CALIBRATION TRAINING PROGRAM

BETALINK INSTRUMENTATION & CALIBRATION SERVICES

INSTRUMENTATION LABORATORY DEPARTMENT

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 Calibration Training Program

Date Topic Remarks

Day 1 1. Introduction about Calibration

2. Required Instruments, Environmental Condition and

so for the Calibration

Day 2 1. Required Specification of master equipment and its

choice

2. Working Principle and basics of the Calibrating

instruments.

Day 3 1. Introducing the Reference standard and other

materials.

2. Familiarizing the calibration procedure.

Day 4 1. Operation Instructions for the Calibration set-up.

2. Demonstration of Calibration with practical example.

3. Resolving doubts and difficulties faced if any.

Day 5 1. Testing the trainee’s ability to do the calibration.

2. Evaluating the Trainee according to the

performance.

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 Calibration
Calibration is a comparison between measurements – one of known magnitude or correctness
made or set with one device and another measurement made in as similar a way as possible with a
second device.

The device with the known or assigned correctness is called the standard. The second device is the
unit under test, test instrument, or any of several other names for the device being calibrated.

The formal definition of calibration by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures is the
following: "Operation that, under specified conditions, in a first step, establishes a relation between
the quantity values with measurement uncertainties provided by measurement standards and
corresponding indications with associated measurement uncertainties (of the calibrated
instrument or secondary standard) and, in a second step, uses this information to establish a
relation for obtaining a measurement result from an indication."

Different types of calibrations we do:

 Temperature Gauge Calibration

 Pressure Gauge Calibration
 Electrical Measuring Instruments Calibration

Calibration Requirements
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Environmental Condition:

According to 17025 Lab must monitor temperature and humidity. Ie., Lab have to maintain the
environment suitable for calibration. We keep it 20 ̊C ± 2̊C temperature and 50 %RH± 10 %RH
humidity.

Only authorized persons can enter into the lab, and anything other than calibration equipment and
tools are not allowed to keep inside. Hazardous tools and instruments must be kept under
precautions. Each area for calibration are separated and distinguished for individual perform.

Premier Master Instruments handled by authorized person only. Lab Persons must be aware of
safety.

Two types of calibration: On site Calibration & In house calibration:

On-site calibration doesn’t require environment control for the calibration. But it will enhance the
uncertainty for the measurement. Suggest in-house calibration if necessary.

Reference Equipment:

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For calibration we need a reference equipment, to consider as the known value of the parameter.

The master instrument must be highly accurate and more precision. Higher resolution is needed for
negotiate the uncertainty.

According to the reference standard the master should be at least 3 times better accuracy.

The set-up must keep neat and clean and use smoothly for the better stability and to negotiate the
drift. All masters provide with manual and refer them if needed.

Pressure Gauge Calibration equipments:

Dead weight tester

Hydraulic Pump

Hand Held Pump

Reference are:

Standard Weights

Highly accurate gauges.

Temperature Gauge Calibration:

Fixed Point Calibration

Comparison Method

Reference standards are:

SPRT

PRT

Liquid-in-glass thermometer

Thermocouple etc

Electrical Instruments Calbration:

For multimeter, Ammeter, Voltmeter etc :

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Multi-function Calibrator which can generate V,I,R and many other electrical Parameters accurately.

For Clamp meter:

Use 50 Turns Coil along with the Multifunction Calibrator

Pressure measurement
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 Absolute pressure is zero-referenced against a perfect vacuum, so it is equal to gauge pressure
plus atmospheric pressure.
 Gauge pressure is zero-referenced against ambient air pressure, so it is equal to absolute
pressure minus atmospheric pressure. Negative signs are usually omitted. To distinguish a
negative pressure, the value may be appended with the word "vacuum" or the gauge may be
labeled a "vacuum gauge."
 Differential pressure is the difference in pressure between two points.

Static pressure is uniform in all directions, so pressure measurements are independent of

direction in an immovable (static) fluid

Flow, however, applies additional pressure on surfaces perpendicular to the flow direction, while
having little impact on surfaces parallel to the flow direction. This directional component of
pressure in a moving (dynamic) fluid is called dynamic pressure.

Bourdon

The Bourdon pressure gauge uses the principle that a flattened tube tends to straighten or regain
its circular form in cross-section when pressurized. Although this change in cross-section may be
hardly noticeable, and thus involving moderate stresses within the elastic range of easily workable
materials, the strain of the material of the tube is magnified by forming the tube into a C shape or
even a helix, such that the entire tube tends to straighten out or uncoil, elastically, as it is
pressurized.

Diaphragm

A second type of aneroid gauge uses deflection of a flexible membrane that separates regions of
different pressure. The amount of deflection is repeatable for known pressures so the pressure can
be determined by using calibration. The deformation of a thin diaphragm is dependent on the
difference in pressure between its two faces. The reference face can be open to atmosphere to
measure gauge pressure, open to a second port to measure differential pressure, or can be sealed
against a vacuum or other fixed reference pressure to measure absolute pressure. The deformation
can be measured using mechanical, optical or capacitive techniques. Ceramic and metallic
diaphragms are used.

Useful range: above 10-2 Torr [8] (roughly 1 Pa)

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Bellows

In gauges intended to sense small pressures or pressure differences, or require that an absolute
pressure be measured, the gear train and needle may be driven by an enclosed and sealed bellows
chamber, called an aneroid, which means "without liquid". (Early barometers used a column of
liquid such as water or the liquid metal mercury suspended by a vacuum.) This bellows
configuration is used in aneroid barometers (barometers with an indicating needle and dial
card), altimeters, altitude recording barographs, and the altitude telemetry instruments used
in weather balloon radiosondes. These devices use the sealed chamber as a reference pressure and
are driven by the external pressure. Other sensitive aircraft instruments such as air speed
indicators and rate of climb indicators (variometers) have connections both to the internal part of
the aneroid chamber and to an external enclosing chamber.

Temperature measurement

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 Many methods have been developed for measuring temperature. Most of these rely on
measuring some physical property of a working material that varies with temperature. One of the
most common devices for measuring temperature is the glass thermometer. This consists of a glass
tube filled with mercury or some other liquid, which acts as the working fluid. Temperature
increase causes the fluid to expand, so the temperature can be determined by measuring the
volume of the fluid. Such thermometers are usually calibrated so that one can read the temperature
simply by observing the level of the fluid in the thermometer. Another type of thermometer that is
not really used much in practice, but is important from a theoretical standpoint, is the gas
thermometer.

Other important devices for measuring temperature include:

 Thermocouples
 Thermistors
 Resistance temperature detector (RTD)
 Pyrometer
 Langmuir probes (for electron temperature of a plasma)
 Infrared, Etc

Thermocouple Temperature Measurement Sensors

Thermocouples consist essentially of two strips or wires made of different metals and joined at one end.
Changes in the temperature at that juncture induce a change in electromotive force (emf) between the other
ends. As temperature goes up, this output emf of the thermocouple rises, though not necessarily linearly.

Resistance Temperature Devices(RTD)

Resistive temperature devices capitalize on the fact that the electrical resistance of a material changes as its
temperature changes. Two key types are the metallic devices (commonly referred to as RTDs), and
thermistors. As their name indicates, RTDs rely on resistance change in a metal, with the resistance rising
more or less linearly with temperature. Thermistors are based on resistance change in a ceramic
semiconductor; the resistance drops nonlinearly with temperature rise.

Infrared Temperature Measurement Devices

Infrared sensors are noncontacting devices. They infer temperature by measuring the thermal radiation
emitted by a material.

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Bimetallic Temperature Measurement Devices
Bimetallic devices take advantage of the difference in rate of thermal expansion between different metals.
Strips of two metals are bonded together. When heated, one side will expand more than the other, and the
resulting bending is translated into a temperature reading by mechanical linkage to a pointer. These devices
are portable and they do not require a power supply, but they are usually not as accurate as thermocouples or
RTDs and they do not readily lend themselves to temperature recording.

Fluid-Expansion Temperature Measurement Devices

Fluid-expansion devices, typified by the household thermometer, generally come in two main classifications:
the mercury type and the organic-liquid type. Versions employing gas instead of liquid are also available.
Mercury is considered an environmental hazard, so there are regulations governing the shipment of devices
that contain it. Fluid-expansion sensors do not require electric power, do not pose explosion hazards, and are
stable even after repeated cycling. On the other hand, they do not generate data that is easily recorded or
transmitted, and they cannot make spot or point measurements.

Change-of-State Temperature Measurement Devices

Change-of-state temperature sensors consist of labels, pellets, crayons, lacquers or liquid crystals whose
appearance changes once a certain temperature is reached. They are used, for instance, with steam traps -
when a trap exceeds a certain temperature, a white dot on a sensor label attached to the trap will turn black.
Response time typically takes minutes, so these devices often do not respond to transient temperature
changes. And accuracy is lower than with other types of sensors. Furthermore, the change in state is
irreversible, except in the case of liquid-crystal displays. Even so, change-of-state sensors can be handy when
one needs confirmation that the temperature of a piece of equipment or a material has not exceeded a certain
level, for instance for technical or legal reasons during product shipment.

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 Multimeter
A multimeter or a multitester, also known as a VOM (Volt-Ohm meter), is an electronic
measuring instrument that combines several measurement functions in one unit. A typical
multimeter would include basic features such as the ability to measure voltage, current, and
resistance. Analog multimeters use a microammeter whose pointer moves over a scale calibrated
for all the different measurements that can be made. Digital multimeters (DMM, DVOM) display the
measured value in numerals, and may also display a bar of a length proportional to the quantity
being measured.

analogmultimeters are still preferable in some cases, for example when monitoring a rapidly-
varying value.

Operation:

A multimeter is a combination of a multirange DC voltmeter, multirange AC voltmeter,

multirange ammeter, and multirange ohmmeter. An un-amplified analog multimeter combines a
meter movement, range resistors and switches.

For an analog meter movement, DC voltage is measured with a series resistor connected between
the meter movement and the circuit under test. A set of switches allows greater resistance to be
inserted for higher voltage ranges. The product of the basic full-scale deflection current of the
movement, and the sum of the series resistance and the movement's own resistance, gives the full-
scale voltage of the range. As an example, a meter movement that required 1 milliampere for full
scale deflection, with an internal resistance of 500 ohms, would, on a 10-volt range of the
multimeter, have 9,500 ohms of series resistance.[3]

For analog current ranges, low-resistance shunts are connected in parallel with the meter
movement to divert most of the current around the coil. Again for the case of a hypothetical 1 mA,
500 ohm movement on a 1 Ampere range, the shunt resistance would be just over 0.5 ohms.

Moving coil instruments respond only to the average value of the current through them. To
measure alternating current, a rectifier diode is inserted in the circuit so that the average value of
current is non-zero. Since the rectified average value and the root-mean-square value of a
waveform need not be the same, simple rectifier-type circuits may only be accurate for sinusoidal
waveforms. Other wave shapes require a different calibration factor to relate RMS and average
value. Since practical rectifiers have non-zero voltage drop, accuracy and sensitivity is poor at low
values.

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To measure resistance, a small battery within the instrument passes a current through the device
under test and the meter coil. Since the current available depends on the state of charge of the
battery, a multimeter usually has an adjustment for the ohms scale to zero it. In the usual circuit
found in analog multimeters, the meter deflection is inversely proportional to the resistance; so
full-scale is 0 ohms, and high resistance corresponds to smaller deflections. The ohms scale is
compressed, so resolution is better at lower resistance values.

Amplified instruments simplify the design of the series and shunt resistor networks. The internal
resistance of the coil is decoupled from the selection of the series and shunt range resistors; the
series network becomes a voltage divider. Where AC measurements are required, the rectifier can
be placed after the amplifier stage, improving precision at low range.

Digital instruments, which necessarily incorporate amplifiers, use the same principles as analog
instruments for range resistors. For resistance measurements, usually a small constant current is
passed through the device under test and the digital multimeter reads the resultant voltage drop;
this eliminates the scale compression found in analog meters, but requires a source of significant
current. An autoranging digital multimeter can automatically adjust the scaling network so that the
measurement uses the full precision of the A/D converter.

In all types of multimeters, the quality of the switching elements is critical to stable and accurate
measurements. Stability of the resistors is a limiting factor in the long-term accuracy and precision
of the instrument.

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