PE ZC213/TA ZC233

Engineering Measurements
BITS Pilani Dr. Sujan Yenuganti
Pilani Campus EEE Department
 BITS Pilani
Pilani Campus

Lecture No. 10
Temperature

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Practice problem 1

A load cell made up of steel, as shown in figure, has

four flat surfaces, at right angles to each other which
form 10 cm squares. Resistance strain gauges are
attached to these flat surfaces so that two gauges
suffer longitudinal compression and other two
gauges suffer transverse tension. The gauges are
connected in a temperature-compensated bridge and
the out-of-balance signal is input to a differential
amplifier. Calculate the minimum amplifier gain if
the amplifier output voltage is to be 1 V for a
compressive force of 105 N.

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 Solution

 GF   R1 R2 
R1  R3  R0 1 
 AE  eo  ei   
 R1  R4 R2  R3 
 GF 
R2  R4  R0 1  
 AE   GF GF 
 1  AE 1
AE 
eo  ei   
GF GF
2  (  1) 2  (  1) 
 AE AE 

ei GF
eo  (  1) 4
2 AE
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 Contd..

R0  100 , im ax  30 mA

eimax  2R0imax  6V

eimax  GF  4
e0max  (1  )    3.87  10 V
2  AE 

1
Gain  4
 2584
3.87 10 V

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Practice problem 2

Calculate the series resistance Rs shown in below figure. The meter resistance
Rm=200Ω and full scale meter current Ifsd=1mA respectively (Assume the diode
forward voltage is 0.7V).

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Solution

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Practice problem 3

The resistance Rθ kΩ of a thermistor at temperature θ in degree Kelvin is given

by the below relation.
The thermistor is incorporated into a Wheatstone bridge circuit shown in figure.
Calculate:
(i) The range of VOUT corresponding to an input temperature range from 273°K to 323°K.
(ii) The magnitude of non-linearity at 285°K as a percentage of full-scale output.

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Solution

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Contd..

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Contd..

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Practice problem 4

A 1kHz triangular wave and a saw tooth wave is applied to vertical and horizontal
deflection plates of a CRO as shown in below figure. The CRT tube has a vertical
deflection sensitivity of 0.4cm/V and a horizontal deflection sensitivity of
0.25cm/V respectively. Assuming that the two inputs are synchronized, sketch one
cycle (a, b, c, d and e) of waveform displayed on its screen (assume one square
grid on the CRT screen is 1cm x 1cm).

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Solution

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 Resistance Temperature
Detector (RTD)

• The resistance of most metals increases reasonably linearly with

temperature in the range −100 to +800 °C. [Has positive temperature
coefficient (PTC) of resistance]
• This property of metals can be used for the temperature measurement.
• For metals, the general relationship between resistance (RT) and
temperature T (oC) can be given by,

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Contd..

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Contd..

• For a Pt – RTD, the

maximum non-linearity as a
percentage of f.s.d. between 0
and 200 °C is +0.76%.

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 Contd..

• Platinum is usually preferred, as it chemically inert and provides very

stable and linear response.

• A typical platinum element in an RTD, will have,

R0 = 100  at 0 0C, RT = 138.50  at 100 0C,

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 Contd..

Rosemount industry
standard temperature
sensor: Pt - 100

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Contd..

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 Contd..

Typical placement of an RTD in industry

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 Thermistor

• Thermistor is composed of semi-conductor materials.

• Exhibit NTC (negative temperature coefficient, NTC)

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 Contd..

Relationship of thermistor resistance

with temperature is given by the
relation,

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Bridge configuration for
RTD/Thermistor

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 Bridge design

Thus if IMIN and IMAX are minimum and maximum values of the measured
variable, and RIMIN and RIMAX are the corresponding sensor resistances, then
in order for the bridge output voltage to have a range from VMIN to VMAX the
following conditions must be obeyed:
For, VMIN = 0,

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 Numerical

A platinum resistance sensor has a resistance of 100 Ω at 0 °C and a temperature

coefficient of resistance of 4 × 10−3 °C−1. Given that a 15V supply is available,
design a deflection bridge giving an output range of 0 to 100 mV for an input
range of 0 to 100 °C.

R0  100  R100  R0 (1  T )

t  4 10 3 0C 1

RIMin  R0  100  RIMax  R100  140 

VMin  0mV VMax  100 mV  0.1V

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Solution

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Contd..

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Contd..

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 Contd..

 1 1 
VMin  Vs   
 1  R4 / R IMin 1  R3 / R2

 1 1 
VMin  Vs    0
1  5757.56 / 100 1  57.5756 

 1 1 
VMax  Vs   
1  R4 / RIMax 1  R3 / R2 

 1 1 
VMax  Vs     0.0999V  0.1V
1  5757.56 / 140 1  57.5756 
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Thermoelectric sensing

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 Thermocouple

• A thermocouple will have two junctions at different temperatures T1 and T2 0C.

• In order to measure the temperature of measured junction, say T1, the

temperature of another junction (reference junction) must be known.

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 Contd..

• To measure temperature using a thermocouple, you can’t just connect the

thermocouple to a measurement system (e.g. voltmeter)
• The voltage measured by your system is proportional to the temperature
difference between the primary junction (hot junction) and the junction where the
voltage is being measured (Ref junction)

To determine
the absolute
temperature at
the hot
junction… You need to know the
temperature at the Ref
junction!

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 Ice bath method

Vmeas = V(Thot) – V(Tref)

V(Thot) = Vmeas + V(Tref)

If we know the voltage-temperature relationship of our thermocouple, we could

determine the temperature at the hot junction.
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 Types of thermocouples

Chromel/Alumel Iron - Constantan Copper - Constantan

Chromel/Constantan Platinum
Platinum Platinum
/Platinum(13%)-
(10%)/ -Rhodium
Rhodium
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Commercial thermocouples

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 Laws of thermocouples

Law 1 states that the e.m.f. of a given thermocouple depends only on the
temperatures of the junctions and is independent of the temperatures of the wires
connecting the junctions.

This is important in industrial installations, where the leads connecting

measurement and reference junctions may be exposed to large changes in ambient
temperature.

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 Contd..

Law 2 states that if a third metal C is introduced into A (or B) then, provided the
two new junctions are at the same temperature (T3), the e.m.f. is unchanged.

This means that a voltmeter can be introduced into the circuit without affecting the
voltage produced.

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 Contd..

If a third metal C is inserted between A and B at either junction, then Law 3 states
that, provided the two new junctions AC and CB are both at the same temperature
(T1 or T2), then the e.m.f. is unchanged.

This means that at the measurement junction, wires A and B can be soldered or
brazed together with a third metal without affecting the e.m.f.

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 Contd..

Law of intermediate metals

Law 4 (law of intermediate metals) can be used, for example, to deduce the e.m.f.
of a copper–iron (AB) thermocouple, given the e.m.f. values for copper–
constantan (AC) and constantan–iron (CB) thermocouples.

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 Contd..

Law of intermediate temperature

The fifth law (law of intermediate temperatures) is used in interpreting e.m.f.

measurements.

where T3 is the intermediate temperature. If T2 = 0 °C, then

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Numerical

e1  5mV T1  100 0C T2  0 0C

e2  25 mV T1  445 0C T2  0 0C

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Solution

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Contd..

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