Measurement system applications

1.2 Measurement system applications :

Today, the techniques of measurement are of immense importance in most facets of human civilization. Present-day applications of measuring instruments can be classi[1]fied into three major areas. The first of these is their use in regulating trade, applying instruments that measure physical quantities such as length, volume and mass in terms of standard units. The particular instruments and transducers employed in such appli[1]cations are included in the general description of instruments presented in Part 2 of this book.

 

The second application area of measuring instruments is in monitoring functions. These provide information that enables human beings to take some prescribed action accordingly. The gardener uses a thermometer to determine whether he should turn the heat on in his greenhouse or open the windows if it is too hot. Regular study of a barometer allows us to decide whether we should take our umbrellas if we are planning to go out for a few hours. Whilst there are thus many uses of instrumentation in our normal domestic lives, the majority of monitoring functions exist to provide the information necessary to allow a human being to control some industrial operation or process. In a chemical process for instance, the progress of chemical reactions is indicated by the measurement of temperatures and pressures at various points, and such measurements allow the operator to take correct decisions regarding the electrical supply to heaters, cooling water flows, valve positions etc. One other important use of monitoring instruments is in calibrating the instruments used in the automatic process control systems described below

 

Use as part of automatic feedback control systems forms the third application area of measurement systems. Figure 1.1 shows a functional block diagram of a simple temperature control system in which the temperature Ta of a room is maintained at a reference value Td. The value of the controlled variable Ta, as determined by a temperature-measuring device, is compared with the reference value Td, and the differ[1]ence e is applied as an error signal to the heater. The heater then modifies the room temperature until Ta D Td. The characteristics of the measuring instruments used in any feedback control system are of fundamental importance to the quality of control achieved. The accuracy and resolution with which an output variable of a process is controlled can never be better than the accuracy and resolution of the measuring instruments used. This is a very important principle, but one that is often inadequately discussed in many texts on automatic control systems. Such texts explore the theoret[1]ical aspects of control system design in considerable depth, but fail to give sufficient emphasis to the fact that all gain and phase margin performance calculations etc. are entirely dependent on the quality of the process measurements obtained.