TEMPERATURE SYSTEMS

Temperature and heat

Application considerations: Temperature is one of the most frequently used

process measurements. Almost all chemical processes and reactions are temperaturedependent. Not infrequently in chemical plants, temperature is the only indication of the
progress of the process. Where the temperature is critical to the reaction, a considerable
loss of product may result from incorrect temperatures. In some cases, loss of control of
temperature can result in catastrophic plant failure with the attendant damage and
possible loss of life. Another area where accurate temperature measurement is essential is
in the metallurgical industries. In the case of many metal alloys, typically steel and
aluminum alloys, the temperature of the heat treatment the metal receives during
manufacture is a crucial factor in establishing the mechanical properties of the finished
product.
There are many other areas of industry where temperature measurement is
essential. Such applications include steam raising and electricity generation, plastics
manufacture and molding, milk and dairy products, and many other areas of the food
industries. Where most of us are most aware of temperature is in the heating and airconditioning systems which make so much difference to people's persona! Comfort
Instruments for the measurement of temperature, as with so many other instruments, are
available in a wide range of configurations. Everyone must be familiar with the
ubiquitous liquid-in-glass thermometer.
However, a number of other temperature dependent effects are used for
measurement purposes and readout can be local to the point of measurement 0: remote in
a control room or elsewhere.
Definitions
For the understanding of temperature measurement it is essential to have an appreciation
of the concepts of temperature and other heat-related phenomena.
Temperature
The first recorded temperature measurement was carried out by Galileo at the end of the
sixteenth century. His thermometer depended on the expansion of air. Some form of scale
was attached to his apparatus, for he mentions "degrees of heat in his records.

As with any other measurement, it is necessary to have agreed and standardized units of
measurement. In the case of temperature the internationally recognized units are the
Kelvin and the degree Celsius.
Temperature is a measure of stored or potential energy in a mass of matter. It is the state
of agitation, both lateral and rotational oscillation, of the molecules of the medium. The
higher the temperature of a body, the greater the vibrational energy of its molecules and
the greater its potential to transfer this molecular kinetic energy to another body.
Temperature is the potential to cause heat to move from a point of higher temperature to
one of lower temperature. The rate of heat transfer is a function of that temperature
difference.
Heat
Heat is thermal energy. The quantity of heat in a body is proportional to the
temperature of that body. i.e. it is its heat capacity multiplied by its absolute temperature.
Heat is measured in joules. (Before the international agreements on the SI system of units
heat was measured in calories. One calorie was approximately 4.2 joules.)
Specific heat capacity
Different materials absorb different amounts of heat to produce the same temperature
rise. The specific heat capacity, or more usually the specific heat, of a substance is the
amount of heat which. when absorbed by 1 kg of that substance, will
raise its temperature by 1 "C.
Specific heat capacity = J kg-'k-'
Thermal conductively
The rate at which heat is conducted through a body depends upon the material of
the body. Heat travels very quickly along a bar of copper, for instance, but more slowly
through iron. In the case of non-metals, ceramics, or organic substances, the thermal
conduction occurs more slowly still. The heat conductivity is not only a function of the
substance but also the form of the substance. Plastic foam is used for heat insulation
because the gas bubbles in the foam impede the conduction of heat.

Thermal conductivity is measured in terms of:

Latent heat
When a substance changes state from solid to liquid or from liquid to vapor, it
absorbs heat without change of temperature. If a quantity of ice is heated at a constant
rate its temperature will rise steadily until it reaches a temperature of 0C; at this stage
the ice will continue to absorb heat with no change of temperature until it has all melted
to water. Now as the heat continues to flow into the water the temperature will continue
to rise but at a different rate from before due to the different specific heat of water
compared to ice. When the water reaches 100 "C the temperature rise will again level off
as the water boils. Changing state from water to steam Once all the water has boiled to
steam the temperature will rise again but now at yet another rate dependent on the
specific heat of steam. This is illustrated in Figure

Figure 14.1 Increase of temperature during change ofstate of a mass of water under
conditions of constant energy input.

The amount of heat required to convert a kilogram of a substance from solid state
to liquid state is the "latent heat of fusion." Likewise the "latent heat of evaporation" is
the amount of heat required to convert a kilogram of liquid to vapor. This leveling of
temperature rise during change of state accounts for the constant freezing temperatures
and constant boiling temperatures of pure materials. The units of measurement of latent
heat are joules per kilogram:
Latent heat = J . kg-1
Thermal expansion
Expansion of solids When a solid is heated, it increases in volume. It increases in
length, breadth, and thickness. The increase in length of any side of a solid will depend
upon the original length lo, the rise in temperature t, and the coefficient of linear
expansion a. The coefficient of linear expansion may be defined as the increase in length
per unit length when the temperature is raised 1 "C. Thus, if the temperature of a rod of
length 10 is raised from 0 "C to t"C, then the new length, lr, will be given by:
I, = lo + lo ' at = lo(1 +at)
The value of the coefficient of expansion varies from substance to substance and the
coefficients of linear expansion of some common materials are given in Table 14.1.

The increase in area with temperature Let the coefficient of superficial expansion, is
approximately twice the coefficient of linear expansion. The coefficient of cubic
expansion is almost three times the coefficient of linear expansion.

Expansion of liquids and gases

In dealing with the expansion of liquids and gases it is necessary to consider the volume
expansion, or cubical expansion. Both liquids and gases have to be held by a container,
which will also expand, so that the apparent expansion of the liquid or gas will be less
than the true or absolute expansion. The true coefficient of expansion of a liquid is equal
to the coefficient of cubical expansion of the containing vessel. Usually the expansion of
a gas is so much greater than that of the containing vessel that the expansion of the vessel
may be neglected in comparison with that of the gas. The coefficient of expansion of a
liquid may be defined in two ways. First, there is the zero coefficient of expansion, which
is the increase in volume per degree rise in temperature. Divided by the volume at 0 C,
so that volume V1 at temperature t is given by:

V1 = v0 (1 +)
where Vo is the volume at 0C and is thecoefficient of cubical expansion. There is also
the mean coefficient of expansion between two temperatures. This is the ratio of the
increase in volume per degree rise of temperature, to the original volume. That is.

where Vt1 the volume at temperature t1 , and Vt2 is the volume at temperature t2.This
definition is useful in the case of liquids that do not expand uniformly, e.g., water.
Radiation
There are three ways in which heat may be transferred: conduction, convection, and
radiation. Conduction is, as already covered, the direct transfer of heat through matter.
Convection is the indirect transfer of heat by the thermally induced circulation of a liquid
or gas; in forced convection, the circulation is increased by a fan or pump. Radiation is
the direct transfer of heat (or other form of energy) across space. Thermal radiation is
electromagnetic radiation and comes within the infrared, visible, and ultraviolet regions

of the electromagnetic spectrum. The demarcation between these three classes of

radiation is rather indefinite but as a guide the wavelength bands are shown in Table.

So far as the effective transfer of heat is concerned the wavelength band is limited to
about 10 pm in the infrared and to 0.1 pm in the ultraviolet. All the radiation in this band
behaves in the same way as light. The radiation travels in straight lines, may be reflected
or refracted, and the amount of radiant energy falling on a unit area of a detector is
inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the detector and the radiating
source.
TEMPERATURE SCALES
Thermodynamic Kelvin Scale. The currently accepted theoretical scale is named for Lord
Kelvin, who first enunciated the principle on which it is based. Thermodynamic
temperature is denoted by T and the unit is the kelvin (K) (no degree sign is used). The
kelvin is the fraction 1/273.16 of the thermodynamic temperature of the triple point of
water. The triple point is realized when ice, water, and water vapor are in equilibrium. It
is the sole defining fixed point of the thermodynamic Kelvin scale and has the assigned
value of 273.16 K.
Celsius (Centigrade) Scale. In 1742 Anders Celsius of Uppsala University, Sweden,
reported on the use of thermometers in which the fundamental interval, ice point to steam
point, was 100. Celsius designated the ice point at 100 and the steam point at 0.
Subsequently Christin (1743) in Lyon, France, and Linnaeus (1745) at Uppsala
independently interchanged the designations. For many years prior to 1948 it was known
as the centigrade scale. In 1948, by international agreement, it renamed in honor of its
inventor. Used worldwide, temperatures are denoted as degrees Celsius ( By personal
choice, the degree symbol is sometimes eliminated.

Fahrenheit Scale. Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit (1724) first defined the Fahrenheit scale,
using the ice point (32) and the human body temperature (96) as the fixed points of the
scale. The fundamental interval (ice point to steam point) turned out to be 180 degrees
(212 32 = 180). Although very serious attempts have been and are being made to
convert to the Celsius scale, the Fahrenheit scale remains popular in English-speaking
countries. Scientific and engineering publications largely have converted to the Celsius
scale, but because the conversion still is far from complete, many technical publications
usually follow a value in C by the equivalent value in F. Again, by personal choice the
degree symbol is sometimes eliminated, such as in 100 F.

Reaumur Scale. Invented prior to 1730 by Rene-Antoine Ferchalt de Reaumur, the

scale today is essentially limited to the brewing and liquor industries. The fundamental
temperature interval is defined by the ice point (0) and a steam-point designation of 80.
The symbol is R.

Rankine Scale. This scale is the equivalent of the thermodynamic Kelvin scale, but is
expressed in terms of Fahrenheit degrees. Thus the temperature of the triple point of
water on the Rankine scale, corresponding to 273.16 K, is very nearly 491.69 Rankine.

International Practical Temperature Scale. For precision calibration needs, the concept
of an international temperature scale with fixed reference points in addition to the ice
point and the steam point was proposed as early as 1887. The last revisions to this scale
of any note occurred with the publication of the fixed points for the International
Practical Temperature Scale (IPTS) of 1968. In the usual applications of thermometry,
this scale is not frequently used. Some of the intermediate reference points on the scale
include the triple point of equilibrium of hydrogen, the boiling point of neon, the triple
point of oxygen, and the freezing points of zinc, silver, and gold.

Temperature Scale Conversion

Comment

Absolute zero

Kelvin

Celsius

Fahrenheit Rankine

Delisle

Raumur

Ra (R)

R, (R, Re)

273.15

459.67

559.725

218.52

89

128.2

331.47

283.5

71.2

40

40

419.67

17.78

459.67

176.67

14.22

32

491.67

150

15

59

518.67

127.5

12

36.8

98.24

557.91

94.8

29.44

58

136.4

596.07

63

46.4

99.9839

211.97102

671.64102

80

Lowest recorded natural 184

temperature
(Vostok,

on

Earth

Antarctica

July 21, 1983)

Celsius

Fahrenheit's 233.15

"cross-over" temperature
Fahrenheit's

ice/salt 255.37

mixture
Water

freezes

(at 273.15

standard pressure)
Average

surface 288

temperature on Earth
Average

human

body 309.95

temperature
Highest recorded surface 331
temperature

on

Earth

(Al 'Aziziyah, Libya September 13, 1922)

Water boils (at standard 373.13
pressure)

39

Titanium melts

1941

1668

3034

3494

2352

1334

The surface of the Sun

5800

5526

9980

10440

8140

4421

TEMPERATURE SENSORS
All materials are affected by temperature, and thus it is not surprising that there are so
many means available for inferring temperature from some physical effect. Early
thermometers depended on volumetric changes of gases and liquids with temperature
change, and, of course, this principle still is exploited, as encountered in industrial gasand liquid-filled thermal systems and in the familiar liquid-column fever thermometer.
Although these instruments were accepted widely for many years, the filled-system
thermometer has been significantly displaced by other simpler and more convenient
approaches, including the thermocouple and the resistance temperature detector (RTD).
The contraction and expansion of solids, notably metals, is a phenomenon that has been
applied widely in thermometry as, for example, in bimetallic metallic temperature
controllers commonly found in the air-conditioning field. Thermoelectric methods, such
as the thermocouple, and thermoresistive effects, such as the change of electrical
resistance with temperature change, as found in RTDs and thermistors, also have been
known and applied for many decades. Thermal radiation of hot bodies has served as the
basis for radiation thermometers [once commonly referred to as radiation pyrometers and
now called infrared (IR) thermometers] and has also been known and practiced for many
decades. Through technological advancements IR thermometers have grown in
acceptance in recent years and displaced other measurement means for a number of
temperature measurement applications. Thus as is the case with other process variables,

there is a wide selection of thermal sensors. An effort is made in this article to summarize
the relative advantages and limitations of easily available temperature sensors, but for
some uses, the justification of one method over another is sometimes difficult.