Not All Pressure Sensors Perform Equally: The Advantages of the ABP Series

Sensors are at the core of many modern devices because they provide vital information about temperature, flow, pressure, chemistry, load, and many more. But with such a wide range of sensors available on the market, it can be difficult to know which to choose when thinking about an application.

Sensors are small, robust devices used to measure physical input from their environment, be it gas or liquid. They measure force, temperature, pressure, flow, and many other environmental phenomena, which are then converted into data. Their reliable and accurate data is extremely important for the medical, industrial and HVAC industries, and many more.

In what pressure sensors are concerned, they can be categorized based on the type of pressure measurement they make. Other differentiators of pressure sensors are the sensing principle, the output signal and the media they measure.

Why choosing based on price is not always cheaper

With a wide range of pressure sensors available on the market, it’s difficult to know what to look for when thinking about adding one to an application. Uncompensated, uncalibrated, and unamplified sensors are the cheapest sensors on the market. Next are the more expensive sensors, unamplified, but providing some calibration and temperature compensation. These sensors may represent the cheaper option, but they are less than ideal.

Here are some things to consider when considering the purchase of a low-cost pressure sensor:

• The cost of an unamplified, uncalibrated pressure sensor may be low, but it doesn’t take into account the total costs generated by a lower performance sensor.
• Building the application with an unamplified, uncalibrated pressure sensor generates costs which may not be obvious from the start: from finding a way to avoid temperature effects, to ensuring calibration and equal accuracy from batch to batch. This affects time to market for the end design.
• An application with possible reliability issues can impact negatively the reputation and may lead to increased repair costs.

It makes sense, when considering these extra costs and risks, to choose an amplified pressure sensor like Honeywell’s optimized board mount pressure sensors - the ABP Series. The ABP sensors are calibrated and temperature compensated for sensor offset, sensitivity, temperature effects and accuracy errors. They offer digital or analog output for reading pressure over the specified full-scale pressure span and temperature range.

Honeywell’s ABP Series comes in several options:

• Dry gas: The input port is limited to non-corrosive, non-ionic media. Should not be exposed to condensation.
• Liquid media: Includes an additional silicone-based gel coating, enabling use with non-corrosive liquids and in applications where condensation can occur.

The ABP pressure sensors are easy to integrate on the PC board and can simplify design in smaller and lower power devices, so they can be integrated with ease any application design, be it for medical, industrial, HVAC or transport.

Explore Honeywell’s ABP Series of advanced basic pressure sensors and discover the new ABP2 pressure sensor.

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