Pressure measurement

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The construction of a bourdon tube gauge. Construction elements are made of brass

Many techniques have been developed for the measurement of pressure and vacuum.
Instruments used to measure pressure are called pressure gauges or vacuum gauges.

A manometer could also refer to a pressure measuring instrument, usually limited to

measuring pressures near to atmospheric. The term manometer is often used to refer
specifically to liquid column hydrostatic instruments.

A vacuum gauge is used to measure the pressure in a vacuum—which is further divided

into two subcategories, high and low vacuum (and sometimes ultra-high vacuum). The
applicable pressure range of many of the techniques used to measure vacuums have an
overlap. Hence, by combining several different types of gauge, it is possible to measure
system pressure continuously from 10 mbar down to 10−11 mbar.

Contents
 1 Absolute, gauge and differential pressures - zero reference
 2 Units
 3 Static and dynamic pressure
o 3.1 Applications
 4 Instruments
o 4.1 Hydrostatic
 4.1.1 Piston
 4.1.2 Liquid column
 4.1.3 McLeod gauge
o 4.2 Aneroid
 4.2.1 Bourdon
 4.2.1.1 Mechanical details
 4.2.2 Diaphragm
 4.2.3 Bellows
 5 Electronic pressure sensors
o 5.1 Thermal conductivity
 5.1.1 Two-wire
 5.1.2 Pirani (one wire)
o 5.2 Ionization gauge
 5.2.1 Hot cathode
 5.2.2 Cold cathode
 6 Calibration
 7 Dynamic transients
 8 History
 9 European (CEN) Standard
 10 US (ASME) Standards
 11 See also
 12 References

 13 External links

Absolute, gauge and differential pressures - zero

reference
Everyday pressure measurements, such as for tire pressure, are usually made relative to
ambient air pressure. In other cases measurements are made relative to a vacuum or to
some other ad hoc reference. When distinguishing between these zero references, the
following terms are used:

 Absolute pressure is zero-referenced against a perfect vacuum, so it is equal to

gauge pressure plus atmospheric pressure.
 Gauge pressure is zero-referenced against ambient air pressure, so it is equal to
absolute pressure minus atmospheric pressure. Negative signs are usually omitted.
To distinguish a negative pressure, the value may be appended with the word
"vacuum" or the gauge may be labeled a "vacuum gauge."
 Differential pressure is the difference in pressure between two points.

The zero reference in use is usually implied by context, and these words are added only
when clarification is needed. Tire pressure and blood pressure are gauge pressures by
convention, while atmospheric pressures, deep vacuum pressures, and altimeter pressures
must be absolute.
For most working fluids where a fluid exists in a closed system, gauge pressure
measurement prevails. Pressure instruments connected to the system will indicate
pressures relative to the current atmospheric pressure. The situation changes when
extreme vacuum pressures are measured; absolute pressures are typically used instead.

Differential pressures are commonly used in industrial process systems. Differential

pressure gauges have two inlet ports, each connected to one of the volumes whose
pressure is to be monitored. In effect, such a gauge performs the mathematical operation
of subtraction through mechanical means, obviating the need for an operator or control
system to watch two separate gauges and determine the difference in readings.

Moderate vacuum pressure readings can be ambiguous without the proper context, as
they may represent absolute pressure or gauge pressure without a negative sign. Thus a
vacuum of 26 inHg gauge is equivalent to an absolute pressure of 30 inHg (typical
atmospheric pressure) − 26 inHg = 4 inHg.

Atmospheric pressure is typically about 100 kPa at sea level, but is variable with altitude
and weather. If the absolute pressure of a fluid stays constant, the gauge pressure of the
same fluid will vary as atmospheric pressure changes. For example, when a car drives up
a mountain, the (gauge) tire pressure goes up because atmospheric pressure goes down.
The absolute pressure in the tire is essentially unchanged.

Using atmospheric pressure as reference is usually signified by a g for gauge after the
pressure unit, e.g. 70 psig, which means that the pressure measured is the total pressure
minus atmospheric pressure. There are two types of gauge reference pressure: vented
gauge (vg) and sealed gauge (sg).

A vented gauge pressure transmitter for example allows the outside air pressure to be
exposed to the negative side of the pressure sensing diaphragm, via a vented cable or a
hole on the side of the device, so that it always measures the pressure referred to ambient
barometric pressure. Thus a vented gauge reference pressure sensor should always read
zero pressure when the process pressure connection is held open to the air.

A sealed gauge reference is very similar except that atmospheric pressure is sealed on the
negative side of the diaphragm. This is usually adopted on high pressure ranges such as
hydraulics where atmospheric pressure changes will have a negligible effect on the
accuracy of the reading, so venting is not necessary. This also allows some manufacturers
to provide secondary pressure containment as an extra precaution for pressure equipment
safety if the burst pressure of the primary pressure sensing diaphragm is exceeded.

There is another way of creating a sealed gauge reference and this is to seal a high
vacuum on the reverse side of the sensing diaphragm. Then the output signal is offset so
the pressure sensor reads close to zero when measuring atmospheric pressure.

A sealed gauge reference pressure transducer will never read exactly zero because
atmospheric pressure is always changing and the reference in this case is fixed at 1 bar.
An absolute pressure measurement is one that is referred to absolute vacuum. The best
example of an absolute referenced pressure is atmospheric or barometric pressure.

To produce an absolute pressure sensor the manufacturer will seal a high vacuum behind
the sensing diaphragm. If the process pressure connection of an absolute pressure
transmitter is open to the air, it will read the actual barometric pressure.

Units
Pressure units
 v technical standard pounds per
pascal bar torr
 t atmosphere atmosphere square inch
Pa bar at atm Torr psi
 e
7.5006×10− 1.450377×10−
1 Pa ≡ 1 N/m2 10−5 1.0197×10−5 9.8692×10−6 3 4

1 bar 105 ≡ 106 dyn/cm2 1.0197 0.98692 750.06 14.50377

0.980665
1 at 0.980665 ≡ 1 kp/cm2 0.9678411 735.5592 14.22334
×105
1.01325
1 atm 1.01325 1.0332 ≡ p0 ≡ 760 14.69595
×105
1.333224×10− 1.359551×10− 1.315789×10− 1.933678×10−
1 Torr 133.3224 3 3 3 ≈ 1 mmHg 2

6.8948×10
1 psi 3 6.8948×10−2 7.03069×10−2 6.8046×10−2 51.71493 ≡ 1 lbF/in2

The SI unit for pressure is the pascal (Pa), equal to one newton per square metre (N·m−2
or kg·m−1·s−2). This special name for the unit was added in 1971; before that, pressure in
SI was expressed in units such as N·m−2. When indicated, the zero reference is stated in
parenthesis following the unit, for example 101 kPa (abs). The pound per square inch
(psi) is still in widespread use in the US and Canada, for measuring, for instance, tire
pressure. A letter is often appended to the psi unit to indicate the measurement's zero
reference; psia for absolute, psig for gauge, psid for differential, although this practice is
discouraged by the NIST.[1]

Because pressure was once commonly measured by its ability to displace a column of
liquid in a manometer, pressures are often expressed as a depth of a particular fluid (e.g.
inches of water). Manometric measurement is the subject of pressure head calculations.
The most common choices for a manometer's fluid are mercury (Hg) and water; water is
nontoxic and readily available, while mercury's density allows for a shorter column (and
so a smaller manometer) to measure a given pressure. The abbreviation "W.C." or the
words "water column" are often printed on gauges and measurements that use water for
the manometer.
Fluid density and local gravity can vary from one reading to another depending on local
factors, so the height of a fluid column does not define pressure precisely. So
measurements in "millimetres of mercury" or "inches of mercury" can be converted to SI
units as long as attention is paid to the local factors of fluid density and gravity.
Temperature fluctuations change the value of fluid density, while location can affect
gravity.

Although no longer preferred, these manometric units are still encountered in many
fields. Blood pressure is measured in millimetres of mercury (see torr) in most of the
world, and lung pressures in centimeters of water are still common. Natural gas pipeline
pressures are measured in inches of water, expressed as "inches W.C." Scuba divers often
use a manometric rule of thumb: the pressure exerted by ten meters depth of water is
approximately equal to one atmosphere. In vacuum systems, the units torr, micrometre of
mercury (micron), and inch of mercury (inHg) are most commonly used. Torr and micron
usually indicates an absolute pressure, while inHg usually indicates a gauge pressure.

Atmospheric pressures are usually stated using kilopascal (kPa), or atmospheres (atm),
except in American meteorology where the hectopascal (hPa) and millibar (mbar) are
preferred. In American and Canadian engineering, stress is often measured in kip. Note
that stress is not a true pressure since it is not scalar. In the cgs system the unit of pressure
was the barye (ba), equal to 1 dyn·cm−2. In the mts system, the unit of pressure was the
pieze, equal to 1 sthene per square metre.

Many other hybrid units are used such as mmHg/cm² or grams-force/cm² (sometimes as
kg/cm² without properly identifying the force units). Using the names kilogram, gram,
kilogram-force, or gram-force (or their symbols) as a unit of force is prohibited in SI; the
unit of force in SI is the newton (N).

Static and dynamic pressure

Static pressure is uniform in all directions, so pressure measurements are independent of
direction in an immovable (static) fluid. Flow, however, applies additional pressure on
surfaces perpendicular to the flow direction, while having little impact on surfaces
parallel to the flow direction. This directional component of pressure in a moving
(dynamic) fluid is called dynamic pressure. An instrument facing the flow direction
measures the sum of the static and dynamic pressures; this measurement is called the total
pressure or stagnation pressure. Since dynamic pressure is referenced to static pressure, it
is neither gauge nor absolute; it is a differential pressure.

While static gauge pressure is of primary importance to determining net loads on pipe
walls, dynamic pressure is used to measure flow rates and airspeed. Dynamic pressure
can be measured by taking the differential pressure between instruments parallel and
perpendicular to the flow. Pitot-static tubes, for example perform this measurement on
airplanes to determine airspeed. The presence of the measuring instrument inevitably acts
to divert flow and create turbulence, so its shape is critical to accuracy and the calibration
curves are often non-linear.
Applications

 Altimeter
 Barometer
 MAP sensor
 Pitot tube
 Sphygmomanometer

Instruments
Many instruments have been invented to measure pressure, with different advantages and
disadvantages. Pressure range, sensitivity, dynamic response and cost all vary by several
orders of magnitude from one instrument design to the next. The oldest type is the liquid
column (a vertical tube filled with mercury) manometer invented by Evangelista
Torricelli in 1643. The U-Tube was invented by Christian Huygens in 1661.

Hydrostatic

Hydrostatic gauges (such as the mercury column manometer) compare pressure to the
hydrostatic force per unit area at the base of a column of fluid. Hydrostatic gauge
measurements are independent of the type of gas being measured, and can be designed to
have a very linear calibration. They have poor dynamic response.

Piston

Piston-type gauges counterbalance the pressure of a fluid with a spring (for example tire-
pressure gauges of comparatively low accuracy) or a solid weight, in which case it is
known as a deadweight tester and may be used for calibration of other gauges.

Liquid column
The difference in fluid height in a liquid column manometer is proportional to the

pressure difference.

Liquid column gauges consist of a vertical column of liquid in a tube that has ends which
are exposed to different pressures. The column will rise or fall until its weight is in
equilibrium with the pressure differential between the two ends of the tube. A very
simple version is a U-shaped tube half-full of liquid, one side of which is connected to
the region of interest while the reference pressure (which might be the atmospheric
pressure or a vacuum) is applied to the other. The difference in liquid level represents the
applied pressure. The pressure exerted by a column of fluid of height h and density ρ is
given by the hydrostatic pressure equation, P = hgρ. Therefore the pressure difference
between the applied pressure Pa and the reference pressure P0 in a U-tube manometer can
be found by solving Pa − P0 = hgρ. In other words, the pressure on either end of the liquid
(shown in blue in the figure to the right) must be balanced (since the liquid is static) and
so Pa = P0 + hgρ. If the fluid being measured is significantly dense, hydrostatic
corrections may have to be made for the height between the moving surface of the
manometer working fluid and the location where the pressure measurement is desired
except when measuring differential pressure of a fluid (for example across an orifice
plate or venturi), in which case the density ρ should be corrected by subtracting the
density of the fluid being measured.[2]

Although any fluid can be used, mercury is preferred for its high density (13.534 g/cm3)
and low vapour pressure. For low pressure differences well above the vapour pressure of
water, water is commonly used (and "inches of water" is a common pressure unit).
Liquid-column pressure gauges are independent of the type of gas being measured and
have a highly linear calibration. They have poor dynamic response. When measuring
vacuum, the working liquid may evaporate and contaminate the vacuum if its vapor
pressure is too high. When measuring liquid pressure, a loop filled with gas or a light
fluid can isolate the liquids to prevent them from mixing but this can be unnecessary, for
example when mercury is used as the manometer fluid to measure differential pressure of
a fluid such as water. Simple hydrostatic gauges can measure pressures ranging from a
few Torr (a few 100 Pa) to a few atmospheres. (Approximately 1,000,000 Pa)

A single-limb liquid-column manometer has a larger reservoir instead of one side of the
U-tube and has a scale beside the narrower column. The column may be inclined to
further amplify the liquid movement. Based on the use and structure following type of
manometers are used[3]

1. Simple Manometer
2. Micromanometer
3. Differential manometer
4. Inverted differential manometer

A McLeod gauge, drained of mercury

McLeod gauge

A McLeod gauge isolates a sample of gas and compresses it in a modified mercury

manometer until the pressure is a few mmHg. The gas must be well-behaved during its
compression (it must not condense, for example). The technique is slow and unsuited to
continual monitoring, but is capable of good accuracy.

Useful range: above 10-4 torr [4] (roughly 10-2 Pa) as high as 10−6 Torr (0.1 mPa),

0.1 mPa is the lowest direct measurement of pressure that is possible with current
technology. Other vacuum gauges can measure lower pressures, but only indirectly by
measurement of other pressure-controlled properties. These indirect measurements must
be calibrated to SI units via a direct measurement, most commonly a McLeod gauge.[5]

Aneroid

Aneroid gauges are based on a metallic pressure sensing element that flexes elastically
under the effect of a pressure difference across the element. "Aneroid" means "without
fluid," and the term originally distinguished these gauges from the hydrostatic gauges
described above. However, aneroid gauges can be used to measure the pressure of a
liquid as well as a gas, and they are not the only type of gauge that can operate without
fluid. For this reason, they are often called mechanical gauges in modern language.
Aneroid gauges are not dependent on the type of gas being measured, unlike thermal and
ionization gauges, and are less likely to contaminate the system than hydrostatic gauges.
The pressure sensing element may be a Bourdon tube, a diaphragm, a capsule, or a set of
bellows, which will change shape in response to the pressure of the region in question.
The deflection of the pressure sensing element may be read by a linkage connected to a
needle, or it may be read by a secondary transducer. The most common secondary
transducers in modern vacuum gauges measure a change in capacitance due to the
mechanical deflection. Gauges that rely on a change in capacitances are often referred to
as Baratron gauges.

Bourdon

Membrane-type manometer

The Bourdon pressure gauge uses the principle that a flattened tube tends to straighten or
regain its circular form in cross-section when pressurized. Although this change in cross-
section may be hardly noticeable, and thus involving moderate stresses within the elastic
range of easily workable materials, the strain of the material of the tube is magnified by
forming the tube into a C shape or even a helix, such that the entire tube tends to
straighten out or uncoil, elastically, as it is pressurized. Eugene Bourdon patented his
gauge in France in 1849, and it was widely adopted because of its superior sensitivity,
linearity, and accuracy; Edward Ashcroft purchased Bourdon's American patent rights in
1852 and became a major manufacturer of gauges. Also in 1849, Bernard Schaeffer in
Magdeburg, Germany patented a successful diaphragm (see below) pressure gauge,
which, together with the Bourdon gauge, revolutionized pressure measurement in
industry.[6] But in 1875 after Bourdon's patents expired, his company Schaeffer and
Budenberg also manufactured Bourdon tube gauges.

In practice, a flattened thin-wall, closed-end tube is connected at the hollow end to a

fixed pipe containing the fluid pressure to be measured. As the pressure increases, the
closed end moves in an arc, and this motion is converted into the rotation of a (segment
of a) gear by a connecting link that is usually adjustable. A small-diameter pinion gear is
on the pointer shaft, so the motion is magnified further by the gear ratio. The positioning
of the indicator card behind the pointer, the initial pointer shaft position, the linkage
length and initial position, all provide means to calibrate the pointer to indicate the
desired range of pressure for variations in the behaviour of the Bourdon tube itself.
Differential pressure can be measured by gauges containing two different Bourdon tubes,
with connecting linkages.

Bourdon tubes measure gauge pressure, relative to ambient atmospheric pressure, as

opposed to absolute pressure; vacuum is sensed as a reverse motion. Some aneroid
barometers use Bourdon tubes closed at both ends (but most use diaphragms or capsules,
see below). When the measured pressure is rapidly pulsing, such as when the gauge is
near a reciprocating pump, an orifice restriction in the connecting pipe is frequently used
to avoid unnecessary wear on the gears and provide an average reading; when the whole
gauge is subject to mechanical vibration, the entire case including the pointer and
indicator card can be filled with an oil or glycerin. Tapping on the face of the gauge is not
recommended as it will tend to falsify actual readings initially presented by the
gauge.The Bourdon tube is separate from the face of the gauge and thus has no effect on
the actual reading of pressure. Typical high-quality modern gauges provide an accuracy
of ±2% of span, and a special high-precision gauge can be as accurate as 0.1% of full
scale.[7]

In the following illustrations the transparent cover face of the pictured combination
pressure and vacuum gauge has been removed and the mechanism removed from the
case. This particular gauge is a combination vacuum and pressure gauge used for
automotive diagnosis:
Indicator side with card and dial

Mechanical side with Bourdon tube

 the left side of the face, used for measuring manifold vacuum, is calibrated in
centimetres of mercury on its inner scale and inches of mercury on its outer scale.
 the right portion of the face is used to measure fuel pump pressure and is
calibrated in fractions of 1 kgf/cm² on its inner scale and pounds per square inch
on its outer scale.

Mechanical details
Mechanical details

Stationary parts:

 A: Receiver block. This joins the inlet pipe to the fixed end of the Bourdon tube
(1) and secures the chassis plate (B). The two holes receive screws that secure the
case.
 B: Chassis plate. The face card is attached to this. It contains bearing holes for the
axles.
 C: Secondary chassis plate. It supports the outer ends of the axles.
 D: Posts to join and space the two chassis plates.

Moving Parts:

1. Stationary end of Bourdon tube. This communicates with the inlet pipe through
the receiver block.
2. Moving end of Bourdon tube. This end is sealed.
3. Pivot and pivot pin.
4. Link joining pivot pin to lever (5) with pins to allow joint rotation.
5. Lever. This is an extension of the sector gear (7).
6. Sector gear axle pin.
7. Sector gear.
8. Indicator needle axle. This has a spur gear that engages the sector gear (7) and
extends through the face to drive the indicator needle. Due to the short distance
between the lever arm link boss and the pivot pin and the difference between the
effective radius of the sector gear and that of the spur gear, any motion of the
Bourdon tube is greatly amplified. A small motion of the tube results in a large
motion of the indicator needle.
9. Hair spring to preload the gear train to eliminate gear lash and hysteresis.

Diaphragm
A pile of pressure capsules with corrugated diaphragms in an aneroid barograph.

A second type of aneroid gauge uses the deflection of a flexible membrane that separates
regions of different pressure. The amount of deflection is repeatable for known pressures
so the pressure can be determined by using calibration. The deformation of a thin
diaphragm is dependent on the difference in pressure between its two faces. The
reference face can be open to atmosphere to measure gauge pressure, open to a second
port to measure differential pressure, or can be sealed against a vacuum or other fixed
reference pressure to measure absolute pressure. The deformation can be measured using
mechanical, optical or capacitive techniques. Ceramic and metallic diaphragms are used.

Useful range: above 10-2 Torr [8] (roughly 1 Pa)

For absolute measurements, welded pressure capsules with diaphragms on either side are
often used.

shape:

 Flat
 corrugated
 flattened tube
 capsule

Bellows

In gauges intended to sense small pressures or pressure differences, or require that an

absolute pressure be measured, the gear train and needle may be driven by an enclosed
and sealed bellows chamber, called an aneroid, which means "without liquid". (Early
barometers used a column of liquid such as water or the liquid metal mercury suspended
by a vacuum.) This bellows configuration is used in aneroid barometers (barometers with
an indicating needle and dial card), altimeters, altitude recording barographs, and the
altitude telemetry instruments used in weather balloon radiosondes. These devices use the
sealed chamber as a reference pressure and are driven by the external pressure. Other
sensitive aircraft instruments such as air speed indicators and rate of climb indicators
(variometers) have connections both to the internal part of the aneroid chamber and to an
external enclosing chamber.

Electronic pressure sensors

Main article: Pressure sensor
Piezoresistive Strain Gage
Uses the piezoresistive effect of bonded or formed strain gauges to detect strain
due to applied pressure.
Capacitive
Uses a diaphragm and pressure cavity to create a variable capacitor to detect
strain due to applied pressure.
Magnetic
Measures the displacement of a diaphragm by means of changes in inductance
(reluctance), LVDT, Hall Effect, or by eddy current principal.
Piezoelectric
Uses the piezoelectric effect in certain materials such as quartz to measure the
strain upon the sensing mechanism due to pressure.
Optical
Uses the physical change of an optical fiber to detect strain due applied pressure.
Potentiometric
Uses the motion of a wiper along a resistive mechanism to detect the strain caused
by applied pressure.
Resonant
Uses the changes in resonant frequency in a sensing mechanism to measure stress,
or changes in gas density, caused by applied pressure.

Thermal conductivity

Generally, as a real gas increases in density -which may indicate an increase in pressure-
its ability to conduct heat increases. In this type of gauge, a wire filament is heated by
running current through it. A thermocouple or Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD)
can then be used to measure the temperature of the filament. This temperature is
dependent on the rate at which the filament loses heat to the surrounding gas, and
therefore on the thermal conductivity. A common variant is the Pirani gauge, which uses
a single platinum filament as both the heated element and RTD. These gauges are
accurate from 10 Torr to 10−3 Torr, but they are sensitive to the chemical composition of
the gases being measured.

Two-wire

One wire coil is used as a heater, and the other is used to measure nearby temperature due
to convection.

Pirani (one wire)

A Pirani gauge consist of a metal wire open to the pressure being measured. The wire is
heated by a current flowing through it and cooled by the gas surrounding it. If the gas
pressure is reduced, the cooling effect will decrease, hence the equilibrium temperature of
the wire will increase. The resistance of the wire is a function of its temperature: by
measuring the voltage across the wire and the current flowing through it, the resistance
(and so the gas pressure) can be determined. This type of gauge was invented by
Marcello Pirani.

Thermocouple gauges and thermistor gauges work in a similar manner, except a

thermocouple or thermistor is used to measure the temperature of the wire.

Useful range: 10-3 - 10 Torr [9] (roughly 10-1 - 1000 Pa)

Ionization gauge

Ionization gauges are the most sensitive gauges for very low pressures (also referred to
as hard or high vacuum). They sense pressure indirectly by measuring the electrical ions
produced when the gas is bombarded with electrons. Fewer ions will be produced by
lower density gases. The calibration of an ion gauge is unstable and dependent on the
nature of the gases being measured, which is not always known. They can be calibrated
against a McLeod gauge which is much more stable and independent of gas chemistry.

Thermionic emission generate electrons, which collide with gas atoms and generate
positive ions. The ions are attracted to a suitably biased electrode known as the collector.
The current in the collector is proportional to the rate of ionization, which is a function of
the pressure in the system. Hence, measuring the collector current gives the gas pressure.
There are several sub-types of ionization gauge.

Useful range: 10-10 - 10-3 torr (roughly 10-8 - 10-1 Pa)

Most ion gauges come in two types: hot cathode and cold cathode. A third type that is
more sensitive and expensive known as a spinning rotor gauge exists, but is not discussed
here. In the hot cathode version, an electrically heated filament produces an electron
beam. The electrons travel through the gauge and ionize gas molecules around them. The
resulting ions are collected at a negative electrode. The current depends on the number of
ions, which depends on the pressure in the gauge. Hot cathode gauges are accurate from
10−3 Torr to 10−10 Torr. The principle behind cold cathode version is the same, except that
electrons are produced in the discharge of a high voltage. Cold Cathode gauges are
accurate from 10−2 Torr to 10−9 Torr. Ionization gauge calibration is very sensitive to
construction geometry, chemical composition of gases being measured, corrosion and
surface deposits. Their calibration can be invalidated by activation at atmospheric
pressure or low vacuum. The composition of gases at high vacuums will usually be
unpredictable, so a mass spectrometer must be used in conjunction with the ionization
gauge for accurate measurement.[10]

Hot cathode
Bayard-Alpert hot-cathode ionization gauge

A hot-cathode ionization gauge is composed mainly of three electrodes acting together as

a triode, wherein the cathode is the filament. The three electrodes are a collector or plate,
a filament, and a grid. The collector current is measured in picoamps by an electrometer.
The filament voltage to ground is usually at a potential of 30 volts, while the grid voltage
at 180–210 volts DC, unless there is an optional electron bombardment feature, by
heating the grid, which may have a high potential of approximately 565 volts. The most
common ion gauge is the hot-cathode Bayard-Alpert gauge, with a small ion collector
inside the grid. A glass envelope with an opening to the vacuum can surround the
electrodes, but usually the Nude Gauge is inserted in the vacuum chamber directly, the
pins being fed through a ceramic plate in the wall of the chamber. Hot-cathode gauges
can be damaged or lose their calibration if they are exposed to atmospheric pressure or
even low vacuum while hot. The measurements of a hot-cathode ionization gauge are
always logarithmic.

Electrons emitted from the filament move several times in back and forth movements
around the grid before finally entering the grid. During these movements, some electrons
collide with a gaseous molecule to form a pair of an ion and an electron (Electron
ionization). The number of these ions is proportional to the gaseous molecule density
multiplied by the electron current emitted from the filament, and these ions pour into the
collector to form an ion current. Since the gaseous molecule density is proportional to the
pressure, the pressure is estimated by measuring the ion current.

The low-pressure sensitivity of hot-cathode gauges is limited by the photoelectric effect.

Electrons hitting the grid produce x-rays that produce photoelectric noise in the ion
collector. This limits the range of older hot-cathode gauges to 10−8 Torr and the Bayard-
Alpert to about 10−10 Torr. Additional wires at cathode potential in the line of sight
between the ion collector and the grid prevent this effect. In the extraction type the ions
are not attracted by a wire, but by an open cone. As the ions cannot decide which part of
the cone to hit, they pass through the hole and form an ion beam. This ion beam can be
passed on to a:

 Faraday cup
 Microchannel plate detector with Faraday cup
 Quadrupole mass analyzer with Faraday cup
 Quadrupole mass analyzer with Microchannel plate detector Faraday cup
 ion lens and acceleration voltage and directed at a target to form a sputter gun. In
this case a valve lets gas into the grid-cage.

See also: Electron ionization

Cold cathode

There are two subtypes of cold-cathode ionization gauges: the Penning gauge (invented
by Frans Michel Penning), and the Inverted magnetron, also called a Redhead gauge.
The major difference between the two is the position of the anode with respect to the
cathode. Neither has a filament, and each may require a DC potential of about 4 kV for
operation. Inverted magnetrons can measure down to 1x10−12 Torr.

Likewise, cold-cathode gauges may be reluctant to start at very low pressures, in that the
near-absence of a gas makes it difficult to establish an electrode current - in particular in
Penning gauges, which use an axially symmetric magnetic field to create path lengths for
electrons that are of the order of metres. In ambient air, suitable ion-pairs are ubiquitously
formed by cosmic radiation; in a Penning gauge, design features are used to ease the set-
up of a discharge path. For example, the electrode of a Penning gauge is usually finely
tapered to facilitate the field emission of electrons.

Maintenance cycles of cold cathode gauges are, in general, measured in years, depending
on the gas type and pressure that they are operated in. Using a cold cathode gauge in
gases with substantial organic components, such as pump oil fractions, can result in the
growth of delicate carbon films and shards within the gauge that eventually either short-
circuit the electrodes of the gauge or impede the generation of a discharge path.

Calibration
Pressure gauges are either direct- or indirect-reading. Hydrostatic and elastic gauges
measure pressure are directly influenced by force exerted on the surface by incident
particle flux, and are called direct reading gauges. Thermal and ionization gauges read
pressure indirectly by measuring a gas property that changes in a predictable manner with
gas density. Indirect measurements are susceptible to more errors than direct
measurements.

 Dead-weight tester
 McLeod
 mass spec + ionization
Dynamic transients
When fluid flows are not in equilibrium, local pressures may be higher or lower than the
average pressure in a medium. These disturbances propagate from their source as
longitudinal pressure variations along the path of propagation. This is also called sound.
Sound pressure is the instantaneous local pressure deviation from the average pressure
caused by a sound wave. Sound pressure can be measured using a microphone in air and
a hydrophone in water. The effective sound pressure is the root mean square of the
instantaneous sound pressure over a given interval of time. Sound pressures are normally
small and are often expressed in units of microbar.

 frequency response of pressure sensors

 resonance