UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA

Faculty of Engineering & Computing

Laboratory Report









Title of Experiment: Differential Pressure Transmitter Calibration



Experiment #: 1


Instructor: Mr. E Bonnick


Course Name: Instrumentation and Control


Programme: BEng3M



Submitted by: Mark Newman



Date: March 29, 2012


ID No. : 0702708

Apparatus:
Differential Pressure Transmitter, Multimeter, power supply,; 250 Resistor, Pressure
Regulator, Pressure Gauge, Plastic tubing and connectors.


Theory
DPT (Differential Pressure Transmitter) are used to measure pressure. This is
useful in weather instrumentation, aviation, automobiles, plants, flow tanks of volatile
liquids where the tank must be concealed to prevent excessive fluid lost. An any other
machinery that has pressure functionality implemented.
The DPT can be used for applications for which a processVariable of pressure
needs to be converted to an electronic signal.This device uses an internal. Pressure
transducer, to convert the pressure to a corresponding mV signal.
The mV signal then passes through a linearization and conditioning circuitry. The
resulting signal is an industry standard 4-20 mA. This mA signal is factory set over the
specified range of the unit. From here the signal may be sent to a Display,
chart recorder, or instrumentation. For the uses of the individual in the desired process
control
Some of the advantages of using such a sensing equipment is that pressure
transmitters are able to directly measure pressure levels as well as differences in pressure.
Pressure transmitters are able to withstand harsh environment and can even be completely
submerged. Pressure transmitters made of piezoelectric materials are immune to both
radiation and electromagnetic fields.















Method:
The transmitter was connected to the pressure gauge and regulator as shown in figure 1.
And the circuit was then connected with a 25VDC supply voltage as shown in figure 2.




1) Before Calibration:
The pressure regulator was manipulated until we attained a pressure reading of 0 Psi
and the output current recorded. This then was repeated for all pressure values which
we need to use.

2) Calibration:
The pressure regulator was manipulated until the pressure gauge read 0 Psi. A small
screw driver was used to adjust the zero adjustment screw on the device until it read
4mA. The pressure regulator was then adjusted until the gauge read 4 Psi, and the
adjustment span screw manipulated until the output current was 20mA. The output
was checked at 0 and 4 psi. The pressure regulator was adjusted to the values shown
in table 2 and the corresponding current recorded.

3) Repeatability Test:

The pressure of 2.5 psi was chosen and the pressure transmitter adjusted to this value
adjusts and the output current was recorded. It was re-adjusted to increase the pressure
and then to return to 2.5 psi and the output current recorded. This was repeated for a total
of four readings. The results were tabulated and recorded in the table below



Results

Before Calibration



Calibrated results


Repeatability
Pressure 1.00 psi
Repeatability
Pressure (Psi) Test #1 Test #2 Test #3 Test #4
Output current (mA) 7.67 7.8 7.57 7.67














Before Calibration
Pressure (Psi) 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00
Output current (mA) 3.18 5.06 7.3 9.25 11.2 12.27 14.35 16.26 18.35
Calibration
Pressure (Psi) 0.00 0.50 1.00 1.50 2.00 2.50 3.00 3.50 4.00
Up-Scale Output
Current (mA) 4.04 5.02 7.63 9.54 11.7 13.34 15.6 17.79 19.92
Down-Scale Output
Current (mA) 4.04 5.56 7.44 7.44 9.55 11.43 13.54 17.69 19.92



Graphs

Figure 1



Figure 2



y = 3.7133x + 3.3756
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
O
u
t
p
u
t

c
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
m
A
)


Pressure (Psi)
Before Calibration
Series1
Linear (Series1)
y = 4.0523x + 3.5153
y = 3.87x + 2.9944
0
5
10
15
20
25
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
C
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
m
A
)

Pressure (Psi)
Series1
Up-Scale Output Current
(mA)
Series3
Down-Scale Output Current
(mA)
Linear (Up-Scale Output
Current (mA))
Linear (Down-Scale Output
Current (mA))
mid point
Calibration
mid point
Calibration
Figure 3




7.55
7.6
7.65
7.7
7.75
7.8
7.85
0.00 1.00 2.00 3.00 4.00 5.00
O
u
t
p
u
t

c
u
r
r
e
n
t

(
m
A
)



Tests
Repeatability
Series1
Mean line 7.67


Calculations


Hysteresis Calculation

max min
min
2
m
X X
X X
| |
= +
|
\ .

psi


( )
( )
max min
% 100%
mn mp
Y Y
Hysteresis
Y Y

|



Repeatability calculation of deviation

)

( )

( )

( )

( )

Deviation

7.680.08mA






























Discussion:

The experiment was setup according to the lab manual, the instrument calibrated and
results obtained which were analyzed and then used to plot a graph of output current
against the pressure. The gradient of the graph showed that with the increase in pressure
there was a proportional increase out-put current this verifies that the relationship is
purely linear. According to the accuracy of the measuring equipment used this
relationship did not deviate for the range of 4-20 mA and 0-4 psi.The above was true for
the Up-Scale value, upon decent we saw that the system deviated from the up scale
graph. The up scale graph had a gradient of 4.052mA/psi and the down scale had a
gradient of 3.87 mA/Psi. The hysteresis was calculated to be 6.67%. this value is way off
from the allowable value of 0.075%fs . Would have been possible caused by the
experimenter and the system. as the device used to control the input pressure was a
manual pressure valve with a gauge reading of 0.5 being the smallest marking. as so we
can see that the error n the gauge reading could have been reflected in the dpt calculation

Repeatability or test-retest reliability is the variation in measurements taken by a single
person or instrument on the same item and under the same conditions. A measurement
may be said to be repeatable when this variation is smaller than some agreed limit. The
test carried was to choose a specific pressure and measure the out-put and to hit this point
consistently for four times, if all of the results are close to each other this means that the
device has good reputability. The pressure chosen was 1.00 psi which results in a series
of readings that deviated 7.680.08mA over a short period of time . The accuracy of the
measuring suggests that the device fairly accurate as the deviation was only 1.042% of
the mean value. this deviation can be caused due to experimenter error

Conclusion:
The results of the graph show a positive gradient starting from the 4mA and ending at
20mA. there was a recorded deviation in the up-scale and down scale reading to which a
hysteresis value of 6.67% was recorded within the device , the device repeatability was
fairly consistent as we only deviated from the chosen value by 1.042% hit the chosen
point with no variation in the values .









REFERENCES:
Johnson D. Curtis. Process Control and Instrumentation Technology 7th edition.

http://www.andinst.com/PDFs/3529.pdf