One of the most essential physical quantities in our surroundings is pressure. It plays an important role in industrial applications such as thermodynamics, aerodynamics, acoustics, fluid mechanics, soil mechanics, and biophysics.

Many automotive, medical, industrial, consumer, and construction technologies rely on accurate and consistent pressure readings to function successfully. This is because overpressure can deteriorate enclosures or drains and cause considerable damage to important equipment types.

Let us look at 5 such applications of analogue pressure sensors in the industry.

  • Manufacturing Industry

Pressure sensor applications in the manufacturing industry continue to grow due to the demand for more tightly regulated processes and the accompanying quality control needs. The increased pressure and vacuum monitoring can detect the need for equipment repair before premature breakdowns create excessive downtime and raise manufacturing expenses.

Pressure sensors are increasingly used in applications such as bottle and equipment leak detection, Variable Air Volume (VAV) systems, air blades, compressed air pressure monitoring, industrial flow monitoring, filter pressure monitoring, duct airflow, gas detection, pneumatic controls, mine safety instrumentation, industrial degassers, and suction check in pick and place applications such as the printed circuit boards and semiconductor process equipment.

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  • Life-Saving Medical Applications

With the medical equipment market advancement, greater demands are placed on the usage of pressure sensors in the medical sector. Precision, reliability, stability, volume, and so on must be met.

Hyperbaric treatment increases the air pressure in a sealed container enclosing a patient. It may be used to treat various medical ailments, including skin grafts, burn injuries, carbon monoxide poisoning, and decompression sickness in divers.

Analogue pressure sensors have practical uses in catheter ablation and temperature sensor measurement. Thermodilution catheters, urethral catheters, oesophagal catheters, central venous catheters, and intracranial pressure vessels are all examples of catheters.

 

  • Water Treatment Pressure Sensors

In wastewater management and water treatment facilities, pressure measurement is employed in filtration, system pressure, flow, and levels. Pressure sensors in this business must deliver reliable readings in corrosive materials, effluents, solids, vibration, and pulsation-prone situations.

They are utilised to monitor the system and offer vital information for proactive reaction to any odd situations that may emerge. Pressure sensors are essential in water supply and sewage treatment because they provide crucial control and monitoring for system protection and quality assurance.

Pressure sensors are used in aeration basins, chemical feeds, chlorination, chlorine removal and distribution, flocculation, raw material inlets, mixing vessels, pumping stations, sedimentation operations, and storage activities. Products designed for this business must be accurate and dependable across multiple pressure cycles. They must be able to measure pressures ranging from vacuum to 1,000 bar or more.

 

  • Petrochemical Applications

The pressure sensor is one of the most often used measurement devices in the petrochemical sector for control. Almost all pressure sensor applications are included in large-scale chemical projects: differential pressure, absolute pressure, gauge pressure, high pressure, micro differential pressure, high temperature, low temperature, and remote transmission flange pressure sensors of various materials and special processing.

Pressure sensors are in great demand in the petrochemical sector for three reasons:

  • Dependability 
  • Stability 
  • High accuracy

Because of the way a refinery is structured, a pressure sensor may be hundreds of feet away from the control system to which it is connected, necessitating a long cable run to connect. 

These cable lines serve as great antennas for picking up EMI/RFI/ESD signals from nearby cabling and machines. However, this electrical “noise” can overpower, distort, or corrupt high-impedance analogue signals in the connection. Hence, analogue systems are recommended for such applications.

 

  • Energy Efficiency

In 2021, the industrial sector placed a renewed emphasis on energy efficiency. With energy costs rising at an alarming rate, such concentration is now financially and morally imperative.

This has naturally transferred to the items that industrial enterprises require to ensure maximum functioning while minimising expenses. The onus is on product makers across the sector to constantly innovate in order to fulfill the needs of a changing business landscape.

Analogue pressure sensor measurements are required for improved energy conservation in portable and stationary weather stations, diesel truck emissions testing devices, wind energy systems, wind engineering in relation to new building design aerodynamics, ocean research, high-altitude weather research balloons, water pollution devices, smoke stack mercury sampling, and atmospheric studies.

Why analogue pressure sensors?

If the present system is based on analogue control, one advantage of adopting analogue pressure sensors is the ease of setup. 

An analogue sensor connected to an analogue-to-digital (ADC) converter would be a simpler alternative for detecting dynamic processes than a digital pressure sensor, which requires a specific protocol to establish communication with the device. 

Pure analogue pressure sensors are ideal for system electronics that require very quick active feedback control loops.

Are you searching for pressure sensor solutions for your industrial application? General Instruments offer a wide range of NABL-certified pressure measurement instruments designed for the highest performing accuracy. Get in touch with General Instruments now.