Industrial Instrumentation

Ch.E- 401
2 Pressure Measurement
Methods
 Elastic pressure transducers

 Manometer Method

 Pressure measurement by measuring vacuum

 Electric pressure transducers

Industrial Instrumentation
3 Pressure Measurement

Industrial Instrumentation
4 Explaining Vacuum
 Vacuum can be defined as a space that is empty of
matter
 However, achieving such an empty space is
essentially impossible on earth. Instead, vacuum is
best described as a space with gaseous pressure
much less than atmospheric pressure.
 The quality of a vacuum is indicated by the amount of
matter remaining in the system, so that a high quality
vacuum is one with very little matter left in it.
 Vacuum is primarily measured by its absolute
pressure.

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 Creating Vacuum- The Pumpdown
5

 The pumpdown process begins with air at

atmospheric pressure in a chamber
attached to a vacuum pump.
 The vacuum pump removes gas molecules
from the chamber to reach the desired
vacuum. Air at atmospheric pressure is a
combination of gasses as shown in Table.
 At room temperature and normal
atmospheric pressure, 1 ft3 of air contains
approximately 7×1023 molecules moving in
random directions and at speeds of around
1,000 miles per hour.
 The momentum exchange imparted to the
walls is equal to a force of 14.7 (psia)
pounds for every square inch of wall area.

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6
Creating Vacuum- The Pumpdown
 Gas molecules are
always moving and
colliding, molecule to
molecule.
 Gas molecules at
atmospheric pressure
are very close together,
so the collisions are
very short.
 The distance between
molecules is a function
of pressure and is
known as the mean free
path (MFP).

Industrial Instrumentation
7 Vacuum Units of Measurement
 the atmosphere generally exerts enough pressure at sea
level to support about a 30-inch (760mm) column of
mercury.
 We can measure decreases in atmospheric pressure in
terms of inches or millimeters of mercury.
 A 10% drop in atmospheric pressure would indicate a 3-
inch fall in the height of mercury column. Thus, a 10%
decrease in gas density from atmospheric pressure would
be measured as a 3-inch vacuum.

Industrial Instrumentation
8
Vacuum Levels
 Atmospheric Pressure – is variable but is
standardized at 760 Torr or 101.325 kPa.
 Low Vacuum – also called rough vacuum, is a vacuum
that can be achieved or measured by basic equipment
such as a vacuum cleaner.
 Medium Vacuum – is a vacuum that is typically
achieved by a single pump, but the pressure is too low
to measure with a mechanical manometer. It can be
measured with a McLeod gauge, thermal gauge, or a
capacitance gauge.
 High Vacuum – is vacuum where the MFP of residual
gasses is longer than the size of the enclosure. High
vacuum usually requires multi-stage pumping and ion
gauge measurement. NASA has revealed that the
vacuum level recorded on the moon was 1x10-9 Torr.

Industrial Instrumentation
9 Vacuum Levels
 Ultra-High vacuum – requires baking the chamber to remove
trace gasses and other special procedures. Most standards
define ultra-high vacuum as pressures below 10-8 Torr.
 Deep Space – is generally much emptier than any artificial
vacuum.
 Perfect Vacuum – is an ideal state of no particles at all. It
cannot be achieved in a laboratory, although there may be
small volumes which, for a brief period, happen to have no
particles of matter in them

Industrial Instrumentation
10 Measurement of vacuum
 The Bourdon Gauge
 Mcleod Gauges
 Capacitance Manometer Gauges
 Thermal conductivity Gauges
 Pirani Gauge
 Thermocouple Gauge
 Ionization Gauges
 Hot Cathode type
 Cold Cathode type

Industrial Instrumentation
 Operating Ranges of Vacuum
11
Instrumentation

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12
The Bourdon Gauge
 The Bourdon gauge, accurately and
continuously indicates the pressure
from approximately atmospheric
pressure (760 Torr) to 20 Torr.

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13
McLeod Gauge

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 McLeod Gauge Working
14
 The pressure to be measured (P1) is applied to the top of the reference
column of the McLeod Gauge as shown in diagram. The mercury level in
the gauge is raised by operating the piston to fill the volume as shown
by the dark shade in the diagram. When this is the case (condition – 1),
the applied pressure fills the bulb and the capillary.
Now again the piston is operated so that the mercury level in the gauge
increases.

 When the mercury level reaches the cutoff point, a known volume of
gas (V1) is trapped in the bulb and measuring capillary tube. The
mercury level is further raised by operating the piston so the trapped
gas in the bulb and measuring capillary tube are compressed. This is
done until the mercury level reaches the “Zero reference Point” marked
on the reference capillary (condition – 2). In this condition, the volume
of the gas in the measuring capillary tube is read directly by a scale
besides it. That is, the difference in height ‘H’ of the measuring capillary
and the reference capillary becomes a measure of the volume (V2) and
pressure (P2) of the trapped gas.

Now as V1,V2 and P2 are known, the applied pressure P1 can be

calculated using Boyle’s Law given by;

P1V1 = P2V2
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15 McLeod Gauge

Industrial Instrumentation
16 McLeod Gauge
Advantages
Disadvantages
 It is independent of the  The gas whose
gas composition. pressure is to be

measured should obey
It serves as a reference
the Boyle’s law
standard to calibrate
other low pressure  Moisture traps must be
gauges. provided to avoid any
 considerable vapor
A linear relationship
into the gauge.
exists between the
applied pressure and h  It measures only on a
 There is no need to sampling basis.
apply corrections to the  It cannot give a
McLeod Gauge continuous output.
readings.

Industrial Instrumentation
 Capacitance Manometer Gauges
17
 A capacitance sensor operates by measuring the change
in electrical capacitance that results from the movement
of a sensing diaphragm relative to some fixed capacitance
electrodes
 The higher the process vacuum, the farther it will pull the
measuring diaphragm away from the fixed capacitance
plates

Industrial Instrumentation
18 Capacitance Manometer Gauges
 The great advantage of a capacitance gauge is its
ability to detect extremely small diaphragm
movements. Accuracy is typically 0.25 to 0.5% of
reading
 Thin diaphragms can measure down to 10-5 Torr,
while thicker diaphragms can measure in the low
vacuum to atmospheric range
 The capacitance diaphragm gauge is widely used in
the semiconductor industry, because its Inconel
body and diaphragm are suitable for the corrosive
services of this industry. They are also favored
because of their high accuracy, immunity to
contamination, and gas type species.

Industrial Instrumentation
19 Pirani
gauge
The gauge is able to give a pressure reading due to a
heated metal wire suspended in the vacuum system to
be measured as shown in Figure

The Pirani gauge is used to measure pressures between 0.5 Torr

to 10-4 Torr. Before using the gauge, the apparatus needs
calibration to obtain accurate readings depending on the
thermal conductivity and the heat capacity of the gas.

Industrial Instrumentation
20 Basic principle of Pirani gauge

 A conducting wire gets heated when electric current

flows through it.
 The rate at which heat is dissipated from this wire
depends on the conductivity of the surrounding
media.
 The conductivity of the surrounding media in turn
depends on the density of the surrounding media
(that is, lower pressure of the surrounding media,
lower will be its density). If the density of the
surrounding media is low, its conductivity also will
be low causing the wire to become hotter for a
given current flow, and vice versa.

Industrial Instrumentation
21 Pirani
 gauge
The main parts of the arrangement are:
 A pirani gauge chamber which encloses a platinum filament.
 A compensating cell to minimize variation caused due to
ambient temperature changes.
 The pirani gauge chamber and the compensating cell is
housed on a wheat stone bridge circuit as shown in
diagram.

Industrial Instrumentation
22 Pirani
gauge
A constant current is passed through the filament in the
pirani gauge chamber. Due to this current, the filament
gets heated and assumes a resistance which is measured
using the bridge.
 Now the pressure to be measured (applied pressure) is
connected to the pirani gauge chamber. Due to the applied
pressure the density of the surrounding of the pirani gauge
filament changes. Due to this change in density of the
surrounding of the filament its conductivity changes
causing the temperature of the filament to change.
 When the temperature of the filament changes, the
resistance of the filament also changes.
 Now the change in resistance of the filament is determined
using the bridge.
 This change in resistance of the pirani gauge filament
becomes a measure of the applied pressure when
calibrated.
Industrial Instrumentation
23 Pirani
gauge
A basic pirani gauge consists of a fine wire of tungsten or
platinum of about 20 µm in diameter. This wire is
mounted in a tube and then connected to the system
whose vacuum is to be measured. The temperature
range is around (7-400) degree Celsius and the heating
current is between (10-100) mA.
 Vacuum measurement is usually taken in three ways.
 When the pressure changes, there will be a change in
current. For this, the voltage V has to be kept constant.
 The resistance R2 of the gauge is measured, by keeping the
gauge current constant.
 The null balance of the bridge circuit is maintained by
adjusting the voltage or current. This change is made with
the help of a potentiometer and the change brought will be
a measure of the pressure produced.

Industrial Instrumentation
24 Pirani
Advantages
gauge Disadvantages
 They are rugged and  Pirani gauge must be
inexpensive checked frequently.
 Give accurate results  Pirani gauge must be
 calibrated from
Good response to
different gases.
pressure changes.
 Electric power is a
 Relation between
must for its operation.
pressure and
resistance is linear for
the range of use.
 Readings can be taken
from a distance.

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 Thermocouple
25
 gauge
The working of a thermocouple type vacuum gauge is very
similar to that of a pirani gauge. The only difference is that the
hot wire temperature is measured directly with
a thermocouple which is attached to a wire.
 It contains two elements: a heater (filament) rand a
thermocouple junction which contacts the filament. With filament
current held constant, as the pressure within the tube is
decreased the filament will become hotter because of improved
thermal insulation provided by the increasingly rarefied gas.
Measurement is achieved by reading the thermocouple junction
voltage on a minivolt meter calibrated to show pressure

Industrial Instrumentation
26 Ionization gauges
 The ionization gauges utilize the ionizing property of
gases to detect the pressure of the system. They
sense pressure indirectly by measuring the electrical
ions produced when gas is bombarded with electrons.
Fewer ions will be produced by lower density gasses.
 A typical gauge comprise of three essential elements
an electron producing element (cathode), an electron
attracting grid (anode) and a collector.
 Viable means for pressure measurements between 10-
2
and 10-10 Torr.
 Based on the electron production the ionization gauge
can be divided into two types.
 Hot cathode method
 Cold cathode method

Industrial Instrumentation
27 Hot Cathode Method
 A filament or a cathode
produces electrons by
thermionic emission.
 The electrons produced are
attracted by a positively
charged grid.
 Grids designed with large
interstices so that the fast
moving electrons pass many
times without contacting the
grid. The electrons circulate
randomly around grid until
they collide with the molecule
of the gas.

Industrial Instrumentation
28 Hot Cathode Method
 The gas molecule are ionized
after collision with highly
energetic electrons,
 This knocks out the electrons
from the gas molecules and
produce positively charged
particle. The collector is
negatively charged and when
these positive ions are repelled
by the grid and accelerate
towards the plate. This produces
current in the system and the
number of ions collected in the
collector is proportional to the
density of the gas and is
representative of the pressure of
the system
Industrial Instrumentation
29
Cold cathode
method
A cathode is an electrode that emits electrons,
that is not electrically heated by a filament
 In the cold cathode gauge (CCG) ionization is
caused by a circulating electron plasma trapped in
crossed electric and magnetic fields.

Industrial Instrumentation
30 Cold cathode
method
Two parallel connecting cathodes and the anode is
placed midway between them
 The anode is a loop of flattened metal wire, the plane of
which is parallel to that of the cathode.
 A high voltage potential is maintained between the
anodes and the cathodes. In addition, a magnetic field
intensity is applied between the elements by a
permanent magnet, which is usually external to the
gauge tube body.

Industrial Instrumentation
31 Cold cathode
method
Electrons emitted travel in helical paths (due to the
magnetic field), eventually reaching the anode, thus
increasing the amount of ionization occurring within
the gauge.
 Normally the anode is operated at about 2kV, giving
rise to a direct current caused by the positive ions
arriving at the cathode.
 The pressure is indicated directly by the magnitude
of the direct current produced. The pressure range
covered by this gauge is from as low as10-7 Torr.
 It is widely used in industrial systems because it is
rugged and simple to use.

Industrial Instrumentation