Instrumentation Engineering

Chapter Two
Standards and Organizations

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 2.1: What is standard?
• Measurement standards are those devices,
instruments, systems, or processes that are used
to define (or to realize) measurement units.
• A measurement standard provide a physical
quantity that serves as the basis for the
measurement of the quantity.
• Another definition of a standard is a unit of
known quantity or dimension to which other
measurement units can be compared.
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 2.2: The Need for Standards
• When you can measure what you are speaking about, and
can express it in numbers, you know something about it;
• But when you cannot measure it, cannot express it in
numbers, your knowledge is unsatisfactory.
✓The measurement of a given quantity is essentially an
act or the result of comparison between the quantity
(unknown) and a predefined standard.
✓Since two quantities are compared the result is
expressed in numerical values.

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 Cont…
• That means to measure something we need a
Standard that is accurately defined and commonly
accepted.
• Standards define the units and scales that is used
to quantify the unknown quantity(variable).
• Standards are also used for comparison of
measurements made in different times and places.

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 Cont…
• For example, buyers of fuel oil are charged by a
unit of liquid volume.
• In the U.S., this would be the gallon; but in most
other parts of the world, it would be the liter.
• It is important for the buyer that the quantity
ordered is actually received
• and the refiner expects to be paid for the quantity
that is sold.

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 Cont…
• Both parties are interested in accurate
measurements of the volume.
• therefore, they need to agree on the units,
conditions, and method(s) of measurement to
be used.

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 Types of Standards
Basic or Fundamental Standards
• In the SI system, there are seven basic measurement
units from which all other units are derived.
• All of the units except one are defined in terms of
their unitary value.
• The one exception is the unit of mass. It is defined as
1000 grams (g) or 1 kilogram (kg).
• The seven basic units and their definitions are listed in
Table 2.1.

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 Cont…

TABLE 2.1: The SI Base Units

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 Derived Standards
• All of the other units are derived from the seven
basic units described in Table 2.1.
• Measurement standards are devices that represent
the SI standard unit in a measurement.
• Table 2.2 lists the most common derived SI units,
together with the base units that are used to define
the derived unit.
• For example, the unit of frequency is the hertz, it is
defined as the reciprocal of time. That is, 1 hertz (1
Hz) is one cycle per second.
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 Cont…

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TABLE 2.2: SI Derived Units with Special Names 10
 Existing standard organization
• Instrumentation uses the standards from several
technical fields,
• Therefore, uses the industrial and technical
standards that have evolved in these various
standards.
• A list of these technical organizations is shown
below.
• Each of the institutions has developed a large
number of accepted standards for consistency and
uniformity of measurement and control.
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 Cont…
• Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers
• Instrumentation, Systems, and Automation Society
• National Institute of Standards and Technology
• American National Standards Institute
• National Electrical Manufactures Association
• Industrial Control and Plant Automation
• Society of Automotive Engineers
• The American Institute of Physics
• American Chemical Society
• International Electro technical Commission
• American Institute of Chemical Engineers
• American Association of Mechanical Engineers
• American Society for Testing and Materials
• Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
• Environmental Protection Agency

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 Cont…
• Many countries established standardization institutions and
standard laboratories
❖This Laboratories can define standard units
❖Are kept as national standards
❖This standard units are calibrated against the world standards.
❖All other standards in the country are calibrated against these
national standards and used as secondary standards.

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 Classification of Standards (Instruments)
• On the basis of their functions and applications, standards of
measurement are classified into the following categories
International Standards:
• These are defined by international agreement.
• Standards are maintained by international bureau of weights
and measures,
• Can not be available for ordinary use of measuring instruments.
• Used for comparison or calibration of lower standards
• International Standards are periodically evaluated and checked
by absolute(basic) measurement in terms of fundamental units

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 The Primary (Basic) Standards:
• These are maintained by national standard laboratories.
• The primary standards, again representing the fundamental
units and some derived mechanical and electrical units are
calibrated by absolute measurements at each of the national
laboratories.
• Primary standards are not available for use outside the
national labs.

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 Cont…
• One of the main functions of primary standards is
the verification and calibration of secondary
standards.
Secondary Standards:
• These are standards used in industrial
measurement laboratories.

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 Cont….
• well-engineered instrument that gives high accuracy than
the working standards and is stabilized against drift in its
performance with time.
• These standards are maintained by the particular involved
industry.
• Are sent to the national standards labs on a periodic basis
for calibration and comparison against the primary
standards.

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 Working Standards
• These standards are also defined in industrial measurement
laboratories.
• These are used to check and calibrate general lab
Instruments.
• Used to calibrate process instruments
Quality assurance
• In order to achieve quality or “to do things right,” it is
necessary to make some decisions.
• The correct decisions cannot be made unless there are good
numerical data on which to base those decisions

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 Cont…
• Those numerical data must come from measurements and
if “correct” decisions are really needed, they must be based
on the “right” numbers(numerical data).
• The only way to get “good” numerical data is to make
accurate measurements using calibrated instruments.
• Finally, if it is important to compare those measurements
to other measurements made at other places and other
times:
❖the instruments must be calibrated using traceable
standards.

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 Figure 5.1: Quality Assurance Hierarchy
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 Calibration of measuring instruments
Principles of calibration
• Is Process of comparing the output of the instrument or
sensor under test against;
➢the output of an instrument of known accuracy
➢when the same input (the measured quantity) is
applied to both instruments.
• This procedure is carried out for the whole range of
inputs of the instrument or sensor.

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 Cont…
• Used to know the measuring accuracy of a measurement
system over the whole measurement range,
❖provided that the calibrated instruments are used in;
❖ environmental condition that is the same to which
they were calibrated.
• For use of instruments and sensors under different
environmental conditions, appropriate correction has to
be made.

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 Cont…
• Instruments used as a standard in calibration
procedures are usually chosen to be of greater
inherent accuracy.
• Because such instruments are only used for
calibration purposes.
• Calibration of Instrument has to be repeated at
prescribed intervals .

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 Cont...
• Because the characteristics of any instrument
change over a period.
➢ Due to the effects of dirt, dust, fumes,
➢ ageing effects in components within the
instrument,
➢ chemicals and
➢ temperature changes in the operating
environment.

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 Calibration chain and traceability
• The first link in the calibration chain is;
➢the instrument with in the instrumentation department
of a company (measurement Laboratory of industry)
• Instruments used for calibration at this level are known as
working standards.
• The working standards are kept by the instrumentation
department of a company

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 Cont…
• They are Only used for calibration duties, no
other purpose.
• Their accuracy is maintained over a reasonable
period of time.
• Because use-related deterioration in accuracy
is largely eliminated.

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 Cont…
• However, over the longer term, the characteristics
of even working standard instruments will drift
❖mainly due to ageing effects in components within
them.
• Therefore the working standard instruments must
be calibrated at appropriate intervals of time
against instruments of higher accuracy.
• The instrument used for calibrating working
standard instruments is known as a Secondary
reference standard

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 Cont…
• Primary reference standards describe the highest
level of accuracy;
➢that is achievable in the measurement of a
particular physical quantity.
• All instruments used in Standards Laboratories as
secondary reference standards have to be;
➢ calibrated themselves against primary
reference standards at appropriate intervals of
time.
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 Cont…
• calibration has a chain like structure;
– in which every instrument in the chain is
calibrated against a more accurate instrument
immediately above it in the chain.
• This knowledge of the full chain of instruments
involved in the calibration procedure is known
as traceability.

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