What is a precision instrument?

Today, the field of industry and precision instruments are so familiar that they cannot be separated from each other. Instrumentation is the beating heart of any industrial project and it is very difficult to imagine an industry without applications of instrumentation. The duty of an engineer is to get familiar with the instrumentation equipment and its appropriate selection for any industrial project. In this article, we intend to take a closer look at the technology of precision instruments and learn more about the tools, their types, and various applications, including measurement, communication, and control.

So stay with us.

What you read in this article:

• What is a precision instrument?
• The history of the science of precision instruments.
• Components of precision instruments.
• Control system constituent equipment.
•  accurate tool equipement.
• Industries related to precision instruments.

What is a precision instrument?

If you are active in the field of electricity, you have definitely heard the word precision instruments. This word is made up of two words, tool and precision , and they mean tools that work precisely, but what is the meaning of working precisely? We mean accurate measurement with the lowest amount of error; Therefore, precision instruments can be considered as the combination of art and science of using equipment, due to which the desired quantities are measured with the least error and well. These quantities can be parameters such as temperature, pressure, flow, fluid level, gas concentration and pH values. For example, the:

• The surface of a tank.
• The temperature of a furnace.
• or the pressure of a tank.

So, in a more formal and scientific way, it can be said that these types of tools are equipments that are used to monitor, control and measure them.

History

It is still not possible to say with certainty who invented the field of control and measurement, but 2,600 years before Christ, ancient Roman engineers were the first to use simple and accurate measuring devices to measure the height of the foundations of their pyramid-shaped buildings. measure and move huge stones. The Romans were also able to build basic flowmeters and use them to direct and distribute water and irrigate their land. You can see the important events in the history of the formation of this equipment in the diagram below.

World War II had a significant impact on the rapid development of precision instruments. The emergence of software-based operations and the advancement of technology made this field more specialized than ever. The field of precision instruments in Iran was considered a subcategory of electrical engineering until 2005, but after the expansion of precision instruments and its connection with many industries, they decided to consider a separate field in the industry for it. Engineers in this field are known as instrumentation and control engineers.

components

This science consists of the following three parts:

• Measurement of various parameters.
• Control of parameters and processing of measured values ​​by control equipment.
• Sending the appropriate response to the control equipment by actuators.

Together, these 3 processes are a complementary system, which we call the automatic control system , and its task is to control a process in an operational set.

measurement:

The measuring part measures the desired quantity . In industries, various parameters are measured for control. These parameters are:

• Pressure measurement .
• Temperature measurement .
• Fluid flow measurement.
• Measuring the height of liquids .
• Speed ​​measurement.
• Vibration measurement.
• And … .

Controllers:

In the history of the science of precision instruments, we mentioned certain periods through which the instruments became more precise and automatic. Before these tools became software, control in the industry was done manually and by human factors. But with the invention of transistors and electronic cards for control, the use of human factors was reduced dramatically. With the introduction of industrial computers called PLC , the units were easily controlled. Today, new controllers called Distributed Controller System (DCS) and Fuzzy Controllers (FCD) have entered the field of industry and have taken over the task of control.

Triggers:

Actuators are tools that take the output signal from the controller and act according to this signal. Control valves and electric motors can be mentioned among the main output tools . These tools help to keep the measurable parameters in the desired desired value.

Control system forming equipment

To control a process, one must first have a deep knowledge and understanding of the dynamics and behaviors of that process. Also, the need for accurate momentary information to control a quantity is very important, and the desired quantity must always be measured. Measuring devices usually consist of three parts:

Sensor:

Sensors are among the most important industrial instruments that are used to measure a parameter. There is an instrument sensor to measure almost all physical and chemical parameters . Sensors have different outputs based on the type of function.

 Transducer:

Converters or transducers convert the parameters measured by the sensors into electrical signals. That is, if a pressure sensor is used together with a transducer, the sensor measures the pressure value and delivers it to the transducer, then the transducer converts this value into an electrical signal that can be transmitted in the communication network.

Transmitter:

A transmitter is a device that receives the signal from the converter and amplifies it to make it possible to send the signal over long distances. The transmitter does this process without losing signal quality or interfering with other signals.

A good gauge should have several features that we have mentioned briefly. Also, you can read the features related to the desired equipment in all the equipment of the Sanat Tek site .

•  Range of measurement : The range that the equipment can measure.
• Zero measurement (Zero) : a specific point in the measurement field is considered as the zero point, which is not necessarily zero and may have values.
• Zero Drift : The size of the output at the zero point changes with the passage of time or other factors, which is called the phenomenon of zero drift.
• Sensitivity : Changes in the output of the meter per unit of change in the measured quantity are called sensitivity .
• Resolution :  The smallest change in the measured quantity that the equipment can measure is called the resolution limit .
• Response :  In practice, equipment has a time constant and sometimes net delay . The time constant of the measuring element must be much smaller than the smallest time constant in the control loop.
• Accuracy :  Matching the measured value with the actual value of the measured quantity is called accuracy .
• Repeatability : The result of getting the same in the measurement of a quantity under constant conditions is called repeatability .
• Range (Range Of Span) :  The distance between the maximum and minimum values ​​that a device can measure is called range.

­­ accurate tool equipement

As an engineer in this field, you must be familiar with the most basic and most important instrumentation equipment so that you can choose the appropriate equipment for each project. Among these equipments, the following can be mentioned:

• flowmeter
• level gauge
• thermometer
• Barometer
• Flow meter
• Altimeter
• Controllers
• load cell
• Gas analyzers
• Concentration meters

These are only part of the instrumentation equipment. Today, with the development of instrumentation technology, many companies are supplying and distributing these equipments. These equipments can be offered in different brands that are made by the best countries in the world.Tech As a reference for the sale of precision instruments, it has the ability to provide the products you want from reliable and reliable brands.

Application of instrumentation in related industries

Today, when it comes to doing an industrial project, it is almost impossible not to talk about precision tools. Various industries use precision tools to make processes more efficient and less error-prone.

Precision tools in the oil industry and sub-sectors

Industries whose products are fluids usually use pipelines for transportation. They also have their own system for storage in tanks and for measuring different product parameters.

For example, the oil passing through the transmission pipelines, the level of storage tanks or the gas pressure inside the tanks are all components that we need accurate instruments to measure. Because the smallest error in their measurement causes huge losses.

Precision tools in industries, mines and cement

Such industries, like the oil industry, use precision instruments to properly control the production process and measure their parameters. For example, in measuring the level of cement storage silos, controlling and measuring steam pressure in steam boilers, controlling and measuring the output flow of liquids and wastes, and measuring the weight of manufactured products, you can find the use of precision instruments in abundance.