5 Matters You Have to Know about Conductivity Meters
Time:2023-01-14 Read:514
Reading guide: What can conductivity tell us about the condition of water? Learn more now.

What is a conductivity meter?

The conductivity meter is a high-end water quality management and automation system for medical multi-effect distilled water systems, boiler bottom water, condensed water, heat exchange systems, industrial thermal cleaning of mechanical parts, and industrial circulating water that operate in higher temperature environments. An online water quality analysis instrument with a wide temperature range developed for control.


What is a conductivity electrode?

The electrode of the conductivity meter, referred to as the conductivity electrode, has a different structure and principle from the pH electrode. Conductivity electrodes are generally divided into two types.

1) The two-electrode conductivity electrode is the most used type of conductivity electrode at present. The structure of the experimental two-electrode conductivity electrode is to sinter two platinum sheets on two parallel glass sheets, or on the inner wall of a circular glass tube, and adjust the platinum sheet The area and distance can be made into conductance electrodes with different constant values. Usually there are K=1, K=5, K=10 and other types. The two-electrode conductivity electrode used on the online conductivity meter is often made into a cylindrical symmetrical electrode. When K=1, graphite is often used, and when K=0.1, 0.01, the material can be stainless steel or titanium alloy.

2) Multi-electrode conductance electrode, generally there are several ring-shaped electrodes on the support body, and conductance electrodes with different constants can be made through different combinations of ring-shaped electrodes in series and parallel. The material of the ring electrode can be graphite, stainless steel, titanium alloy and platinum. Conductivity electrodes are also available in four-electrode type and electromagnetic type.

The advantage of the four-electrode conductivity electrode is that it can avoid the measurement error caused by electrode polarization, and it is widely used in foreign experimental and online conductivity meters. The characteristic of the electromagnetic conductivity electrode is that it is suitable for measuring high-conductivity solutions. It is generally used in industrial conductivity meters, or it can be used to make single-component concentration meters, such as hydrochloric acid concentration meters and nitric acid concentration meters.


What can conductivity tell us about the condition of water?

1. Conductivity is an essential indicator for measuring salt content, ion content, impurity content, etc. in water.

2. Measuring conductivity (referred to as conductivity) is the most commonly used electrochemical analysis method after measuring pH, and it is also an important indicator to measure water quality.

3. All kinds of soluble salts in water exist in the state of ions, and all have the ability to conduct electricity. The more salts dissolved in water, the more ions there are, and the greater the conductivity of the water. Therefore, the size of the conductivity of the water can indirectly indicate the number of dissolved solids in the water. As an important indicator reflecting the water quality status, the water quality status can be preliminarily determined through the size of the electrical conductivity.

4. Electrical conductivity is a measurement value indicating the ability of a substance to transmit electric current. When a voltage is applied across a conductor, its charge carriers will flow in a certain direction, thus generating a current. The conductivity is calculated using the current and voltage measurements. The conductivity of water is an essential indicator for measuring the salt content, ionic components, impurity components, etc. of water. The purer the water, the lower the conductivity, and the more impurities in the water, the higher the conductivity. Therefore, according to the measured conductivity, water impurity content can be determined.


Why is conductivity important?

Conductivity is a particularly useful parameter for environmental or process monitoring, as measuring this parameter can identify many different changes. For example, in groundwater applications, conductivity can be used to identify saltwater intrusion, while conductivity can also be used in freshwater environments to determine contamination events. Generally, this parameter works best when used to determine whether there is a parameter causing a change in water quality, however, it may not always be able to determine the exact cause of the change. When used in conjunction with other parameters, the cause of the change can be determined in greater detail, making the measurement of conductivity ideal for initial research or to determine the best focus of monitoring campaigns.


What parameters can be calculated from conductivity?

Two commonly used parameters derived from conductivity measurements are TDS and salinity. TDS or Total Dissolved Solids is a measure of the concentration of solids dissolved in water, which can be inorganic salts or organics. In contrast, salinity is a measurement of the concentration level of dissolved salts in water, which is especially important when monitoring water to ensure specific salinity levels for aquatic organisms such as in the aquaculture industry.


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