MATH-2205

Lecture-2

Thermometer, platinum resistance thermometer

and thermocouple

Course Teacher: DR. MD. ASHIKUR RAHMAN KHAN

Temperature
, which determines the
degree of hotness or the level of heat intensity of a body.

The temperature of a body, therefore, is a quantity which indicates how

hot or how cold the body is.

A body is said to be at a high temperature or hot, if it shows high

level of heat intensity in it.

A body is said to be at a low temperature or cold, if it shows a low

level of heat intensity.

The temperature of a body is measured with the help of an instrument

known as thermometer which is in the form of a glass tube containing
mercury in its stem.
Celsius or centigrade scale and Fahrenheit scale
Following are the for measuring the
temperature of a body

For instance, the

.
The
.

—
the and the —

indicate in a visible manner two temperatures which we

.
 :

This scale was first used by Celsius in 1742. This scale is mostly
used by engineers and scientists.

The freezing point of water on this scale is marked as 0 (zero), and

the boiling point of water as 100.

The space between these two points has

and each division represents one degree Celsius (written as oC).
2. Fahrenheit scale: This scale Was first used in 1665. In
this scale,

The space between these two points has and

each division represents one degree Fahrenheit (written as °F).
Absolute Temperature
As a matter of fact, the zero readings of Celsius and Fahrenheit scales
are chosen arbitrarily for the purpose of simplicity. It helps us in our
calculations, when changes of temperature in a process are known.
But, whenever the value of temperature is used in equations relating to
fundamental laws, then the value of temperature, whose reference
point is true zero or absolute zero, is used.

The temperature, below which the temperature of any substance

can not fall, is

The temperatures measured from this zero are

The , for all sorts of calculations

- 273°C in case of Celsius scale and

- 460°F in case of Fahrenheit scale.
Absolute Temperature

The
(briefly written as K) such that

K = °C + 273.

(briefly written as °R) such that

°R = °F + 460.
Temperature
Temperature measurement

The volume of most substances increases continuously as the

temperature rises, the pressure remaining constant.

Any substance in which

For instance, ,
but the .

The dilatation of other liquids, as well as that of solids and of

gases, used for thermometric properties and the thermo-electric
properties of metals, of the variation of their electric resistance
with temperature, employed in
 or measurer of warmth,

The
.

The
probably because it was invented at a time
when heat was called Caloric.

The name, however, is now well established, and is a convenient

one, as its form is sufficiently distinct from that of the word
Thermometer.

The method of measuring heat may be called .

Thermometer
Thermometer
Thermometer
 From Mark W Ze book

Platinum resistance thermometer

The other method of estimating the temperature of a place at
which we cannot set a thermometer
R’TP
Platinum Resistance Thermometer
Thermo couple
A is a device that is used to measure
temperature.

Thermocouple–a two-terminal element consisting of

joined at the end

To make up thermocouple pair certain combinations of metals

must be used.
Seebeck Effect
Seebeck Effect
The Operating Principle of thermocouple
A thermocouple is a device made by two different wires joined at
one end, called junction end or measuring end.

The two wires are called thermo-elements or legs of the

thermocouple: the two thermo-elements are distinguished as
positive and negative ones.

The other end of the thermocouple is called tail end or

reference end.
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)
The Operating Principle of thermocouple
The junction end is immersed in the environment whose
temperature T2 has to be measured,

which can be for instance the temperature of a furnace at

about 500°C,

while the tail end is held at a different temperature T1, e.g.

at ambient temperature.

Because of the temperature difference between junction

end and tail end

a voltage difference can be measured between the two

thermoelements at the tail end:
The Operating Principle of thermocouple
so the thermocouple is a temperature-voltage transducer.

The temperature vs voltage relationship is given

by:
(1)

where Emf is the Electro-Motive Force or Voltage produced

by the thermocouple at the tail end,
T1 and T2 are the temperatures of reference and measuring
end respectively,
S12 is called Seebeck coefficient of the thermocouple and
S1 and S2 are the Seebeck coefficient of the two
thermoelements.
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)
The Seebeck coefficient depends on the material the
thermoelement is made of.
Looking at Equation (1) it can be noticed that:

1. A null voltage is measured if the two thermoelements

are made of the same materials:
different materials are needed to make a temperature
sensing device,
2. A null voltage is measured if no temperature difference
exists between the tail end and the junction end:
a temperature difference is needed to operate the
thermocouple,
3. The Seebeck coefficient is temperature dependent.
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)
In order to clarify the first point let us consider the following example
(Figure2): when a temperature difference is applied between the two ends of
a single Ni wire a voltage drop is developed across the wire itself. The end of
the wire at the highest temperature, T2, is called hot end, while the end at the
lowest temperature, T1, is called cold end.

When a voltmeter, with Cu connection wires, is used to measure the voltage

drop across the Ni wire, two junctions need to be made at the hot and cold
ends between the Cu wire and the Ni wire; assuming that the voltmeter is at
room temperature T1, one of the Cu wires of the voltmeter will experience
along it the same temperature drop from T2 to T1 the Ni wire is experiencing.
In the attempt to measure the voltage drop on the Ni wire a Ni-Cu
thermocouple has been made and so the measured voltage is in reality the
voltage drop along the Ni wire plus the voltage drop along the Cu wire.
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)
The Emf along a single thermoelement cannot be measured: the Emf
measured at the tail end in Figure1 is the sum of the voltage drop along
each of the thermoelements. As two thermoelements are needed, the
temperature measurement with thermocuoples is a differential
measurement.

Note: if the wire in Figure2 was a Cu wire a null voltage would have
been measured at the voltmeter.

The temperature measurement with thermocouples is also a

differential measurement because two different temperatures, T1 and
T2, are involved. The desired temperature is the one at the junction end,
T2. In order to have a useful transducer for measurement, a monotonic
Emf versus junction end temperature T2 relationship is needed, so that
for each temperature at the junction end a unique voltage is produced
at the tail end.
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)

However, from the integral in Equation1 it can be understood that

the Emf depends on both T1 and T2: as T1 and T2 can change
indipendently, a monotonic Emf vs T2 relationship cannot be
defined if the tail end temperature is not constant. For this reason
the tail end is mantained in an ice bath made by crushed ice and
water in a Dewar flask: this produces a reference temperature of
0°C. All the voltage versus temperature relationships for
thermocouples are referenced to 0°C.
The resulting measuring system required for a thermocople is
shown in Figure3.
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)

In order to measure the voltage at the tail end, two copper wires are
connected between the thermoelements and the voltmeter: both the Cu
wires experience the same temperature difference and as a result the
voltage drops along each of them are equal to each other and cancel
out in the measurement at the voltmeter.

The ice bath is usually replaced in industrial application with an

integrated circuit called cold junction compensator: in this case the
tail end is at ambient temperature and the temperature fluctuations at
the tail end are tolerated; in fact the cold junction compensator
produces a voltage equal to the thermocouple voltage between 0°C and
ambient temperature, which can be added to the voltage of the
thermocouple at the tail end to reproduce the voltage versus
temperature relationship of the thermocouple.
A sketch of a thermocouple with cold junction compensation is reported
in Figure4.
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)
Type R, S and B
thermocouples use Pt-base
thermoelements and they
can operate at temperatures
up to 1700°C;
however they are more
expensive and their voltage
output is lower than type K and
type N thermocouples, which
use Ni-base thermoelements.

However, Ni base
thermocouples can operate at
Figure: Voltage vs Temperature
lower temperatures than the Pt- relationship for letter-designated
base ones. thermocouples
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)
Following table shows the approximate compositions for positive
and negative thermoelements of the letter designated
thermocouples.

All the voltage-temperature relationships of the letter designated thermocouples

are monotonic, but not linear. For instance the type N thermocouple voltage
output is defined by the following 10 degree polynomials, where t is the
temperature in degree Celsius:
The Operating Principle of thermocouple (Contd.)

The coefficients Ci are reported in following Table

Thermo couple
 Rules for Thumb for Mechanical Engineers

The most common temperature sensor is the tkrmocouple (T/C). In a T/C, two
dissimilar metals are joined to form a junction, and the Remaining ends of the
metal “leads” are held at a reference (known) temperature where the voltaic
potential between those ends is measured. When the junction and reference
temperatures are not equal, an electromotive force (emf) will be generated
proportional to the temperature difference. The single most important fact to
remember about thermocouples is that emf will be generated only in areas of
the T/C where a temperature gradient exists.

If both the T/C junction and reference ends are kept at the same temperature
TI, and the middle of the sensor passes through a region of temperature T2, the
emf generated by the junction end of the T/C as it passes from TI to T2 will be
directly canceled by the voltage generated by the lead end of the T/C as it
passes from T2 to TI.

Both voltages will be equal in magnitude but opposite in sign, with the net
result being no output (see Example 1). Further explanation of thermocouple
theory, including practical usage suggestions, can be found in Dr. Robert
Moffat’s The Gradient Approach to Thermocouple Circuitry [2]. Thermocouples
are inexpensive and relatively accurate. As an example, chromel-alumel wire
with special limits of error has a 0.4% initial accuracy specification.
 Rules for Thumb for Mechanical Engineers

Tfi can be obtained in differing configuratons from as small as sub-O.OO1-

inch diameter to larger than 0.093-inch diameter and can be used from
cryogenic to 4,200”F. However, If very high accuracy is required, TICS can
have drawbacks in that output voltage drift can occur with temperature cycles
and sufficient time at high temperature, resulting in calibration shifts. ’ho other
commonly used temperature sensors are re- sistance temperature devices
(RTDs) and thermistors, both

K-type thermocouple
Types of Thermocouple
Prof. Dr. Md. Ashikur Rahman Khan