Simple Opamp-Based Circuit For Measuring Electro-Conductivity of Electrolytic Solutions in Hydroponics System
Simple Opamp-Based Circuit For Measuring Electro-Conductivity of Electrolytic Solutions in Hydroponics System
Simple Opamp-Based Circuit For Measuring Electro-Conductivity of Electrolytic Solutions in Hydroponics System
1
KRIANGSAK PROMPAK 1 , NOPPADON 8ISUK
1 1
8UPHAWADEE 8UPHRAMIT , ANUCHA KAEWPOONSUK
2
THONGCHAI MANEECHUKATE 2 AND NATTHAWUD DUSSADEE
1
Physics-Electronics Research Group
Department of Physics
Faculty of Science
Naresuan University
Phitsanulok 65000, Thailand
{ mum_c51; noppadon_su; supharmit }@hotmail.com; [email protected]
2
School of Renewable Energy
Maejo University
Sansai, Chiangmai 50290, Thailand
[email protected]; [email protected]
1097
1098 K. PROMPAK , N. SISUK , S. SUPHRAMIT ET AL.
2. Principles.
2.1. Principle of zero and span circuit. The zero and span circuit is served to trans-
mit and refine the signal between output and input signal. It will change the slope and
position of the zero of the system to the conditions that the system requires. The circuit
shown in Figure 1 consists of summing and inverting amplifiers.
A relationship between input and output of the zero and span circuit can be considered
as
(1)
From Equation (1) , a relationship between input and output of the zero and span circuit
is in the form of linear equation y = mx + c, where Rt/ Ri is slope of the equation and
(Rt/ R i) (Vret) is constant, i.e., the zero position of circuit.
---+--ill>------~--i... vi
V. (min) V (max)
I l
(2)
where p is the electrical resistivity, L is the length of the piece of material and A is
the cross-sectional area. From Equation (2), conductivity <J is defined as the inverse of
resistivity:
1 1
(J = - = - (3)
p RA
ICIC EXPRESS LETTERS , VOL.8, N0.4, 2014 1099
Conductivity has SI units of siemens per meter (S/m) . From Equation (3), the electri-
cal conductivity can be measured using two carbon electrodes; distance between carbon
electrodesis L, the cross-sectional area is A. Therefore , the cell constant becomes as f, /A .
When we feed t he sine wave signal with t he fixed amplit ude to such carb on electrodes,
the exchanging charges between carbon electrodes occur. Therefore, we can measure the
electrical conductivity, as shown in Equation (4), and the measurement process is shown
as Figure 3.
Conductivity= (electric Current / Voltage) x (Lengt h/ Area) (4)
The DC is not used because it causes the concentration of ions to be not uniform; as a
result, measurement of electrical conductivity has high errors .
2.3. The proposed EC sensor. The EC sensor proposed consists of conductor t hat
contacts and does not react with t he electrolytic solution. Moreover, it does not rust
which causes the error in measurement. The EC sensor made of two carbon electrodes
are illustrated in Figure 4.
Since the EC measurement is defined as mS /cm, then , the distance between carbon
electrodes is equal to 1 cm. Finally, we use the resin to hold these electrodes together.
smc wave
oscillator
carbon dcctn><k'
--;;:?
LCD
rni cro.:onlrollcr
display
(
eiJctmlytic solution
:
L __ _
--
--~ _ ____ _______ _
:
1
1 -:::!:::-
I_ ____ - - - _ - - -- - _______ - - - - _
:: LPFcirrnit:
J ___ _ --- -
l
v
0
y/\, 'l A
,,...,....,,,,_:: :
.., 2k
vv\ ,,. LFJ5 1
/t :
:
I ...-~~"
LCD
n1icrocontroll cr
db play
+ l''"
1: i.;1u aml
L~-- - ------ - ------------ ---- - ---------------~
1 f ~ptm ~:in;uit
fifth one to be range 0 V to 5 V to reduce the error from measurement. The amplified
signal is fed to analog to digital converter circuit before it is processed by microcontroller ,
which shows on LCD display. The scheme proposed in this article is illustrated in Figure
6.
From Figure 6 t he relationship between voltage due to varying electrolytic solution and
voltage output of the zero and span circuit can be written as Equation (5).
(5)
solution will be shown on the LCD display. These can be presented by the figures as
follows.
From the graph in Figure 7, the slope of graph is 5, so Ri and R 1 in Figure 6 were
chosen as: 20 kD and 100 kD , respectively and when Va is 0, the constant of Equation (5)
is -5 V; Ras and Vr e f in Equation (5) are chosen as 250 kD and -15 V, respectively.
From Figures 8 and 9, the error of the proposed electrical conductivity measuring device
is low which is in range between -0.075 to 0.075 mS /cm. Figure 10 shows the proposed
device that is applied in hydroponics cultivation system.
V<>(\ll m - SV/1 V
~--~"Fe ~--~ Vo 5 --:-t-~
0 v
-
02 mSlcm m-:asorcment
f \\.), circu_IL for
!V zero and
micro(;Ont.rolltr
'LCD :I ~Yi :I
3:2 mSlcm the f'C Sc7L~or 2 V span dmiil 5V display
'-----~
:I :
1/ I
I
- (-ll---'-~
2 -.,_ V EC' (V)
3.4
3 . 4'
3
,_ 2.8
2.6
= 2.4
"' 2.2
rJ5
5
~
2
= 1.8
.& 1.6
= 1.4
0
1.2
u 1
"'" 0.8
0.6
0.4
0 .2
0.2 0.4 0.6 0.8 1.2 1.4 1.6 1.8 2 2.2 2.4 2.6 2.8 3 3.2 3.4
0. 10 -- ~---- --- ~ - -- -- - ----- - -- ----- - --- -- --- ------------ ------ -- --- - - --- - ,
-Errors ofEC output
0.08
0.03
0 .00 +--1----,--#-...,.--.---.----.--.,---.-lt--.--.--tf--.---..-_,,,.__,
-0 .03
-0.05
-0.08
-0, l 0 ----- --------- -- -- ---- - -- ----- - ---~- --- ------- - --- - --- --------------.
EC of standard solution (mSlcm)
5. Conclusions. In this paper, a new improved circuit for measuring electrical conduc-
tivity of the electrolytes solution based on alternating electrical current techniques is
proposed. The invented sensor can be used to well measure electrical conductivity con-
tinuously without the mineral coating on sensor. Using the zero and span circuit, the
error value is low , in range between -0.075 to 0.075 mS/cm, and the average error is
approximately equal to 3.3% when the calibration with standard solution.
REFERENCES
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and Automation, 2006.
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Fabrication of a multi-modal sensor with PH , EC and temperature sensing areas for agriculture
application, Proc. of IEEE Sensors Conference, pp.2013-2016, 2009.
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electrolytic solutions, Journal of the Electrochemical Society, pp.E135-E137, 2005.
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