The image below shows one such application of a differential pressure sensor in HVAC (heating, ventilating and air-conditioning).
Poor filtering can be a problem in tight indoor spaces, which can cause drowsiness, mildew build-up and other issues which can result in poor health conditions and inefficient productivity.
If you think of a classroom scenario or hospital ventilation, all of these problems can be avoided by monitoring the quality of air filter. As per the above image, the fan takes dirty air in and blows it towards the filter. Without the filter, the air pressure of P1 is equal to P2. Of course, any air filter will create some resistance to the air flow, which results in P1 becoming higher than P2. Over time, the filter will become dirty and start to block airflow, which will result in much higher P1 compared to a clean filter.
This is where the WSEN-PDUS Differential Pressure Sensor comes in. This MEMS-based sensor has very high accuracy and an embedded temperature sensor, as well as Analog & I²C digital communication interface.
The advantages of adding a PDUS Differential Pressure Sensor are that the CPU may not need to remember historic values, allows instantaneous measurement between P1 and P2. A difference large than 30% is indication of blockage and by 50% pressure difference it is essential to replace the filter. The I2C interface is really simple to use, which makes this an ideal solution.
For more information on the WSEN-PDUS to see which of these would be best suited for your application, or to request a quotation of these parts, you can find them here: WSEN-PDUS Differential Pressure Sensor | Wireless Connectivity & Sensors | Würth Elektronik Product Catalog (we-online.com)
