Temperature Measurement

• Thermoelectric effect
• Resistance change
• Sensitivity of semiconductor device
• Radiative heat emission
• Thermography
• Thermal expansion
• Resonant frequency change
• Sensitivity of fiber-optic devices
• Colour change
• Change of state of material
Thermocouples
𝑒 = 𝑎1 𝑇 + 𝑎2 𝑇 2 + 𝑎3 𝑇 3 + …

𝑎2 ≈ 0 , 𝑎3 ≈ 0, …

𝑒 ≈ 𝑎1 𝑇

• Combinations of the base metals copper and iron;

• Alloys of base metals: alumel (Ni/Mn/Al/Si), chromel (Ni/Cr), constantan
(Cu/Ni),
Thermocouples
Themocouple output

𝐸𝑚 = 𝐸1 + 𝐸2 + 𝐸3 + E4 + E5
𝐸1 = 𝐸𝑚 − 𝐸2 − 𝐸3 − 𝐸4 − 𝐸5

Law of Intermediate metals

𝑒𝐴𝐶 = 𝑒𝐴𝐵 + 𝑒𝐵𝐶
• Thermocouple tables

• Nonzero Reference Junction Temperature

𝐸(𝑇ℎ ,𝑇0) = 𝐸(𝑇ℎ ,𝑇𝑟 ) + 𝐸(𝑇𝑟 ,𝑇0)

• Thermocouple Types
Type Metals Sensitivity(μV/C) Range(/C) Accuracy (%)
E Chromel-Constantan 68 -200 – 900 0.5
J Iron-Constantan 55 -40 - 750 0.75
K Chromel-Alumel 41 700 - 1200 0.75
N Nicrosil-Nisil 39 700 - 1300 0.75
T Copper-Constantan 43 -200 – 350 0.75
• Thermocouple Protection
• Protective Sheath: Increase in time constant

• Thermocouple Manufacture
• Thermopile
• Multiple thermocouples connected in series
• 0.0010 C measurement resolution
Varying Resistance Devices
• Resistance thermometers : Metal
• Thermistors : Semiconductor
• Resistance Temperature Devices (RTDs)
𝑅 = 𝑅0 1 + 𝑎1 𝑇 + 𝑎2 𝑇 2 + ⋯ + 𝑎𝑛 𝑇 𝑛

𝑅 ≈ 𝑅0 1 + 𝑎1 𝑇
• Platinum, Copper, Nickel
• Platinum: Most linear and Inert, Good
accuracy over wide range; Film deposited on
ceramic substrate; 100 Ω or 1000 Ω
Varying Resistance Devices
• Platinum high linearity, Chemically stable, high cost
• Nickel and Copper
Metal Range
Platinum -270 – 1000
Copper -200 – 260
Nickel -200 – 430
Tungsten -270 – 1100

• Protection Sheath
Thermistors
• beads of semiconductor material prepared from oxides of metals such
as chromium, cobalt, iron, manganese, and nickel
• Negative Temperature Coefficient
1 1
𝛽 𝑇−𝑇
𝑅 = 𝑅0 𝑒 0

• Highly nonlinear
• Low cost and size
• Small time constant
• Self-heating
• Low sensitivity
Semiconductor devices
• Diodes or Integrated Circuit Transistors
• Varying current or varying voltage
• Low cost
• Better linearity compared to thermocouple and RTDs
• Limited range : −50 − 1500 𝐶
• Silicon diodes: −50 − 2000 𝐶
• Germanium Diodes: −270 − 400 𝐶
• Inaccuracy: ±0.5%
Radiation Thermometers/ Pyrometers
• All objects emit electromagnetic radiation as a function of their
temperature above absolute zero
• Rate of radiation emission per second
𝐸 = 𝐾𝑇 4
• 0.3 − 40 𝜇𝑚
• Magnitude of radiation varies with
temperature
• Low temperature: Infrared region
• High temperature: Visible region
Radiation Thermometers/ Pyrometers

• Measurement: −100 − 10000 𝑜 𝐶

• Inaccuracy: ±0.05 %
• Portable, Handheld
• Non-contact
• No possibility of contamination
• High temperature measurement
• Measurement of moving object
• Dependence on surface condition
• Absorption and scattering
• Careful calibration
Optical Pyrometer

• Red part of visible spectrum

• 𝑇 > 600𝑜 𝐶
• Material Emissivity
• Optical Filters
• Can not be used for automatic temperature control
Radiation Pyrometer

• Measurement: −100 − 3600𝑜 𝐶

• Thermal Detector
• Measures temperature rise in black body : Thermopile, RTDs, Thermistors
• Time constant: several milliseconds
• Photon detector
• Respond selectively to a particular band within the optical system
• Photovoltaic
• Fiber-optic technology
Broad band Radiation Pyrometer
• Measures radiation across the whole frequency spectrum and so uses
a thermal detector.
• Inaccuracy: ±0.5 %
• Blackened platinum disc to which a thermopile is bonded
• Temperature of the detector increases until the heat gain from the
incident radiation is balanced by the heat loss due to convection and
radiation
• Chopped broad-band radiation pyrometers: mechanical device is
included that periodically interrupts the radiation reaching the
detector; Thermistors
Narrow-band radiation pyrometers
• Highly stable instruments that suffer a drift in accuracy that is
typically only 0.5𝑜 𝐶 in 10 years
• Photodetector: photoconductive or the photovoltaic
• Sensitive to narrow band of wavelengths: 0.5 − 1.2 𝜇𝑚
• Highly nonlinear variation with temperature
• Commonly used materials for photodetectors are cadmium sulfide,
lead sulfide, indium antimonide, and lead tin telluride
Two-color Pyrometer
Thermography : Thermal Imaging

• Infrared radiation detector ( 2 to 14 μm)

• Information on temperature distribution
• High measurement resolution
• Monitoring product flows through pipe work, detecting insulation faults, and detecting hot spots in
furnace linings, electrical transformers, machines, bearings, etc.
• Colour displays
Thermal Expansion methods

• Liquid-in-glass thermometer
• Mercury or coloured alcohol
• −200 − 1000𝑜 𝐶
• ±1%
• Bimetallic Thermometer
• If two strips of different metals are bonded
together, any temperature change will cause
the strip to bend.
• −75 − 1500𝑜 𝐶
• ±0.5%
• Pressure Thermometer
• Boyle’s law: 𝑃𝑉 = 𝐾𝑇
Quartz Thermometers
• Resonant frequency of a material such as quartz is a function of
temperature,
• Temperature changes to be translated into frequency changes
• The crystal is connected electrically so as to form the resonant element
within an electronic oscillator
• Measurement of Oscillator frequency
• Highly linear
• −40 − 230𝑜 𝐶
• Inaccuracy : ±0.1%
• Very stable over long period of time
• Expensive
Fiber Optic Temperature Sensors
• Plastic, Glass or combination
• Intrinsic or Extrinsic
• Temperature measurement at hard to reach locations
• Intrinsic sensor uses cable where the core and cladding have similar refractive
indices but different temperature coefficients
• Temperature rises cause the refractive indices to become even closer together
and losses from the core to increase, thus reducing the quantity of light
transmitted.
• reflection characteristics of light transmitted down a fiber-optic cable bonded to
the electrical cable.
• By analysing back-scattered radiation, a table of temperature versus distance
along the cable can be produced.
Color Indicators
• Special color indicators that are widely used in industry to determine
whether objects placed in furnaces have reached the required
temperature
• Special paints or crayons that are applied to an object before it is
placed in a furnace
• At a certain temperature, a chemical reaction takes place and a
permanent color change occurs in the paint or crayon
• This change does not occur instantaneously but only happens over a
period of time.
• 50 − 1250𝑜 𝐶
Intelligent Temperature-Measuring
Instruments
• Nonvolatile memories where all constants used in correcting output
values for modifying inputs, etc., are stored,
• Enables the instrument to survive power failures without losing such
information.
• Other facilities in intelligent transmitters include adjustable damping,
noise rejection, self-adjustment for zero and sensitivity drifts, and
expanded measurement range
• Self-diagnosis and Self-adjustment
• Self-Calibration
Choice between Temperature Transducers
• Medium is solid or liquid
• Base metal thermocouples: Most common in industry
• Low output voltage, prone to noise, unsuitable for small temperature
variation measurement
• RTDs : More stable compared to thermocouples
• Thermistor: Inexpensive, fast output response, good sensitivity, small
measurement range
• Semiconductor devices: high linearity, low accuracy
• Radiation Thermometers: Noncontact, non-invasive, fast temperature
transients
Calibration
• Helium gas thermometer
• Platinum resistance thermometer
• Narrow-band radiation thermometer