ADDIS ABABA SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF ELECTRICAL AND MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT (MEng 3261)

ASSIGNMENT
(WORKING PRINCIPLES AND APPLICATION AREAS OF SOME ACTIVE TRANSDUCERS)
(Thermo electric, electromagnetic, chemical and photo voltaic)

NAME: BEKALU TIZAZU A.

ID №: ETS 0206/10
DEP.: MECHANICAL ENGINEERING
SECTION: A
SUB. TO: MR. DEMISE (Instrumentation and Measurement (MEng 3261) Instructor)

3rd year, Second Semester, 2020gc.

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INTRODUCTION
A device which converts a physical quantity into the proportional electrical signal is called a
transducer. And these Transducers are classified as follow
Active and passive transducers(based on source of energy)
Analogue and digital transducers
Primary and secondary transducers
On the basis of transduction principle
Transducers and inverse transducers
But for now I am going to explain active transducer, the four types of active transducer and their
working principle as well as application areas.

Active transducers
are self generating type wherein they develop their own voltage or current output is active;
they develop their own output, either, it can be voltage or it can be current predominantly, we use
voltage. They do not need any auxiliary power source to produce the output. There are four types
of this kind of transducers

Active transducer

Thermo electric Electromagnetic Chemical Photo voltaic

Let’s see them one by one

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 THERMO ELECTRIC TRANSDUCER
An active transducer is said to be thermo electric transducer, when it produces an electrical
quantity which is equivalent to temperature input. Let’s see one kind of thermo electric
transducer (i.e. thermocouples).
Thermocouple Transducer
Thermocouple transducer produces an output voltage for a corresponding change of temperature
at the input. If two wires of different metals are joined together in order to create two junctions,
then that entire configuration is called Thermocouple. The circuit diagram of basic thermocouple
is shown below –

The above thermocouple has two metals, A & B and two junctions, 1 & 2. Consider a constant
reference temperature, T2 at junction 2. Let the temperature at junction, 1 is T1. Thermocouple
generates an emf (electro motive force), whenever the values of T1 and T2 are different.
That means, thermocouple generates an emf, whenever there is a temperature difference between
the two junctions, 1 & 2 and it is directly proportional to the temperature difference between
those two junctions. Mathematically, it can be represented as

eα (T1−T2)
Where,
e is the emf generated by thermocouple

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The above thermocouple circuit can be represented as shown in below figure for practical
applications.

The part of the circuit, which lies between hot & cold junctions including those two junctions is
an equivalent model of basic thermocouple. A PMMC galvanometer is connected across the
cold junction and it deflects according to the emf generated across cold junction. Thermocouple
transducer is the most commonly used thermoelectric transducer.
Some applications of thermo electric transducer
Formation of macro particles in arc ion-plated nitride coatings
Directional flex tensional transducer
Compact EUV light sources for at-wavelength metrology
Platinum aluminide coating structural effects on hot corrosion resistance at 900 °C
Buckling of anodic films on aluminum: Determination of plastic deformation energy of coatings
New boron nitride systems for aluminum casting
Synthesis and properties of titanium aluminum boron nitride coatings.

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 ELECTROMAGNETIC TRANSDUCER
When a moving conductor of length l or a single-turn coil of the same length moves with a
velocity ds/dt across and perpendicular to the lines of magnetic flux of density B, an emf is
generated in the conductor (coil) which is given by
𝒅𝒔
Faraday’s law as 𝒆 = 𝑩𝒍 𝒅𝒕 .

Now l ds represents an area through which the flux lines cross during the time dt, and Bl ds is the
corresponding differential flux d through that area. The emf generated corresponding to N turns
is
𝒅∅
𝒆=𝑵
𝒅𝒕
Accordingly, the magnitude of the emf depends on the rate of crossing the lines of magnetic flux.
This transduction mechanism is utilized in a velocity-measuring transducer. Figure 1a shows
two coils L1 and L2, which are connected in phase opposition. The measurand is linked to the
permanent magnet, which slides freely in the coils. The rate of movement of the magnet
determines the velocity of the measurand. The output voltage is proportional to the velocity for
all positions of the magnet. These transducers are known as linear velocity transducers (LVTs).

Figure: Electromagnetic Transducers. (a) Linear velocity transducer (LVT)

(b) Flow velocity transducer.
Another application of this transduction mechanism is in sensing the flow velocity V of an
electrically conducting fluid as shown in Fig. b. the flow is into the plane of the paper. The
magnetic field is normal to the flow. The emf is generated along the diameter a-b normal to the
flow and the magnetic field B. The voltage across the electrodes inserted into the flow at a and b
is proportional to the flow velocity.
Here are some application areas of electromagnetic transducer
Plate lamination defect inspection
Flaw detection in steel products
Bounded structure lamination detection
Thickness measurement for various application etc.

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 CHEMICAL TRANSDUCER
Is an electronic device that converts chemical energy into another form of energy (example:-
electrical energy) by using chemical process. And let’s see one kind of chemical transducer
which is fuel cell.
FUEL CELL
It converts a chemical energy in a fuel in to electrical energy through a chemical process with
oxygen or other oxidizing agent. Hydrogen is the most commonly used fuel but hydrocarbons
such as natural gases and alcohols like methanol are sometimes used.
How it works
At the anode a catalyst oxidizes the fuel, usually hydrogen, turning the fuel into a positively
charged ion and a negatively charged electron. The electrolyte is a substance specifically
designed so ions can pass through it, but the electrons cannot. The freed electrons travel through
a wire creating the electric current. The ions travel through the electrolyte to the cathode. Once
reaching the cathode, the ions are reunited with the electrons and the two react with a third
chemical, usually oxygen, to create water or carbon dioxide.
A fuel cell system which includes a "fuel reformer" can utilize the hydrogen from any
hydrocarbon fuel -from natural gas to methanol, and even gasoline. Since the fuel cell relies on
chemistry and not combustion, emissions from this type of a system would still be much smaller
than emissions from the cleanest fuel combustion processes.

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Here are some Applications of chemical transducer
Power -
Stationary fuel cells are used for commercial, industrial and residential primary and backup
power generation. Fuel cells are very useful as power sources in remote locations, such as
spacecraft, remote weather stations, large parks, communications centers, rural locations
including research stations, and in certain military applications. A fuel cell system running on
hydrogen can be compact and lightweight, and have no major moving parts. Because fuel cells
have no moving parts and do not involve combustion, in ideal conditions they can achieve up to
99.9999%reliability.This equates to less than one minute of downtime in a six year period.
Transportation -
In terms of transportation, there are over 100 fuel cell buses deployed around the world today.
Most buses are produced by UTC Power, Toyota, Ballard, Hydrogenics, and Proton Motor. UTC
Buses have already accumulated over 970,000 km (600,000 mi) of driving. Fuel cell buses have
a30-141% higher fuel economy than diesel buses and natural gas buses. Other vehicles that use
fuel cell nowadays are Forklifts, Motorcycles, Airplanes, Boats, Heavy-duty Trucks, etc.
Consumer Electronics -
Fuel cells will change the telecommuting world, powering cellular phones, laptops and palm
pilots hours longer than batteries. Companies have already demonstrated fuel cells that can
power cellphones for 30 days without recharging and laptops for 20 hours. Other applications for
micro fuel cells include pagers, video recorders, portable power tools, and low power remote
devices such as hearing aids, smoke detectors, burglar alarms, hotel locks and meter readers.
These miniature fuel cells generally run on methanol, an inexpensive wood alcohol also used in
windshield wiper fluid.

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 PHOTOVOLATAIC TRANSDUCER
Is the type of active Transducer and the Figure below shows structure of photovoltaic cell, It
shows that cell is actually a PN-junction diode with appropriately doped semiconductors.
Working principle
When photons strike on the thin p-doped upper layer, they are absorbed by the electrons in the n-
layer; which causes formation of conduction electrons and holes. These conduction electrons and
holes are separated by depletion region potential of the pn junction. When load is connected
across the cell, the depletion region potential causes the photocurrent to flow through the load N.

Some aplications of photo voltaic cell

Remote water pumping in Utah
Telecommunication tower
Photovoltaic array for lighting
Recreation vehicle outfitted with solar panels
Solar lanterns for landscaping
For a solar driven band
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References
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_cell
http://www.fuelcells.org/
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/io/io_1.html
http://stereos.about.com/od/glossaryoftermst/g/transducer.htm
http://mediatoget.blogspot.in/2012/05/electromagnetic-transducer.html
http://www.slideshare.net/sagardivetiya/photovoltaic-cell-introduction

THE END