1/26/2018 Thermocouple Software compensation Instrumentation Tools

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Thermocouple Software compensation

 S Bharadwaj Reddy  Leave a comment

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Previously, it was suggested that automatic compensation could be accomplished by intentionally inserting a temperature-
dependent voltage source in series with the circuit, oriented in such a way as to oppose the reference junction’s voltage:
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1/26/2018 Thermocouple Software compensation Instrumentation Tools
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If the series voltage source Vrjc is exactly equal in magnitude to the reference junction’s voltage (VJ2), those two terms cancel out
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of the equation and lead to the voltmeter measuring only the voltage of the measurement junction J1:

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Vmeter = VJ1 + 0 so,much u
Vmeter = VJ1 Iliyas
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This technique is known as hardware compensation, and is employed in analog thermocouple temperature transmitter designs. Satheesh
Previously we saw an example of this called an ice point, the purpose of which was to electrically counter the reference junction Very usefu
voltage to render that junction’s voltage inconsequential as though that junction were immersed in a bath of ice-water. Instrume
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A modern technique for reference junction compensation more suitable to digital transmitter designs is called software getting kn

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Instead of canceling the e ect of the reference junction electrically, we cancel the e ect arithmetically inside the microprocessor-
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based transmitter. In other words, we let the receiving analog-digital converter circuit see the di erence in voltage between the
measurement and reference junctions (Vinput = VJ1 − VJ2), but then after digitizing this voltage measurement we have the
microprocessor add the equivalent voltage value corresponding to the ambient temperature sensed by the RTD or thermistor
ALL(Vrjc):
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1/26/2018 Thermocouple Software compensation Instrumentation Tools

Compensated total = Vinput + Vrjc

Compensated total = (VJ1 − VJ2) + Vrjc

Since we know the calculated value of Vrjc should be equal to the real reference junction voltage (VJ2), the result of this digital
addition should be a compensated total equal only to the measurement junction voltage VJ1:
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Compensated total = VJ1 − VJ2 + Vrjc
Compensated total = VJ1 + 0 Select La

Compensated total = VJ1

A block diagram of a thermocouple temperature transmitter with software compensation appears here:

Perhaps the greatest advantage of software compensation is the exibility to easily switch between di erent thermocouple types
with no hardware modi cation. So long as the microprocessor memory is programmed with look-up tables relating voltage values
to temperature values, it may accurately measure (and compensate for the reference junction of) any thermocouple type.
Hardware-based compensation schemes (e.g. an analog “ice point” circuit) require re-wiring or replacement to accommodate
di erent thermocouple types, since each ice-point circuit is built to generate a compensating voltage for a speci c type of
thermocouple.

Credits : Tony R. Kuphaldt – Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License

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