PRESSURE MEASUREMENT TRAINER

(MSPR – 05)

User Manual
Version: 1.0

Manufactured By:
MINMAX SYSTEMS,
No: 31, 1st Floor, Thiruneermalai Main Road,
Nagalkeni, Chrompet, Chennai – 600 044.
E-Mail: minmaxsystems@gmail.com
WEB: www.minmaxsystems.in
PRESSURE MEASUREMENT TRAINER (MSPR – 05)

LIST OF CONTENTS

S.NO TITLE PAGE NO

1. INTRODUCTION 3

2. SAFETY PRECAUTIONS 4

3. PRESSURE 5

4. BOURDON TUBE 6

5. STRAIN GAUGE 8

6. STRAIN MEASUREMENT 10

7. FRONT PANEL DIAGRAM 11

8. FRONT PANEL DESCRIPTION 12

9. SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION 13

10. TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION 14

11. EXPERIMENTS 16

12. TROUBLESHOOTING 20

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INTRODUCTION:
Measurement of pressure is one of the most important measurements, as it is used

in almost all industries. Measurement of liquid, gas, and steam pressure is a basic

requirement for many industrial processes to operate safely, efficiently. Pressure

measurement is important because of the following reasons.

1. Pressure is an important quantity that describes a system.

2. Pressure is invariably an important process parameter.

3. Pressure difference is used many a time as a means of measuring the flow rate of a

fluid.

A Strain gauge is a sensor whose resistance varies with applied force. It converts

force, pressure, tension, weight, etc., into a change in electrical resistance which can then

be measured.

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SAFETY PRECATIONS:
1. Do not apply pressure (exceeding) 100 Psi as it may affect the performance of
pressure gauge.
2. Care should be taken while pumping.

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PRESSURE:

In general, pressure is defined as force per unit area. The relationship between
pressure, force, and area can be represented as

P= F/A

Where P=Pressure

F= Force

A=Area.

SI units of pressure are Psi,N/m2,Pa,bar,Kg/cm2.

NEED FOR PRESSURE MEASUREMENT:

Process industries transform one substance into another (e.g., crude oil into
gasoline, pulp into paper and steam into electricity). Three of the most common
reasons that process industries measure pressure follow
1. Safety.
2. Process efficiency.
3. Cost savings.

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BOURDON TUBE:

When an elastic transducer (bourdon tube) is subjected to a pressure, it

deflects. This deflection is proportional to the applied pressure when calibrated.

CONSTRUCTION:

The pressure input is given to a socket which is soldered to the tube at the base. The
other end or free end of the device is sealed by a tip. This tip is connected to a segmental
lever through an adjustable length link. The lever length may also be adjustable. The
segmental lever is suitably pivoted and the spindle holds the pointer as shown in the figure.
A hair spring is sometimes used to fasten the spindle of the frame of the instrument to
provide necessary tension for proper meshing of the gear teeth and thereby freeing the
system from the backlash. Any error due to friction in the spindle bearings is known as lost
motion. The mechanical construction has to be highly accurate in the case of a Bourdon
Tube Gauge. If we consider a cross-section of the tube, its outer edge will have a larger
surface than the inner portion. The tube walls will have a thickness between 0.01 and 0.05
inches.

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WORKING:

As the fluid pressure enters the bourdon tube, it tries to be reformed and because of
a free tip available, this action causes the tip to travel in free space and the tube unwinds.
The simultaneous actions of bending and tension due to the internal pressure make a non-
linear movement of the free tip. This travel is suitable guided and amplified for the
measurement of the internal pressure. But the main requirement of the device is that
whenever the same pressure is applied, the movement of the tip should be the same and on
withdrawal of the pressure the tip should return to the initial point.

A lot of compound stresses originate in the tube as soon as the pressure is applied.
This makes the travel of the tip to be non-linear in nature. If the tip travel is considerably
small, the stresses can be considered to produce a linear motion that is parallel to the axis
of the link. The small linear tip movement is matched with a rotational pointer movement.
This is known as multiplication, which can be adjusted by adjusting the length of the lever.
For the same amount of tip travel, a shorter lever gives larger rotation. The approximately
linear motion of the tip when converted to a circular motion with the link-lever and pinion
attachment, a one-to-one correspondence between them may not occur and distortion
results. This is known as angularity which can be minimized by adjusting the length of the
link.

Advantages of Bourdon tube pressure gauge:

1. Bourdon tube pressure gauges give accurate results

2. Bourdon tube are simple in construction.
3. They are safe even for high pressure measurement
4. Accuracy is high especially at high pressures.

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STRAIN GAUGE:

CONSTRUCTION & WORKING:

Strain gauges are built using resistance bonded foil strain gauges. A strain gauge

usually consists of four strain gauges in a Wheatstone bridge configuration. The gauges

themselves are bonded onto beam or structural member that deforms when weight is

applied. The output of the transducer can be scaled to calculate the force applied to the

transducer.

A strain gauge will undergo a small mechanical deformation with an applied force

that results in a small change in gauge resistance proportional to the applied force.

Because this change in resistance with applied force is so small, strain gauges are

commonly wired using a Wheatstone bridge. The resultant output voltage of the bridge is

directly related to any imbalance between resistances in each leg of the bridge and the

bridge excitation voltage. The output of the bridge is normally specified in terms of

millivolts. This output voltage is then amplified using signal conditioner circuit to get

output voltage in the terms of volts.

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PRINCIPLE:

Strain gauge works on the principle of piezoresistive effect. Piezoresistive effect is

a change in electrical resistivity of a semiconductor or metal when mechanical strain is

applied. Strain gauge resistance varies with applied force. It measures the deformation as

a change in electrical resistance, which is a measure of the strain and hence the applied

forces. Strain is the amount of deformation of a body due to an applied force.

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STRAIN MEASUREMENT:

Strain gauge is connected to the Wheatstone bridge for measurement. To measure

strain requires accurate measurement of very small changes in resistance. To measure such

small changes in resistance, strain gauges are always used in a bridge configuration with a

voltage excitation source. The general Wheatstone bridge, illustrated below, consists of

Four resistive arms with an excitation voltage, VEX, that is applied across the bridge.

The output voltage of the bridge, VO, will be equal to:

VO R3 R2 . VEX

R3+R4 R1+R2

From this equation, it is apparent that when R1/R2 = RG1/RG2, the output voltage

VO will be zero. Under these conditions, the bridge is said to be balanced. Any change in

resistance in any arm of the bridge will result in a nonzero output voltage.

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FRONT PANEL DIAGRAM:

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FRONT PANEL DESCRIPITION:

1. Power ON - To power ON/OFF the trainer kit.
2. Zero potmeter - To make zero correction in pressure cell sensor output.
3. Span potmeter - To make adjustment in gain amplifier output.
4. T1 - +VCC (Sensor input voltage).
5. T2, T3 - To measure pressure cell sensor output(mV)
6. T4 - To measure instrumentation amplifier output in volts
(V).
7. T5 - To measure gain amplifier output in volts (V).
8. T6 - Ground terminal.
9. Sensor interface - To connect pressure cell sensor to the trainer kit.
10. Display - To display pressure.

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SYSTEM CONSTRUCTION:

This system consists of a cylindrical tank, pressure cell and a measuring circuit
(instrumentation amplifier and a gain amplifier). Pressure in the tank is increased by
pumping foot pump. Pressure in the tank is shown at pressure gauge. Pressure cell measures
the pressure inside the tank and produces an output in the order of millivolts. The output
of pressure cell is given to the instrumentation amplifier to amplify the signal. This
amplified signal is again given to the gain amplifier circuit to measure pressure in the range
(0-5) V DC. The output voltage is calibrated in the terms of pressure (psi) and shown at the
display.

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TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION:

1. Pressure cell:
 Supply - 5 V DC
 Range - (0-7) kg/cm2
 Input - Air pressure
 Output - mV
2. Pressure Tank:
 Body material - MS with powder coated.
 Diameter - 110mm
 Height - 300mm
 End connection - ¼”Bsp
 Type - Cylindrical
3. Pressure gauge:
 Type - Bourdon tube
 Range - (0-100) Psi
 Diameter - 2.5”
 Body Material - MS
4. Digital display:
 Type - 7 segment (Anode)
 Colour - Green
5. Signal conditioner:
 Supply - 230 V AC/50Hz
 Range - (0-7) kg/cm2
 Input - mV
 Output - (0-5)V
 Weight - 3kg (approximate)

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6. Power supply:
 Input - 230 V AC/50Hz
 Output - +5V DC/500 mA
-5V DC
+12V DC
-12V DC
7. Foot pump:
 Range - (0-15)bar

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EXPERIMENT NO: 1

AIM:

To study the characteristics of pressure cell.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Pressure measurement trainer kit.

2. Multimeter (in mV mode).
3. Pressure tank setup.
4. Foot pump.

PROCEDURE:

1. Connect the pressure cell sensor to the trainer kit.

2. Switch ON the unit.
3. Close the hand valve in the cylindrical tank.
4. Connect the multimeter (in mV mode) at T2 &T3 and check if 0 mV is displayed at
multimeter. If not displayed adjust zero potmeter to get zero at multimeter.
5. Increase the pressure in the tank by pumping the foot pump till it reaches 10 Psi and
note down the pressure cell sensor output in mV.
6. Repeat the above procedure for different pressure valves (till 75 Psi) and note down
the corresponding output voltage in mV.
7. Tabulate the readings.
8. Release the pressure in the tank by opening the hand valve and switch OFF the unit.

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TABULATION:

S.NO Pressure in the tank in ( Psi) Output voltage in (mV)

RESULT:
Thus the characteristics of pressure cell was studied.

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EXPERIMENT NO: 2

AIM:

To study the characteristics of pressure cell signal conditioner.

REQUIREMENTS:

1. Pressure measurement trainer kit.

2. Multimeter (in V mode).
3. Pressure tank setup.
4. Foot pump.

FORMULA:

1. Error = Measured value – Actual value

2. %Error = Measured value – Actual value × 100

Actual value

PROCEDURE:

1. Connect the pressure cell sensor to the trainer kit.

2. Switch ON the unit.
3. Connect the multimeter (in V mode) at T5 & T6.
4. Close the hand valve in the cylindrical tank and increase the pressure in the tank till
it reaches 75 Psi (Shown in pressure gauge).
5. Adjust the span potmeter to get output voltage as 5 V at multimeter and display
value as 75 Psi.
6. Open the hand valve and release the pressure in the tank.
7. Close the hand valve and increase the pressure in the tank by pumping the foot pump
till it reaches 10 Psi (at pressure gauge) and measure the pressure cell signal
conditioner output in volts (V).

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8. Repeat the above procedure for different pressure valves (till 75 Psi) and note down
the corresponding output voltage.
9. Tabulate the readings.
10. Release the pressure in the tank by opening the hand valve and switch OFF the unit.

TABULATION:

Pressure in the tank Display value Gain amplifier

S.NO in ( Psi) in ( Psi) output in (V) % Error
(Actual value) (Measured value)

RESULT:
Thus the characteristics of pressure cell signal conditioner was studied.

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TROUBLESHOOTING:
1. Switch ON the trainer kit, if there is no power supply to the circuit check the fuse
and power cord.
2. Under no load condition if the multimeter display 0 mV at T2 & T3 then display
value should be zero. Adjust zero potmeter and set the display value as zero, if a
non-zero value is displayed open the trainer kit and adjust trim pot TR1.
3. If there is no variation in sensor output open the 9 pin cover and check wiring.
4. Under full load condition, if the multimeter displays 5V at T5, T6 then display
value should be 75 Psi. Adjust span potmeter and set the display value as 75 Psi. If
75 is not displayed or attained adjust trim pot TR5.
5. While pumping if there is no variation in pressure gauge check for air leakage.

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