ELEMENTS OF MATERIAL SCIENCE LAB REPORT

EXPERIMENT 6: THERMOCOUPLE CALIBRATION

CHAN KAH FAI (GROUP 4)

SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING FACULTY OF ENGINEERING, ARCHITECTURE & BUILT ENVIRONMENT

23 FEBRUARY 2011

Chan Kah Fai 1001025381 EE 102 Mechanics and Strength of Materials [Mr. Naveen] 23 Feb 2011

Table of Contents

Contents Number 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 7.0 8.0 9.0 Introduction Objectives Material and Methodology Procedure Results Discussions Conclusions Limitations of the Experiment/ Difficulties Encountered Reference

Page

3 4 4 5 6 6 8 8 8

Chan Kah Fai 1001025381 EE 102 Mechanics and Strength of Materials [Mr. Naveen] 23 Feb 2011

1.0

Introduction When two different metals are connected with each other in a loop to form two

junctions, a small voltage potential or known as electromotive force (emf) will be generated at two different temperatures where the current will be flow through the loop circuit. To measure such small difference of emf in the circuit, a thermocouple which plugged to a multimeter is used. Thermocouple is a type of temperature sensor widely used to measure and control temperatures. It can be used to convert heat into electric power as well. The advantages of using thermocouple as a temperature sensor compare to other devices is they are inexpensive and interchangeable supplied with a standard connectors and can measure up to a wide range of temperatures. The main limitation of using a thermocouple is the accuracy to achieve precise temperature up to 1 degree Centigrade, C.

By discovering the principle by a physicist, Thomas Johann Seebeck in 1821, when any conductor is subjected to a thermal gradient, a voltage will be generated known as thermoelectric effect. For typical metals used in thermocouples, the output voltage increases almost linearly with the temperature difference over a bounded range of temperatures which enable the device to measure a wide range of temperatures. There are many types of thermocouples as well to measure certain types of temperatures depending on the sensitivity of the measurements. Example types of thermocouples are Type B, R, S, T, C, M, K, J, N where each types shows different types of metals used for the circuit.

Thermocouple is one of the most suitable sensors used in industrial processes such as steel industries, diesel industries, oil industries and etc to measure over a large temperature range, up to 2300C. However, it is not suitable to be used for smaller temperature differences, with 0.1C due to its limitations.

Chan Kah Fai 1001025381 EE 102 Mechanics and Strength of Materials [Mr. Naveen] 23 Feb 2011

2.0

Objectives 1. To identify the ways to operate and calibrate a thermocouple. 2. To identify the corresponding curve-fit correlation.

3.0

Material and Methodology

Materials : Distilled water Apparatus : Thermocouple, 500.0 ml beaker, thermometer, multimeter, magnetic stirrer with hot plate, retort stand.

Chan Kah Fai 1001025381 EE 102 Mechanics and Strength of Materials [Mr. Naveen] 23 Feb 2011

Figure 6: Thermocouple Calibration 4.0 Procedure 1. The apparatus is assembled as shown in the diagram above. 2. 350.0 ml of water is poured into a 500.0 ml beaker. 3. The hot plate is turned on to increased the temperature of the water in the beaker. 4. The water in the beaker is heated to the desired temperature (30 C initially). The hot plate is switched off once the temperature is found. 5. The ends of the thermocouple are connected to the digital multimeter (MM) and the multimeter is set to read in millivolts DC. 6. One junction of the thermocouple is dipped in the thermo-bath liquid and wait for few minutes to allow the reading to reach a steady state except for the last digit. 7. The sensor wire is hold carefully to prevent the contact to the circulators propeller. 8. The initial digital MM reading is noted in millivolts (EMM) and steps 4 to steps 7 are repeated by increasing 5 C from 30C to 60C. 9. As mentioned in the theory, the multimeter reading corresponds to the difference in temperature between surroundings and the bath. In order to calibrate the thermocouple, the room temperature is taken into consideration to get the absolute value of temperature measured. The equivalent millivolt value for the room temperature is found from the corresponding thermocouple table (ERM). By using that millivolt value, corresponding to the room temperature, adds to every multimeter reading (EMM). The values are tabulated.

Chan Kah Fai 1001025381 EE 102 Mechanics and Strength of Materials [Mr. Naveen] 23 Feb 2011

5.0

Results 25.0 0.00 30.0 0.02 35.0 0.04 40.0 0.06 45.0 0.08 50.0 0.10 55.0 0.12 60.0 0.14

Temperature (C) Readings/ EMM, (mV) 6.0

Discussions 1. Plot the measured bath temperatures values (TB) on x-axis against the corresponding thermocouple emf (millivolt) values (E) on y-axis.

Graph of Readings (EMM) against Temperature 0.20 0.18 0.16 0.14 0.12 0.10 0.08 0.06 0.04 0.02 0.00 25.0 30.0 35.0 40.0 45.0 50.0 55.0 Temperature/C

Readings EMM /mV

R2 = 1

60.0 65.0

Diagram 6.1: Graph of Readings (EMM) against Temperature 2. Find the slope, intercept and the correlation coefficient of the curve-fitted line by any method. If the correlation is not very close to one, curve fit higher order polynomial. Slope: y2 y1 = m(x2 x1) Using temperature at 30C and 35C, 0.04 0.02 = m(35.0 30.0) 0.02 = m(5.0) Therefore, slope, m = 0.004
Chan Kah Fai 1001025381 EE 102 Mechanics and Strength of Materials [Mr. Naveen] 23 Feb 2011

Intercept: y = mx + c Using temperature at 30C, 0.02 = 0.004(30.0) + c c = -0.1 Therefore, intercept at y-axis = -0.1 intercept at x-axis = 25.0 From the graph drawn above, we know that the R2 = 1. Therefore, the correlation coefficient of the curve-fitted line is 1 which is the best line fitted graph.

With the data recorded, using a thermocouple, we are able to measure the temperatures of the water in the beaker. By connecting two different metals to the multimeter and immerse one junction into the heating water, the thermocouple would measure the small difference of the voltage generated where the current completes through the loop circuit.

A graph is plotted based on the data collected, it is shown that by increasing 5C for each temperatures from 25C to 60C, the output for the voltage increases by 0.02 millivolts respectively. Tabulating the results recorded, a linear graph is plotted.

By understanding that the output voltage increases almost linearly with the temperature differences over a range of temperatures as shown in the graph above, this enable the thermocouple to measure a wide range of temperatures. However, different types of metals need to taken into consideration to measure different range of temperatures.

Chan Kah Fai 1001025381 EE 102 Mechanics and Strength of Materials [Mr. Naveen] 23 Feb 2011

7.0

Conclusions As for the conclusion of the experiment, we are able to measure the

temperatures of the water in the beaker by calibrating a thermocouple. Upon completing the experiment, with the data recorded, a graph could be plotted which is the output voltage against temperature.

Analyzing the graph plotted, we are able to find out the graph is a linear type graph. This shows that the voltage increases linearly with the temperature differences over a range of temperatures taken. Therefore, thermocouple is a suitable device to used measure a wide range of temperatures in industrial processes without spending on other expensive measuring devices and risking lives especially in heavy industries.

8.0

Limitations of the Experiment/ Difficulties Encountered: 1. We are unable to know which type of thermocouple to be use to measure the temperature of the water in the beaker due to unfamiliar with many types of thermocouples available. 2. When heater is turned on, we still need to depend on a thermometer to measure the temperature of the water precisely instead of obtaining from thermocouple. 3. The accuracy of a thermocouple is low, usually not better than 0.5 C, which might not high enough for some other applications. 4. Thermocouples measure their own temperature. Therefore, we need to infer the temperature of the object that there is no heat flow between them when measurement is taken.

Reference 1. Incropera, F. P. and D. P. DeWitt, Fundamentals of Heat and Mass Transfer, 4th edition, John Wiley and Sons Inc., New York, 1996. 2. No ownership (06 Jun 2003), Retrieved on 05 February 2011. From http://www.temperatures.com/tcs.html 3. No ownership (06 Jun 2003), Retrieved on 05 February 2011. From http://www.efunda.com/designstandards/sensors/thermocouples/thmcpleintro. cfm
Chan Kah Fai 1001025381 EE 102 Mechanics and Strength of Materials [Mr. Naveen] 23 Feb 2011