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Temperature Measurement: Priyatmadi
Temperature Measurement: Priyatmadi
Priyatmadi
Temperature Concept
Temperature is a useful measure of the thermodynamic
state of an object or system. It is a macroscopic
description of the aggregate amount of microscopic
kinetic energy in a material. If two bodies are at the same
temperature, they are in thermodynamic equilibrium with
each other; if they were connected to each other, there is
no net flow of heat from one to the other.
Interestingly, temperature is not a measure of the unit
thermodynamic energy of a body; unit masses of differing
materials can require differing amounts of energy to be
added or removed to change their temperature by a
given amount. Identical temperature of two bodies merely
implies there would be no transfer of heat between the
two, regardless of the actual energy stored as heat in
each body.
Temperature Concept
The International Temperature Scale of 1990
(ITS-90) is the current standard for temperature
measurement, defining the Kelvin temperature
scale. The standard is based on phase transition
points of various pure substances, with the Kelvin
degree defined as 1/273.16 the absolute
temperature of the triple point of water. Examples
of a few other key points defined in this scale are
listed in Table 1.
Temperature Concept
TABLE 1
K
Substance
State
13.8033
-259.3467
Hydrogen
Triple-point
83.8058
-189.3442
Argon
Triple-point
243.3156
-38.8344
Mercury
Triple-point
273.16
0.01
Water
Triple-point
429.7485
156.5985
Indium
Freezing Point
692.677
419.527
Zinc
Freezing Point
1234.93
961.78
Silver
Freezing Point
Temperature Concept
The reason for defining the temperature scale on
the basis of freezing and triple points is that
these events can be readily reproduced to a high
degree of repeatability.
This means that there need not be a standard
kilogram of temperature locked in a vault
somewhere.
To measure temperatures between reference
points, you have to resort to less fundamental
devices, calibrating them to the known points
and interpolating between those calibration
points.
Mechanical Temperature
Measurement
As the temperature of a material changes, the material
expands or contracts. While thermal expansion can be a
nuisance to mechanical designers, it is the physical
property that underlies the operation of many
thermometers.
The constant-volume gas thermometer (CVGT) depends
on the pressure-volume-temperature relationship of an
ideal gas:
PV = kT (1)
Equation 1 implies that you can measure the expansion
of a gas at constant pressure to measure temperature.
When using the less-than-ideal gases available in the real
world, however, keeping the volume constant and
measuring the pressure provides better results.
Mechanical Temperature
Measurement
Mechanical Temperature
Measurement
Liquids also expand when heated, and
because they (unlike most gases) are
visible, they can be used in simple and
easy-to-read thermometers. Colored
alcohol and mercury are popular
working liquids.
Because the coefficient of volumetric
expansion for most liquids is small, a
large reservoir bulb of working liquid is
required for thermal expansion to
move a small amount of fluid up a
significant length of capillary tube.
Mechanical Temperature
Measurement
Bimetal thermostats are also
based on the thermal
expansion of metals.
By bonding two metals with
dissimilar coefficients of
thermal expansion, you obtain
a strip that flexes in response
to temperature change.
This principle is used
extensively in thermostats,
where flexure beyond a certain
point causes a pair of switch
contacts to open or close.
Thermistor
For those of us with more pedestrian measurement
requirementsand smaller budgetsthermistors offer
another type of temperature-to-resistance transducer.
These devices are made from various nonmetallic
conductors (e.g., metal oxides and silicon) and offer the
advantage of much higher thermal coefficients of
resistance compared to RTD.
Thermistors come in two basic flavors: negative
temperature coefficient (NTC) and positive temperature
coefficient (PTC). The resistance of an NTC thermistor
drops with increasing temperature, while that of a PTC
device rises.
Thermistor
One of the advantages provided by a thermistor over a
metal RTD is that the sensitivity ( R/ T) of a thermistor
can be an order of magnitude greater than that of the
RTD. NTC thermistors with sensitivities of 4%/ C are
not uncommon. Such high sensitivities make it possible
to easily measure temperature changes on the order of
hundredths of a degree.
Because an NTC thermistor has a highly nonlinear
response, its often characterized by a measure called
, which is used to describe an exponential fit of
resistance over a given temperature range.
Thermistor
For a thermistor, is calculated:
where:
T1 and T0 = two reference temperatures in K
RT1 and RT0 = the resistances at T1 and T0
Thermistor
Conversely, if you know the resistance, the estimated
temperature can be obtained by:
Thermistor
Although you can measure the resistance of an RTD or
thermistor with an ohmmeter, its often more convenient
to convert the resistance into a proportional voltage.
The circuit shown in next figure will bias a thermistor or
RTD with a constant current and deliver an output
voltage proportional to temperature. Because a
thermistor or RTD must be powered up to be read,
excessive bias current can lead to self-heating effects.
While reducing the bias current will minimize self-heating
errors, it will also minimize the available output voltage
signal.
Thermistor
Thermistor
Thermocouples
Another popular temperature sensor is
thermocouples, which consists of two dissimilar
metals bonded to each other, typically by welding.
The bimetallic junction develops a small voltage
that varies with temperature.
The principal advantages of thermocouples are
that they are inexpensive (you can get
thermocouple wire pair in rolls to make your own,
often for <$0.50/ft.).
It provides moderately accurate and consistent
measurements, and operate over a wide
temperature range (from <0C to >1000C).
Thermocouples
Thermocouples
P-N Junctions
Semiconductor devices can also be used to measure
temperature. At a constant current bias, the voltage drop
across a silicon P-N diode junction shows roughly a 2
mV/ C temperature coefficient.
Because the P-N junction is the basic building block of
diodes, transistors, and ICs, temperature sensing can be
incorporated in many devices at low cost. This technique
is used in the onboard temperature sensors of
microprocessors (e.g., Intels Pentium) and for the
thermal-shutdown circuits of power-supply chips.
Next shows how a 1N914 diode can be used as an
inexpensive (<$0.05) temperature probe.
P-N Junctions
P-N Junctions
inexpensive and sometimes even free
P-N junction thermometers can provide a fair
degree of accuracy. But theyre more often useful
for coarse, inexpensive measurements.
The room-temperature output voltage is about 600
mV, and even then the voltage varies both from unit
to unit and with bias current.
Sensitivity also varies.
Temperature-Dependent Sources
Although most analog circuits are intended
to operate with minimal dependence on
ambient temperature, the circuit shown in
the next figure provides a current output
that is nearly linear with respect to
absolute temperature.
For this reason, the circuit is called a
proportional-to-absolute temperature
(PTAT) current source.
Temperature-Dependent Sources
The proportional-toabsolute temperature
current source is a circuit
that has bias currents that
vary as a linear function
of absolute temperature.
The circuit is the basis for
most precision
semiconductor
temperature sensors.
Temperature-Dependent Sources
The PNP transistors (Q1, Q2) form a current mirror that
maintains I1 = I2. Because I2 is split four ways among
Q4a-Q4d, the bias current in each of the transistors is
1/4 what it is in Q3.
Q3 and Q4a-Q4d, however, are all identical devices and
have similar characteristics. In addition, because they
all live on the same silicon die, they are all at the same
temperature.
Under these conditions, the difference in base-emitter
voltage between Q3 and any of the Q4s is given by:
Temperature-Dependent Sources
where:
k = Boltzmanns constant (1.38 3 1023 J/K)
q = the charge on an electron (1.6 3 1019C)
T = absolute temperature in K
Because the current being fed into the Q4s is split evenly
among them, the ratio of IQ4a to IQ3 is 1/4. Because the base
voltages of Q3 and the Q4s are the same, the resultant Vbe
appears across R1, where it causes I2 to be:
Temperature-Dependent Sources
Notice that other than the value of R1 and T, everything
else is either a fundamental constant (k, q) or an integer
ratio (1/4).
The resulting current I2 (and also I1) will be proportional
to temperature.
In theory, the stability of the thermometer is solely
dependent on the stability of R1 and how well you can
match transistors.
In practice, there are other factors that can affect its
performance, but the circuit (with suitable modifications)
remains one of the fundamental building blocks for solidstate temperature sensors.
A commercial example of a temperature sensor using
the PTAT principle is Analog Devices AD590.
Temperature-Dependent Sources
A commercial
proportional-to-absolute
temperature sensor, such as
Analog Devices AD590,
can be used as a precision
temperature measurement
system with the addition of
a single precision resistor.
Radiation Sensing
Sometimes you need to measure an objects
temperature without making physical contact with it. This
situation is especially common when the object in
question is very hot (e.g., molten metal in a steel
foundry). Noncontact temperature sensing is also useful
when temperature measurements must be made quickly
on a series of objects, such as items moving down an
assembly line. Radiation sensing is one way to measure
temperature remotely.
You can infer the temperature of an object by the amount
and wavelength of the electromagnetic radiation emitted
by the object.
A thermopile radiation
sensor develops a
voltage output in
response to incoming
radiation. The device is a
series connection of
many thermocouple
junctions arranged so that
incoming radiation heats
a group of detecting
junctions while not
heating a group of
reference junctions.
A quantum IR detector
is constructed from a
piece of low-bandgap
semiconductor. When
an incoming IR photon
is absorbed by the
material, it produces an
electron-hole pair that
can then temporarily
conduct an electric
current.