PYROMETER

M & M ASSIGNMENT

By,
M.P.Jithesh. Aiyappa ,
Rangaraju .D ,
Shubham.Garg.

Pyrometer
Apyrometeris a non-contacting
device that intercepts and measures
thermal radiation, a process known
as pyrometry. This device can be used
to determine thetemperatureof an
object's surface.
The word pyrometer comes from the
Greekword for fire, "" (pyro),
andmeter, meaning to measure.
Pyrometer was originally coined to
denote a device capable of measuring
temperatures of objects above
incandescence(i.e. objects bright to
the human eye).

HISTORY OF PYROMETER
Modern pyrometers became available when the firstdisappearing filament pyrometerwas built by L.
Holborn and F. Kurlbaum in 1901. This device superimposed a thin, heated filament over the object to be
measured and relied on the operators eye to detect when the filament vanished. The object temperature was
then read from a scale on the pyrometer.
The temperature returned by the vanishing filament pyrometer and others of its kind, called Brightness
Pyrometers, is dependent on the emissivity of the object. With greater use of brightness pyrometers, it became
obvious that problems existed with relying on knowledge of the value of emissivity. Emissivity was found to
change, often drastically, with surface roughness, bulk and surface composition, and even the temperature
itself.
To get around these difficulties, the ratio or two-color pyrometer was developed. They rely on the fact
thatPlanck's Law, which relates temperature to the intensity of radiation emitted at individual wavelengths, can
be solved for temperature if Plancks statement of the intensities at two different wavelengths is divided. This
solution assumes that the emissivity is the same at both wavelengths and cancels out in the division. This is
known as thegray body assumption. Ratio pyrometers are essentially two brightness pyrometers in a single
instrument. The operational principles of the ratio pyrometers were developed in the 1920s and 1930s, and they
were commercially available in 1939.
As the ratio pyrometer came into popular use, it was determined that many materials, of which metals are
an example, do not have the same emissivity at two wavelengths. For these materials, the emissivity does not
cancel out and the temperature measurement is in error. The amount of error depends on the emissiveties and
the wavelengths where the measurements are taken. Two-color ratio pyrometers cannot measure whether a
materials emissivity is wavelength dependent.

PRINCIPLE OF OPERATION
A pyrometer has an optical system and detector. The optical system focuses thethermal radiationonto the
detector. The output signal of thedetector(Temperature T) is related to thethermal radiationorirradiance
j*of the target object through theStefanBoltzmann law, theconstant of proportionality, called the
Stefan-Boltzmann constantand theemissivity of the object.

This output is used to infer the object's temperature. Thus, there is no need for direct contact between the pyrometer and the
object, as there is withthermocouple and Resistance temperature detector

WORKING OF A PYROMETER
There are two basic kinds of
pyrometers: optical pyrometers,
where you look at a heat source
through a mini-telescope and
make a manual measurement,
and electronic, digital pyrometers
that measure completely
automatically. Some devices
described as pyrometers actually
have to be touching the hot object
they're measuring. Strictly
speaking, instruments like this are
really just high-temperature
thermometers based on
thermocouples. Since they don't
measure temperature at a
distance, they're not really

WORKING

Pyrometer, or radiation thermometer, is a noncontact instrument that detects an object's surface

temperature by measuring the temperature of the
electromagnetic radiation(infrared or visible)
emitted from the object.

The wavelength of thermal radiation ranges from

0.1 to 100m (4 ~ 4,000in), i.e., from the deep
ultraviolet (UV) across the visible spectrum to the
middle of the infrared region (IR).

Typical Broadband Pyrometer

The Electromagnetic Radiation Spectrum

Pyrometers are essentially photodetectors which are capable of absorbing energy, or measuring the
EM wave intensity, at a particular wavelength or within a certain range of wavelengths.

TYPES OF PYROMETERS
The following are some of the most commonly and
widely used pyrometers:
OPTICAL PYROMETER
RADIATION PYROMETER
DIGITAL PYROMETER
INFRARED PYROMETER

OPTICAL PYROMETER
The Optical Pyrometer is a highly-developed and well accepted
noncontact temperature measurement device with a long and
varied past from its origins more than 100 years ago. In spite of
the fact that more modern, automatic devices have nearly
displaced it, several makers still produce and sell profitable
quantities each year.
In general, opticals, as they are often called, can be described as
fitting into two seperate types, according to the two USA
companies that produce them. However, there are actually several
different types that vary in compexity and cost. A quick review of
the descriptions below will provide some of the differences and a
check of the web sites of the two companies will yield even more
information. We suspect that there are other makers overseas
and we are looking to find more details about them and their web
presence.

They range between 700 to 3000 c

More accurate
Lower limit determined by human eye
Human eye compares the radiation

WORKING OF A OPTICAL
PYROMETER
Optical Pyrometers work on the basic principle of using the human eye to match the brightness
of the hot object to the brightness of a calibrated lamp filament inside the instrument. The
optical system contains filters that restrict the wavelength-sensitivity of the devices to a
narrow wavelength band around 0.65 to 0.66 micons (the red region of the visible spectrum).
Other filters reduce the intensity so that one instrument can have a relatively wide
temperature range capability. Needless to say, by restricting the wavelength response of the
device to the red region of the visible, it can only be used to measure objects that are hot
enough to be incandescent, or glowing. This limits the lower end of the temperature
measurement range of these devices to about 700 C.Some experimental devices have been
built using light amplifiers to extend the range downwards, but the devices become quite
cumbersome, fragile and expensive.

Modern radiation thermometers provide the capability to measure within and below the range
of the optical pyrometer with equal or better measurement precision plus faster time response,
precise emissivity correction capability, better calibration stability, enhanced ruggedness and
relatively modest cost.

ADVANTAGES
FLEXIBLE
PORTABLE
CONVIENT TO USE
LIGHT WEIGHT
CAN MONITOR MOVEABLE OBJECTS
NON CONTACT TYPE
ACCURATE

DISADVANTAGES
EXPENSIVE
HUMAN ERRORS
NOT USEFUL FOR MEASURING TEMP OF
CLEAR GAS
AT HIGH TEMP. FILAMENT ERODES
FREQUENTLY

RADIATION PYROMETER

WORKING OF RADIATION
PYROMETER

COMMON DETECTORS IN
PYROMETERS
THERMOPILE
PHOTOCELL
METAL BOLOMER
THERMISTER

THERMOPILE
LARGER O/P
LOWER RESPONSE TIME
ADAPTABLE FOR INDUSTRIAL
APPLICATION

BOLOMETER
FAST IN RESPONSE
GOOD SENSITIVITY
COSTLY

THERMISTER
NOT USED DUE TO :
POOR PRECISION
DIFFICULT TO PROVIDE
COMPENSATION
LOW RESPONSE TIME

PHOTOCELL
FAST
LARGE SENSITIVITY
LIMITED SPECTRAL
SENSITIVITY

ADVANTAGES
ABILITY TO MEASURE HIGH TEMP
NO NEED FOR CONTAC
FAST RESPONSE SPEED
HIGH O/P
MODERATE COST

DISADVANTAGES
NON LINEAR SCALE
EMMISIVITY OF TARGET AFFECT
MEASUREMENT
ERRORS DUE TO INTERLEAVING MEDIA

APPLICATION
Pyrometers are suited especially to the measurement of moving objects or any surfaces that can not be
reached or can not be touched.

Smelter Industry
Temperature is a fundamental parameter inmetallurgicalfurnaceoperations. Reliable and
continuous measurement of the melt temperature is essential for effective control of the operation.
Smelting rates can be maximized,slagcan be produced at the optimum temperature, fuel consumption
is minimized and refractory life may also be lengthened.Thermocoupleswere the traditional devices
used for this purpose, but they are unsuitable for continuous measurement because they rapidly
dissolve.

Over-the-bath Pyrometer
Salt bathfurnaces operate at temperatures up to 1300 C and are used forheat treatment. At
very high working temperatures with intense heat transfer between the molten salt and the steel being
treated, precision is maintained by measuring the temperature of the molten salt. Most errors are
caused byslagon the surface which is cooler than the salt bath.

Tuyre Pyrometer
The Tuyre Pyrometer is an optical instrument for temperature measurement through thetuyeres
which are normally used for feeding air or reactants into the bath of the furnace.

Tuyre Pyrometer
Steam boilers
A steamboilermay be fitted with a pyrometer to measure the steam temperature in
thesuperheater.

Hot Air Balloons

Ahot air balloonis equipped with a pyrometer for measuring the temperature at the
top of the envelope in order to prevent overheating of the fabric.

REFERENCES
^abcL. Michalski et al, Temperature Measurement, Second Edition.(Wiley, 2001), pp. 162208.
^abcdC. Mercer,Optical metrology for fluids, combustion, and solids.(Kluwer Academic,
2003), pp. 297-305.
^abD. Ng and G. Fralick, Use of a multiwavelength pyrometer in several elevated
temperature aerospace applications, Rev. Sci. Instrum. 72, 1522 (2001)
^abD. Olinger, J. Gray, R. Felice, Successful Pyrometry in Investment Casting,
Proceedings of the 55th Annual Technical Conference on Investment Casting (Investment
Casting Institute, 2007)
^L. Michalski et al, Temperature Measurement, Second Edition.(Wiley, 2001), pp. 403-404.