Group Assignment # 1

Measurements And Instrumentations

Assignment Topic:
 Measuring Instruments.
 Difference between absolute instruments & secondary instruments.
 Explain any 5 secondary instruments.

Submitted to:
Mr. Kashif Habib
Submitted By:
Group # 06
Group Members:
M. Abdullah M14-407
M. Rizwan Munavar M14-420
Syed Arsam Nasim M14-425
Asif Ali Shoukat M14-442
Ubaidullah M14-452

Department Of Electrical Engineering,

College Of Engineering And Emerging Technology,
University Of The Punjab, Lahore.
 [1]
What are Measuring Instruments?

“The device used for comparing the unknown quantity with the unit of measurement
or standard quantity is called a Measuring Instrument.”
OR
“An instrument may be defined as a machine or system which is designed to maintain
functional relationship between prescribed properties of physical variables & could
include means of communication to human observer.”
Electrical instruments may be divided into two categories that are;
1. Absolute instruments,
2. Secondary instruments.
 Absolute instruments gives the quantity to be measured in term of instrument
constant & its deflection. For example, tangent galvanometer.
 In Secondary instruments the deflection gives the magnitude of electrical
quantity to be measured directly. These instruments are required to be
calibrated by comparing with another standard instrument before putting into
use.
CLASSIFICATION OF SECONDARY INSTRUMENTS:
Secondary instruments can be classified into three types;
I. Indicating instruments
II. Integrating instruments
III. Recording instruments
Indicating Instrument:
It indicate the magnitude of an electrical quantity at the time when it is being measured. The
indications are given by a pointer moving over a graduated dial. Examples are voltmeter,
ammeter, ohmmeter, wattmeter etc.

Integrating instrument:
The instruments which measure the total amount of either quantity of electricity or electrical
energy supplied over a period of time. For example energy meters, ampere-hour meters etc.

Recording instrument:
The instruments which keep a continuous record of the variations of the magnitude of an
electrical quantity to be observed over a defined period of time. The moving system of
instrument carries an inked pen which rests tightly on a graph chart. Example is recording
voltmeter in supply houses.
Difference Between Absolute And Secondary Instruments:
 Absolute instruments are those instruments which give the measurement in terms of
constant by their deflection
 Whereas secondary instruments are precalibrated by comparison with standard
instruments. [1]
 Secondary instruments are calibrated.
 While absolute instruments are not calibrated.[4]
 Secondary instruments are used everywhere
 Absolute instruments are only in labs or standard institutions.[4]
 Secondary instruments
1. Digital Voltmeter [2]
Indicating Instrument

Voltmeter is an instrument used for measuring electrical

potential difference between two points in an electric circuit.
Analog voltmeters move a pointer across a scale in
proportion to the voltage of the circuit; digital voltmeters
give a numerical display of voltage by use of analogue to
digital converter.
Digital voltmeter (DVM) measures an unknown input
voltage by converting the voltage to a digital value and then
displays the voltage in numeric form. DVMs are usually
designed around a special type of analog-to-digital
converter called an integrating converter.

DVM measurement accuracy is affected by many factors,

including temperature, input impedance, and DVM power supply voltage variations. Less
expensive DVMs often have input resistance on the order of 10 MΩ, and the resistance may
be different for each input voltage range. Precision DVMs can have input resistances of 1 GΩ
or higher.
 [2]
2. Digital Ohmmeter Indicating Instrument
Ohmmeter is an electrical instrument that measures electrical
resistance, the opposition to an electric current. Micro-
ohmmeters (microhmmeter or microohmmeter) make low
resistance measurements. Megaohmmeters measure large
values of resistance. The unit of measurement for resistance is
ohms (Ω).
Subsequent designs of ohmmeter provided a small battery to
apply a voltage to a resistance via a galvanometer to measure
the current through the resistance. The scale of the
galvanometer was marked in ohms, because the fixed voltage
from the battery assured that as resistance is decreased, the
current through the meter would increase. Ohmmeters form
circuits by themselves, therefore they cannot be used within an assembled circuit. This design
is much simpler and cheaper than the former design, and was simple to integrate into a
multimeter design and consequently was by far the most common form of analogue
ohmmeter. This type of ohmmeter suffers two inherent disadvantages. First, the meter needs
to be zeroed by shorting the measurement points together and performing an adjustment for
zero ohms indication prior to each measurement. This is because as the battery voltage
decreases with age, the series resistance in the meter needs to be reduced to maintain the zero
indication at full deflection. Second, and consequent on the first, the actual deflection for any
given resistor under test changes as the internal resistance is altered. It remains correct at the
centre of the scale only, which is why such ohmmeter designs always quote the accuracy "at
centre scale only".
A more accurate type of ohmmeter has an electronic circuit that passes a constant current (I)
through the resistance, and another circuit that measures the voltage (V) across the resistance.
According to the following equation, derived from Ohm's Law, the value of the resistance (R)
is given by:

𝑅 = 𝑉/𝐼
 [3]
3. Digital Ammeter: Indicating Instrument

Digital ammeters are instruments that measure current flow in

amperes and display current levels on a digital display. These devices
provide information about current draw and current continuity in order
to help users troubleshoot erratic loads and trends. They have both
positive and negative leads and feature extremely low internal
resistance.
Digital ammeters are connected in series with a circuit (and never
parallel) so that current flow passes through the meter. High current
flow may indicate a short circuit, unintentional ground, or defective
component. Low current flow may indicate high resistance or poor
current flow within the circuit.
Digital ammeters can measure levels of alternating current (AC) and
direct current (DC). Some devices that measure AC current also
measure root mean square (RMS) power, which is the square root of the time average of the
square of the instantaneous power. Many digital ammeters include a current sensor built into
the meter or that clamps around the wire. Different types of digital ammeters can measure
different ranges of AC current, DC current, and AC current frequency.
Some devices are handheld and portable, while others are designed for benchtop or shop
floor use. Battery-powered digital ammeters can be operated without plug-in power and are
often suitable for outdoor use.
 4. Wattmeter: [2] Indicating Instrument

The wattmeter is an instrument for

measuring the electric power (or the
supply rate of electrical energy) in watts of
any given circuit. Normally electric power
is defined as the product of voltage and
current.

𝑃=𝑉∗𝐼
Electromagnetic wattmeters are used for
measurement of utility frequency and
audio frequency power; other types are
required for radio frequency
measurements.
A modern digital electronic
wattmeter/energy meter samples the voltage and current thousands of times a second. For
each sample, the voltage is multiplied by the current at the same instant; the average over at
least one cycle is the real power. The real power divided by the apparent volt-amperes (VA)
is the power factor. A computer circuit uses the sampled values to calculate RMS voltage,
RMS current, VA, power (watts), power factor, and kilowatt-hours. The readings may be
displayed on the device, retained to provide a log and calculate averages, or transmitted to
other equipment for further use. Wattmeters vary considerably in correctly calculating energy
consumption, especially when real power is much lower than VA (highly reactive loads,
e.g. electric motors). Simple meters may be calibrated to meet specified accuracy only
for sinusoidal waveforms. Waveforms for switched-mode power supplies as used for
much electronic equipment may be very far from sinusoidal, leading to unknown and
possibly large errors at any power. This may not be specified in the meter's manual.
 5. Energy meter:
An electricity meter, electric meter, or energy meter is a device that measures the amount
of electric energy consumed by a residence, business, sub-stations in electric grid, or an
electrically powered device. Electric utilities use electric meters installed at customers’
premises to measure electric energy delivered to their customers for billing purposes. They
are typically calibrated in billing units, the most common one being the kilowatt hour [kWh].
They are usually read once each billing period. The amount of energy represented by one
revolution of the disc is denoted by the symbol Kh which
is given in units of watt-hours per revolution. Using the Integrating Instrument
value of Kh one can determine their power consumption at
any given time by timing the disc with a stopwatch. [2]

3600 ∗ 𝐾ℎ
𝑃=
𝑡
Where:

t = time in seconds taken by the disc to complete one

revolution,
P = power in watts.
An Electronic Energy Meter (EEM) functionally outperforms the traditional Ferrari’s
wheel meter. One important advantage of EEM is that in nonlinear loads, its metering is
highly accurate and electronic measurement is more robust than that of the conventional
mechanical meters.
The conventional mechanical energy meter is based on the phenomenon of “Magnetic
Induction”. It has a rotating aluminium Wheel called Ferriwheel and many toothed wheels.
Based on the flow of current, the Ferriwheel rotates which makes rotation of other wheels.
This will be converted into corresponding measurements in the display section. Since many
mechanical parts are involved, mechanical defects and breakdown are common. More over
chances of manipulation and current theft will be higher.
Electronic Energy Meter is based on Digital Micro Technology (DMT) and uses no moving
parts. So the EEM is known as “Static Energy Meter” In EEM the accurate functioning is
controlled by a specially designed IC called ASIC (Application Specified Integrated Circuit).
ASIC is constructed only for specific applications using Embedded System Technology.
Similar ASIC are now used in Washing Machines, Air Conditioners, Automobiles, Digital
Camera etc.
In addition to ASIC, analogue circuits, Voltage transformer, Current transformer etc are also
present in EEM to “Sample” current and voltage. The ‘Input Data’ (Voltage) is compared
with a programmed “Reference Data’ (Voltage) and finally a ‘Voltage Rate’ will be given to
the output. This output is then converted into ‘Digital Data’ by the AD Converters
(Analogue- Digital converter) present in the ASIC. [5]
References:
[1]
Electrical Measurements By U.A. Bakhshi
[2]
[Link]
[3]
[Link]
rical_test_meters/digital_ammeters
[4]
[Link]
ary_instruments
[5]
[Link]

Group Members’ Contributions In Assignment:

Group member Contribution

 M. Abdullah 20%
 M. Rizwan Munavar 20%
 Syed Arsam Nasim 20%
 Asif Ali Shoukat 20%
 Ubaidullah 20%