Author: John Mulindi
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The Conditioning of Thermocouple Sensor Voltages
Consider the circuit below: From the figure above, the sensing junction and reference junction are connected in series. When the junctions are at the same temperature the voltage output from the junctions is zero and the output from the amplifier is zero. When the junctions are at different temperatures, there is a differential voltage at…
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The Different Applications of Diodes
Diodes are used in many applications for example diodes are employed in reverse-polarity protection, used in voltage regulators, etc. We discuss these applications plus more in this article. Here are some of the different applications of diodes: Transient Suppression with Fly-back diodes Transient Protection When current flowing through an inductor is suddenly switched off, the…
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Features of HART Communication Protocol
HART is an acronym for (High Addressable Remote Transducer). HART is implemented in two ways in industrial instrumentation networks: Point to point system Multidrop system HART Point to Point System Here serial communication data is superimposed onto a standard 4-20 mA loop signal as shown in figure 1(a): Frequency shift keying (FSK) is used with…
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Semiconductor Diodes
A diode is a device that allows current to flow only in one direction. It is made from p-type or n-type semiconductors joined together. It has a depletion layer/p-n junction/potential barrier. How the depletion layer is formed The depletion layer is formed when a p-type and n-type are joined. The electrons in the n-type semiconductor…
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RTD 2, 3, 4 Wire Sensor Connections
The resistance temperature devices (RTD) can be connected directly to the controller peripheral amplifiers using 2-wire, 3-wire or 4-wire lead configuration. The wires in all these connections are in shielded cables. The RTD is usually driven from a constant current source (I) and the voltage drop (V) across the RTD is measured. RTD 2-wire connection…
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How to Connect a DP (Differential Pressure) Flow Sensor to a DP Transmitter
The DP Transmitter should be mounted with a manifold block as illustrated in the figure 1(a) below to allow for maintenance. Valves B and C are the isolation valves while valve A is an equalizing valve. Valve A is used along with valves B and C to zero the transmitter. In normal operation valve A…
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Instrumentation Sensors and Transducers – Multiple Choice Questions & Answers (MCQ4)
The Answers have been provided at the end of the Questions: Q1. Which of the following sensors is used to measure displacement? A. Thermistor B. LVDT C. Dall tube D. None of the above Q2. Which of the below listed sensors is used for temperature measurement? A. Strain gauge B. Thermistor C. Piezoelectric crystal D.…
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How Signal Processing Circuits are protected from high currents & voltages
Protection against high currents and voltages is a very important requirement for signal processing circuits. A high current can be protected against by the incorporation in the input line of a series resistor to limit the amount of current flowing to an acceptable level and a fuse to break if the current exceeds a safe…
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How RS-232, RS-422 and RS-485 Networks are applied in Instrumentation
RS-232 Presently, this standard is known as TIA-232C. These are point-to-point networks with a purpose of connecting only two devices. The signaling is single-ended (unbalanced) which implies that the respective voltage pulses are referenced to a common ground conductor and a single conductor is used to transfer data in each direction as illustrated in figure…
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Basic Features of Foundation Fieldbus (FF)
Foundation fieldbus (FF) and Profibus are the two most universal serial data bus formats that are used for interfacing between the central processor and smart devices in the process control system. The Foundation Fieldbus is mainly used in U.S. while Profibus format is primarily used in Europe. A serial data bus is a single pair…