Steel pressure sensors

Paul Boughton

A range of stainless steel pressure sensors with digital i2C interface are now available from instrumentation specialist Impress Sensors & Systems Ltd.

Unlike traditional industrial pressure sensors with analogue output signal, the new DCT 532 series provides a digital i2C interface, making it suitable for a wide range of pressure measurement applications in OEM and machine building applications, including medical devices, pharmaceutical machines, food processing machines and other process engineering equipment.

The i2C interface provides complete integration flexibility, enabling localised bus configuration, which gives the user serial communications with the sensor. i2C is a serial data bus technology developed by Philips, which has become the standard for simple communications inside equipment and machinery. This synchronous master-slave interface enables communication between a master and up to 127 slave devices. As well as typical settings such as slave address and data format, units for pressure and other parameters can be set up.

Sam Drury, Sales & Marketing Director at Impress Sensors & Systems, comments: “Electronic sensors with digital interfaces are becoming increasingly popular. The DCT 532 pressure sensor will have a wide appeal amongst OEMs and specialist machine builders. The digital i2C interface simplifies integration with other instrumentation devices, PLCs and data loggers, resulting in faster machine commissioning times and reduced downtime in the event of a machine fault.”

Providing long term stability, the DCT 532 is a modular design of pressure sensor, allowing the customisation of mechanical and electrical connections to suit specific applications. The sensor also offers fast response times (1.5ms, depending on the bus frequency) and a measuring rate of 500Hz, which means no lag or downtime on the digital bus network.

The DCT 532 is available in nominal pressure ranges from 0–100mbar up to 0–400 bar. Accuracy is 0.35% FSO to IEC 60770 and so includes all setting errors, making this a high accuracy level-measuring instrument. The sensor provides excellent long-term stability (± 0.1% FSO/year at reference conditions) and a high level of electrical protection (emission and immunity according to EN 61326) to prevent damage once the unit is installed in the field. Output signal is 3.5–5.5VDC. The sensor is accurate even in fluctuating temperatures (low thermal drift). Ambient operating temperatures are from -25°C to +125°C.