Pressure Sensors

Pressure Sensors

Pressure sensors are instruments that detect and measure fluid or gas pressure. They monitor pressure in piping systems, engines, hydraulic systems, dams and in rivers and waterfalls. In liquid, pressure causes electrical conductivity, which causes a change in the levels of charge flow that corresponds to pressure levels. Besides sensing pressure in liquid and gas flow, pressure sensors provide altitude testing for the aerospace industry, flow sensing, level depth sensing in submerged vessels like submarines, and leak testing, which senses the decrease in pressure of a system that uses liquid or gas. Pressure sensors are generally very small pieces of equipment, sometimes as small as a cubic inch. Microelectromechanical systems, however, use pressure sensors hundreds of times smaller.

There are five main types of pressure sensors used today. The most common is the gauge sensor, which is calibrated and measures pressure while taking into account atmospheric pressure. Absolute pressure sensors measure for pressure relative to a perfect vacuum, while vacuum sensors are used when the pressure being measured is lower than localized atmospheric pressure. Differential sensors measures the differences between two or more pressures introduced as inputs to the sensing unit and are used to measure flow in pressurized vessels. Sealed pressure sensors measure pressure relative to seal level pressure. Pressure sensors also receive and display data in different ways. Their results are displayed in analog form, switch and alarm outputs, digital or video displays or AM/FM signals.