Dual piston deadweight testers can greatly enhance a lab?s capability to calibrate wide pressure ranges with the highest accuracy. With transducers and devices under test (DUTs) which have a wide measuring range, calibration can be quite a lengthy process, as you need to change pistons among test points as a way to calibrate its entire range.
However, a dual piston deadweight tester has a high range piston and low range piston, that allows the technician more flexibility and efficiency with regards to calibration. This advancement originates from decades of innovation and customer interaction to locate a solution for industry needs.
Formula for pressure calculations
Because the Industrial Revolution, high accuracy pressure measurement has been a key requirement in process industries. Pressure measuring instruments like gauges were employed to measure and monitor pressure conditons. Privileged must be calibrated against instruments of a higher degree of accuracy. Deadweight testers (generally known as pressure balances) are high accuracy instruments found in the calibration of electronic or mechanical pressure instruments. The core element of a deadweight tester is really a precisely manufactured piston-cylinder system, onto which a mass load is applied in order to generate the average person test points in a calibration.
The mass load is proportional to the target pressure, which is achieved through optimally graduated masses. The look of the entire calibration system, and also the precise manufacturing of the piston and cylinder, ensure quality performance with long free-rotation time and low sink rates of the piston. With measurement uncertainties down to 0.002% of reading, deadweight testers are the golden standard in calibration.
A deadweight tester typically consists of a single piston-cylinder system. This involves mass sets to be changed so that you can calibrate multiple or wide measuring ranges. This could become a cumbersome process, one which requires many resources. In 1953, the entity today referred to as DH-Budenberg pioneered the first dual range piston-cylinder technology with two pistons housed concentrically in one unit. DH-Budenberg was later acquired by WIKA in 2011. The initial design included 1/8 in2 (low pressure) and 1/180 in2 (ruthless) pistons housed in one unit. Using a single mass-set it was now possible to create two points of equilibrium at 55 bar (low pressure) and 550 bar (ruthless) respectively. This was followed with the release of ruthless variant that could generate pressure upto 1100 bar.
Explanation dual piston design
The initial dual piston design was largely constructed of tool roll, and had an accuracy of 0.03 % of the pressure being measured in the standard model and 0.05 % in the ruthless model. In dual piston calibration, the strain on the low pressure piston is transferred to the auxiliary piston, that is directly connected to the weight carrier. When correct pressure is obtained, the piston head skirt floats within the low range or ?blue band.? To attain ruthless, the pressure is increased and the reduced pressure piston rises until a knife-edge on underneath flange makes a seal contrary to the low pressure cylinder and acts because the high pressure cylinder. Since the low pressure piston does not contribute to the entire weight of the piston and weight carrier, the weight carrier picks up the auxiliary weight to pay. When correct pressure is achieved, the piston head skirt floats within the high range or ?red band.?
This iconic, patented DH-Budenberg red and blue band piston-cylinder system was re-engineered later with both piston and cylinder components made of tungsten carbide. With Pride in pressure generation and piston manufacturing processes, dual ranges are now available up to 1,400 bar with accuracies right down to 0.006 % of reading.
These developments in dual piston technology made deadweight testers, such as DH-Budenberg?s CPB5800 Hydraulic Pressure Balance, the premier deadweight tester for industrial applications. It really is especially ideal for calibrating a transducer with a wide measuring range, while maintaining the high accuracy for testing and calibration. By using just a single mass set and calibrating instrument, this technique can automatically switch between multiple test points of high and low pressure, making pressure calibration seamless, efficient and economical.
Note
Further information on our pressure balances are available on the WIKA website.