Resistance Temperature Detector(RTD)

Video on RTD principle

Resistance Temperature Detector(RTD)
 A Resistance Thermometer or Resistance Temperature Detector is a device used to determine
the temperature by measuring the resistance of pure electrical wire.
Materials Used

• In RTD devices Copper, Nickel and Platinum are widely used metals.
These three metals are having different resistance variations with
respective to the temperature variations. That is called resistance-
temperature characteristics
Construction
Operations of RTD
RTD Wiring Arrangements
• Advantages

1. Very high accuracy

2. Excellent stability and reproducibility

3. Good Interchangeability

4. Ability to be matched to close tolerances for temperature difference measurements.

5. Ability to measure narrow spans

6. Suitability for remote measurement

7. Wide temperature range approximately - 200 to 850º C

• Disadvantages

•  

1. Susceptibility to mechanical damage

2. Need for lead wire resistance compensation

3. Sometimes expensive

4. Susceptibility to self-heating error

5. Susceptibility to signal noise

6. Unsuitability for bare use in electrically conducting substance

7. Generally not repairable

8. Need for power supply

• Applications of RTD

1. With a temperature range up to 850°C, RTDs can be used in all but the highest-temperature
industrial processes.

2. They are used in Air conditioning and refrigeration applications

3. To measure surface temperature of materials

4. RTDs are used in sensing Air, gas and liquid temperatures in pipes and ducts

• They are used in Exhaust gas temperature measurement