Temperature

Sensors
 Applications

Combustion is a chemical process in which a substance reacts rapidly

with oxygen and gives off heat. The original substance is called the
fuel, and the source of oxygen is called the oxidizer.
Applications
 Devices for Temperature Measurement
 Expansion thermometers
 Thermocouples
 RTDs (Resistive Temperature
Devices)
 Thermistors
 Integrated Circuits
 Optical pyrometers
 Infrared thermometers
Metal resistance V/s
Temperature Devices
 One of the primary methods for electrical
measurement of temperature involves changes in the
electrical resistance of certain material
 A measure of its resistance indicates the temperature
of device and the environment
 Time response becomes very important because the
measurement must wait until the device comes into
thermal equilibrium with environment
 The two devices used are resistance temperature
detector based on the variation of metal resistance
with temperature and the thermister based on the
variation of semiconductor resistance with
temperature
Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTD's)
Resistance Temperature
Detector(RTD)
 A RTD is a temperature sensor that is based on the
principles that is, metal resistance increasing with
temperature.
 Metals used in these devices vary from platinum, quite
sensitive, and very expensive, to nickel, which is more
sensitive and less expensive
 Sensitivity: of RTD depends on temperature coefficient
 Response time: in general RTD has a response time of
0.5 s to 5 sec or more
 construction
 RTD’s are built from selected metals (typically
Platinum), which change resistance with
temperature change.
 The resistance temperature detector (RTD)
measures the electrical conductivity as it varies
with temperature.
 The electrical resistance generally increases
with temperature, and the device is defined as
having a positive temperature coefficient.
 The magnitude of the temperature coefficient
determines the sensitivity of the RTD.
 Apart from Platinum, other metals are used for
RTD’s such as Copper and Nickel.
 Platinum is the most common and has the best
linear characteristics of the three, although
Nickel has a higher temperature coefficient
giving it greater sensitivity.
 RTD
 Signal conditioning: the RTD generally used in a bridge circuit. The
compensation line in the R3 leg of the bridge is required when the
lead lengths are so long that thermal gradients along the RTD may
cause changes in line resistance.
 RTD
 Dissipation constant: because the RTD is a resistance,
2
there is I R power dissipated by the device itself that
causes a slight heating effect, a self heating.
 Thus the current through the RTD must be kept
sufficiently low and constant to avoid self heating
 A dissipation constant is provided in RTD specification
 Range: the effective range of RTD depends principally
on the type of wire used as the active element.
 Platinum range of -100C to 650C
 Nickel range of -180 to 300C
 Temperature coefficient
 The temperature coefficient defines how much the resistance
will change for a change in temperature, and has units of
ohms/˚C
 The greater the temperature coefficient, the more the
resistance will change for a given change in temperature.
 This ultimately defines how sensitive the device is.
 RTD’s are generally quite linear, however the temperature
coefficient does vary over the range of operation.
 As an indication, the temperature coefficient for Platinum is
averaged at 0.00385 over the range from 0˚C to 100˚C, but
varies by about 2% over this range.
Example

 What is the resistance of a platinum resistor at 480°C, if

its resistance at 16°C is 110Ω ?
Thermisters
 Basic of Thermistors
 A thermistor is a semiconductor device
formed from metal oxides.
 The principle of temperature measurement
with a thermistor is that its resistance
changes with temperature.
 Most thermistors differ from normal resistors
in that they have a negative coefficient of
resistance, this means that the resistance
decreases with an increase in
temperature.
 Negative (NTC) thermistors are the more
common although positive (PTC) are also
available.
 Thermistor materials have a temperature
coefficient of resistance (𝛼 )
 The most common materials to be used for
these thermistors are Manganese oxide,
nickel oxide, cobalt oxide, copper oxide
and ferric oxide.
 Types of Thermisters
 Types of thermistors vary in
a number of ways and one
change is their response to
temperature changes.
 Thermistors are not linear,
and their response curves
vary for the different types.
 Some thermistors have a
near linear temperature
resistance relationship,
others are available with a
sharp change in slope
(sensitivity) at a particular
characteristic temperature.
 Advantages and disadvantages
 Advantages
 - Small size
 - Fast response
 - Very high sensitivity (Select range)
 - No cold junction compensation
 - Inexpensive
 - Polarity insensitive
 - Wide selection of sensors

 Disadvantages
 - Not easily interchangeable
 - Non linear
 - Narrow span
 - Fragile
 - High resistance, noise problems
 Non-Electronic Thermometry
 Expansion
thermometers
 Common
 Inexpensive
 Absolute or differential
 Huge thermal mass
 Very slow to respond
 Bimetallic strip
thermometers
 Dial
 Convenient
 Inexpensive
 Poor accuracy and
precision
 Great for food
preparation
 Bimetallic strip thermometers
 These devices operate on the
principle that metals are pliable,
and different metals have different
coefficients of expansion
 If two strips of dissimilar metals, such
as brass and invar (copper-nickel
alloy), are joined together along
their length, then they will flex to
form an arc as the temperature
changes.
• Two dissimilar metals bonded
together Metal A has a lower
coefficient of thermal expansion
than metal B
• As temperature increases, metal B
expands more than metal A
Frequently used in home
thermostats, oven thermometers,
mercury switches, indicators
 Continue
 When using a straight
bimetallic strip, an important
calculation to determine the
movement of the free end
of the strip is given by:

 The equation shows the

linear relationship between
deflection and temperature
change
continue
 Thermocouples
 Thermocouples (T/C) are
formed when two dissimilar
metals are joined together to
form a junction.
 Joining together the other
ends of the dissimilar metals to
form a second junction
completes an electrical circuit.
 A current will flow in the circuit
if the two junctions are at
different temperatures.
 The voltage difference
between the two junctions is
measured, and this difference
is proportional to the
temperature difference
between the two junctions.
 Three effects are associated
with thermocouples.
 Seebeck Effect
 A circuit formed from two dissimilar metals joined at
both ends, develops an EMF (voltage) proportional to
the difference in the two junction temperatures.

 So, if the temperature of one junction is kept at a

known value, the temperature of the other junction
can be determined by the amount of voltage
produced.
Peltier Effect

 Reverse of the Seebeck Effect

Modern Peltier coolers use semiconductor materials rather than dissimilar
metals to produce greater cooling effects.
 EMF generated by thermocouples
 The emf generated can be approximately
expressed by the relationship:

 where T1 and T2 are hot and cold junction

temperatures in K. C1 and C2 are constants
depending upon the materials. For Copper/
Constantan thermocouple, C1=62.1 and
C2=0.045 .
 Thermocouples are extensively used for
measurement of temperature in industrial
situations. The major reasons behind their
popularity are:
 They are rugged and readings are consistent,
 They can measure over a wide range of temperature,
and
 Their characteristics are almost linear with an accuracy of
about 0.05%.
 Law of thermocouple
 we have three laws of thermoelectric circuits
that provide us useful practical tips for
measurement of temperature .
 law of homogeneous circuit (i): The first law can
be explained using figure 1. It says that the net
thermo-emf generated is dependent on the
materials and the temperatures of two junctions
only, not on any intermediate temperature.
 law of intermediate metals: If a third material is
introduced at any point (thus forming two
additional junctions) it will not have any effect,
if these two additional junctions remain at the
same temperatures . This law makes it possible
to insert a measuring device without altering
the thermo-emf.
 law of intermediate temperatures :The third law
is related to the calibration of the
thermocouple. It says, if a thermocouple
produces emf e1, when its junctions are at T1
and T2, and e2 when its junctions are at T2 and
T3; then it will generate emf e1+e2 when the
junction temperatures are at T1 and T3
 continue
 Time response: thermocouple time response is simply related to the
size of the wire and any protective material used with the sensor
 Large industrial thermocouples using thick wire or encased in
stainless steel sheathing may have time constant as high as 10 to 20
Sec
 Signal Conditioning: output voltage is very small, typically less than
50mV.
 Considerable amplification will be necessary for practical application.
 Small signal levels make the devices susceptible to electrical noise
 Thermocouples is used with a high gain differential amplifier
 Reference Junction
Compensation
 Reference junction temperature is very important because the
voltage is proportional to the difference between the measurement
and reference junction temperature
 Variation in reference temperature show up as direct errors in the
measurement temperature
 Following techniques are employed for reference junction
compensation
 Controlled temperature reference block
 Reference compensation circuits
 Software reference correction
 Thermopile
 Thermopile is a number of
thermocouples connected in
series, to increase the sensitivity
and accuracy by increasing the
output voltage when measuring
low temperature differences.
 Each of the reference junctions
in the thermopile is returned to a
common reference temperature
Applications

 In the process control of chemical reactions, temperature control

is of major importance, since chemical reactions are
temperature dependent.
 In an average household , at least a dozen temperature sensors
can be found in various places, raging from coffee machine to
heating system to a car.

 Low cost
 Small size
 Robust
 Wide range of operation
 Reasonably stable
 Accurate for large temperature changes
 Provide fast response
Radiative Methods
 Optical pyrometer
 Body of interest must emit in the visible
 Ancient technology
 Temperature measured must be at least
650 C
 Essentially no upper limit to capability
 Infrared Thermometers
 “Quantum detectors”
Basically solar cells in the IR
Fit blackbody spectrum
 “Thermal detectors”
Bolometers, pyroelectric detectors
Radiation causes temperature of detector to
rise
Pyrometers
 Pyrometers
 Pyrometric methods of temperature
measurement use the electromagnetic
radiation that is emitted from a material.
The emitted radiation is proportional to
the temperature.
 Any object with a temperature above
absolute zero will radiate
electromagnetic energy.
 Infrared pyrometers measure the
amount of energy radiated from an
object in order to determine its
temperature.
 There are a number of different types of
infrared pyrometers:
 - Total radiation
 - Single wavelength
 - Dual wavelength
 Advantages and disadvantages
 Advantages
 - Non contact measurement
 - High temperature sensing
 - Remote sensing
 - Fast response and can sense objects in motion
 - Sense small or area targets
 Disadvantages
 - Expensive
 - Non linear response
 - Subject to emissivity of material
 - Require wide range of operation
Practical Temperature Measurements
References

 Process instrumentation Technology 6th edition by

Curtis D. Jonhson
 Introduction instrumentation, sensor and process
control by William C Dunn