20-Sep-20

INDUSTRIAL
INSTRUMENTATION
Lecturer: Nguyen Duc Hoang
Department of Control & Automation
Faculty of Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology
Email: ndhoang@hcmut.edu.vn

Chapter 2: Instrument Types and Performance

Characteristics-Part 1

• Instrument Types
• Static Characteristics of Instruments
• Dynamic Characteristics of Instruments
• Calibration

1
 20-Sep-20

Instrument Types
• Instruments
may be classified according to their application,
mode of operation, manner of energy conversion, nature of
output, …
• Deflection and Null Types
• Active and Passive Types
• Contacting and Non-contacting Types
• Analog and Digital Types
• Dumb and Intelligent Types
• Manually Operated and Automatic Types

Deflection and Null Types

• Deflection type instrument : physical effect generated by the measuring
quantity produces an equivalent opposing effect, closely related to some
variable like mechanical displacement or deflection in the instrument.
• Examples:

Weight gauge Pressure gauge

2
 20-Sep-20

Deflection and Null Types

• Null type instrument : generates an equivalent opposing effect to nullify
the physical effect caused by the quality to be measured. The equivalent
null-causing effect provides the measure of the quantity.
• Examples:

Equal arm beam balance Dead-weight pressure gauge

Group Discussion: Pros and Cons

G1 G2

3
 20-Sep-20

Active and Passive Types

• Passive (self-generating) instruments : instrument output is
produced entirely by the quantity being measured.
• Examples:

Photovoltaic cell Pressure gauge

Active and Passive Types

• Active (Power-operated) instruments : quantity being measured
modulates the magnitude of some external power source.
• Examples:

Petrol-tank level indicator Pressure instrument

4
 20-Sep-20

Static Characteristics of Instruments

• Accuracy
• Precision/Repeatability/Reproducibility
• Resolution
• Range and Span
• Linearity
• Sensitivity
• Sensitivity to Disturbance (Drift)
• Hysteresis

Accuracy
• Accuracy is the capacity of a measuring
instrument to give results close to the true
value of the measured quantity.

• In practice, it is specified as the

percentage deviation or inaccuracy of the
measurement from the true value.

• Inaccuracy = measurement uncertainty

(Chapter 3)

5
 20-Sep-20

Accuracy
• Example: A pressure gauge with a measurement range of 0–10 bar has a quoted
inaccuracy of ±1.0% f.s. (± 1% of full-scale reading).
(a) What is the maximum measurement error expected for this instrument?
(b) What is the likely measurement error expressed as a percentage of the output
reading if this pressure gauge is measuring a pressure of 1 bar?

Precision/Repeatability/Reproducibility
• Precision is the capacity of a
measuring instrument to give the
same reading when repetitively
measuring the same quantity under
the same prescribed conditions.

6
 20-Sep-20

Precision/Repeatability/Reproducibility
• Repeatability describes the closeness of output readings when the same input is
applied repetitively over a short period of time, with the same measurement
conditions, same instrument and observer, same location, and same conditions
of use maintained throughout.

• Reproducibility describes the closeness of output readings for the same input
when there are changes in the method of measurement, observer, measuring
instrument, location, conditions of use, and time of measurement.

Accuracy versus Precision

7
 20-Sep-20

Accuracy versus Precision

High accuracy High accuracy Low accuracy Low accuracy

High precision Low precision High precision Low precision

Resolution
• Resolution is the
minimal change of the
input necessary to
produce a detectable
change at the output.

Absolute encoder 4 bit Absolute encoder ? bit

8
 20-Sep-20

Range and Span

• Range of an instrument defines the minimum and maximum values of a quantity
that the instrument is designed to measure.

• Span of an instrument defines the algebraic difference between the upper and
lower range values of instruments.

• Example:
• Range : -1000C to 5000C; Span : 5000C -1000C = 6000C
• Range : 2kN/m2 to 50kN/m2 ; Span : 50-2=48kN/m2
• Range : 0m to 10m; Span: 10 – 0 = 10m

Linearity
• Linearity (Nonlinearity) is defined as the maximum deviation of the output of the
instrument from calibrated (idealized) straight line.

9
 20-Sep-20

Sensitivity
• Static sensitivity (scale factor or gain) : the ratio of the magnitude of response
(output signal) to the magnitude of the quantity being measured (input signal).

𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑡𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙 ∆𝑞0

• 𝐾= 𝑐ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑝𝑢𝑡 𝑠𝑖𝑔𝑛𝑎𝑙
= ∆𝑞𝑖

q0 and qi are the values of the output and input signals respectively.

• In linear case : sensitivity is constant

• In non-linear case : sensitivity varies with the input value

Sensitivity

10
 20-Sep-20

Sensitivity
• Example: The following resistance values of a platinum resistance thermometer
were measured at a range of temperatures. Determine the measurement
sensitivity of the instrument in ohms/0C.

Resistance (Ω) Temperature (0C)

307 200
314 230
321 260
328 290

Sensitivity to Disturbance (Drift)

• Zero drift or bias describes the effect where the zero reading of an instrument is
modified by a change in ambient conditions.

11
 20-Sep-20

Sensitivity to Disturbance (Drift)

• Sensitivity drift (also known as scale factor drift) defines the amount by which an
instrument’s sensitivity of measurement varies as ambient conditions change.

Sensitivity to Disturbance (Drift)

Zero and sensitivity drift effects on instrument characteristics.

12
 20-Sep-20

Sensitivity to Disturbance (Drift)

• Example 1: The following table shows output measurements of a voltmeter under
two sets of conditions:
(a) Use in an environment kept at 200C which is the temperature that it was
calibrated at.
(b) Use in an environment at a temperature of 500C.
Voltage readings at calibration Voltage readings at
temperature of 200C (assumed correct) temperature of 500C
10.2 10.5
20.3 20.6
30.7 40.0
40.8 50.1

Determine the zero drift when it is used in the 500C environment, assuming that the
measurement values when it was used in the 200C environment are correct. Also
calculate the zero drift coefficient.

Sensitivity to Disturbance (Drift)

• Example 2: A spring balance is calibrated in an environment at a temperature of 200C
and has the following deflection/load characteristic:

Load (kg) 0 1 2 3
Deflection (mm) 0 20 40 60

• It is then used in an environment at a temperature of 300C, and the following

deflection/ load characteristic is measured:

Load (kg) 0 1 2 3
Deflection (mm) 5 27 49 71

• Determine the zero drift and sensitivity drift per 0C change in ambient temperature.

13
 20-Sep-20

Hysteresis

Example: specifications of pressure gage

Parameters Value Unit
Maximum bridge excitation 20 Vdc
Recommended bridge excitation 12 Vdc
Pressure range 200 kPa
Bridge output 0.1 mV/V/kPa
Accuracy ±0.5% of FS
Repeatability ±0.2% of FS
Linearity and hysteresis ±0.4% of FS
Thermal zero shift < 0.02% FS/0C
Thermal sensitivity shift < 0.02% /0C
Bridge resistance 350 Ω
Minimum required impedance of output for 2kΩ kΩ
indicating/recording unit to be used
Overload capacity 250% of FS

14
 20-Sep-20

Problems
• Indicate if the following statements are true or false. If false, then write the correct
statement.
a) Correctness or exactness in measurements is associated with the accuracy and not
with the precision.
b) Reproducibility and consistency are expressions that best describe precision in
measurements.
c) It is not possible to have precise measurements which are not accurate.
d) Instrument bias refers to the random errors in the instrument.
e) An instrument with 1% accuracy is considered better than another with 5%
accuracy.
f) It is worthwhile to improve the accuracy of the instrument beyond its precision.
g) Any measurement is expressed by a numerical value alone.
h) To prevent loading of the circuit under test, the input impedance of the voltmeter
must be very low.

15