Capacitive Transducer

 The capacitive transducer is used for measuring the displacement, pressure and
other physical quantities.
 It is a passive transducer that means it requires external power for operation.
 The capacitive transducer works on the principle of variable capacitances.
 The capacitive transducer contains two parallel metal plates.
 These plates are separated by the dielectric medium which is either air, material,
gas or liquid.
 In the normal capacitor the distance between the plates are fixed, but in
capacitive transducer the distance between them are varied.
Principle of Operation
The equations below express the capacitance between the plates of a capacitor
C=€A/d
C = €r €0 A / d
where A – overlapping area of plates in m2
d – the distance between two plates in meter
ε – permittivity of the medium in F/m
εr – relative permittivity
ε0 – the permittivity of free space
The schematic diagram of a parallel plate capacitive transducer is shown in the figure
below.

 The change in capacitance occurs because of the physicals variables like

displacement, force, pressure, etc.
The capacitive transducer uses the following effects.
 Change in dielectric constant
 Change in overlapping area
 Change in the distance between the plates
Change in Dielectric Constant
 The capacitance of the transducer also changes by the variation in their dielectric
constant which is usually because of the measurement of liquid or gas level.
Change in Overlapping Area
 The equation above shows that the capacitance is directly proportional to the area
of the plates.
 The capacitance changes correspondingly with the change in the position of the
plates.

 The capacitive transducers are used for measuring the large displacement
approximately from 1mm to several cms.
 The area of the capacitive transducer changes linearly with the capacitance and
the displacement.
 Initially, the nonlinearity occurs in the system because of the edges. Otherwise,
it gives the linear response.
Change in the Distance between the Plates

 The capacitance of the transducer is inversely proportional to the distance

between the plates.

 The one plate of the transducer is fixed, and the other is movable.
  The displacement which is to be measured links to the movable plates.

 The capacitance is inversely proportional to the distance because of which the

capacitor shows the nonlinear response.

 Such type of transducer is used for measuring the small displacement.

Advantages of Capacitive transducers

 Sensitive is very high
 High frequency response
 Minimum loading effect
 Very good resolution
 requires small force to operate
Disadvantages of capacitive transducer
 Nonlinear behaviour.
 Temperature sensitive
 Affected by stray capacitance
Applications of Capacitive Transducer
The following are the uses of capacitive transducer.
 Measurement of both the linear and angular displacement.
 Measurement of the force and pressures.
 Measurement of the humidity in gases
 Measurement of the volume, density, weight etc.
Resistance Temperature Detector or RTD
 A Resistance Thermometer or Resistance Temperature Detector is a device
which used to determine the temperature by measuring the resistance of pure
electrical wire.
 This wire is referred to as a temperature sensor. If we want to measure
temperature with high accuracy, RTD is the only one solution in industries.
 It has good linear characteristics over a wide range of temperature.
 This expression is for huge range of temperature. For small range of
temperature, the expression can be,


 In RTD devices; Copper, Nickel and Platinum are widely used metals.
 These three metals are having different resistance variations with respective to
the temperature variations.
 That is called resistance-temperature characteristics.

Construction of Resistance Temperature Detector or RTD

 The construction is typically such that the wire is wound on a form (in a coil)
 It is notched mica cross frame to achieve small size, improving the thermal
conductivity.
 The coil is protected by a stainless steel sheath or a protective tube.
 So that, the physical strain is negligible as the wire expands and increase the
length of wire with the temperature change. If the strain on the wire is increasing,
then the tension increases. Due to that, the resistance of the wire will change
which is undesirable.So, we don’t want to change the resistance of wire by any
other unwanted changes except the temperature changes.
This is also useful to RTD maintenance while the plant is in operation. Mica is
placed in between the steel sheath and resistance wire for better electrical
insulation. Due less strain in resistance wire, it should be carefully wound over
mica sheet. The fig.2 shows the structural view of an Industrial Resistance
Temperature Detector.
 Resistance Thermometer Bridge Circuit:
The resistance of a conductor changes when its temperature is changed. This property
is used for measurement of temperature. The Resistance Thermometer Bridge Circuit
uses the change in electrical resistance of conductor to determine the temperature.
The requirements of a conductor material to be used in these thermometers are:
1. The change in resistance of material per unit change in temperature must be as large
as possible.
2. The resistance of the material must have a continuous and stable relationship with
temperature.
The main section of a Resistance Thermometer Bridge Circuit is its sensing element.
The characteristics of the sensing element, determines the sensitivity and operating
temperature range of the instrument.
The sensing element may be any material that exhibits a relatively large resistance
change with the change in temperature. The material used should also have a stable
characteristics, that is, neither its resistance nor its temperature coefficient of resistance
should undergo permanent change with use or age.
It is necessary to consider stability in order to maintain the calibration of a resistance
thermometer. The need for stability frequently limits the temperature range over which
the sensing element may be used.
Another desirable characteristics for a sensing element is a linear change in resistance
with change in temperature.
When the measured temperature is subjected to rapid variations, the speed with which
a resistive element responds to changes in temperature is important.
The smaller a given sensing element, less heat is required to raise its temperature, the
faster is its response.
Platinum, Nickel and Copper are the metals most commonly used to measure
temperature. The resistivity of platinum tends to increase less rapidly at higher
temperatures than for other materials, hence it is a commonly used material for
resistance thermometers. The temperature range over which Platinum has stability is
260 °C-1100 °C. An industrial Platinum resistance thermometer is as shown in
Fig.13.40 (a).
 The changes in resistance caused by changes in temperature as detected by a
Wheatstone’s Bridge is shown in Fig.13.40(b).
Hence, the temperature sensing element, which may be Nickel, Copper or Platinum
contained in a bulb or well, along with the balancing bridge, forms the basic important
components of a temperature measuring system based on this principle.
The sensing element Rs is made of a material having a high temperature coefficient,
R1, R2and R5 are made of resistance that are practically constant under normal
temperature changes.
When the sensing element is very near the bridge, and under balance conditions, the

following relationship holds good.

In normal practice, the sensing element is away from the indicator and the bridge, and

its leads have a resistance, say R3, R4.

When resistance Rs changes, the bridge balance is upset and the galvanometer shows a
deflection, which can be calibrated to give a suitable temperature scale.
Advantages of Resistance Thermometer Bridge Circuit
The measurement of temperature by the electrical resistance method has the following
advantages and characteristics.
1. The measurement is very accurate.
2. Indicators, recorders and controllers can also be operated.
3. More than one resistance element can be clubbed to the same indicating/ recording
instrument.
4. The temperature resistance element can be easily installed and replaced.
5. The accuracy of the measuring circuit can be easily checked by substituting a standard
resistor for the resistive element.
6. Resistive elements can be used to measure differential temperature.
7. Resistance thermometer have a wide working range without loss of accuracy, and can
be used for temperature ranges (-200°C-650°C)
8. They are best suited for remote sensing and indication.
9. The response time of the resistive element is 2-10 s.
10. The error of the resistive element is in the range of ± 0.25% of the scale
11. The size of the resistive element may be about 6-12 mm in diameter.
12. No necessity of temperature compensation.
13. Extremely accurate temperature sensing.
14. Performance stability over longer periods of time
Limitations of Resistance Thermometer Bridge Circuit
1. High cost
2. Need for bridge and power source
3. Possibility of self heating.