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Differential pressure transmitters (also called DP transmitters) are among the

most versatile measuring instruments. In addition to pressure, they are used
to measure level and flow in many industries, on a wide variety of fluids even
at high temperatures. The article here explains how differential pressure
transmitters work and how to use them in various applications.

What is a differential pressure transmitter?

Even though there are specialized devices for these measurements today,
many field engineers still stick to the good old differential pressure transmitter.
A differential pressure transmitter is composed of a sensing cell (pressure
sensor) and a transmitter. The cell has two pressure chambers separated by a
diaphragm.

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We call one chamber the high-pressure side and the other the low-pressure
side, but we don’t have to take that literally. It just tells us the direction of the
impact that pressure will have on the output signal.

To know more about differential pressure transmitters, you can read our
article on electronic differential pressure tranmitters
The differential pressure transmitter’s working principle
So imagine we have a process with -20 bar to 20 bar and no pressure in
either chamber. At that point, the signal will read 12 milliamps (mA),
representing 0 bar, 50 percent of the range. If we apply pressure on the high-
pressure side of the differential pressure transmitter, then the value will rise
towards 20 mA, giving you a positive reading. On the other hand, if we apply
pressure to the low-pressure side, then that drives the signal towards 4 mA
and negative reading.

We can find several options for converting the pressure in the sensing cell to
an electronic signal – piezoresistive (strain gauge), piezoelectric, resonant,
and capacitive methods all will get us there.

Differential pressure transmitters can measure the pressure difference in a

sampling chamber divided by a diaphragm. The sensitive transmitter will
register the shape of the diaphragm and record changes due to the pressure
difference on both sides of the sampling chamber.

Differential pressure transmitter applications

Pressure measurement using DP transmitters
DP transmitters differ from other pressure transmitters in that they have
reference pressure systems. The reference pressure will depend on the type
of pressure that the application needs.

Gauge pressure measurement

For gauge pressure measurement, the high end of the sampling connects to
the vessel or pipe, with the low end exposed to atmospheric pressure. Thus,
the DP transmitter will measure values relative to atmospheric pressure.

Absolute pressure measurement

For absolute pressure measurement, the low end of the DP transmitter is in a

vacuum. Thus, the transmitter will measure the atmospheric pressure at
atmospheric conditions.

This article will tell you more about the difference between absolute,
gauge, and differential pressure.
Vacuum measurement
For vacuum measurement, the low end of the DP transmitter connects to the
vacuum vessel, with the high end exposed to atmospheric pressure. In this
case, the greater the vacuum on the vessel, the greater the response of the
transmitter.

Level measurement using a differential pressure transmitter

For both open and closed vessels and tanks, differential pressure transmitters
can measure the pressure of the fluid in the vessel as well as the pressure
head above the level. In this case, the differential pressure transmitter can
determine the level of the tank at any given moment using the differential
pressure.
The relationship between pressure and level: P = ρ*g*h

ρ = density of the liquid

g = acceleration due to gravity

h = height of the column of liquid

Differential pressure transmitters should only measure fluids with densities

that don’t change with temperature variation since this will disturb the
precision of your measurement.