Research Department of the State Standards of Pressure
The Department consists of:
- Research Laboratory of the State Standards and Scientific Investigations in the Field of Low Absolute Pressure and Vacuum Measurements
- Research Laboratory of the State Standards and Scientific Investigations in the Field of Excessive and Differential Pressure Measurements
- Research Sector for Calibration and Testing in the Field of Pressure Measurements
History of Creation and Development of the Department
State Standards of Pressure Used in the Department
The Main Scienyific Publications (starting from 1995)
The Department Organizes Biannually
The Leading Specialists of the Department
History of Creation and Development of the Department
The Manometry Laboratory was established in The Main Chamber of Weights and Measures in St.Petersburg in 1906 on the initiative of D.I.Mendeleyev. It was the only metrological and verification centre in the field of pressure measurements in Russia until 1925. By 1922 the reference means for pressure measurements in the Laboratory were a mercury multi-channel pressure gauge up to 100 kgf/cm2 that had been built according to D.I.Mendeleyev’s idea, a Stuckrat’ manometric balance up to 400 kgf/cm2 and Sheffer’s and Budenberg’s plants for pressurization and pressure measurement up to 4000 kgf/cm2. These instruments provided for pressure measurements with an accuracy of 0.2-0.3 % that was sufficient for contemporary manometry. The mandatory verification of all spring-element pressure gauges, vacuum gauges, pressure-vacuum gauges applied in the national economy, was introduced in 1925. The number of new instruments to be verified was growing from year to year and had reached almost one million by 1938-1941. During this period the specialists of the Manometry Laboratory of the All-Union Institute for Metrology (Leningrad) developed new designs of a standard mercury pressure gauge up to 1.5 kgf/cm2, Ruchgoltz’s instruments up to 50 kgf/cm2, and close to the war Indrik’s piston gauges up to 500 kgf/cm2 and 2000 kgf/cm2. The extreme accuracy of pressure measurement reached 0.005 %.
At the same time Ilyinsky developed a standard plant to measure vacuum up to 10-6 mmHg, which was based on the ionization measurement method.
After the war the national economy demanded for establishing a new base of standards in the field of pressure measurement. In 1954 the specialists of the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology (VNIIM) headed by Ye.F.Dolinsky and P.V.Indrik, established the State primary standard of excessive pressure on the basis of the new theory of instruments with an unsealed piston that had been worked out by M.K.Zhokhovsky. This standard was a group reference that consisted of five piston gauges with the upper limit of measurement 60 kgf/cm2 and the uncertainty of pressure reproduction 0.0006 %.
In 1950-1960ies in the field of differential pressure from 1 Pa to 10 kPa L.P.Stepanov and A.A.Chasovnikov developed bell-type and piston micro pressure gauges, as well as micro pressure gauges with a line scale.
During the same period the absolute methods for reproduction of the unit of pressure in the field of low pressure values from 10-1 Pa were studied and a number of designs of standard compression and capacitance-diaphragm vacuum-gauges were built under the direction of M.A.Gulyaev, V.A.Ryzhov and A.V.Yeryukhin.
In the middle of 1970ies significant economic changes took place in the national economy of Russia, which put forward new metrological requirements for the national base of standards. The creative teamwork of the Laboratory of Pressure Measurement headed by G.I.Polukhin together with the specialists of the Laboratory of Mass and Dimensional Measurements conducted research work on establishment of the new State primary standard (SPS) of pressure with the measurement range 0.05-10 MPa, the standard deviation uncertainty 3.10-6 and the non-excluded systematic error 2.10-5. The measuring piston systems of the standard were made, for the first time, of hard metals. In 1979 the SPS of pressure in the field of excessive pressure was approved in accordance with the established procedure. During the same period the following State special standards (SSS) of pressure were established: in the field of differential pressure with the measurement range 0.1-4.104, in the field of absolute pressure with the measurement ranges 10-3-103 Pa and 2.7.102-1.3.105 Pa, respectively.
The national stock of pressure measuring instruments numbered hundreds of millions of specimens and was replenished with more sophisticated pressure gauges with better metrological characteristics. That is why; the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology is constantly improving the available State primary, secondary standards and reference measuring instruments, as well as developing and studying new unique standard plants. In particular, in 1990ies the following equipment was realized under the direction of A.A.Pshenichnov, Yu.A.Kiselyov, V.N.Gorobey and V.V.Kuzmin:
- Automatic working standards in the measurement range 2.5-60 MPa, standard micro pressure gauges МКШ-М and ПМКМ-1 in the field of excessive and differential pressure measurement
- Standard reducing plants with the measurement range 10-8-10-1 Pa and standard flow-metering plants in the field of low absolute pressure measurement
State Standards of Pressure Used in the Department
The unit of pressure in the field of constant pressure is reproduced by five State standards in Russia. Four of them are available at the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology.
- The SPS of pressure in the field of excessive pressure presents a set of piston gauges reproducing the unit of pressure in the range 0.05-10 MPa with the standard deviation ≤ 3.10-6 and the non-excluded systematic error ≤ 2.10-5.
- The SSS of pressure in the field of differential pressure consists of a set of standard micro pressure gauges, namely:
- a dead-weight bell-type micro pressure gauge with the reproduction range for the unit of pressure 0.1-1.102 Pa, the standard deviation ≤ 0.05 Pa and the non-excluded systematic error ≤ 0.05 Pa
- a micro pressure gauge with a line scale having the range 50-103 Pa, the standard deviation 0,08 and the non-excluded systematic error ≤ 0,3 Pa
- a piston micro pressure gauge with a non-cylindrical piston with a gas grease having the range 103-4.104 Pa, the standard deviation ≤ 0,4 Pa and the non-excluded systematic error ≤ 0,8 Па
- The SSS of pressure in the field of middle pressure, which consists of two piston gauges reproducing the unit of pressure in the range 0.27-130 kPa, the standard deviation ≤ 0,3 and the non-excluded systematic uncertainty ≤ 2 Pa.
- The SSS of pressure in the field of low absolute pressure, which consists of two capacitance-diaphragm vacuum gauges in the range10-3-103, the standard deviation ≤ 0.3.10-2 and the non-excluded systematic error ≤ 0.3.10-2.
The unit of pressure is transferred from the State standards of the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology to over 100 million pressure measuring instruments that make 99.9 % of the whole stock in the country.
- Application and active maintenance of the State standards of pressure in the field of constant pressure.
- Research work aiming at permanent improvement of the State, secondary and working standards of pressure.
- Metrological activities and research work ensuring the main role of the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology in the field of pressure measurement. Carrying out scientific-and-technical policy in the country in the field of establishment of measurement standards of pressure and measuring instruments of the new generation.
- Playing the main role in the country in the field of traceability of constant pressure measurements in the range 10-8-2.5.108 Pa.
- International work on the types of measurement and investigations secured for the Laboratory.
- Execution of research and development projects in accordance with the long-term plan of subjects.
- Carrying out tests of pressure measuring instruments including certification tests aiming at pattern approval, verification, and calibration of measuring instruments; metrological expertise of written standards.
- Work on equipping the State metrological services and those of legal entities with standards of pressure.
- Making up integrated programs of measurement assurance in the fields of measurement secured for the Laboratory.
With the purpose of meeting the above challenges, the Laboratory does the following:
- Works on improvement of the stock of measurement standards and playing the main role in the field of pressure measurements secured for the Laboratory
- Takes a package of actions specified by GOST 8.057 GSI “Standards of Physical Quantities. Main Regulations”, which concern the maintenance and application of the measurement standards kept at the Laboratory
- Executes an expertise of requirements specifications for the development of new pressure measuring instruments
- Executes an expertise and estimation of the level of scientific investigations and developments in the field of pressure measurement
- Participates in the activities of the international organizations, analyzes the conditions of the measurement assurance system abroad studying the written standards for pressure measuring instruments developed in other countries. Takes part in the international comparisons
- Carries out researches, seminars and training according the directions fixed to the Laboratory
- Makes calculations together with the corresponding services of the technical and economic efficiency of the developments and researches performed in the Laboratory
- Works out the forward long-term and annual subject plans of the Laboratory
- Performs metrological studies and verification of working standards, home and foreign precision pressure measuring instruments
- Carries out work aiming at automatization of measuring instruments and verifications applying computer engineering
- Works out normative documents and complex programs of measurement assurance according to the fixed types of measurement and participates in their implementation
The Main Scienyific Publications (starting from 1995)
- V.N.Gorobey et al, Liquid-column gauge, Patent No. 2051 346, Bulletin No. 36, 1995. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey, Yu.A.Kiselyov, Metrological investigations of the national primary standard of pressure, the pascal, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 3, 1995, pp. 41-42. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey et al, Comparison of the national standards of pressure in Russia and Slovakia in the range 1-1000 Pa, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 4, 1995, pp. 65-66. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey et al, The experience in operation and automatization of working standards during five years, In: Zakonodatelnaya i prikladnaya metrologiya, No. 1, 1996, pp. 24-27. (In Russian.)
- V.V.Kuzmin, Development of pressure time dependence methods for the calibration of vacuum gauges: a review, In: Vacuum (UK), No. 3, V. 46, 1995, pp. 251-264.
- V.V.Kuzmin, Reference calibration vacuum-gauge setup UVO-1, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 4, 1995, pp. 43-44. (In Russian.).
- V.V.Kuzmin, Development of metrology of vacuum measurements at the present stage, In: Vacuumnaya tekhnika i tekhnologia, No. 1/2, V. 5, 1995, pp. 5-11. (In Russian.)
- V.V.Kuzmin, A new dynamic technique for the calibration of vacuum gauges (doubling principle) In: Vacuum (UK), No. 3, V. 47, 1996, pp. 221-223.
- V.V.Kuzmin, A way of determination of the relative sensitivity of thermal sensors to different gases, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika , No. 1, 1997, pp. 31-32. (In Russian.)
- V.V.Kuzmin, Precision measurement of small gas flows – the metrological basis for calibration of leak detectors, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 2, 1997, pp. 20-23. (In Russian.)
- V.V.Kuzmin, A system of independent calibration (verification) of vacuum gauges, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 3, 1997, pp. 10-12. (In Russian.)
- V.V.Kuzmin, Method for calibration of leak detectors over the whole working range, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 6, 1998, pp. 23-24.
- V.V.Kuzmin, Metrological estimation of annual leakage of a fluid under control according to the leakage test results, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 2, 1999, pp. 26-28. (In Russian.)
- V.V.Kuzmin, The system approach to the methods of vacuum measurement, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 7, 1999, pp. 40-44. (In Russian)
- V.N.Gorobey et al, The condition and prospects for development of home piston gauges, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika , No. 6, 1999, pp. 40-43. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey et al, Comparison of the national pressure standards of the Russian Federation (VNIIM), Germany (PTB) and Slovakia (CMU) in the pressure range 1 MPa to 3 MPa", In: Metrologia, Vol. 36, No. 6, 1999, pp. 651-655.
- V.V.Kuzmin, Home vacuum gauge engineering today, In: Petergurgskii zhurnal electroniki, No. 1 (22), 2000, pp. 75-84. (In Russian.)
- V.V.Kuzmin, Physics of vacuum (school-book), St. Petersburg, SPbGTU Edition, 2000. (In Russian.).
- V.N.Gorobey et al, Results of the comparisons of the national standards of pressure in Russia and Slovakia over the range (10-2-103) Pa. In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 6, 2001, pp. 68-71. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey, A.I.Goncharov, Pressure. In: Russian Metrological Encyclopedia, 2001, pp. 339-349. (In Russian.)
- V.V.Kuzmin, Vacuum measurement, In: Russian Metrological Encyclopedia, 2001, pp. 350-359. (In Russian.)
- Yu.A.Kiselyov, The State primary standard of pressure - the pascal. In: Russian Metrological Encyclopedia, 2001, pp. 360-361. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey, The State special standard of pressure in the field of differential pressure over the range 1.10-3-1.103 Pa, In: Russian Metrological Encyclopedia, 2001, pp. 362-364. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey, The State special standard of pressure in the field of differential pressure over the range 0,1-4.104 Pa. In: Russian Metrological Encyclopedia, 2001, pp. 365-367. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey, The State primary standard of pressure in the field of constant pressure. Modern condition, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 4, 2004, pp. 3-5. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey, The State special standard of pressure in the field of differential pressure. Modern condition, In: Izmeritelnaya tekhnika, No. 6, 2004, pp. 3-4. (In Russian.)
- V.N.Gorobey, Modern condition of the stock of measurement standards at the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology (VNIIM) in the field of excessive pressure and differential pressure. In: Glavnyi metrolog, No. 5, 2003, pp. 9-14. (In Russian.).
The work on COOMET theme 115/RU/95 “Mutual Comparison of the National Standards of Pressure in the Field of Excessive Pressure over the Measurement Range 0,2-3,0 MPa was started in 1995. The national standards from Russia, Germany and Slovakia took part in those comparisons. The participating Russian standards were the State standard and the transfer standard developed at the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology.
The transfer standard presented of two measuring piston systems with the nominal area of the piston 5 cm2, which had been developed at the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology. Each system consisted of a cylinder, piston, receptacle and adapters to connect the cylinder with the comparators of the national standards. The piston and cylinder of one system was made of the hard alloy - ВК-6М tungsten carbide and those of the second one were made of 38ХМЮА steel. Free rotation of the pistons in kerosene under the pressure of 3 MPa lasted at least 5 minutes. The load-lowering speed of the pistons under the pressure of 3 MPa did not exceed 20 micron/min. The comparisons were completed in 1997.
The comparisons on COOMET theme 154/RU/97 “Mutual Comparisons of the National Standards of Pressure in the Field of Low Absolute Pressure over the Range 10-2-103 Pa” have been performed since 1997. The Russian national standard and the Slovakian national standard participated in that comparison. The vacuum meter made by MKS Instruments was used as a transfer standard. The vacuum meter included an electronic module and two Baratron high-frequency capacitance-diaphragm transducers with the upper measurement limits 100 Pa and 1000 Pa.
The D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology has participated in the comparisons within the framework of the EUROMET 439 Project “Key Comparisons of the National Standards in the Measuring Range 0,05-1 MPa” since 1998. The national standards from eight countries took part in the comparisons. The 5111 piston gauge manufactured by Desgrandes & Huot was used as a transfer standard.
At present, the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology participates in the following comparisons:
- COOMET theme No.294/RU/03 (COOMET.М.З-К1) “Mutual Comparisons of the National Primary Standards in the Field of Excessive Pressure over the Range 0,05-0,5 MPa”.
The participants of the comparisons are Russia, Germany, Slovakia, Belarus, Romania and Lithuania. The D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology is a pilot laboratory and submits the transfer standard made as a measuring piston system with the nominal area of the piston 5 cm2. The piston and cylinder are made of the hard alloy - ВК-6М tungsten carbide. Free rotation of the piston in the gaseous atmosphere under the pressure of 0,1 MPa is at least 20 minutes, and the load-lowering speed of the piston under the pressure of 0,5 MPa does not exceed 0,2 mm/min. - COOMET theme No.295/RU/03 “Mutual Comparisons of Helium Leaks in the Range 10-6-1 Pa.m3”.
The participants of the comparisons are Russia and Slovakia. Molecular flow gauges in vacuum belonging to the D.I.Mendeleyev Institute for Metrology and the SMU (Slovakia) will be used as a transfer standard.
The CMC Table Published in the BIPM Data Base
The Department Organizes Biannually
The International Scientific-and-Technical Seminar “Development, Production, Application and Measurement Assurance of Pressure and Vacuum Measuring Instruments”. The 10th jubilee seminar devoted to the centenary of the Department will be held in October-November, 2006.
The Leading Specialists of the Department
- VLADIMIR N. GOROBEY
Chief of the Department, phone/fax +7 (812) 323-9630 - YURY A. KISELYOV
Chief of the Laboratory, phone/fax +7 (812) 323-9629 - NATALIA R. NIKOLAEVA
Chief of the Sector, phone/fax +7 (812) 323-9629