Chemical Engineering Department

EXPERIMENT NO.

Measurement of concentration by conductivity

Conductivity Meter

Chemical Engineering Department

Date:___________
EXPERIMENT NO.:
AIM : - Measurement of concentration by conductivity
APPARATUS : - Conductivity cell, conductivity meter, stand, clamp.
SOLUTION & CHEMICAL : - (1) Solution of KCl
(2) Water
THEORY : - Direct reading conductivity meter is designed for
measuring the specific conductivity of solution using a conductivity
cell. It enables to measure the conductivity, without manual balancing
and the specific conductivity is read directly on a meter. This
instrument incorporates an IC circuit and thus the power consumption
is kept very low.
SPECIFICATION : 1. Bridge source : 100 Hz or 1KHz approximately, automatically
selected.
2. Conductivity range : 0-300 mMHO in 8 ranges.
3. Measuring accuracy : 1% of F.S. in all range except 300
mMHO range in which it is 2%
4. Indication: direct reading of specific conductivity on a 125 mm
length scale meter.
5. Conductivity cell : Approximately 1 cell constant.
6. Cell constant compensation : 0.9 to 1.1
7. Power requirement : 230V 10%, 50 Hz single phase approx.
6VA.
8. Standard accessories : one conductivity cell & stand, clamp,
instruction manual.
The main feature of this instrument is that it avoids the convectional
method of manual balancing by employing a self balancing ratio
transformer bridge technique(Refer Figure). A highly stable oscillator
powers the bridge. The current tthrough the conductivity cell passes
through one winding of the ratio transformer. The other winding output
is fed to a selective high gain amplifier. The output of which drives the
current in the third winding in such a way that the flux in this winding
opposes the flux in the first winding. This goes on until both the fluxes
cancel each other and consequently the detected output will be almost
zero. The output of amplifier now is a measure of the conductivity of
the solution being measured.
CALIBRATION OF INSTRUMENT :Conductivity Meter

Chemical Engineering Department

After adjusting the instrument to read full scale calibrate the

instrument as directed stepwise below.
(1) After thoroughly cleaning, immerse the cell in the standard solution
say 0.1
N KCl (aqueous) which has specific conductivity of the order of
0.01412(=
14.12mMHO) at 30C.
(2) Put the `CAL/READ control in the READ position. You will see that
needle
on the meter shows deflection.
(3) Turn the range control in counter clockwise direction, starting from
300mMHO range to get a range where needle will show maximum
deflection.
In the present case, you will get maximum deflection of needle in
the range of
0-30 mMHO.
(4) Refer table given after this page to find out conductivity of the
solution at
30C. Adjust `cell constant control such that meter reading
correspondence to
the table value. In the present case, you can adjust the needle to
read 14.12
mMHO. Now, the instrument is calibrated for measuring
conductivity of
unknown solution.
(5) Put `CAL/ READ control back to `CAL position. Remove the cell
from the
solution and wash with glass distilled water, clean the cell immerse
it in the
unknown solution.
(6) Turn `CAL/ READ control of `READ position and turn range control
stepwise to get maximum deflection of needle.
CALIBRATION OF A CELL:After replatinizing a cell or when otherwise required the cell
constant may be ascertained using a solution, the conductivity of
which is accurately known. Such a solution may be prepared as follows.
Conductivity Meter

Chemical Engineering Department

Take 7.459 gms of dried KCl and dissolve it in some distilled

water in a one liter measuring jar. Fill the measuring jar to one liter
mark with distilled water and thus 0.1 normal KCl solution will be ready.
0.01 N solution is prepared by diluting the 0.1N KCL in the proportion
1:10. Please note that the conductivity of this solution depends on its
temperature.
TABLE : DATA OF CONDUCTIVITY OF SOLUTION NEAR 20C
TEMP.
Solution temp. 0C
1/100th KCl
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32

1/10th KCl
0.01048
0.01072
0.01095
0.01119
0.01143
0.01167
0.01207
0.01215
0.01239
0.01264
0.01286
0.01310
0.01337
0.01366
0.01388
0.01412
0.01441
0.01460

0.001147
0.001173
0.001199
0.001225
0.001251
0.001278
0.001305
0.001332
0.001359
0.001386
0.001404
0.001413
0.001441
0.001508
0.001535
0.001552
0.001579
0.001606

PROCEDURE : Make the calibration of given conductometer properly.

Fill up the beaker with given solution.
Keep the electrode into the solution.
Take the reading of conductivity from the dial.
Find the concentration of solution from the calibration chart. i.e.
conductivity Vs concentration chart.
Compare this concentration with actual concentration of the
solution.
RESULT : Conductivity Meter

Chemical Engineering Department

Concentration of given solution =__________ N

OBSERVATION & CALIBRATION :(1) Water : _______ ml

(2) KCl : _________gm
(3) Range : __________mMHO to ________mMHO
Minimum reading for this range = __________mMHO
Reading for 0.1 N KCl solution = __________mMHO
Reading for 0.01 N KCl solution = __________mMHO

Range : __________mMHO to ________mMHO

Minimum reading for this range = __________mMHO

Reading for 0.1 N KCl solution = __________mMHO
Reading for 0.01 N KCl solution = __________mMHO

Range : __________mMHO to ________mMHO

Readings for :
1. 2 N KCl solution = __________mMHO
2. 1 N KCl solution = __________mMHO
3. 0.5 N KCl solution = __________mMHO
4. 0.25 N KCl solution = __________mMHO
5. 0.125 N KCl solution = __________mMHO
(4) Conductivity of unknown KCl solution = __________ mMHO

Conductivity Meter

Chemical Engineering Department

Conductivity Meter

Chemical Engineering Department

Conductivity Meter