High Precision Mass Measurement in Automation

High-precision mass measurement equipment is needed in some areas of science and technology. Physics, chemistry, pharmaceutics and high precision mechanics are good examples. In metrology, high-precision scales are used for verification and calibration of lower precision mass measurement equipment (weights and scales). Mass comparators are the most accurate mass measurement instruments available today. Mass comparator is a special type of electronic scales designed to compare mass of two weights. There are automatic and manual mass comparators with various measurement ranges and accuracy classes. This article discusses principles of operation of mass comparators and practice of high-precision mass measurement. There are special computer programs that can be used in conjunction with mass comparators. These programs may greatly improve measurement accuracy (when mass comparator is controlled remotely) and simplify calculations and reporting procedures. This article describes one of these programs – ScalesNet32 – which can be used with mass comparators made by Satrorius (Germany)