Wheatstone Bridge Circuits

Specific Conductance. The specific conductance depends on the total concentration of the dissolved ioni2ed substances, ie, the ionic strength of a water sample. It is an expression of the abiUty of the water to conduct an electric current. Freshly distilled water has a conductance of 0.5—2 ]lS/cm, whereas that of potable water generally is 50—1500 ]lS/cm. The conductivity of a water sample is measured by means of an a-c Wheatstone-bridge circuit with a null indicator and a conductance cell. Each cell has an associated constant which, when multiphed by the conductance, yields the specific conductance. 

Modern hot-wire anemometers are normally used in the constant temperature (CT) mode, where the wire resistance and w ire temperature are kept virtually constant. In the CT-mode the wire is one part of a Wheatstone bridge circuit, which has a feedback from the bridge offset voltage to the top of the bridge (see Fig. 12.18). 

Electrical resistance monitors use the fact that the resistance of a conductor varies inversely as its cross-sectional area. In principle, then, a wire or strip of the metal of interest is exposed to the corrodent and its resistance is measured at regular intervals. In practice, since the resistance also varies with temperature, the resistance of the exposed element is compared in a Wheatstone bridge circuit to that of a similar element which is protected from the corrodent but which experiences the same temperature. 

Thrner gauges may be used to determine scale thickness in situ. These are Wheatstone bridge circuit devices that have proved very useful for 40 years or so. As with chloral thermocouples, calibration may be difficult, and the level of magnetic iron content (magnetite) in the deposit may affect the readings. More modem electronic versions, similar to paint thickness testers, are now available. 

The solid state sensor consists of a Wheatstone Bridge circuit shown in Figure 6.9 which is diffused into a silicon chip, thereby becoming a part of the atomic structure of the... 

Flammable atmospheres can be assessed using portable gas chromatographs or, for selected compounds, by colour indicator tubes. More commonly, use is made of explos-imeters fitted with Pellistors (e.g. platinum wire encased in beads of refractory material). The beads are arranged in a Wheatstone bridge circuit. The flammable gas is oxidized on the heated catalytic element, causing the electrical resistance to alter relative to the reference. Instruments are calibrated for specific compounds in terms of 0—100% of their lower flammable limit. Recalibration or application of correction factors is required for different gases. Points to consider are listed in Table 9.10. 

One temperature-sensitive resistor as compensator and another one as detector are integrated into adjoining strings of a Wheatstone bridge circuit the voltage can be measured. Since both resistors are exposed to the test gas flow, disturbances caused by changes in temperature and humidity are compensated. 

The actual design includes a second filament, within the same detector block. This filament is present in a different flow channel, however, one through which only pure helium flows. Both filaments are part of a Wheatstone Bridge circuit as shown in Figure 12.11, which allows a comparison between the two resistances and a voltage output to the data system, as shown. Such a design is intended to minimize effects of flow rate, pressure, and line voltage variations. 

While most laboratory conductivity bridges are manually balanced, the Wheatstone bridge circuit also finds use in a variety of conductivity monitors, controllers, and recorders where it is mechanically rebalanced by a servomechanism operated by the detector. Generally in these devices, advantage is taken of the phase shift, which occurs in the detected signal as the bridge is driven through balance by the servo motor. 

Several forms of gas sensor based upon thermal conductivity are available. The most common type of detector (the katharometer) consists of a number of hot-wire sensors arranged in a Wheatstone Bridge circuit (Fig. 6.54)(8). A small current i is supplied to heat each arm of the bridge. The heat transfer coefficient h for... 

Figure 8.10. Simplified Wheatstone bridge circuit for TCD. Four elements R i and R2 for reference, and Si and S2 for example. 

Wheatstone bridge — Circuit used for high-precision measurements of an unknown electrical resistance,... 

Fig. 9b. A Wheatstone bridge circuit as used in power plants for C02. It operates by balancing the output voltage of two circuits, one in a reference gas concentration, and the other in the gas to be measured.

A new vapor pressure osmometry (VPO) apparatus having a very high sensitivity has been constructed by Kamide et al. 50). In order to match a pair of thermistors, a conventional Wheatstone bridge circuit was modified by introducing a matching resistor, which permits to detect a temperature difference of ca. 6x 10-6 °C. 

There are two types of conductometric procedures commonly used. Firstly, a Wheatstone Bridge circuit can be set up, whereby the ratio of the resistance of unknown seawater to standard seawater balances the ratio of a fixed resistor to a variable resistor. The system uses alternating current to minimise electrode fouling. Alternatively, the conductivity can be measured by magnetic induction, in which case the sensor consists of a plastic tube containing sample seawater that links two transformers. An oscillator establishes a current in one transformer that induces current flow within the tube, the magnitude of which depends upon the salinity of the sample. This in turn induces a current in the second transformer, which can then be measured. This design has been exploited for in situ conductivity measurements. 

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