Department of Chemical Engineering

Thermisto
r
 Index
1. Introduction
2. Construction
3. Working
4. Types
5. Advantages
6. Disadvantages
7. Applications
8. References
 THERMISTOR
 A temperature sensing element which measures temperature according
to change in resistance.
 It is usually made of a sintered semiconductor material.
 They can or cannot be self heated.
 They use ceramic or polymer materials while RTDs use pure metals.
 They are available in various shapes like disc, rod, washer, etc.
CONSTRUCTION
 WORKING
 1/T=A+B*ln(R)+C∗(ln(R))𝟑

 ∆𝑹 = 𝒌∆𝑻

𝟏
𝜷 𝟏 −
 𝑹𝟏 = 𝑹𝟐𝒆𝒙𝒑 𝑻𝟏 𝑻𝟐
TYPES
 Positive
Temperature Coefficient
Thermistor

 Negative Temperature
Coefficient Thermistor
• PTC thermistors are divided into two groups, based on the materials used, their
structure and the manufacturing process.
• The first group of PTC thermistors is comprised of silistors, which use silicon as the
semiconductive material. They are used as PTC temperature sensors for their
linear characteristic.
• The second group is the switching type PTC thermistor. This type of PTC
thermistors is widely used in PTC heaters, sensors etc. Polymer PTC thermistors,
made of a special plastic, are also in this second group, often used as resettable
fuses.
• The switching type PTC thermistor has a highly nonlinear resistance-temperature
curve. When the switching type PTC thermistor is heated, the resistance starts to
decrease at first, until a certain critical temperature is reached. As the
temperature is further increased above that critical value, the resistance increases
dramatically. This article will focus on the switching type PTC thermistors
• NTC stands for “Negative Temperature Coefficient”. NTC thermistors are resistors
with a negative temperature coefficient, which means that the resistance
decreases with increasing temperature.
• They are primarily used as resistive temperature sensors and current-limiting
devices. The temperature sensitivity coefficient is about five times greater than
that of silicon temperature sensors (silistors) and about ten times greater than
those of resistance temperature detectors (RTDs).
• NTC sensors are typically used in a range from −55°C to 200°C.
• The non-linearity of the relationship between resistance and temperature
exhibited by NTC resistors posed a great challenge when using analog circuits to
accurately measure temperature,
• but rapid development of digital circuits solved that problem enabling
computation of precise values by interpolating lookup tables or by solving
equations which approximate a typical NTC curve
 ADVANTAGES
 Low cost.
 Sensitivity is high.
 Small in size.
 Good stability.
 High output signal.
 Easy to transport.
 DISADVANTAGES
 Non-linear output is seen.
 Not suitable for high temperature measurement.
 Requires external power supply.
 Shielded cables should be used to minimize interference.
 Self-heating.
 APPLICATIONS
1. PTC Thermistor
i. Current limiting devices.
ii. Timer in degaussing coil
iii. Motors
iv. Self regulating heaters
2. NTC Thermistor
i. Very low temperature thermometers
ii. Digital thermostats
iii. In-rush protection devices
iv. Battery pack monitors
 REFERENCES
 https://www.teamwavelength.com/info/thermistors.php
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermistor
 http://www.resistorguide.com/thermistor/
 http://www.electronicshub.org/thermistors-types-and-

applications/
 https://www
.elprocus.com/introduction-to-thermistor- types-with-
its-workings-and-applications/