DIAPHRAGM SEALS

TECHNICAL AND PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS OUTCOME AND EFFECT - PERFORMANCE

INTRODUCTION
This section describes the performance of a diaphragm seal system, in other words what can you expect from it in terms of reliability, sensitivity, precision, reproducibility stability, etc. Of course combining a diaphragm seal with a pressure measuring device will not improve the specifications of the latter but always have a slightly deteriorating effect on them (although the Badotherm seals have the slightest effect). Performance of a diaphragm seal system is mostly expressed by three values: Accuracy, Total Probable Error (TPE) Response time (Rt)
MRS dD 23mm 32mm 44mm 51mm 57mm 72mm 81mm LGP GPT/APT 4000 2000 1250 800 600 200 80 5 dPT (2seals) n.a. n.a. 300 200 100 20 10 n.a. GPT/APT 20000 10000 6250 4000 3000 1000 400 25 RS dPT (2seals) n.a. n.a. 1500 1000 500 100 50 n.a.

TOTAL PROBABLE ERROR (TPE)

A far more interesting figure than the accuracy, to judge whether a diaphragm seal system will meet your expectations is the TPE. In practice it has been defined by several big and predominant end-users in e.g. petrochemical industries, that a TPE < 5% of calibrated span assures a reliable, stable en reproducible measurement. TPE is calculated by extracting the square root of the sum of the squares of all influences in consideration. To calculate the TPE of a diaphragm seal system, following effects are taken into consideration (as a % of calibrated span): Process Temperature Effect (PTE) Ambient Temperature Effect (ATE) Mounting Temperature Effect (MTE) Accuracy (ACC) as described above Static Pressure Effect (SPE), only applicable for dPT applications

In view of their determining importance in the total process control loop, this section will only handle about electronic pressure transmitters equipped with diaphragm 1 seal(s) .

ACCURACY
The accuracy of a diaphragm seal system is expressed as a percentage of the calibrated span of the combination. It has as references: Ambient and process temperature: 20 C. +/- 1C. Atmospheric pressure: 101.32 kPa

As stated, the Badotherm diaphragm seal have a slight deteriorating effect on the accuracy of the instrument, in general this 0.025% on top of the standard accuracy of the (differential) pressure transmitter. Following formula is to be applied: Reference Span (RS)= 5 x minimum recommended span (MRS) RS span (0.025 + (d)PT accuracy)% of span RS > span ((((RS/span) x 0.0896) + 0.025) + PT reference accuracy)% of span

Which results in following formula: TPE= (PTE+ATE+MTE+ACC+SPE) Following example: Level application with dPT (2 seals; dD 81 mm.); 2* 7 meters of capillary; span: -440/-75 mbar; static pressure 65 bar; distance between taps: 382 cm.; process temperature: 180C; ambient temperature: -10/+35 C.

The MRS and RS (below in mbar) are defined by the diaphragm size (dD):

1 For pressure gauges the effect of the diaphragm seal on its accuracy is negligible and thus it can be stated that standard accuracies (> 0.5%) are maintained . For pressure switches accuracy is not applicable

Give following data:

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DIAPHRAGM SEALS

TECHNICAL AND PERFORMANCE SPECIFICATIONS OUTCOME AND EFFECT - PERFORMANCE

where the level fluctuates smoothly between e.g. 45% and 65% level, Rt will almost never be an issue. PTE: 0.39% ATE: 0.49% MTE: 3.19% ACC: 0.09% SPE: 0.32% In those cases where I high viscous fill fluid needs to be used in combination with low ambient temperatures, Badotherms unique Temperature Compensator (TC) is the appropriate solution to prevent Rt problems.

TPE= ((0.39)+(0.49)+(3.19)+(0.09)+(0.32)) =3.27% This is well below the mentioned 5% limit so acceptable.

RESPONSE TIME (RT)

Response (Rt) is de time for the diaphragm seal to react to the pressure input. It is a theoretical value and expresses the time (in seconds) for the diaphragm seal system to reach 90% of the calibrated span, when the pressure is raised from 0% to 100 % of span in 0 seconds. It is an exponential curve, which, in theory again, never reaches the 100% value. Following formula is applied to calculate: Rt 90% = Whereby: m = length of capillary kg/m = fill fluid density cSt = fill fluid viscosity V = displacement volume of the transmitter id = capillary internal diameter P = calibrated span
/

Another way of calculating Rt is by using the time constant method which results in a which is 63.8% of the calibrated span compared to the above cited 90%. The is approximately 2.5 times less the 90% value. Badotherm prefers to use the 90% method since this a better prediction what the worst case scenario could be. Rt should not be overrated as element in the overall performance of a diaphragm seal system, even with a very high viscosity of the fill fluid and a pressure span > 10 bar, the Rt is in the vast majority of the cases a negligible factor. Only in those applications where a fast reaction is required, Rt should be taken into account, e.g. a tank or vessel that is emptied very fast from 100% to 0% level could cause an Rt problem. However for level applications

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