comparison
Adjustment
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 The Control …

 In the following Figure , a level transmitter (LT) measures the

level in the tank and transmits a signal associated with the level
reading to a controller (LIC)
 The controller compares the reading to a predetermined value,in
this case, the maximum tank level established by the plant
operator, and finds that the values are equal
 The controller then sends a signal to the device that can bring the
tank level back to a lower level—a valve at the bottom of the tank
 The valve opens to let some liquid out of the tank

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 2.1 Process control terms

1. process variable
 A process variable is a condition of the process fluid (a liquid or gas) that can
change the manufacturing process in some way
 In the example of you sitting by the fire, the process variable was temperature
 In the example of the tank in the above Figure , the process variable is level
 Common process variables include:
◦ Pressure
◦ Flow
◦ Level
◦ Temperature
◦ Density
◦ Ph (acidity or alkalinity)
◦ Mass
◦ Conductivity
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 Process control…
2. Set point
 The set point is a value for a process variable that is desired to be
maintained
 For example, if a process temperature needs to kept within 5 °C of
100 °C, then the set point is 100 °C.
 A temperature sensor can be used to help maintain the temperature
at set point
 The sensor is inserted into the process, and a controller compares
the temperature reading from the sensor to the set point
 If the temperature reading is 110 °C, then the controller
determines that the process is above set point and signals the fuel
valve of the burner to close slightly until the process cools to 100
°C

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 Process control…
3. measured variables
 In the temperature control loop example, the measured variable is
temperature, which must be held close to 100 °C
 The measured variable is the condition of the process fluid that
must be kept at the designated set point
4. manipulated variables
 The factor that is changed to keep the measured variable at set
point is called the manipulated variable
 In the example described, the manipulated variable would also be
flow

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 Process control…
5. Error
 Error is the difference between the measured variable and the set
point and can be either positive or negative
 In the temperature control loop example, the error is the difference
between the 110 °C measured variable and the 100 °C set point—
that is, the error is +10 °C.
 The objective of any control scheme is to minimize or eliminate
error
 We have more terms to describe how the PID control system reduces
the error
 The settling time is how long it takes the error to reach its final value
 The overshoot is the peak value of the error
 Finally, the steady state error is the value where the error settles

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 2.2 Manual and Automatic control

 Before process automation, people, rather than machines,

performed many of the process control tasks
 For example, a human operator might have watched a level gauge
and closed a valve when the level reached the set point
 Control operations that involve human action to make an
adjustment are called manual control systems
 Conversely, control operations in which no human intervention is
required, such as an automatic valve actuator that responds to a
level controller, are called automatic control systems
2.3 Open and closed control loops
 A closed control loop exists where a process variable is
measured, compared to a set point, and action is taken to
correct any deviation from set point
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 Open and closed…
 An open control loop exists where the process variable is not
compared, and action is taken not in response to feedback on the
condition of the process variable, but is instead taken without
regard to process variable conditions
2.4 Configuring Controllers for closed loop
system
 The controller is an element which accepts the error in some form
and decides the proper corrective action
 The output of the controller is then applied to the process or final
control element
 This brings the output back to its desired set point value
 The controller is the heart of a control system

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 Properties of Controller
Consider the following closed-loop control system:
 The actual output is sensed by a sensor and converted to a proper
feedback signal b(t) using a feedback element
1. Error
 The error detector compares the feedback signal b(t) with the
reference input r(t) to generate an error

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 Classification of Controllers
 The classification of controllers is based on the response of the
controller and mode of operation of the controller
 Controllers are basically classified as continuous and discontinuous
controllers
 The discontinuous mode controllers are further classified as ON/OFF
controllers and multi position controllers
 The continuous mode controllers are further classified as proportional
controllers, integral controllers and derivative controllers
Continuous controller modes
 In continuous controller mode, the controller output varies smoothly
proportional to the error
 Depending upon which form of the error is used as the input to the
controller to produce the continuous controller output, these
controllers are classified as
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