09-02-2022

TEMPERATURE MEASURENT

- Prof. Ruchi Khare

Associate Professor
Department of Civil Engineering
MANIT, Bhopal

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INTRODUCTIOM

Temperature is a very widely measured and frequently controlled variable

used in numerous industrial applications.

In general, chemical reactions in the industrial processes and products are

temperature dependent and the desired quality of a product is possible
only if the temperature is accurately measured and maintained.

Definition of temperature is based on its equivalence to a driving force or

potential that caused the flow of energy as heat.

Thus, we can define temperature as a condition of a body by virtue of

which heat is transferred to or from other bodies.

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TEMPERATURE SCALES

• Two temperature scales in common use are the Fahrenheit and

Celsius scales.
• These scales are based on a specification of the number of
increments between freezing point and boiling point of water at
the standard atmospheric temperature.
• The Celsius scale has 100 units between these points, while the
Fahrenheit scale has 180 units. The Celsius scale is currently
more in use because of the adoption of metric units. However, the
absolute temperature scale based on the thermodynamic ideal
Carnot cycle has been correlated with the Celsius and Fahrenheit
scales as follows:

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MEASUREMENT OF TEMPERATURE

• Temperature cannot be measured directly but must be

measured by observing the effect that temperature variation
causes on the measuring device.
• Temperature measurement methods can be broadly
classified as follows:
1. non-electrical methods,
2. electrical methods, and
3. radiation methods.

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NON-ELECTRICAL METHODS

The non-electrical methods of temperature measurement can be

based on any one of the following principles:
1. change in the physical state,
2. change in the chemical properties, and
3. change in the physical properties.

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Bimetallic Thermometer

• This type of thermometer also employs the principle of solid expansion and
consists of a 'bimetal' strip usually in the form of a cantilever beam
• This comprises strips of two metals, having different coefficients of thermal
expansion, welded or riveted together so that relative motion between them is
prevented.
• An increase in temperature causes the deflection of the free end of the strip
as shown in Fig. .assuming that metal A has the higher coefficient of
expansion. The deflection with the temperature is nearly linear, depending
mainly on the coefficient of linear thermal expansion. Invar is commonly
employed as the low expansion metal.
• This is an iron-nickel alloy containing 36% nickel. Its coefficient of thermal
expansion is around 1/20th of the ordinary metals. Brass is used as high
expansion material for the measurement of low temperatures, whereas nickel
alloys are used when higher temperatures have to be measured.

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Bimetallic Thermometer

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Range & Accuracy

• Bimetallic thermometers are usually employed in the range of —30 to

550°C. Inaccuracies of the order of ± 0.5 to ± 1.0% of full-scale
deflection are expected in bimetallic thermometers of high accuracies.
• In addition to temperature indication, bimetal elements find a wide range
of applications in the combined sensing and control elements in
temperature control systems, mainly of the on—off type (thermostats)

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Limitations…………..

• The bimetallic strip has the advantage of being self-generating type

instrument with low cost practically no maintenance expenses and
stable operation over extended period of time.
• However, its main disadvantage is its inability to measure rapidly
changing temperatures due to its relatively higher thermal inertia.

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Liquid-in-Glass Thermometer
• The liquid-in-glass thermometer is one of the most common temperature measuring devices. Both liquid and glass
expand on heating and their differential expansion is used to indicate the temperature.

• The lower temperature limit is —37.8°C for mercury, down to —130°C for pentane. The higher temperature range
is 340°C (boiling point of mercury is 357 °C) but this range may be extended to 560°C by filling the space
above mercury with CO2 or N2 at high pressure, thereby increasing its boiling point and range. The precision of
the thermometer depends on the care used in calibration.

• A typical instrument is checked and marked from two to five reference temperatures. Intermediate points are
marked by interpolation. The calibration of the thermometer should be occasionally checked against the ice point
to take into account the aging effects.

• Precision thermometers are sometimes marked for partial or total immersion and also for horizontal or vertical
orientation. The accuracy of these thermometers does not exceed 0.1°C. However, when increased accuracy is
required, a Beckmann range thermometer can be used. It contains a big bulb attached to a very fine capillary.
The range of the thermometer is limited to 5 — 6°C with an accuracy of 0.005°C.
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Liquid-in-Glass……………………..

• Liquid-in-glass thermometers have notable

qualities like low cost, simplicity in use,
portability and convenient visual indication
without the use of any external power.
However, their use is limited to certain
laboratory applications.
• It is not preferred in industrial applications
because of its fragility and its lack of
adaptability to remote indication.
• Further, it introduces time lag in the
measurement of dynamic signals because of
relatively high heat capacity of the bulb.

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Pressure Thermometers

• Pressure thermometer is based on the principle of fluid expansion

due to an increase in the pressure in a given volume of the
temperature measuring system.
• It is one of the most economical, versatile and widely used
devices in industrial temperature measurements.
• It has a relatively large metal bulb (often stainless steel) instead
of glass.
• This results in a robust, easy-to-read thermometer that may be
read remotely by connecting the bulb to a Bourdon gauge or any
other pressure measuring device by means of a capillary tube as
illustrated in Fig

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Bourdon gauge………………..

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• The entire assembly of the bulb, capillary and gauge is calibrated directly
on the basis of pressure change corresponding to the temperature change.
• The bulb of the thermometer may be filled with either a liquid (usually
mercury) or gas or a liquid-vapour mixture and depending upon the type
of fluid, the thermometer is termed as mercury-in-steel thermometer or
constant volume gas thermometer or vapour pressure thermometer
respectively.
• Fluid expansion thermometers are low in cost, self-operated type, rugged
in construction, with no maintenance expenses, stable in operation and
accurate to ±1°C.
• The response of these instruments can be increased by using a small
bulb connected to an electrical type of pressure sensor connected through
a short length of capillary tube.

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Constant Volume Thermometer

• The constant volume thermometer uses an inert gas (usually nitrogen)

in place of mercury and the principle of its working is the increase is
pressure of the gas with increase in temperature at constant volume.
• However, the volume of the system, i.e., that of bulb, capillary and
the Bourdon tube, does not remain constant and increases slightly due
to the increase in pressure and in addition the volume of the bulb also
increases due to increase in temperature.
• Gas filled systems operate over a range -130 to 540°C with linear
ranges as large as 500°C. However, its disadvantage over the liquid
filled system is that the pressure developed for a given temperature
change is smaller and further ambient temperature compensation is
more difficult.
• The accuracy of these instruments is of the order of ±1% at lower
ranges, i.e. up to 300°C and ±2% above this range.
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Vapor Pressure Thermometer

• The system in the vapour pressure thermometer is filled partly with

liquid and partly with vapour of the same liquid so that there is a
liquid-vapour interface in the bulb.
• The liquid-vapour system does not have any error as long as a
free liquid surface exists in the sensing bulb. This is because such
a system follows one of the Dalton's laws of partial pressure which
states that if both liquid and vapour are present, there is only one
saturation pressure corresponding to a given temperature.
• The general usefulness of the vapour pressure thermometers is
restricted due to the limited number of liquids providing suitable
saturation vapour pressure ranges.
• These include mostly hydrocarbon type of fluids like ethane, ethyl
alcohol, ethyl chloride, methyl chloride, chlorobenzene, toluene,
pentane, ether, acetone, etc. The scale range is usually of the
order of 100°C and accuracy is up to ±1% of the differential range.
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Numerical

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ELECTRICAL METHODS

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ELECTRICAL METHODS

• Electrical methods are in general preferred for the measurement

of temperature as they furnish a signal which can be easily
detected, amplified or used for control purposes.

1 Thermo-resistive type i.e., variable resistance transducers and

2. Thermo-electric type i.e., emf generating transducers.

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Electrical Resistance Thermometers

• In resistance thermometers, the change in

resistance of various materials, which varies
in a reproducible manner with temperature,
forms the basis of this important sensing
technique
• Metallic resistance thermometers.
• Thermistors

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Metallic Resistance Thermometers or

Resistance—Temperature Detectors (RTDs)
• Metals such as platinum copper, tungsten and nickel exhibit small
increases in resistance as the temperature rises because they have a
positive temperature coefficient of resistance. Platinum is a very widely
used sensor and its operating range is from 4K to 1064°C.
• Because it provides extremely reproducible output, it is used in
establishing International Practical Temperature Scale from 13.81 K to
961.93°C.
• However for the measurement of lower temperatures up to 600°C,
RTD sensor is made of nickel.
• Further, for ranges of temperature below 300°C, the sensing element
is fabricated using pure copper wire.
• Metallic resistance thermometers are very suitable for both laboratory
and industrial applications because of their high degree of accuracy as
well as long-term stability.

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Limitations of RTDs

• Limitations of the RTDs are low sensitivity, relatively higher cost as

compared to other temperature sensors and their proneness to errors
caused due to contact resistance, shock and accelerations.

• Metallic resistance thermometers are constructed in many forms, but the

temperature sensitive element is usually in the form of a coil of fine wire
supported in a stress-free manner.

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RTD:

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• Platinum, in spite of its low sensitivity and high cost as compared to

nickel and copper, is the most widely used material for metallic
resistance element. This is because of the following:
1. The temperature—resistance characteristics of pure platinum are well
defined and stable over a wide
range of temperatures.
2. It has high resistance to chemical attack and contamination ensuring
long-term stability.
3. It forms the most easily reproducible type of temperature transducer with
a high degree of accuracy.
The accuracy attainable with PRT is ±0.01°C up to 500°C and ±0.1°C up
to 1200°C.

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• The resistance relationship of most metals over a wide range

of temperatures is given by the quadratic relationship:

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Thermistors
• Thermistors are fabricated from the semiconducting materials which include
the oxides of copper, manganese, nickel, cobalt, lithium and titanium. These
oxides are blended in a suitable proportion and compressed into desired
shapes from powders and heat treated to recrystallise them, resulting in a
dense ceramic body with the required resistance—temperature characteristics.
• Advantages:
1. a large temperature coefficient which makes the thermistor an extremely sensitive
device, thus enabling accuracy of measurement up ± 0.01°C with proper calibration,
2. ability to withstand electrical and mechanical stresses,
3. fairly good operating range which lies between —100 and 300°C,
4. fairly low cost and easy adaptability to the available resistance bridge circuits, and
5. the high sensitivity and the availability in extremely small sizes (of the size of a pin
head) enable a fast speed of thermal response.

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Thermistors

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2. Thermo-electric Sensors

• The most common electrical method of temperature measurement

uses the thermo-electric sensor, also known as the thermocouple
(TC).
• The thermocouple is a temperature transducer that develops an
emf which is a function of the temperature between hot junction
and cold junction.
• The construction of a thermocouple is quite simple. It consists of
two wires of different metals twisted and brazed or welded together
with each wire covered with insulation which may be either.
1. mineral (magnesium oxide) insulation for normal duty, or
2. ceramic insulation for heavy duty.

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Seebeck effect
• When two conductors of dissimilar metals, say A and B, are joined
together to form a loop (thermocouple) and two unequal temperatures
Ti and T2 are interposed at two junctions J1 and J2 respectively, then
an infinite resistance voltmeter detects the electromotive force E, or if
a low resistance ammeter is connected, a current flow I is measured.
• Experimentally, it has been found that the magnitude of E depends
upon the materials as well as the temperature T1 and T2. Now, the
overall relation between emf E and the temperatures Ti and T2 forms
the basis for thermoelectric measurements and is called the Seebeck
effect

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• . For convenience of measurements and standardization, one of the two

junctions is usually maintained at some known temperature. The measured
emf E then indicates the temperature difference relative to the reference
temperature, such as ice point which is very commonly used in practice.

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Law of Intermediate Temperatures

• This states that the emf generated in a thermocouple with junctions at temperatures T1
and T3 is equal to the sum of the emf's generated by similar themo-couples, one acting
between temperatures T1 and T2 and the other between T2 and T3 when T2 lies
between T1 and T2

This law is useful in

practice because it helps
in giving a suitable
correction in case a
reference junction
temperature (which is
usually an ice bath at
0°C) other than 0°C is
employed.

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Thermocouple Materials

• The choice of materials for thermocouples in governed

by the following factors:
1. ability to withstand the temperature at which they are used,
2. immunity from contamination/oxidation, etc. which ensures
maintenance of the precise thermo-electric properties with
continuous use,
3. linearity characteristics.

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Advantages & Limitations

1. Thermocouple bead can be made of small size and consequently with low thermal capacity. In other
words dynamic response of sensor is fairly good.
2. They cost considerably less as compared to other thermal sensors and further, they require no maintenance.
3. They are quite rugged type, i.e. they can withstands rough handling.
4. They cover wide range of temperature, i.e., from —200 to 3000°C.
5. Output signal is electrical and they can be used for indicating recording micto
6. processor-based
control systems.
6. Output signal, i.e., emf is independent of length or diameter of the wire.
7. They have good accuracy of the order of ±0.2 to ±0.75% of f.s.d.
8. They have excellent stability for a long period of time.
9. They can be conveniently mounted in a variety of temperature measurement situations.
• The TC sensors, however, have the following limitations:
1. Inhomogeneity of composition of the thermocouple material and cold working of wires affect the sensitivity of the
thermocouple.
2. The require insulation covering while using them in conducting fluids.
3. The output signal, i.e., emf requires amplification in most applications.
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Quartz Thermometer
• A piezo-electric crystal provides a highly accurate and sensitive method of temperature measurement based on the change in its resonant
frequency which is directly proportional to the temperature change.

• The crystal is cut in the form of shear type LC cut, in which the change in resonant frequency is highly linear as well as repeatable. The
associated electronic circuitry of this thermometer consists of frequency counters and digital read-out of the measured frequency.

• The fundamental frequency fc, depends on the thickness of the crystal and can be adjusted so as to give a sensitivity of the order of 1000
Hz for a temperature change of 1°C. In other words, the detection of change in frequency of oscillation of 1 Hz gives a resolution of 0.001°C.
Further, temperature in the range of —40 to 230°C can be measured precisely and accurately by this method.

• The advantages of the quartz thermometer are:

1. Highly linear output as the linearity error is ±0.5% of F.S.
2. Long-term stability and reliability.
3. High resolution of the order of 0.001°C.
4. Excellent repeatability in the measuring range of —40 to 230°C.
• The limitations of the quartz thermometer are:
1. Limited measuring range i.e., —40 to 230°C.
2. Piezo-electric crystals have strong cross-sensitivity for pressure changes if they occur simultaneously in the temperature measuring systems.

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RADIATION METHODS (PYROMETRY)

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RADIATION METHODS (PYROMETRY)

• In the case of very hot bodies, the thermometer may melt at the high
temperature.
• Secondly, for bodies that are moving, a non-contacting device for measuring
the temperature is most convenient.
• Thirdly, if the distribution of temperature over the surface of an object is
required, a non-contacting device can readily 'scan' the surface

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PYROMETERS

• For temperatures above 650°C, the heat radiations emitted from the body
are of sufficient intensity to be used for measuring the temperature.
Instruments that employ radiation principles fall into three general classes:
(a) total radiation pyrometer,
(b) selective (or partial) radiation pyrometers, and
(c) infrared (IR) pyrometer.

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Total Radiation Pyrometer

• The total radiation pyormeter receives a controlled sample of the total

radiation of a hot body (say a furnace) and focusses it on to a
temperature sensitive transducer.
• The term 'total radiation' includes both visible (light) and invisible
(infrared) radiations.
• Radiations are associated with relatively large wavelengths of 0.72 to
1000 pm. the wave lengths of light in the visible range is from 0.3 to
0.72 pm, whereas the infrared They require special optical materials for
focussing.
• radiation pyrometers are sensitive to a limited wavelength band of
radiant energy, (i.e., from 0.32 to 40 pm) although theory indicates that
they should be sensitive to the entire spectrum of energy radiated by
the object.
•

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Fery’s Total Radiation Pyrometer

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Working of Fery’s Total Radiation Pyrometer…………

• It consists of blackened tube T open at one end to receive the

radiations from the object whose temperature is to be measured. The
other end of the tube has a sighting aperture in which an adjustable
eyepiece is usually fitted.
• The thermal radiations impinge on the concave mirror whose position
can be adjusted suitably by a rack-and-pinion arrangement so as to get
proper focussing of the thermal radiations on the detector disc S.
• The detector disc is usually of blackened platinum sheet/foil and is
connected to a thermocouple/thermopile junctions or to a resistance
thermometer bridge circuit. Leads from the detector are led out of the
casing to a meter for measuring the thermoelectric emf or the variation
the electric resistance of the platinum foil.

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Stafan-Boltzmann law
• The theory underlying the operation of total radiation pyrometers is that the
rate of radiation from a body A (the source) to a body B (the pyrometer),
i.e. EA/B is given by the Stafan-Boltzmann law as follows:

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• Such pyrometers are usually calibrated against known

temperatures in the range of 700 —2000°C where
thermocouples and resistance thermometers cannot be
employed.
• The errors arise from two sources in actual use. Any
filtering material such as smoke, dust, gases, windows,
etc. which were not present in the calibration will reduce
the energy received hence cause an unknown error.
• An error may be caused due to a surface having
emissivity other than used in the calibration.

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Selective Radiation Pyrometer

• The principle of this instrument is based on Planck's law which states that
the energy level in the radiations from a hot body are distributed in the
different wavelengths.
• As the temperature increases, the emissive power shifts to shorter
wavelengths. The planck's distribution equation is:

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• The classical form of this optical pyrometer is the disappearing filament

optical pyrometer (or the monochromatic brightness radiation pyrometer).
It is most accurate of all radiation pyrometers; however, its use is limited
to temperatures greater than about 700°C since it requires visual
brightness match by a human operator. This instrument is used to
realise the International Practical Temperature Scale above 1064°C.

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Selective Radiation Pyrometer

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Selective Radiation Pyrometer

• The accuracy of such pyrometers is usually ± 5°C in the

range of 850-1200°C. Further, when used in the extended
range of 1100 — 1950°C, its accuracy is better than ±10°C.

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Infrared Radiation
 Every object that is not in absolute zero temperature has atoms moving within it. This speed of movement is in
direct correlation with its temperature. The higher the temperature, the faster will be the movement of molecules.
These moving molecules emit energy in the form of infrared radiation.

The wavelength of this radiation is longer than those of visible light. Hence, we are not able to see it with naked
eyes. However, the radiation can jump to the visible spectrum if the object gets too hot. A hot metal glowing red or
sometimes even white is one of the examples.

While we may not be able to see infrared radiation, we can still sense it in the form of heat. The heat that we feel
from sunlight, a radiator, or a fire are all examples of infrared radiation. It is this heat that the infrared thermometers
detect to measure the temperature of objects.

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Working of Infrared Thermometers

• Similar to visible light, it is also possible to focus, reflect, or absorb infrared light. Infrared
thermometers employ a lens to focus the infrared light emitting from the object onto a detector
known as a thermopile.

The thermopile is nothing but thermocouples connected in series or parallel. When the infrared
radiation falls on the thermopile surface, it gets absorbed and converts into heat. Voltage output
is produced in proportion to the incident infrared energy. The detector uses this output to
determine the temperature, which gets displayed on the screen.

While this entire process may sound complicated, it takes only a few seconds for the infrared
thermometer to record the temperature and display in your desired unit.

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• Press in the trigger to put the detector into "reference"

mode.
• An internal heat source, whose temperature is known,
fires out infrared radiation.
• A mirror picks up the infrared.
• A detector picks up the reflected infrared from the mirror.
• A microchip notes the reading of the internal reference
source.
• Now you release the trigger to put it in operating mode.
• The mirror swings back to face the front of the detector.
• The hot sample you're interested in gives off its own
pattern of infrared radiation.
• The infrared fires in through the front and bounces off the
mirror into the detector.
• The chip compares the infrared wavelengths from the
reference source and the sample and figures out the
sample's temperature.

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Thankyou……………………..

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