Acceleration sensitivity of piezoelectric pressure sensors and the influence on the measurement of explosion pressures

To measure the explosion pressure inside an enclosure, it is common to install a piezoelectric pressure sensor in the enclosure wall. The pressure wave of the internal explosion inevitably leads to vibrations of the enclosure walls. This unwanted but naturally occurring motion is also transmitted to the pressure sensor mounted in the enclosure wall and results in inertial forces affecting the piezoelectric element. During the measurement of the explosion pressure, this affects the output signal of the pressure sensor since an undesired signal due to the acceleration of the pressure sensor is superimposed on the desired pressure signal. This behaviour of the sensor is described as acceleration sensitivity. The level of acceleration sensitivity depends on the type and construction design of the pressure sensor. Even though this sensor behaviour is basically not a new phenomenon, the evaluation of an international comparison between Ex testing laboratories in the field of flameproof enclosures has shown that the consideration of this issue is a major challenge in daily practice concerning the measurement of explosion pressures and is even often completely neglected. This work evaluates the behaviour of various piezoelectric pressure sensors with respect to the influence of acceleration and investigates the specific impact on the explosion pressure measurement in the field of flameproof enclosures. For this purpose, explosions from typically used explosive mixtures such as hydrogen, propane and ethyne in air are examined. These investigations involve simple model enclosures with various specifications as well as a commercially available equipment for hazardous areas. By using blind holes and specially designed adapters, a practical method is applied to be able to detect the effect of acceleration on the sensor signal separately from the pressure signal. For this purpose, both the discrete-time pressure curves and the frequency components are analysed using Fast Fourier Transform. The use of signal filters as a practical and fast approach to address these unwanted signal components is discussed and evaluated. This paper provides guidelines for typical end-users in the field of flameproof enclosures how to handle acceleration of piezoelectric pressure sensors and the influence on the measurement of explosion pressures correctly. •Acceleration of PE pressure sensors can lead to an incorrect pressure measurement.•Using the same sensors with blind holes or closed a