MODULE I

TEMPERATURE MEASURMENTS
CONTENTS
 RESISTANCE TEMPERATURE DETECTORS
 THERMISTORS
 THERMOCOUPLE
 DIODE TYPE TEMPERATURE SENSORS
 JOHNSON NOISE THERMOMETER
 ELECTRONIC TEMPERATURE SWITCHES
RESISTANCE TEMPERATURE
DETECTORS
 Also known as Resistance Thermometer
 Electrical Transducer.
 Principle of Operation : Resistance of pure metal wire, with a large positive
temperature
co-efficient of resistance, varies with temperature.
 Resistance of a conductor changes when its temperature is changed. This
property is
utilized for measurement of temperature.
 Temperature ranges from -250ºC to 1000ºC
Typical Applications : Temperature, radiant heat.
Requirements Of Conductor
Material Used In RTD:
 Change in resistance of material per unit change in temperature should be as large
as
possible.
 Material should have high value of resistivity so that minimum volume of material is
used in its construction.
 Resistance of the material should have a continuous and stable relationship with
temperature.
 Metals commonly used for resistance thermometers are PLATINUM, NICKEL
AND
COPPER.

Platinum is most popular for RTD’s, it has good calibrated accuracy, is quite
stable
and has good repeatability, but is quite expensive.
 Platinum not as sensitive as the Nickel and Balco(Alloy of Ni and Fe) devices.
 Nickel is not quite as repeatable but is less expensive.
QUESTION
Industrial Resistance Thermometers
Advantages and Limitations of
Resistance Temperature Detectors
(RTDs)
 Provide an accurate temperature measurement, provided the temperature does not change
rapidly.
 Used for repeatable, steady-state reactions and processes.
 Slower to respond than other temperature sensors.
 Resistance of lead wires will increase with temperature as well.
 With longer lead wires, the resistance will increase and make up a larger percentage of the total
resistance.
 Keep lead wires short, and calibrate and spot-check the RTD whenever possible.
 If the system is calibrated with the RTD leads, it will account for the resistance of the leads at
specific temperatures.
 RTDs can be plugged into wireless transmitters for data logging, instead of running longer leads.
 RTDs are particularly useful when temperatures need to be accurately measured and recorded,
but aren’t expected to change very quickly.
RTD with Temperature Transmitter

 Convert the RTD resistance measurement to a current signal, eliminating

the problems inherent in RTD signal transmission via lead resistance.
 RTD Input - Temperature Transmitters convert Platinum, Copper, Nickel RTD
or resistance sensor input signals to 4-20mA or 0-10V DC outputs for
interfacing to controllers or other instrumentation.
 Errors in RTD circuits (especially two and three wire RTDs) are often caused
by the added resistance of the lead wire between the sensor and the
instrument.
Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD)
Uses in Industry
 Rugged and have a long service life. These factors make it fit for
continuous process monitoring like Continuous reactors, distillation columns,
and heat exchangers.
 Food and beverage manufacturing industries to carefully monitor
refrigeration systems and heating systems.
 Safety and legal considerations require detailed records of food processing
so that contaminated products can be prevented, and if they hit market, be
recalled quickly.
RTDs, with their accurate, reliable, and maintenance-free service are often
used to take temperature measurements in these environments.
THERMISTOR
 Thermal Resistors
Symbol for thermistors
 Small changes in temperature can be detected which RTD or Thermocouple
can’t.
 Temperature ranges from -60ºC to 15ºC
 Resistance range from 0.5Ω to 0.75MΩ
 Semi-conductors which behave as resistors with high negative temperature
co-efficient of resistance.

Different shapes of thermistors

Types of Thermistor
Negative Temperature Coefficient Thermistor:
 Resistance increases with the decrease of the temperature.
 The resistance of the negative temperature coefficient thermistor is
very large due to which it detects the small variation in temperature.
Positive Temperature Coefficient Thermistor:
 The resistance of the thermistor increases with the increases in
temperature.
NTC VS PTC THERMISTOR
RESISTANCE TEMPERATURE
CHARACTERISTICS OF THERMISTORS
QUESTION
APPLICATION OF THERMISTOR
 To measure temperature
 Thermistor is a resistive device and therefore according
to Ohms law, if we pass a current through it, a voltage
drop will be produced across it.
Thermistor is an passive type of a sensor, it requires an
excitation signal for its operation, any changes in its
resistance as a result of changes in temperature can be
converted into a voltage change.
 Simplest way of doing this is to use the thermistor as
part of a potential divider circuit as shown. A constant
supply voltage is applied across the resistor and
thermistor series circuit with the output voltage
measured from across the thermistor.
THERMISTOR VS RTD
 Both RTDs and thermistors have varying resistance
dependent on the temperature.
 Main difference between the two is the type of material
that they are made of.
 Thermistors are commonly made with ceramic or
polymer materials while RTDs are made of pure metals.
 In terms of performance, thermistors win in almost all
aspects.
 Thermistors are more accurate, cheaper, and have
faster response times than RTDs.
 Only real disadvantage of a thermistor vs an RTD is
when it comes to temperature range.
 RTDs can measure temperature over a wider range than
a thermistor.
THERMOCOUPLE
THERMOELECTRIC EFFECT :When two
wires with dissimilar electrical properties
are joined at both ends and one junction is
made hot and the other cold, a small
current is produced proportional to the
difference in the temperature.
The term "THERMOELECTRIC EFFECT"
encompasses three separately identified
effects: THE SEEBECK EFFECT, PELTIER
EFFECT, AND THOMSON EFFECT.
THE SEEBECK EFFECT: The generation of a
charge voltage V from a temperature
difference ΔT present at an interface
between two materials
THE PELTIER EFFECT: The heating or cooling
of the same system when a charge current Jc
flows through the interface.
THE THOMSON EFFECT: The evolution or
absorption of heat when electric current
passes through a circuit composed of a
single material that has a temperature
difference along its length.
THERMOCOUPLE TYPES

T J E
K S C
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
THERMOCOUPLE
•Advantages.
• Cheaper than the resistance thermometers.
• Follow the temperature changes with a small time lag and as such are suitable for
recording comparatively rapid changes in temperature.
• Very convenient for measuring the temperature at one particular point in a piece of
apparatus.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
THERMOCOUPLE
•Disadvantages.
• They have a lower accuracy and hence they cannot be used for precision work.
• To ensure long life of thermocouples in their operating environments; they should be
protected in an open or closed-end metal protecting tube or well. To prevent contamination
of thermocouple, when precious metals like platinum or its alloys are being used, the
protecting tube has to be made chemically inert and vacuum tight.
• The thermocouple is placed remote from measuring devices. Connections are thus made
by means of wires called extension wires. Maximum accuracy of measurement is assured
only when compensating wires are of the same material as the thermocouple wires. The
circuitry is, thus, very complex.
THERMOPILE
•Used to measure temperature difference.
•Used for contact-less temperature sensing.
When the sensor is placed at distance not nearly
hot object, the output of a single thermocouple
will be quite small to detect.
•Uses several thermocouples connected in series
or parallel to generate a stronger electrical signal
(in range of 10 to 100mV).
•Transfer the heat radiation emitted from the
object to a electrical voltage output.
DIODE TYPE TEMPERATURE SENSORS
•Diodes are frequently used as temperature sensors in a wide variety of moderate-precision
temperature measurement applications.
•Linear temperature coefficient such as –2mV/C° across operating temperatures makes
diodes a great solution for flexible and low-cost applications.
•The circuitry can be quite simple, but making a temperature measurement system with a
diode will require excitation, offsetting, and amplification.
• Simple technique using standard low-cost diodes can be used to make a relatively accurate
temperature sensor.
•This hinges on the characteristic of a semiconductor junction under reverse-biased
conditions. The reverse current flow is directly proportional to the temperature of the silicon.
•Once biased properly, any inexpensive diode can generate a reverse voltage proportional to
its temperature.
JOHNSON NOISE THERMOMETER
TEMPERATURE SWITCHES
• Most common heat sensing element is the
bimetallic strip that operates on the principle of
thermal expansion.
• Bimetallic strips are made with two dissimilar
metals (that are having different thermal expansion
rates) and are bonded with each other.
• Switch contacts are operated when the
temperature causes the strip to bend or wrap.
• Another method of operating the temperature
switch is to use mercury glass tube.
• When the bulb is heated, mercury in the tube will
expand and then generates pressure to operate the
contacts.
LIQUID IN GLASS THERMOMETER
Invented by Daniel Gabriel Fahrenheit in
Amsterdam (1714).
The principle used to measure
temperature is thermal expansion of the
liquid.
Mercury cannot be used to measure
temperatures lower than -39˚C (as
mercury freezes at that point) or
temperature higher than 356.7˚C (the
boiling point of mercury).
Mercury has been replaced largely by
alcohol for use in thermometers. Ethanol
is cheaper and safer than mercury and
LIQUID IN METAL THERMOMETER
Use the pressure rise of a liquid that comes along with an
increase in temperature, if the volume is kept constant.
Pressure is measured and converted into a temperature
value by means of an calibrated scale.
A tube is wrapped into a coil and filled with a thermometric
liquid and then sealed on both sides.
If the temperature of the liquid rises and with it the
pressure, it tries to bend up the spiral tube(Bourdon tube)
like a spring.
The elastic deformation of the tube at a temperature
increase is directly applied to a rotatably mounted pointer.
The corresponding temperature can then be read off from
a calibrated scale.
GAS THERMOMETERS
Gas pressure increase with temperature.
For an ideal gas, the gas pressure at a
constant volume is determined only by the
temperature (isochoric process).
If the bulb and the gas inside it are heated, the
pressure increases because the gas cannot
expand.
The Bourdon tube bends like a spring due to
increasing pressure. This elastic deformation
due to the increase in pressure serves as a
measure of the temperature and can be read
from a calibrated scale.
A thermistor has a resistance
temperature co-efficient of - 5 %
over a temperature range of
25'C to 50. If the resistance of
the thermistor is 100 0. at 2S°C,
what is the resistance at 3 5°C.