Pressure transducers are industrial devices that are used for converting liquid or gas pressure into an electrical signal. In addition to this, pressure transducers can also generate signals by using the pressure enforced on electrical, optical, visual and auditory signals.
Pressure transducers provide different kinds of pressure measurements.
Gauge pressure- This is a measure which is related to ambient pressure. An appropriate example for this pressure measurement is blood pressure. A common unit for measurement is psig (pressure per inch gauge). Another example of gauge measurement is the intake manifold vacuum that can be found in a vehicle’s engine. However, this vacuum would be a negative gauge pressure.
Differential pressure- This measurement is the variation in pressure between two or more points of measurement. Differential pressure measurements are mostly used for units that measure psid (pounds per square inch differential).
Absolute pressure- This kind of measure is relative to a perfect vacuum. For instance, atmospheric pressure is a good example of this pressure measurement. A common unit of this measure is psia (pounds per square inch absolute).
It is important to understand that pressure transducers can only sense fluctuations in pressure by using mechanical elements. These elements include tubes, shells and plates, which are developed to deflect if pressure is applied to them. These mechanical elements vary from one pressure transducer to another.
