CHEN 4570

Instrumentation and Process Control

Spring 2016

Temperature Measurement by Thermocouples and Thermistors

Objective
To learn the principles of measurement and characteristics of thermocouples and thermistors, two
common devices for temperature measurement.
Background Information
Thermocouples
Thermocouples are based on forming a junction, usually welded, between two different metals or
different alloys of metals. An ideal thermocouple circuit (useless, but illustrates a point) is shown
below.
Material A

Th

Tc

Material B

Ideal Thermocouple Circuit

Notice that the two junctions between material A and B are at differing temperatures (Th and Tc).
The mobility of electrons in different metals or alloys is different, and this mobility also depends
on the temperature. The difference in mobility at the junction causes a small electric potential,
and, since the two junctions are at different temperatures, there is a slight difference in the
potential at the two junctions. This is called the Seebeck effect and causes a small current to flow
in the circuit. There is also the possibility for an even smaller potential to be generated along the
single material A or B as the temperature varies from Th to Tc due to a differential change in
electron mobility solely a function of changing temperature. This is called the Thomson effect and
combines with the Seebeck effect to produce the overall thermocouple effect, which can be
represented by

i Th Tc
This relationship is close to but not exactly linear for many material pairs.
To make the ideal thermocouple circuit practical, we break the circuit as shown below.

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Temperature Measurement

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Material A

Th

Material B

Tc

Practical Thermocouple Circuit

The current in the ideal circuit has been replaced by a potential, e, in the practical circuit. Now,

e Th Tc
Note that the potential is dependent on both junction temperatures. If the process temperature is
being measured at the Th junction, in order to relate the measured e to Th, we will have to know
Tc. Traditionally, this was done by placing the Tc junction in an ice bath and called an ice point
reference junction. For this reason, most thermocouple tables are based on a reference junction
temperature of 0C.
Now, imagine sliding the reference junction, Tc, to the right until it coincides with the point of the
break in the circuit, that is,
Material A

Th
Tc
Material B

Modern Thermocouple Circuit

This represents the modern configuration of a thermocouple circuit. Again, if we measure e and
wish to know Th, then we must know Tc. In the modern circuit, Tc is either measured
independently by another device, e.g., a thermistor (see below), or the point of measurement is
placed in an environment, e.g., an oven, where Tc is controlled closely. With the knowledge of Tc,
this value can be added to a value of Th computed based on a 0C reference junction to find the
true value of Th.
Next comes the problem of measuring the thermocouple potential, e, also often called an
electromotive force or e.m.f. Although the thermocouple produces a small potential, in the
millivolt or even microvolt range, it cannot produce much current at all (nanoamperes at most).
Consequently, we must measure e without placing hardly any load (current demand) on the

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Temperature Measurement

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thermocouple circuit. A traditional way of doing this, which is quite precise but inconvenient, is to
use a millivolt potentiometer. The millivolt potentiometer produces a precise small voltage to the
point of balancing and opposing the e.m.f. of the thermocouple. If the thermocouple e.m.f. is
exactly opposed, there is no load on it. The inconvenience is that simple potentiometers must be
balanced manually; consequently, measurements may only be taken periodically and manual
operation is required for each measurement.
A more modern method of measuring thermocouples is to attach the thermocouple to a high gain
instrumentation amplifier (gain of 100 to 1000) that scales the e.m.f. up to the volts range while
placing little load on the thermocouple. You will be constructing circuits based on operational
amplifiers in the circuits labs of this course that perform similar functions. Instrumentation
amplifiers provide a continuous measurement signal and are used commonly in computer data
acquisition systems. For simple readings, one can measure the e.m.f. output of a thermocouple
with a multimeter; however, the sensitivity of most multimeters does not allow for a precise
reading.
In either case, millivolt potentiometer or instrumentation amplifier, the reference junction (where
the thermocouple materials are terminated) temperature must be measured or regulated
independently.
Common thermocouple types are listed in the table below.
Positive
metal/alloy
Iron
Chromel
Copper
Chromel
Platinum 13%
Rhodium

Negative
metal/alloy
Constantan
Alumel
Constantan
Constantan
Platinum

Code
Letter
J
K
T
E
R

Wire
Color
White
Yellow
Blue
Purple
Black

Overall
Color
Black
Yellow
Blue
Purple
Green

Range
(C)
0 - 760
0 - 1260
-180 - 370
0 - 870
0 - 1480

The named alloys listed above are:

Constantan
Chromel
Alumel

copper-nickel
chromium-nickel
aluminum-nickel

Extension wire uses the wire color for the positive wire and red for the negative wire. Wire
sheathing and connectors use the overall color. The sensitivity (gain) of thermocouples depends
on the type but is generally in the range of 10 to 60 volts/C. This gain is relatively linear over
the range of the thermocouple, but its variation must be taken into account for precise
temperature measurement.
Thermistors
The variation of electrical resistance with temperature has long been used as the basis for
measurement devices. One variety of these uses platinum or, less commonly, nickel. The
resistance of platinum changes very linearly with temperature. Platinum resistance thermometers
are used where precise temperature measurement (hundredths of a C) is required. Their
sensitivity is quite low (small change in resistance per C); so very precise resistance
measurement techniques are required.
Another common variety uses semiconductor materials that change dramatically in resistance
with temperature. However, this change is quite nonlinear. A general equation describing the
behavior of a thermistor is

CHEN 4570

Temperature Measurement

RT R0 e
where

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1 1
B
T T0

RT resistance value at a given temperature T

R0 resistance value at a reference temperature T0
B

a constant specific to the particular semiconductor material

If a relatively narrow range of temperature is considered, the resistance characteristic may be

approximately linear; consequently, thermistors are used for measurement over restricted ranges.
Thermistors are relatively inexpensive devices.
To measure temperature with a thermistor, one must measure resistance, then convert the
resistance to temperature by knowing the characteristics of the thermistor. First and foremost,
one must measure resistance.
A traditional method for measuring resistance is with a bridge circuit, and the most traditional of
these is the balanced Wheatstone bridge. This circuit is described in the diagram below.
R1 : standard resistor

R1

R1

galvanometer

+
E
battery or
power
supply

variable
resistor

Rv

Rx

resistance to be
measured

Wheatstone Bridge Circuit

If Rv is adjusted to be equal to the resistance to be measured, Rx, then the voltages between R1
and Rv and between R1 and Rx will be equal; consequently, no current will flow through the
galvanometer and it will show a null. Then, to measure a resistance, one adjusts Rv until the
galvanometer is nulled and reads Rv.
Disadvantages of the Wheatstone bridge are that
It has to be balanced manually when a measurement is made.
There is no compensation for the resistance of lead wires that go from the bridge
circuit to the actual resistance being measured, e.g., a thermistor installed in a
process.
Improvements can be made to the basic Wheatstone bridge circuit to overcome these
disadvantages. To avoid the manual measurement limitation, bridge circuits are typically run
unbalanced which produces a small difference in the voltages at the midpoint of the circuit. This
small voltage can be amplified using an instrumentation amplifier circuit to produce a larger
voltage that can be recorded, read on a meter, or input into a computer.
For simple measurements, it is convenient to use a multimeter to measure resistance. This is
adequate but may not be too accurate nor precise.