Week 7 - Group A - Pressure Sensors - Phil Brubaker

                This week’s blog post topic for group A is about pressure sensors.  According to Google and Wikipedia, a pressure sensor is a sensor that measures the expression of the force required to stop a fluid, often gasses or liquids, from expanding and is often in terms of force per unit area.  In the simplest terms, a pressure sensor acts as a transducer or indicator to measure the pressure of a specific area and often work as a security measure whenever the pressure within that specific area becomes greater than, or less than the anticipated pressure.  Pressure sensors are used throughout a variety of different industries and can be used to measure everything from a change in altitude of a gas or liquid to the flow or movement of the same gas or liquid.  As expected, pressure sensors that can perform multiple processes with greater accuracy will ultimately be a greater cost than those pressure sensors less capable or accurate.

                There are five main types of pressure sensors, each measuring different pieces of information.  Absolute pressure sensors can be utilized to measure certain pressures similar to atmospheric pressure, while a gauge pressure sensor can be utilized to measure a more contained pressure such as that of an inflated car tire.  A differential pressure sensor can be utilized to measure the pressure difference between two specified points within a system, while a sealed pressure sensor is utilized to compare a measured pressure to sea-level pressure, and a vacuum pressure sensor can be utilized to measure any pressure below zero pounds per square inch.  

                Pressure sensors are often incorporated into buildings in a variety of ways.  One of the most obvious uses of a pressure sensor is within a building’s HVAC system.  For example, the Siemens Differential Pressure Sensor for Air and Non-Aggressive Gases (Model #QBM66) is used to “acquire the differential pressure of air or nonaggressive gases in ventilation, air conditioning, and heating plants.  The differential pressure sensors are used to measure over- or underpressure in air ducts in relation to ambient pressure as well as to monitor filters and to control fans and acquire pressure differentials between different rooms.”  With sensor technology expanding so rapidly, the variety of uses within intelligent buildings is rising as well.  Pressure sensors will almost definitely be utilized in the buildings of the future to monitor entire building systems as well as improve the safety and well-being of those within.

Sources:

Whatley, Tiesha. "How Do Pressure Sensors Work? | EHow." EHow. Demand Media, 28 Oct. 2008. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://www.ehow.com/how-does_4564501_pressure-sensors-work.html>.

“Pressure Sensors.” Siemens. Building Technologies.  2014. Web. 18 Feb. 2014. <http://www.buildingtechnologies.siemens.com/> 

Comments:

Michael Kilgallon:             Great post!  Good point about sensors being used to measure what goes on immediately outside the building and not just monitoring what is happening inside the building.  Also, your point about pressure sensors being used in non-destructive testing was a wonderful incorporation of the knowledge we learned from Dr. Bartoli in CIVE 615!

Audrey Ryan:     Great post!  Very technical and broken down so it was easy to follow and understand.  You made a great point about the infrared/non-contact sensors and resistance temperature detectors!