Every month, Control’s editors select a technology or topic, collect all the latest, most significant tools we can find, and present them here to make your job easier. If you know of any tools and resources we didn’t include, send them to [email protected] with "Resource" in the subject, and we’ll add them to the website.
How do you pick the right pressure sensor for your application from among the hundreds of vendors and types available? This white paper walks you through the options of the kinds of pressure sensors available, and shows which are appropriate for a variety of possible applications. The direct link is at
bit.ly/1qCIGjy. American Sensor Technology
www.astsensors.comPRESSURE SENSOR FUNDAMENTALS
Part of a series of tutorials on the basics of sensor measurement, this unit covers the basics of pressure sensing, including what pressure is, the anatomy of a pressure sensor, pressure measurement, signal conditioning used to measure pressure and a list of references. The direct link is at bit.ly/1lJSKFC.
national instruments
www.ni.com
PRESSURE SENSING BLOG
This blog contains links to a variety of pressure articles, including “A Weird Trick to Boost Pressure Transmitter Life Expectancy,” “Stop Vibration from Killing your Pressure Transducers,” “How to Re-Zero a Submersible Pressure Transducer” and “Three Steps to Using Pressure Gauges the Right Way.” The direct link to the blog is at bit.ly/18nAaI9.
APG Sensors
www.apgsensors.com
SELF-ACTING PRESSURE CONTROLS
This tutorial examines various types of self-acting pressure controls, including direct-acting bellows-operated, diaphragm-operated and pilot-operated valves, and has guidelines on how to select and install them correctly. Pressure-reducing valves are considered together with pressure-maintaining valves and surplussing valves, along with some typical applications. The direct link is at bit.ly/1ixLr3d.
Spirax Sarco
800- 575-0394; www.spiraxsarco.com/us
CONVERSION EXPERIENCE
Not a tutorial, this is an online conversion app. The Metric Pressure Measurement Conversion and SI Pressure Calculator offers conversion for dozens of units, including atmospheres, millibars, pascals, water column and terapascals. The same site has a number of other conversion categories, including acceleration units, capacitance units, force, frequency, speed and temperature. The direct link is at bit.ly/1sxtdmN.
Convertunitsnow
www.convertunitsnow.com
PRESSURE SIGNAL CONDITIONING
This basic tutorial explains such basic concepts as optimum feedback resistance, instrumentation, measurement, output, simple signal conditioning, error, circuit and calibration. In addition, it discusses ratio, excitation, sensor signal conditioning, pressure, feedback, amplifiers, excitation current and more. The PDF also contains links to a variety of other pressure-sensing tutorials. The direct link is at bit.ly/1mbSXAk.
SensorZine
www.sensorzine.com
SMART SENSOR CALIBRATION
This tutorial explains the common principles of calibration, re-ranging and trim as they apply to various kinds of transmitters. The principles apply to all kinds of smart sensors, but there is special emphasis on differential pressure transmitters. Subjects covered include sensor trim, range setting and current trim. The free PDF is available at bit.ly/TlFPx4.
EDDL.org
www.eddl.org
PRESSURE SENSOR COMPENSATION
This technical paper discusses the implementation of a novel digital temperature compensation method developed for piezoresistive pressure sensors for the field of capacitive sensors. Possibilities for the compensation of sensor parameters such as sensor nonlinearity and temperature sensitivity are analyzed. Different approaches to digital descriptions of sensor characteristics, such as two-dimensional rational polynomial description and Chisholm approximants, are investigated and reported. Results of sensor response are compared against reference pressure sources, and the most effective digital temperature compensation is proposed. The direct link is at bit.ly/1uUwXKZ.
Ventil
www.fs.uni-lj.si/ventil
CALIBRATION UNDER PRESSURE
This 5½-minute video demonstrates in detail how to do a setpoint calibration on an Ashcroft explosion-proof pressure switch. The direct link is at bit.ly/1qD5jUZ.
Process Industry Forum
www.processindustryforum.com
