PART TWO

Measurement of Temperature

1
Learning objectives
 To understand basic principles of temperature
measurement

 To learn different temperature measurement

techniques

 To be able to determine the operating range

of different temperature sensors.

2
Glass thermometers

3
Pressure Thermometers

4
 Thermal expansion methods:
Bimetallic sensors

 This type of sensors is based on the

observation that different materials can
have different thermal expansion
properties. These properties are mainly
mechanical in nature.

5
Bimetallic sensors

6
 Bimetallic sensors

Bimetallic sensors can be directly used in

temperature control applications.
7
Bimetallic sensors

Helical Coiled Bimetal element

8
Bimetallic sensors

9
Thermocouple

Thermocouples are the most popular temperature sensors.

They are cheap, interchangeable, have standard
connectors and can measure a wide range of
temperatures. The main limitation is accuracy, system
errors of less than 1°C can be difficult to achieve.

10
Thermocouple: Principle

Temperature dependent voltage

source

11
 Thermocouple: Types

 Type K (Chromel / Alumel) Range: -200 °C to +1200 °C.

 Type E (Chromel / Constantan) High output (68 µV/°C)
more suited for low temperature
 Type J (Iron / Constantan) Range: -40 to +750 °C.
 Type N (Nicrosil / Nisil) High stability and resistance to high
temperature oxidation.
 Type B (Platinum / Rhodium) Suited for high temperature
measurements up to 1800 °C. Low sensitivity (10 µV/°C)
 Type R (Platinum / Rhodium) Suited for high temperature
measurements up to 1600 °C. Low sensitivity (10 µV/°C)
 Type S (Platinum / Rhodium) Suited for high temperature
measurements up to 1600 °C. Low sensitivity (10 µV/°C)

12
Thermocouple: Characteristics

13
 Thermocouple: Connection

Volt meter
Thermocouple

Extension cord Meter leads

Care should be taken to compensate the voltages

generated at junctions
14
Resistive thermometers

 This type of sensors is based on the

observation that different materials can
have different resistive profiles at
different temperatures. These
properties are mainly electrical in
nature.

15
Resistive thermometers: RTD

16
Resistive and temperature profile

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Mathematical relationships

For RTD made of

platinum, the R
temperature profile   0 (T  T0 )
is quite linear and R0
can be represented
by
R
For RTD made of   0 (T  T0 )   1 (T  T0 ) 2
copper, the R0
characteristics can
be approximated by
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Characteristics and issues of RTD

Industrial RTDs are very accurate: the accuracy

can be as high as ±0.1°C. The ultra high
accurate version of RTD is known as Standard
Platinum Resistance Thermometers (SPRTs)
having accuracy at ±0.0001°C.
Special attention should be given on the wiring
of RTD bridge connection as well as self-
heating when a current is sent through the
RTD.

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 Thermistors

 Thermistor, a word formed by combining

thermal with resistor, is a temperature-
sensitive resistor fabricated from
semiconducting materials. The resistance of
thermistors decreases proportionally with
increases in temperature. (Note: opposite from
RTD)
 The operating range can be as wide as -200°C
to + 1000°C

20
Thermistors

21
Typical characteristics of Thermistors

22
Measurement of temperature with some
examples
 To understand the principle of bridge circuit and be able to
perform simple calculations to use bridge to measure low
level voltages

 To be able to determine the temperature from an RTD

sensor reading

 To be able to calculate the temperature from an thermistor

reading

 To be able to calculate the temperature from an

thermocouple reading

 To be able to understand the basic concept of D/A and A/D

converters and calculate quantization errors.

23
Bridge circuits
Bridge circuit is used
quite often to measure
low level voltages, such
as the outputs from
RTD, thermister, or
thermocouples.

In the case of a
balanced bridge, there is I1 R1  I 3 R3  0
no voltage drop
between, B and C,
hence, Ig = 0.
We have I 2 R2  I 4 R4  0
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 Bridge circuits (Cont)
Furthermore
I1  I 2 I3  I4


Therefore, the following condition is established for a

balanced bridge:
R 2 R4

R1 R3

Any change in one arm of the bridge will

destroy this balance condition. However, one
can use the measured voltage across the
bridge to calculate changes in one arm. 25
Bridge circuits (Cont)
 Suppose that a volt meter of
infinite impedance (Ig = 0)
is used to measure the
voltage across points B and
I1  I 2
C.Because (Ig = 0),

The voltage drop will E0  I 1 R1  I 3 R3

be

R1 R3
E0  Ei (  )
R1  R2 R3  R4
Of course, under a balanced condition,
E0  0
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Bridge circuits (Cont)
Under this condition,
suppose that there is a R ' 1  R1  R1
change in R1, such that:

The corresponding change in voltage across B and C is

R' 1 R3
E0  E i ( '  )
R 1  R2 R 3  R4
To simplify the analysis, if we assume that

R1  R2  R3  R4  R
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Bridge circuits (Cont)

( R / R )
E  Ei
4  2( R / R )

4 E
R  R
Ei  2 E

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Bridge circuits (Cont)
 Example
An RTD is connected in a Wheatstone bridge as
shown:

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Bridge circuits (Cont)

Under a balanced
condition, the R2  R3  500
parameters are
given as follows:
R1  100 

The temperature constant of the RTD:

  0.00395 / C o

30
Bridge circuits (Cont)
 Questions:
(a) What is the value of R RTD under the balanced
condition ?
(b) As temperature changes, it is found that the
maintain a new balance, the new value for R1 has
to be:

R1  103.95

Determine the change in

temperature.
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Solution:

(a) Using the relation:

R1 R2

R RTD R3

RRTD  R1  100

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Solution:

(b) Since the relationship between the resistance of the RTD

and the temperature change can be approximated by:

R  R0 [ 1  T ]
At the newly established balance condition with

R  103.95
We can conclude that:

1 R  R0 1 103.95  100
T  ( ) ( )  10 0 C
 R0 0.00395 100
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Temperature measurement with RTD

Typical characteristics of RTD

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Temperature measurement with RTD
For RTD made of platinum, the temperature profile is
quite linear and can be represented by

R
  0 (T  T0 )
R0

For RTD made of copper, the characteristics can

be approximated by

R
  0 (T  T0 )  1 (T  T0 ) 2
R0

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 Temperature measurement with RTD

A platinum RTD is connected as one arm of a Wheatstone bridge

as shown

The fixed resistors, R2 and R3 are 25Ω. The RTD has a

resistance of 25Ω at 0oC, and the coefficient of resistance of
the RTD is
  0.00395 / C o
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 Temperature measurement with RTD
A temperature measurement is made by placing the RTD in
the measuring environment and balancing the bridge by
adjusting R1 to a new value of 37.36 Ω.
Determine the temperature of the measuring environment
Solution
At balanced condition, we have

R3
RRTD  R1
R2

From 37.36  25(1  T )

We can find that the temperature is 126o C.

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 Temperature measurement with
thermistors
The mathematical relationship
describing a thermistor can often
be expressed as

 (1 / T 1 / T0 )
R  R0 e
As temperature increases, the
resistance decreases.

R0 is the resistance at T0, and β is

a parameter ranging from 3500 to
4600.

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Temperature measurement with
thermistors
Example

A thermistor is placed in a 100oC environment, and its

resistance is measured at 20,000Ω. The material constant,
β, for this thermistor is 4000. If the thermistor is then used
to measure a particular temperature, and its resistance is
measured as 500 Ω, determine the environmental
temperature being measured.

39
Temperature measurement with
thermistors
Solution:

From the basic equation of thermistor, we can have

1 1 R 1
 ln( ) 
T  R0 T0
Further

1
T  110.1590 C
1 R 1
ln( ) 
 R0 T0

40
Temperature measurement with
thermocouples

41
Temperature measurement with
thermocouples

42
 Thermocouples: Example

Example

A type-J thermocouple circuit below is used to measure the

temperature T1 . The thermocouple junction # 2 is maintained
by 32o F. The voltage output is measured to be 15 mV.
Determine the temperature T1.
Solution

The temperature T can be read off from the graph for

type-J thermocouple to be 530o F.

43
 Quartz Thermometers
 Quartz thermometer works on a principle that
the resonant frequency of a material/quartz is
a function of temperature.
 The instrument has a very linear output
characteristic over the range between
-40 and +230 oC.
 The characteristics of the instrument are
generally very stable over long periods of
time and therefore less frequent calibration is
required.

44
Example of quartz thermometer

45
Optical pyrometer

Optical pyrometers are non-

contact temperature measurement
devices. They work by using the
human eye to match the
brightness of a hot object to the
brightness of a calibrated lamp
inside the device.

46
Practical pyrometer

47
Radiation Pyrometer

48
Thermography

Thermography , or thermal imaging,

involves scanning an infrared radiation
detector across an object.

49
How Thermal-Imaging Works
The basic operation of a thermal imaging
device is a five-step process:
 A special lens focuses the incoming infrared
radiation (heat given off from all objects) of
the objects in the view.
 The focused radiation is scanned by a “phased
array” of infrared detectors. Thousands of
points and heat readings for the field of view
are collected in only one thirtieth of a second.
The detector elements create a very detailed
“temperature map” called a thermogram.

50
Continued
 The thermogram created by the infrared
detector elements is translated into electric
impulses.
 The electric impulses are sent to a circuit
board, called a signal-processing unit, which
has a dedicated chip for translating the electric
impulses into data for the display.
 The signal-processing unit sends the data to
the display, where it appears as various colors
or shades depending on the temperature of the
infrared emission. The image is created from
the combination of all the impulses from all of
the elements.

51
Thermography device

52
Thermography device result

53
Acoustic Thermometers
Acoustic thermometer relies on
the principle that the sound
velocity in substances depends on
temperature. In gases, the velocity
is proportional to the square root
of the absolute temperature. In
solids and liquids, the velocity
decreases as the temperature
increases.
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Fiber optic temperature sensors
 There are a wide number of devices that
utilize fiber optics to aid in measuring
temperature.
 Most are actually slight variation of radiation
thermometers, but not all.
 Most all depend upon a temperature sensing
component being placed on the tip of the
fiber optic's "free end". The other end is
attached to a measuring system that collects
the desired radiation and processes it into a
temperature value.
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Intelligent instrument
 Intelligent temperature transmitters bring all
the usual benefits associated with intelligent
instruments, like the transmitters now
available include adjustable damping, noise
rejection, self adjustment for zero sensitivity
drifts and expanded measurement range.
 All the intelligent transmitters presently
available have no-volatile memories.
 Such transmitters are separate boxes designed
for use with transducers with have either a d.c.
voltage output in the millivolt range or an
output in the form of a resistance change.

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