Special Purpose

Instruments
 Content
Block diagram and operation of following digital
meters:
 Power factor meter
 Frequency meter
 Power analyzer
 Tri-vector meter
 TOD meter
 Multi meter.
 Power Factor Meter
 The power in single phase circuit is given by
P=V I cos Φ
 Where cos Φ = power factor of the circuit
 By using precise voltmeter, ammeter, wattmeter the voltage, current and
power can be measured, hence power factor can be given by
cos Φ=P / (V I)
 But this method is no accurate as the load conditions may vary hence the
power factor
 The analog type power factor meter have two types (i)Electrodynamometer
type (ii)Moving Iron type
 Digital Power Factor Meter
J Q
Pre-amplifier Zero
v and Crossing CLK (A)
Attenuator Detector
K C

Counter and
AND
J Q Display Unit
Pre-amplifier Zero
i and Crossing CLK (B)
Attenuator Detector
K C

Clock

 The block diagram is as shown above.

 The major parts of this digital p.f. meter are
--Pre-amplifier and attenuator
--Zero Crossing Detector
--Flip-flops
--AND gate and clock
--Counter and display unit
 Digital Power Factor Meter
 Pre-amplifier and Attenuator:
The instantaneous voltage and current signals are applied to pre-amplifier
and attenuator stage. If the input signal is weak then it is amplified using pre-
amplifier and unwanted signal and noise from signal is removed using attenuator.
 Zero-Crossing Detector:
The amplified signals are fed to zero crossing detector which set and reset
its output at every zero crossing of signal.
 Flip-flops:
The signals obtained from zero-crossing detector is fed to JK Flip-Flop A
and B. Its output is set and reset according to input given to JK flip-flops. The
output of flip-flop A is connected to clear terminal of flip-flop B and The output of
flip-flop B is connected to clear terminal of flip-flop A.
 AND gate and clock:
The input to AND gate are clock signal and output from flip flop A.
 Counter and Display unit:
The output of AND gate is fed to counter which count the duration of
pulses and it is fed to display unit to display the power factor angle.
 Digital Power Factor Meter
 Working of digital power factor meter:
Let the voltage applied is v(t)=Vm sin(wt+Φv) to first pre-
amplifier and the current applied is i(t)=Im sin(wt+Φi) to second pre-
amplifier. The power factor is cos(Φv- Φi). The amplified voltage and
current signals are fed to zero crossing detector. The output of zero
crossing detector A set to high when signal v(t)=Vm sin(wt+Φv)
crosses to zero. This forces the output of flip-flop A to high which
enables the AND gate and clear the output of flip-flop B. The counter
starts reading the duration.
When the signal from current i(t)=Im sin(wt+Φi) crosses the
zero the output of flip flop B set to high by zero crossing detector.
This output of flip flop B clears the output of flip flop A. Hence the
output of AND gate is disabled and the counter stops the counting.
The time duration between Φv and Φi is counted in counter. The
display unit can display this duration in terms of power factor.
 Digital Frequency Meter
Schmitt
Amplifier A Trigger
Counters and
Circuit AND Gate
Display Unit
Input Signal
sensitivity

Schmitt Trigger
Circuit

Internal Time
Schmitt Trigger Divide by Divide by Divide by Divide by
Base Crystal 10 10 10 10
Circuit
Oscillator

 For the unknown frequency measurements the digital frequency counter is most
accurate and reliable instruments available. With highest accuracy digital frequency
counters, the accuracy of the atomic time standards can be achieved. The block diagram of
digital frequency counter is a shown in above fig. The major components of the digital
frequency counter are given beloe
--Input signal conditioning circuit
--Time base generator
--Gating Circuit
--Counter and display unit
 Digital Frequency Meter
 Input Signal Conditioning Circuit:
In this circuit amplifier and schmitt trigger are included. The threshold voltage of
schmitt trigger can be controlled by sensitivity control on control panel. First of all the input
signal of unknown frequency is fed to input signal conditioning circuit. There the signal is
amplified and converted it into square wave by schmitt trigger circuit.
 Time Base Generator:
The crystal oscillator produces a signal of 1MHz or 100MHz depending upon the
requirement. In general, the accuracy of the digital frequency counter depends on the
accuracy of the time base signal produced, thus the temperature compensated crystal
oscillator is used. Then the output of the oscillator is passed through another schmitt trigger
circuit producing square wave output. Then it is fed to frequency dividers connected in
cascade. Thus a train of pulses are obtained after each frequency dividers section. Using time
base selector switch S the gate time can be adjusted.
 Gating Circuit:
The gating circuit consists of AND gate. When the enable signal is provided to the
AND gate, it allows a train of pulses to pass through the gate for the time period selected by
the time base generator circuit. The pulses are counted and then the second pulse generated
from the time base generator disables AND gate and thus closes it.
 Counter and Display Unit:
In this unit, decade counter are connected in the cascade. The output of the AND
gate is connected to the clock input of the first decade counter. Then the output of this
counter to the clock input of next and so on. Using these counters the number of pulses are
counted and are displayed by display unit. As the number of pulses counted are proportional
to input signal frequency, the final display is proportional to unknown frequency of the input
signal.
 Digital Frequency Meter
 Working:
The signal waveform whose frequency is to be
measured is first amplified. Then the amplified signal is
applied to the schmitt trigger which converts input signal
into a square wave with fast rise and fall time. This square
wave is then differentiated and clipped. As a result, the
output from schmitt trigger are fed to Start/Stop gate.
When this gate is enabled, the input pulses pass through
this gate and are fed directly to the electronic counter,
which counts the number of pulses. When this gate is
disabled, the counter stops counting the incoming pulses.
The counter displays the number of pulses that have passed
through it in the time interval between start and stop. If this
interval is known, the unknown frequency can be measured.
 Digital Multimeter
DCV

ACV

DCMA
DCV
OHM
ACV
A to D
D.C.
DCMA
Converter
Attenuator
OHM

DCV
Decade
ACV Compensated Counter
Attenuator
Rectif ier

DCMA
Test OHM Digital
Probe Current to
Display
Voltage
Converter

Constant
Current Source

 The digital multimeter is an instrument which is capable of measuring ac

voltages, dc voltages, ac and dc currents and resistances over several range. The
basic circuit of digital multimeter is as shown in fig.
 Digital Multimeter
 Working:
The basic building blocks are several ADC, counting circuitry and an attenuation
circuit. Generally dual slope integration type ADC is preferred in the multimeter.
The single attenuator circuit is used for both ac and dc measurements in many
commercial multimeters.
The unknown current is converted to voltage by passing it through low shunt
resistance. Then it is converted into digital using ADC and given to display.
The ac quantities are converted to dc by employing various rectifier and filtering
circuits. Then it is converted into digital using ADC and given to display.
While measuring the resistances, a constant current source is used. The known
current is passed through the unknown resistance. The voltage drop across the
resistance is applied to analog to digital converter and display of the value of the
unknown resistance.
 Digital Multimeter
 Advantages of digital multimeters:

 The accuracy is very high.

The input impedance is very high hence there is no loading effect.

An unambiguous reading at grater viewing distances is obtained.

The output available is electrical which can be used for interfacing with

external equipment.

Due to improvement in integrated technology, the prices are going down.

These are available in very small size.

• Imp. Specifications of DMM:
• 1.DC Voltage:
• Five voltage ranges are available. The voltage range is from ±200 to
1000V.
• Accuracy is about ±0.03%
• Resolution is about 10µV
• 2. AC voltage:
• Five voltage ranges are available. The voltage range is from200mV
to 750V.
• Accuracy is dependent on frequency.
• Resolution is about 10µV
• 3.Resistance:Six ranges, from 200Ω to 20MΩ
• Accuracy is about ±0.1% of reading
• 4.DC current:5 ranges from ±200µA to 2 A
• Accuracy is about ±0.3% of reading
• Resolution is about ±0.01µA
• AC current:5 ranges from 200µA to 2 A
• Accuracy is dependent on frequency.Best accuracy obtained is
about ±1%
 Digital Power Analyzer
IR
R
VRY

Three Phase
Y IY
Load
VRY

B IB

Display
VRY

Micro-
ADC
MUX processor
serial
link

Keyboard

 The power analyzer is used to measure the voltages, currents, power and
harmonics in three phase A.C. supply system. This is very much useful for
online field measurements or fault analysis .This recorded data can be used for
analysis of system. The power analyzer can state if the problem is either source
related or load related by observing the characteristic of the event.
• It analyzes how energy is used and what it costs.
• Evaluates the quality of the power.
• Complete power/energy/cost analysis: measures
voltage,current,KW,KVA,KVAR,true power factor, KWH,elapsed and
estimated cost and duty cycle.
 Digital Power Analyzer
 Working:
The currents in each line and line voltages are sensed using dedicated sensors.
The line currents are sensed by using sensors IR, IY, IB and line voltages are sensed
by sensors, VRY, VYB, VBR.
These sensed currents and voltages are selected sequentially by the multiplexer.
The multiplexer combines all the analog signals to signal channel.
 The output of multiplexer is connected to the analog to digital converter (ADC).
ADC converts the analog signal into digital signal.
This digital signal are given to the microprocessor for further processing.
According to the program fed in memory the different computations and
calculations are carried out in processor.
Finally calculated values are displayed on the screen and recorded in the memory
of processor with time.
 Digital Power Analyzer
The power analyzer measures all the line currents and line voltages at set
sampling rates.
It can also calculate power and related quantities and can carry out harmonic
analysis of voltages and currents.
The power analyzer has capability to select various calculated quantities and
display all. The user can change the quantities which are displayed or transmitted
over the serial link.

Features of power analyzer:

Can be used for single phase or three phase circuit.
It is also suitable of three phase three wire or four wire system.
In ac circuits CT and PT can be used as the sensing element.
The control and measurement circuit is isolated due to use of CT and PT.
It can be used to measure harmonics upto 50th harmonics.
 Digital Tri-vector Meter
Vry

Vyb Voltages
Sensors
Vbr

MUX ADC Microprocessor Display

Ir

Iy Currents
Sensors
Ib
Keyboard

 The meter which measures kWh, kVARh, kVAh together is known as tri-
vector meter.
The digital tri-vector meter is as shown in above fig.
 Digital Tri-vector Meter
 Working:

The three phase line voltages and line currents are sensed by the voltage and
current sensors respectively.

These signals are given to multiplexer which selects the various signals
sequentially.

These sampled signals are given to analog to digital converter to convert the
analog signal into digital.

All these signals together given to microprocessor. The programs are fed to the
processor to measure kWh, kVARh, kVAh.

The processor stores these values and display to the output screen.
• The 24 hour duration is divided into 4 zones, namely peak/nonpeak/day
and night periods which is programmable as per customer’s
requirements.
• Maximum demand setting 1 and 2 are programmable separately for
peak/non peak periods
• The meter has additional facilities like true RMS measurement, and
display of number of parameters related to LT and HT metering both in
star and delta configuration.
• Three phase AC power/energy/ maximum demand can be measured
very easily and accurately.
• It also displays the present KVA demand and controls it by adopting
prediction demand control technique.
 Digital Time-of-Day (TOD) meter.
An electric company supplies the electricity to various types of loads such as
residential, commercial, industrial loads.
These loads are not constant throughout the day. It varies with time.
Sometimes the load may be maximum or sometimes it may be minimum.
During maximum load period there is peak demand of electricity for particular
period of time. It creates lot of difficulty to the electricity supplier.
To avoid the peak demand hours of load, the time-of-day tariff is designed such
that it allows the consumer to take the advantage of the low electricity price during
a specified period of day.
A special metering arrangement is provided to measure the electricity
consumption during various time zones of the day including on-peak and off-peak
hours.
The tri-vector meter itself can be provided with the capability of monitoring and
measuring the time of uses of electricity over a day.
Tri-vector meter is provided with TOD register which is capable of being
configured and programmed for various time zones including on-peak and off-peak
period.
Thank You