Updated 2026-05-11 by the Sino-Inst engineering team. A shaft torque sensor sits between a motor and the load and reads the twisting force on the rotating shaft. The output is a 4-20 mA, frequency, CAN, … Continue reading →

Updated 2026-05-11 by the Sino-Inst engineering team. A density meter measures the mass per unit volume of a liquid, slurry, or gas, usually in real time and at process pressure. The reading is what you … Continue reading →

Updated 2026-05-11 by the Sino-Inst engineering team. A dew point meter for compressed air reports the pressure dew point (PDP) — the temperature at which water vapour condenses out of the air at line pressure. … Continue reading →

Updated: May 10, 2026 — by Sino-Inst Engineering Team For shaft-mounted sensing on rotating drivetrains — strain gauge, SAW, magnetoelastic, and the maintenance/diagnostic playbook — see our shaft torque sensor guide. A torque transducer turns … Continue reading →

Updated: May 10, 2026 — by Sino-Inst Engineering Team The density of crude oil spans roughly 790 kg/m³ for light condensates to 1,000+ kg/m³ for extra-heavy bitumen, but the oil density you read at the … Continue reading →

Updated: May 10, 2026 — by Sino-Inst Engineering Team A zirconia oxygen sensor reads the O₂ partial pressure in a hot gas stream by exploiting yttria-stabilised zirconia, an oxide ceramic that becomes an O²⁻-ion conductor … Continue reading →

Contents Six technologies for powder level measurement Why powders are harder than liquids Radar for powders: 80 GHz, 26 GHz, and guided wave Vibrating fork and rotary paddle for point level Capacitive, RF-admittance, and ultrasonic … Continue reading →

Contents What is a piezoelectric pressure sensor Working principle: stress to voltage Why static pressure cannot be measured Charge mode vs IEPE/ICP signal conditioning Sensor materials: quartz, PZT, PVDF Operating temperature limits and thermal shock … Continue reading →

Updated 2026-05-09 by the Sino-Inst engineering team. A flow transmitter is the field instrument that turns a flow measurement into a 4-20 mA, HART, Modbus, or pulse signal that a PLC or DCS can read. … Continue reading →

Updated: May 2, 2026 A PID controller is a feedback algorithm that drives a process variable to a setpoint by computing three corrections in parallel: a proportional term that reacts to the current error, an … Continue reading →

Updated: May 2, 2026 Pick an RTD when accuracy and stability matter more than speed and the process stays below about 600 °C. Pick a thermocouple when the process exceeds 600 °C, the response time … Continue reading →

Updated: May 2, 2026 A magnetic flow meter installs in 30 minutes if the pipe run is right and the grounding is right. It fails to meet accuracy spec if either is wrong, and grounding … Continue reading →

Paperless recorders are data loggers that record and trend measurement data over time — replacing strip-chart and circular recorders with a touchscreen, internal flash storage, and Ethernet/Modbus TCP/OPC UA export. Sino-Inst offers a variety of … Continue reading →

Cryogenic pressure transducer for low temperature pressure measurement. -196℃～+125℃, -260℃/-350℃ (special models). Sino-Inst offers a variety of low pressure transducers for industrial pressure measurement. If you have any questions, please contact our sales engineers. Description … Continue reading →

A Type K thermocouple chart converts the millivolt output of a chromel/alumel junction into a temperature reading at 0 °C cold-junction reference. The chart is the IEC 60584-1 reference table — the same numbers used … Continue reading →

Choosing an ultrasonic level sensor for diesel tanks is a tank-geometry problem before it is a sensor-spec problem. The same 4–20 mA transmitter that reads cleanly on a 3 m vertical cylindrical AST can drift, … Continue reading →

Molten salt level measurement is one of the few level applications where the wetted-part metallurgy matters more than the sensor principle. At 565 °C in a concentrated solar power (CSP) cold tank — that is … Continue reading →

A refrigerant flow meter must do something a water flow meter does not: handle a fluid whose density swings from 30 kg/m³ in the suction line to over 1300 kg/m³ in the liquid line of … Continue reading →

Cooling tower water-level control is four separate jobs in one basin: refill the evaporated water, dump the concentrated water (blowdown), guard the pump from running dry, and stop the basin from overflowing. One sensor cannot … Continue reading →

Choosing a radar antenna is choosing a beam. Beam angle, near-field length, focusing gain, build-up tolerance, and chemical compatibility all flow from the antenna geometry — not from the radar electronics. This guide compares the … Continue reading →

A piston flow meter measures liquid by counting how many fixed-volume slugs pass through the meter body. Each rotation of the piston pushes one chamber of liquid past a sealed reference, and a magnet on … Continue reading →

Guided wave radar (GWR) calibration is a four-step procedure: tank-empty zero, full-distance reference, dielectric (DK) entry, and threshold tuning. Done in that order, a probe-tip locked GWR transmitter delivers ±3 mm accuracy on liquids down to … Continue reading →

A cryogenic level sensor measures the liquid level of nitrogen, oxygen, argon, hydrogen, or LNG inside vacuum-jacketed (VJ) tanks at temperatures between −162 °C and −253 °C. Because every cryogen has its own dielectric constant, vapor pressure, … Continue reading →

A transformer oil level indicator monitors mineral or ester insulating oil inside a power transformer’s main tank, conservator, or on-load tap changer (OLTC). It is the single most important piece of low-voltage instrumentation on the … Continue reading →

A solid flow meter measures the mass flow of dry bulk material — cement, soybean meal, fly ash, plastic pellets, sugar, mined coal — moving through a pipe, chute, or on a belt. Unlike liquid … Continue reading →

A capacitive fuel level sensor measures diesel, petrol, kerosene, or jet fuel by treating the tank as a parallel-plate capacitor and reading the change in capacitance as fuel rises and falls. It is non-mechanical, has … Continue reading →

Updated Apr 25, 2026 — Reviewed by Sino-Inst Engineering Team A BTU meter for chilled water quantifies cooling energy by combining a flow meter with a matched pair of RTDs on the supply and return. … Continue reading →

Updated on April 25, 2026 — “Can I install this flow meter vertically?” is the wrong question. The right one is: which meter, and in which direction? A turbine installed downflow destroys its bearings in … Continue reading →

Updated April 25, 2026 — Reviewed by Sino-Inst Engineering Team Static vs dynamic vs total pressure is the first question every pipeline, HVAC, and aerospace technician has to answer before picking a transmitter. The three … Continue reading →

Updated: April 24, 2026 — by Sino-Inst Engineering Team Molasses, honey, syrup, resin, and asphalt all share the same headache: they stop common flow meters from working. Orifice plates clog. Electromagnetic meters read zero when … Continue reading →

Updated April 24, 2026 by the Sino-Inst Engineering Team A magnetic level gauge is a mechanical indicator that reads liquid level from the outside of a vessel using a magnetic float sealed in a bypass … Continue reading →

Updated: April 23, 2026 Every differential pressure flow meter — orifice plate, venturi, flow nozzle, V-cone, averaging pitot — runs the same equation. Bernoulli says the velocity through a restriction goes as the square root … Continue reading →

Updated: April 23, 2026 Septic tanks, sewage holding tanks, and lift station wet wells are the dirtiest service for any level sensor. Solids settle on the bottom. Grease and FOG (fats, oils, grease) form a … Continue reading →

Updated: April 23, 2026 A pressure gauge gives you a number on a dial. A pressure transmitter sends a 4-20 mA signal to a control system. That single sentence drives 90% of the selection decision. … Continue reading →

Updated: April 22, 2026 A 6-inch (DN150) flow meter sits in a specific sweet spot — large enough to handle plant-scale cooling water, wastewater, and district heating loops, but small enough that you still have … Continue reading →

Updated: April 22, 2026 Sulfuric acid storage tanks are the worst-case scenario for level instrumentation. Concentrated H₂SO₄ corrodes 316 stainless, dilute H₂SO₄ corrodes differently but just as fast, and the vapor space is full of … Continue reading →

Updated: April 22, 2026 Measuring level inside a blast furnace shaft is one of the hardest jobs in process instrumentation. The environment combines red-hot gas, dust clouds, pressure pulses, and electromagnetic noise. Guided-wave probes and … Continue reading →

Updated: April 21, 2026 | Sino-Inst Engineering Team Most ultrasonic level transmitter problems are installation problems, not sensor problems. A sensor mounted 20 cm inside its own blanking distance will read zero no matter how … Continue reading →

Updated: April 21, 2026 | Sino-Inst Engineering Team The cheapest way to convert a 4-20 mA loop signal into a voltage for a PLC or recorder analog input is a single precision resistor in parallel … Continue reading →

Updated April 20, 2026 by Sino-Inst Engineering Team Metering steam is expensive. Temperatures above 180 °C, saturated vs superheated corrections, and dropout from wet steam all push cost and error up. One pound of condensate … Continue reading →

Updated April 20, 2026 by Sino-Inst Engineering Team Choosing an ammonia flow meter starts with one question: is the NH3 liquid, gas, or switching between both? Each phase demands a different meter technology. Anhydrous liquid … Continue reading →

Updated April 20, 2026 by Sino-Inst Engineering Team A 4–20 mA pressure transmitter with “no output” looks like a dead sensor, but it almost never is. In our field records, 80% of no-output calls trace … Continue reading →

Measuring level in an underground tank is harder than measuring an above-ground tank. You can’t just drop a sight gauge on the side. After the tank is buried, you’re stuck with whatever nozzles, manholes, and … Continue reading →

An ultrasonic CO2 level indicator is a portable, non-contact device that tells you how full a liquid CO2 cylinder is without opening it, weighing it, or puncturing the wall. You hold the probe against the … Continue reading →

Upstream and Downstream Straight Pipe Requirements for Flow Meters Updated April 2026 — By Sino-Inst Engineering Team Straight pipe length is one of the most overlooked variables in flow meter accuracy. The 10D upstream, 5D … Continue reading →

Updated on April 18, 2026 — Chilled water flow measurement drives HVAC energy billing, chiller plant optimization, and BTU tracking. Picking the wrong meter type wastes money on installation or produces readings that drift by … Continue reading →

Updated on April 18, 2026 — Most DP transmitter measurement errors trace back to installation mistakes — not faulty hardware. Incorrect mounting orientation, improperly sloped impulse lines, or a skipped commissioning step can introduce errors … Continue reading →

Updated Apr 17, 2026 — Differential pressure (DP) flow measurement relies on a flow element — a restriction in the pipe that creates a pressure drop proportional to flow rate. But not all flow elements … Continue reading →

Updated Apr 17, 2026 — A pressure transmitter is only as accurate as its installation. Get the mounting position wrong, run sloppy impulse lines, or skip the root valve, and you will chase phantom readings … Continue reading →

Last Updated: April 7, 2026 | Author: Wu Peng, Senior Instrumentation Engineer Stilling wells isolate radar antennas from surface turbulence, foam, and obstacles. When tanks have agitation or low-dielectric liquids, a properly sized well dampens … Continue reading →

Updated: April 15, 2026 A metal tube flow meter is a variable-area (VA) rotameter built with a stainless steel measuring tube instead of glass. A float inside the tube rises to a height proportional to … Continue reading →

Updated: April 15, 2026 An inline water flow meter measures water flow while installed directly in the pipeline — no bypass, no strap-on sensors. Three technologies dominate this space: mechanical (turbine), electromagnetic, and ultrasonic. The … Continue reading →

Updated: April 16, 2026 | By Sino-Inst Engineering Team A float switch on a water tank is just a mechanical contact in your pump’s power loop. When the float rises, the contact opens (or closes); … Continue reading →

Updated: April 15, 2026 A capacitive liquid level sensor detects level by measuring the capacitance change between a probe and the tank wall (or a second probe) as the liquid rises or falls. The liquid … Continue reading →