Elastic pressure transducers

The elastic pressure transducers are the mechanical elements that are used for convertingone
form of energy into the other form of energy that can be measured easily.
Common types of elastic pressure transducers

 
Bourdon tube pressure transducers.

 
Diaphragm pressure transducers.

 
Bellows pressure transducers.
Bourdon tube pressure transducer
The basic idea behind the device is that, cross-sectional tubing when deformed in any way
willtend to regain its circular form under the actionof pressure. The bourdon pressure gauges
usedtoday have a slight elliptical cross-section and thetube is generally bent into a C-shape or
arc lengthof about 27 degrees. Bourdon Tubes are knownfor its very high range of
differential pressure
 
measurement.
Working Principle of bourdon tubepressure transducer
The pressure input is given to a socket which issoldered to the tube at the base. The other
endor free end of the device is sealed by a tipconnected to a segmental lever through
anadjustable length link. The segmental lever issuitably pivoted and the spindle holds
thepointer. A hair spring is sometimes used tofasten the spindle of the frame of theinstrument
to provide necessary tension forproper meshing of the gear teeth and therebyfreeing the
system from the backlash. Anyerror due to friction in the spindle bearings isknown as lost
motion. The mechanicalconstruction has to be highly accurate in thecase of a Bourdon Tube
Gauge. If we consider across-section of the tube, its outer edge will have a larger surface than
the inner portion. Thetube walls will have a thickness between 0.01 and 0.05 inches.Bourdon
gauges can also be constructed in the form of a helix or a spiral for better linearityand larger
sensitivity. For thorough repeatability, the bourdon tubes materials must havegood elastic or
spring characteristics. The surrounding in which the process is carried out isalso important as
corrosive atmosphere or fluid would require a material which is corrosionproof. The
commonly used materials are phosphor-bronze, silicon-bronze, beryllium-copperand other C-
Cr-Ni-Mo alloys
Advantages of bourdon tube pressure transducer

 
Low cost and simple construction.

 
Time-tested in applications.

 
Availability in a wide variety of ranges.

 
Adaptability to transducer designs for electronic instruments.

 
High accuracy, especially in relation to cost.
Disadvantages of bourdon tube pressure transducer

 
Low spring gradient.

 
Susceptibility to hysteresis, shock and vibrations.
Applications of bourdon tube pressure transducer
 

 
Pressure monitoring and direct switching of electrical loads.

 
Gaseous and liquid, aggressive, highly viscous media and aggressive ambience.

 
Process industry: chemical/petro-chemical, on- and offshore, technical gases,environmental
technology, machine building and general plant construction, watertreatment, pharmaceutical
industry.

How low pressure transducers work

A pressure transducer is a measuring device which converts an applied pressure into an
electrical signal. Generally, a pressure transducer consists of two parts, an elastic material
which deforms under the application of pressure and an electrical part which detects this
deformation.

How low pressure transducers work

Depending on the range of pressures to be measured the elastic material is given different
shapes and sizes, such as bourdon tube, piston, diaphragm, and bellows. Most common
among them is the diaphragm.

Three different types of electrical device can be attached to this elastic material to make
pressure transducers. These include resistive, capacitive and inductive types.

● Resistive pressure transducers uses strain gauges, which are bonded the deformable
material. Any change in the deformation causes the change in the electrical resistance
of each strain gauge which can be measured by a Wheatstone bridge.
● In the capacitance type pressure transducers, change in pressure is measured change
in capacitance between two capacitance plates. One plate bonded to the deformable
side of the elastic material while other one is bonded to the unpressurized surface.
● In inductive pressure transducer the deformation of the elastic material is used to
provide linear movement of a ferromagnetic core. This linear movement will vary the
induced AC current.
Low pressure measurement

Among the different pressure transducers

discussed bourdon gauge, piezo- resistive diaphragm gauge and the capacitance diaphragm
gauge are suitable for measuring low vacuum pressures. Bourdon gauge can measure roughly
in the range of 0–1000 mbar, while diaphragm gauges can measure in the range of 0.1–1000
mbar.

For very low pressures, there are other types of transducers available, which are based on
other principles. These include Pirani gauge, thermocouple and ionization gauge.

The first two techniques are based on the rate at which heat is loss from a heated filament
placed in the low-pressure environment. This heat loss is depended on the number of gas
molecules per unit volume.

● Pirani gauge – This gauge calculates filament temperature by measuring filament

resistance. Resistance measurement is measured with the help of a Wheatstone bridge
circuit. The relation between the resistance and the applied pressure is highly non-
linear.
● Thermocouple – In this type of pressure transducer a thermocouple is attached to the
heated filament to measure its temperature. For the reference temperature in the
thermocouple, room temperature is used. The voltage output of the thermocouple
varies non-linearly with the gas pressure.
● Ionization gauge – It is highly useful for measuring very small pressures in the range
of 10–3 atm to 10–13 atm. Here, the gas, whose pressure is to be measured, is ionized
with the help of a heated filament. The current is measured between two electrodes in
the ionized region, which depends on the gas pressure, because the number of ions per
unit volume depends on the gas pressure.

Current versus pressure relationship is linear

Low pressure measurement is used in such applications as:

● In medical fields- Nebulizers, Spirometers etc.

● In Industries- HVAC control, static duct pressure etc.
Growing interest in the market addresses material inside of pressure transducers:

● Mercury is contained in some to conduct the sensing of the pressure to the electrical
output. In many states mercury is a banned substance though it is not enforced or in
some cases it is grandfathered on existing equipment which may use mercury but
prohibits it on new products.
● The second substance is NaK (sodium Potassium) which is used in place of mercury
in the transducer. NaK will throw a spark should it become exposed to air (oxygen).
In environments where flammability is high, this is a danger.
● There is a new product in market now that has a much thicker diaphragm (extending
life) and comes with a longer warranty than other products. It has no fill and does its
job by electronics.

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HomeInnovationsWhite Paper What is strain?

In mechanical testing and measurement, you need to understand how an object reacts to
various forces. The amount of deformation a material experiences due to an applied force is
called strain. Strain is defined as the ratio of the change in length of a material to the original,
unaffected length, as shown in Figure 1. Strain can be positive (tensile), due to elongation, or
negative (compressive), due to contraction. When a material is compressed in one direction,
the tendency to expand in the other two directions perpendicular to this force is known as the
Poisson effect. Poisson’s ratio (v), is the measure of this effect and is defined as the negative
ratio of strain in the transverse direction to the strain in the axial direction. Although
dimensionless, strain is sometimes expressed in units such as in./in. or mm/mm. In practice,
the magnitude of measured strain is very small, so it is often expressed as microstrain (µε),
which is ε x 10-6. 

The four different types of strain are axial, bending, shear, and torsional. Axial and bending
strain are the most common (see Figure 2). Axial strain measures how a material stretches or
compresses as a result of a linear force in the horizontal direction. Bending strain measures a
stretch on one side of a material and the contraction on the opposite side due to the linear
force applied in the vertical direction. Shear strain measures the amount of deformation that
occurs from a linear force with components in both the horizontal and vertical directions.
Torsional strain measures a circular force with components in both the vertical and horizontal
directions.

How do you measure strain?

You can measure strain using several methods, but the most common is with a strain gage. A
strain gage’s electrical resistance varies in proportion to the amount of strain in the
device. The most widely used strain gage is the bonded metallic strain gage. The metallic
strain gage consists of a very fine wire or, more commonly, metallic foil arranged in a grid
pattern. The grid pattern maximizes the amount of metallic wire or foil subject to strain in the
parallel direction. The grid is bonded to a thin backing called the carrier, which is attached
directly to the test specimen. Therefore, the strain experienced by the test specimen is
transferred directly to the strain gage, which responds with a linear change in electrical
resistance. 
 A fundamental parameter of the strain gage is its sensitivity to strain, expressed quantitatively
as the gage factor (GF). GF is the ratio of the fractional change in electrical resistance to the
fractional change in length, or strain:

The GF for metallic strain gages is usually around 2. You can obtain the actual GF of a
particular strain gage from the sensor vendor or sensor documentation.

In practice, strain measurements rarely involve quantities larger than a few millistrain (e x 10-
3
). Therefore, to measure the strain, you have to accurately measure very small changes in
resistance. For example, suppose a test specimen undergoes a strain of 500 me. A strain gage
with a GF of 2 exhibits a change in electrical resistance of only 2 (500 x 10-6) = 0.1%. For a
120 Ω gage, this is a change of only 0.12 Ω.

To measure such small changes in resistance, strain gage configurations are based on the
concept of a Wheatstone bridge. The general Wheatstone bridge, illustrated in Figure 4, is a
network of four resistive arms with an excitation voltage, VEX, that is applied across the
bridge. 

The Wheatstone bridge is the electrical equivalent of two parallel voltage divider circuits.
R1 and R2 compose one voltage divider circuit, and R4 and R3 compose the second voltage
divider circuit. The output of a Wheatstone bridge, Vo, is measured between the middle
nodes of the two voltage dividers.

From this equation, you can see that when R1 /R2 = R4 /R3, the voltage output VO is zero.
Under these conditions, the bridge is said to be balanced. Any change in resistance in any arm
of the bridge results in a nonzero output voltage. Therefore, if you replace R4 in Figure 4 with
an active strain gage, any changes in the strain gage resistance unbalance the bridge and
produce a nonzero output voltage that is a function of strain.

 Types of strain gages

The three types of strain gage configurations, quarter-, half-, and full-bridge, are determined
by the number of active elements in the Wheatstone bridge, the orientation of the strain
gages, and the type of strain being measured.

Quarter-Bridge Strain Gage

Configuration Type I

▪ Measures axial or bending strain

▪ Requires a passive quarter-bridge completion resistor known as a dummy resistor
▪ Requires half-bridge completion resistors to complete the Wheatstone bridge
▪ R4 is an active strain gage measuring the tensile strain (+ε)

Configuration Type II

Ideally, the resistance of the strain gage should change only in response to applied strain.
However, strain gage material, as well as the specimen material to which the gage is applied,
also responds to changes in temperature. The quarter-bridge strain gage configuration type II
helps further minimize the effect of temperature by using two strain gages in the bridge. As
shown in Figure 6, typically one strain gage (R4) is active and a second strain gage(R3) is
mounted in close thermal contact, but not bonded to the specimen and placed transverse to
the principal axis of strain. Therefore the strain has little effect on this dummy gage, but any
temperature changes affect both gages in the same way. Because the temperature changes are
identical in the two strain gages, the ratio of their resistance does not change, the output
voltage (Vo) does not change, and the effects of temperature are minimized.

Half-Bridge Strain Gage

 You can double the bridge’s sensitivity to strain by making both strain gages active in a half-
bridge configuration.

Configuration Type I

▪ Measures axial or bending strain

▪ Requires half-bridge completion resistors to complete the Wheatstone bridge
▪ R4 is an active strain gage measuring the tensile strain (+ε)
▪ R3 is an active strain gage compensating for Poisson’s effect (-νε)

This configuration is commonly confused with the quarter-bridge type II configuration, but
type I has an active R3 element that is bonded to the strain specimen.

Configuration Type II

▪ Measures bending strain only

▪ Requires half-bridge completion resistors to complete the Wheatstone bridge
▪ R4 is an active strain gage measuring the tensile strain (+ε)
▪ R3 is an active strain gage measuring the compressive strain (-ε)

Temperature Compensation

Ideally, strain gage resistance should change in response to strain only. However, a strain
gage’s resistivity and sensitivity also change with temperature, which leads to measurement
errors. Strain gage manufacturers attempt to minimize sensitivity to temperature by
processing the gage material to compensate for the thermal expansion of the specimen
material for which the gage is intended. These temperature-compensated bridge
configurations are more immune to temperature effects. Also consider using a configuration
type that helps compensate for the effects of temperature fluctuations.

 Measurement of Force or Acceleration Torque and Power Introduction:

In many mechanical engineering applications the quantities mentioned above need to be

measured. Some of these applications are listed below: • Force/Stress measurement is
important in many engineering applications such as – Weighing of an object – Dynamics of
vehicles – Control applications such as deployment of air bag in a vehicle – Study of
behavior of materials under different types of loads – Vibration studies – Seismology or
monitoring of earthquakes • Torque measurement – Measurement of brake power of an
engine – Measurement of torque produced by an electric motor – Studies on a structural
member under torsion • Power measurement – Measurement of brake horse power of an
engine – Measurement of power produced by an electric generator As is apparent from the
above the measurement of force, torque and power are involved in dynamic systems and
hence cover a very wide range of mechanical engineering applications such as power plants,
engines, and transport vehicles and so on. Other areas where these quantities are involved are
in biological applications, sports medicine, ergonomics and mechanical property Mechanical
Measurements Prof S.P.Venkatesan Indian Institute of Technology Madras measurements of
engineering materials. Since the list is very long we cover some of the important applications
only in what follows.

There are many methods of measurement of a force. Some of these are given below: i. Force
may be measured by mechanical balancing using simple elements such as the lever a. A
platform balance is an example – of course mass is the measured quantity since acceleration
is equal to the local acceleration due to gravity ii. Simplest method is to use a transducer that
transforms force to displacement a. Example: Spring element b. Spring element may be an
actual spring or an elastic member that undergoes a strain ƒ Strain is measured using a strain
gage that was discussed during our discussion on pressure measurement iii. Force
measurement by converting it to hydraulic pressure in a piston cylinder device a. The
pressure itself is measured using a pressure transducer

(i) Torque measurement: Brake drum dynamometer (the Prony brake): Figure 60 Schematic
of a brake drum dynamometer The brake drum dynamometer is a device by which a known
torque can be applied on a rotating shaft that may belong to any of the devices that were
mentioned earlier. Schematic of the brake drum dynamometer is shown in Figure 60. A rope
or belt is wrapped around the brake drum attached to the shaft. The two ends of the rope or
belt are attached to rigid supports with two spring balances as shown. The loading screw may
be tightened to increase or loosened to decrease the frictional torque applied on the drum.
When the shaft rotates the tension on the two sides will be different. The difference is jus the
frictional force applied at the periphery of the brake drum. The product of this difference
multiplied by the radius of the drum gives the torque. Alternate way of measuring the torque
using essentially the brake drum dynamometer

. The torque arm is adjusted to take on the horizontal position by the addition of suitable
weights in the pan after adjusting the loading screw to a Brake Drum Rope or Belt Loading
Screw Spring Balance Rigid Frame Mechanical Measurements Prof S.P.Venkatesan Indian
Institute of Technology Madras suitable level of tightness. The torque is given by the product
of the torque arm and the weight in the pan. It is to be noted that the power is absorbed by the
brake drum and dissipated as heat. In practice it is necessary to cool the brake drum by
passing cold water through tubes embedded in the brake blocks or the brake drum.

Load cell
A load cell is a transducer that is used to create an electrical signal whose magnitude is directly
proportional to the force being measured. The various load cell types include hydraulic,
pneumatic, and strain gauge.

Strain gauge load cell

Strain gauge load cells are the most common in industry. These load cells are particularly stiff,
have very good resonance values, and tend to have long life cycles in application. Strain gauge
load cells work on the principle that the strain gauge (a planar resistor) deforms when the
material of the load cells deforms appropriately. Deformation of the strain gauge changes its
electrical resistance, by an amount that is proportional to the strain. The change in resistance of
the strain gauge provides an electrical value change that is calibrated to the load placed on the
load cell.
A load cell usually consists of four strain gauges in a Wheatstone bridge configuration. Load cells
of one strain gauge (quarter bridge) or two strain gauges (half bridge) are also available. [1] The
electrical signal output is typically in the order of a few millivolts (mV) and requires amplification
by an instrumentation amplifier before it can be used. The output of the transducer can be scaled
to calculate the force applied to the transducer. Sometimes a high resolution ADC, typically 24-
bit, can be used directly.
The gauges themselves are bonded onto a beam or structural member that deforms when weight
is applied. In most cases, four strain gauges are used to obtain maximum sensitivity and
temperature compensation. Two of the gauges are usually in tension can be represented as T1
and T2,and two in compression can be represented as C1 and C2, and are wired with
compensation adjustments. The strain gauge load cell is fundamentally a spring optimized for
strain measurement. Gauges are mounted in areas that exhibit strain in compression or tension.
When weight is applied to the load cell, gauges C1 and C2 compress decreasing their
resistances. Simultaneously, gauges T1 and T2 are stretched increasing their resistances. The
change in resistances causes more current to flow through C1 and C2 and less current to flow
through T1 and T2. Thus a potential difference is felt between the output or signal leads of the
load cell. The gauges are mounted in a differential bridge to enhance measurement accuracy.
[2]
 When weight is applied, the strain changes the electrical resistance of the gauges in proportion
to the load.[3] Other load cells are fading into obscurity, as strain gauge load cells continue to
increase their accuracy and lower their unit costs.[4]

Common types of load cells[edit]

There are several types of load cells:

● Shear beam, a straight block of material fixed on one end and loaded on the other
● Bending beam, a compact, extremely versatile load cell that can easily fit into components
where space is limited. These devices are commonly used in industrial and commercial
measurement applications.
● Pancake, low-profile compression and wheel tension load cells that have a wide surface area
for absorbing shock loads.
● Single point / platform load cells, allow the construction of a weighing scale or machine with
only one load cell. Used in small / medium sized platform scales.
● Double-ended shear beam, a straight block of material fixed at both ends and loaded in the
center
● Compression load cell, a block of material designed to be loaded at one point or area in
compression
● S-type load cell, a S-shaped block of material that can be used in both compression and
tension (load links and tension load cells are designed for tension only)
● Rope clamps, an assembly attached to a rope and measures its tension. Rope clamps are
popular in hoist, crane and elevator applications due to the ease of their installation; they
have to be designed for a large range of loads, including dynamic peak loads, so their output
for the rated load tends to be lower than of the other types
● Loadpin, used for sensing loads on e.g. axles

Piezoelectric load cell

Piezoelectric load cells work on the same principle of deformation as the strain gauge load cells,
but a voltage output is generated by the basic piezoelectric material - proportional to the
deformation of load cell. Useful for dynamic/frequent measurements of force. Most applications
for piezo-based load cells are in the dynamic loading conditions, where strain gauge load cells
can fail with high dynamic loading cycles. It must be remembered that the piezoelectric effect is
dynamic, that is, the electrical output of a gauge is an impulse function and is not static. The
voltage output is only useful when the strain is changing and does not measure static values.
However, depending on conditioning system used, "quasi static" operation can be done. Using a
so-called "Charge amplifier " with "Long" time constant allow accurate measurement lasting
many hours for large loads to many minutes for small loads. Another advantage of Piezoelectric
load cell, conditioned with a Charge amplifier, is the wide measuring range that can be achieved.
Users can choose a load cell with a range of hundred of kN and use it for measuring few N of
forces with the same Signal/Noise ratio, again this is possible only with the use of a "Charge
amplifier" conditioning.

Hydraulic load cell

The hydraulic load cell uses a conventional piston and cylinder arrangement with the piston
placed in a thin elastic diaphragm. The piston doesn't actually come in contact with the load cell.
Mechanical stops are placed to prevent over strain of the diaphragm when the loads exceed
certain limit. The load cell is completely filled with oil. When the load is applied on the piston, the
movement of the piston and the diaphragm results in an increase of oil pressure. This pressure is
then transmitted to a hydraulic pressure gauge via a high pressure hose. [8] The gauge's Bourdon
tube senses the pressure and registers it on the dial. Because this sensor has no electrical
components, it is ideal for use in hazardous areas. [9] Typical hydraulic load cell applications
include tank, bin, and hopper weighing.[10] By example, a hydraulic load cell is immune to
transient voltages (lightning) so these type of load cells might be a more effective device in
outdoor environments. This technology is more expensive than other types of load cells. It is a
more costly technology and thus cannot effectively compete on a cost of purchase basis. [11]

Pneumatic load cell

The Load cell is designed to automatically regulate the balancing pressure. Air pressure is
applied to one end of the diaphragm and it escapes through the nozzle placed at the bottom of
the load cell. A pressure gauge is attached with the load cell to measure the pressure inside the
cell. The deflection of the diaphragm affects the airflow through the nozzle as well as the
pressure inside the chamber.

Other types
Other types include vibrating wire load cells, which are useful in geomechanical applications due
to low amounts of drift, and capacitive load cells where the capacitance of a capacitor changes
as the load presses the two plates of a capacitor closer together.

Thermocouple
A thermocouple is an electrical device consisting of two dissimilar electrical
conductors forming electrical junctions at differing temperatures. A thermocouple produces a
temperature-dependent voltage as a result of the thermoelectric effect, and this voltage can be
interpreted to measure temperature. Thermocouples are a widely used type of temperature
sensor.[1]
Commercial thermocouples are inexpensive, [2] interchangeable, are supplied with standard
connectors, and can measure a wide range of temperatures. In contrast to most other methods
of temperature measurement, thermocouples are self powered and require no external form of
excitation. The main limitation with thermocouples is precision; system errors of less than one
degree Celsius (°C) can be difficult to achieve.[3]
Thermocouples are widely used in science and industry. Applications include temperature
measurement for kilns, gas turbine exhaust, diesel engines, and other industrial processes.
Thermocouples are also used in homes, offices and businesses as the temperature sensors in
thermostats, and also as flame sensors in safety devices for gas-powered appliances.

Physical principle: Seebeck effect

The Seebeck effect refers to an electromotive force whenever there is a temperature gradient in
a conductive material. Under open-circuit conditions where there is no internal current flow,
the gradient of voltage (is directly proportional to the gradient in temperature

Types
Certain combinations of alloys have become popular as industry standards. Selection of the
combination is driven by cost, availability, convenience, melting point, chemical properties,
stability, and output. Different types are best suited for different applications. They are usually
selected on the basis of the temperature range and sensitivity needed. Thermocouples with low
sensitivities (B, R, and S types) have correspondingly lower resolutions. Other selection criteria
include the chemical inertness of the thermocouple material and whether it is magnetic or not.

Standard thermocouple types are listed below with the positive electrode (assuming  )

first, followed by the negative electrode.

Nickel-alloy thermocouples

Characteristic functions for thermocouples that reach intermediate temperatures, as covered by nickel-alloy
thermocouple types E, J, K, M, N, T. Also shown are the noble-metal alloy type P and the pure noble-metal
combinations gold–platinum and platinum–palladium.

Type E
Type E (chromel–constantan) has a high output (68 µV/°C), which makes it well suited
to cryogenic use. Additionally, it is non-magnetic. Wide range is −50 °C to +740 °C and narrow
range is −110 °C to +140 °C.
Type J
Type J (iron–constantan) has a more restricted range (−40 °C to +750 °C) than type K but higher
sensitivity of about 50 µV/°C.[2] The Curie point of the iron (770 °C)[9] causes a smooth change in
the characteristic, which determines the upper temperature limit.
Type K
Type K (chromel–alumel) is the most common general-purpose thermocouple with a sensitivity of
approximately 41 µV/°C.[10] It is inexpensive, and a wide variety of probes are available in its
−200 °C to +1350 °C (−330 °F to +2460 °F) range. Type K was specified at a time
when metallurgy was less advanced than it is today, and consequently characteristics may vary
considerably between samples. One of the constituent metals, nickel, is magnetic; a
characteristic of thermocouples made with magnetic material is that they undergo a deviation in
output when the material reaches its Curie point, which occurs for type K thermocouples at
around 185 °C.
They operate very well in oxidizing atmospheres. If, however, a mostly reducing atmosphere
(such as hydrogen with a small amount of oxygen) comes into contact with the wires, the
chromium in the chromel alloy oxidizes. This reduces the emf output, and the thermocouple
reads low. This phenomenon is known as green rot, due to the color of the affected alloy.
Although not always distinctively green, the chromel wire will develop a mottled silvery skin and
become magnetic. An easy way to check for this problem is to see whether the two wires are
magnetic (normally, chromel is non-magnetic).
Hydrogen in the atmosphere is the usual cause of green rot. At high temperatures, it can diffuse
through solid metals or an intact metal thermowell. Even a sheath of magnesium oxide insulating
the thermocouple will not keep the hydrogen out. [11]
Type M
Type M (82%Ni/18%Mo–99.2%Ni/0.8%Co, by weight) are used in vacuum furnaces for the same
reasons as with type C (described below). Upper temperature is limited to 1400 °C. It is less
commonly used than other types.
Type N
Type N (Nicrosil–Nisil) thermocouples are suitable for use between −270 °C and +1300 °C,
owing to its stability and oxidation resistance. Sensitivity is about 39 µV/°C at 900 °C, slightly
lower compared to type K.

Pyrometer
A pyrometer is a type of remote-sensing thermometer used to measure the temperature of a
surface. Various forms of pyrometers have historically existed. In the modern usage, it is a
device that from a distance determines the temperature of a surface from the amount of
the thermal radiation it emits, a process known as pyrometry and sometimes radiometry.
The word pyrometer comes from the Greek word for fire, "πῦρ" (pyr), and meter, meaning to
measure. The word pyrometer was originally coined to denote a device capable of measuring the
temperature of an object by its incandescence, visible light emitted by a body which is at least
red-hot.[1]Modern pyrometers or infrared thermometers also measure the temperature of cooler
objects, down to room temperature, by detecting their infrared radiation flux.

I f something's too hot to handle, it's no good trying to measure its

temperature with an ordinary thermometer. You could try

a thermocouple instead—a kind of thermometer that works by
generating electricity according to how hot it gets. But what if the
thing you're trying to measure is too hot or too inconveniently placed
 even to measure with a thermocouple? What if it's the inside of
a steelfurnace or pottery kiln, the roof of a cathedral, or a cloud? In
that case, you can measure the temperature remotely with a handy
gadget called a pyrometer (from the Greek words meaning "fire" and
"measurement"). Infrared thermometers, which sample temperature
remotely, are now probably the best known examples. How exactly
do they work? Let's take a closer look!

What is a pyrometer?
You can feel a fire some distance away because it gives off heat radiation
in all directions. In theory, if the fire behaves exactly according to the laws
of physics, the radiation it produces is related to its temperature in a very
predictable way. So if you can measure the wavelength of the radiation,
you can precisely measure the temperature even if you're standing some
way off. That's the theory behind a pyrometer: a very accurate kind
of thermometer that measures something's temperature from the heat
radiation it gives out at a safe distance (in some pyrometers) of up to 30m
(100ft).
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 (also called infrared
thermometers) 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 pyrometers at all.

Optical pyrometers
Until microchips and compact electronic equipment became popular in the
1980s, a manual optical pyrometer was what you used if you wanted to
measure the temperature of something extremely hot and relatively
inaccessible, such as the inside of a steel furnace or a pottery kiln. It
measured the temperature, at a safe distance, by comparing the radiation
the hot object produced with the radiation produced by a hot filament (a
thin wire through which electricity flows, like the wire in an old-
fashioned incandescent light bulb, which glows white when it gets hot).
How does a manual pyrometer work? You look through
a telescope eyepiece, through a red filter (to protect your eyes), at the
object you're measuring (typically through a spyhole set into a kiln or a
Tuyère in a furnace—the nozzle where air is blown in). What you see is a
dull red glow from the hot object with a line of brighter light from the
filament running right through it and superimposed on top. You turn a knob
on the side of the pyrometer to adjust the electric current passing through
the filament. This makes the filament a bit hotter or colder and alters the
light it gives off. When the filament is exactly the same temperature as the
hot object you're measuring, it effectively disappears because the radiation
it's producing is the same color. At that point, you stop looking through the
eyepiece and read the temperature off a meter. The meter is actually
measuring the electric current through the filament, but it's calibrated
(marked with a scale) so that it effectively converts current measurements
into temperature.

 
Instruments like this are known as disappearing-filament optical
pyrometers and were invented at the end of the 19th century by
Everett F. Morse. Accurate and convenient, they make it easy to
measure temperatures of over 3000°C (5400°F) at a safe distance.
But, on the downside, they can be expensive, have to be calibrated
properly, need some skill to use, and are affected by ambient
(background) temperatures.

Modern digital pyrometers

hese days, it's more common for engineers and scientists to use
entirely automatic, digital pyrometers. which are quicker and simpler,
and use two different types of detectors. Some measure heat by
absorbing light, so they're essentially light detectors: semiconductor-
based, light-sensitive photocells, a bit like tiny solar cells, but with
filters fitted in front so they respond only to a certain band of
visible, infrared, or ultraviolet radiation. By sampling radiation far
outside the visible spectrum, detectors like this can measure a bigger
range of temperatures than older, manual pyrometers. Other
pyrometers use detectors that measure heat by absorbing heat,
using such things as thermocouples and silicon thermopiles
(collections of thermocouples) or thermistors (heat-
sensitive resistors).