DAR ES SALAAM INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

ELECTRICAL INSTRUMENTATION
EET G4203
ASSIGNMENT ONE
PARTICIPANTS;
S/N REGISTRATION NUMBER NAME
1 220343447779 HALIDI HAMISI RASHIDI
2 220343489136 BEATRICE ASAJILE MBILINYI
3 220343437549 DANIEL L DANIEL
4 220343477198 NYABUKE M SHABANI
5 220343486975 FILBERT ELISONGUO MACHA
6 220343491322 MARIAM TAWAKAL RWAHILA

1
PHOTOCONDUCTIVE TRANSDUCER.
Photoconductive meaning;
This is the light sensitive semiconductor device that
designed to convert light energy into electrical energy.
• Photoconductive cell or transducer is the among of
the type of photo detector. It works on the principles
of photo conductive effect
• It made up of semiconductor material that emits
electrons when a beam of light falls on it.
• Photoconductive materials are the materials which
change the resistance when exposed in light.
Circuit symbol of photoconductive cell

2
 • If voltage is applied across the cell it’s found to
vary with the light intensity.

WORKING PRINCIPLE OF PHOTOCONDUCTIVE CELL.

Working principles of photoconductive cell it based on
principle of photoconductive effect.
Photoconductive effect is the process in which the
conductivity of a semiconductor material is changed due
to the change of wavelength and intensity of the
radiation.

In the circuit shown above the resistance of

photoconductive cell is in series with external resistance
which limit the current.

3
In the absence of light, resistance of photoconductive cell
is very high and current are measured using an ammeter
is also low. This current is called dark current and the
corresponding to this is called dark resistance.
When the photoconductive cell is exposed to external
light, the resistance of photoconductive cell decrease
resulting in a large current flow called joint current.
This is because light energy supplied to photoconductive
cell cause its covalent bond to be broken resulting in
creation of electron hole pairs.
Due to this increase number of charges carrier the
resistance of the material is decrease because is inversely
proportional to the number of charge carriers.

ADVANTAGE AND DISADVANTAGE OF PHOTOCONDUCTIVE

TRANSDUCER.

Advantage
I. They can be operated by using low voltage.

4
 This is due to its resistivity depend on light thus
whenever there is a light, it has low resistance.
Hence only a small quantity of energy is required for
its performance.
II. Fast response time.
This is due to the presence of photoconductive cell
which respond quickly when light falling on it, the
result to the decrease of resistance.
III. It has long sensing range of photoconductive cell.
This makes it to have ability to respond whenever
light falling on it.
IV. Long life span.
Disadvantage
i. The resistance varies due to the change in particular
light intensity. Thus whenever there is no light, it
have high resistance.

APPLICATIONS OF PHOTOCONDUCTIVE TRANSDUCER.

I. Photoconductive cell are used at LED current level.
The led current is low when the ambient light level is
low; because the cell resistance is high the LED

5
 current is increases when the ambient light level is
high.
II. The photoconductive cell can be used for detecting
the location of air craft and ship with the help of
radiation coming out from their exhaust.
III. The photoconductive cell can be used in light
sensitive alarm, fast recording situation, automatic
street light lighting control etc.
IV. They are used to switch on and off the transistor in
electronic circuit.

THERMAL RESISTIVE TRANSDUCER

Thermal resistive transduce are made up with two word
which are
1. THERMAL which mean HEAT
2. RESISTIVE which mean opposition
So transducer is the device that convert one system of
energy to another system.so it can measure different
parameter like PRESURE, TEMPERATURE and RESISTIVE that
play a big role in industry. In this article we want talk about
this transducer and explain what they do, how they work and
their application.

6
Some of them convert electrical signal in to physical
parameter known as PRIMARY TRANSDUCER while those
who convert physical parameter in to electrical signal is
known as SECONDARY TRANSDUCER.
Before start with THERMAL RESISTIVE TRANSDUCER let see
the resistive transducer.

THERMAL RESISTIVE TRANSDUSER

This is the electrical devices that convert electrical signal to
physical quantity like temperature, pressure vibration and
force.
This is function that the length of conductor is directly
proportional to its resistance and inversely proportional to
its cross section area.
If we consider that,
Length of conductor be L
Cross section area be A
Resistance of conductor be R

7
Resistivity of material be P
There fore
R=PL/A
But we know the RESISTANCE varies with varies of
TEMPERATURE
LET
Resistance be R
Temperature be T
R=KT
Since the thermal resistive transducer working under
principle of changing temperature of conductor.

WORKING PRINCIPLE OF THERMAL RESISTIVE TRANSDUCER

The resistance of the transducer can vary because of the
change of environment condition as well as the physical
properties of conductor. Measuring of AC or DC can be used
to measure the change in RESISTANCE
Thermal resistive transducer consists of long conductor
whose length can vary with time due to different factor like
TEMPERATURE and RESISTANCE.

8
So,
𝑻𝟏/𝑻𝟐 = 𝑳𝟏/𝑳𝟐
The one end of the long conductor is connected while the
other end of long conductor is connected to the filament or
heater. Which produce heat to the conductor.
We can calculate the change in resistance of conductor by
heating the conductor using the heater or filament of
thermal resistive transducer. Whenever we apply energy to
the object to produce heat to conductor cause the change in
resistance of the conductor.so this process help to calculate
the physical parameter. As we know temperature increase
cause to increase in resistance.
ADVANTAGES OF THERMAL RESISTIVE TRANSDUSER
1. The thermal resistive transducer can be used to give
very quick result
2. They are available in various size and they have a
considerably different variable resistance.
3. We can use both AC and DC for calculating the change in
resistance
4. They are quite affordable and can be easily available in
market
5. It can be used to give accurate results.

9
DISADVANTAGE OF THERMAL RESISTIVE TRANSDUCER
1. They used only by skilled person since some calculation
is needed
2. A lot of power is lost out.

APPILICATION OF THERMAL RESISTIVE TRANSDUSER

1. A thermal resistive transducer is mainly used to measure
the temperature in various kinds of application. When
there is a change in temperature, the coefficient of the
resistive transducer changes which can be used to
determine the change in temperature.

2. Used in thermistor.

3. Used in resistance thermometer.

4. The thermal resistive transducer can be used in

calculation of the displacement. When we apply strain
on the resistor, the resistance changes. The
characteristic can be used in the measurement of
displacement, force and pressure.

10