DMTS

Temperature Sensors

Data Acquisition & Control

Lec – 6
Process Control Instrumentation Technology by Curtis
Chap - 4

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq 1

 DMTS 2

Temperature
• It is the measure of the average Kinetic Energy of
molecule in a material.
• To define the temperature scale a set of calibration
points is used.
▫ Oxygen: liquid/gas equilibrium
▫ Water: solid/liquid equilibrium
▫ Water: liquid/gas equilibrium
▫ Gold: solid/liquid equilibrium

• Temperature scales were defined by assigning

numerical values of temperature to the calibration
points.

• The scales differ in two respects

▫ Location of zero of temperature.
▫ Size of one unit of measure.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 3

Temperature Scales
Zero at Absolute Zero

Calibration Celsius Kelvin Rankine Fahrenheit

Point (oC) (K) (oR) (oF)
Zero Thermal -273.15 0 0 -459.6
Energy
Oxygen: -182.97 90.18 162.3 -297.3
liquid/gas
Water: 0 273.15 491.6 32
solid/liquid
Water: 100 373.15 671.6 212
liquid/gas
Gold: 1063 1336.15 2405 1945.5
solid/liquid

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq Same unit size Same unit size

 DMTS 4

Temperature Scales

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Resistance vs Temp. Approximation

5

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 6

Metal Resistance vs Temp Appx

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Metal Resistance vs Temp Appx

7

•
T(oF) R(Ω)
60 106.0
65 107.6
70 109.1
75 110.2
80 111.1
85 111.7
90 112.2

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

8
Metal Resistance vs Temp Appx
•

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Metal Resistance vs Temp Appx

9

T(oF) R(Ω)
60 106.0
65 107.6
70 109.1
75 110.2
80 111.1
85 111.7
90 112.2

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 10

Metal Resistance vs Temp Appx

Resistance-Temperature Detectors (RTD)
RTD is based upon the fact that metal resistance increase
with the temp.
• Repeatability: Different type of metals used like Platinum, it is very
repeatable, quite sensitive, & very expensive. while nickel, is not
quite as repeatable, more sensitive and less expensive.
• Sensitivity: An estimate of RTD sensitivity can be noted from
typical values of α0. For platinum it is around 0.004/oC. For nickel
it is around 0.005/oC. (e.g. 0.4Ω would be expected for 100Ω
platinum based RTD if the temperature changed by 10C)
• Response Time: RTD usually has a response time of 0.5 to 5sec. It
is due to the slowness of thermal conductivity to bring the device
into thermal equilibrium. The time constant are specified either for
a “free air” condition or an “oil bath” condition.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 11

Resistance-Temperature Detectors (RTD)

Construction of RTD

An RTD is simply a metal

wire usually wounded on a
form to achieve small size and
improve thermal conductivity
to decrease response time.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 12

Resistance-Temperature Detectors (RTD)

• Signal Conditioning: RTD generally used in bridge
circuit configuration as shown below.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 13

Resistance-Temperature Detectors (RTD)

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Semiconductor resistance vs Temp.

16

• Semiconductor behavior is just opposite of a metal.

• Semiconductor becomes a better conductor of current as
its temperature increased, so its resistance decrease.
• The change in semiconductor resistance is highly non
linear.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 17

Semiconductor resistance vs Temp.

Thermistor
• Thermistor work on the principal of
semiconductor resistance change with
temperature.
• Sensitivity: Thermistor possesses better sensitivity as
compared to RTD e.g. a thermistor with a resistance of
10k Ω may change by 1k Ω for 1oC.
• Response Time: The response time of thermistor depends
on the quantity of material present and the environment.
• Construction: Thermistor can be fabricated in many
forms like discs, beads, and rods.
• Signal conditioning: Thermistor typically used with
bridge circuit because of it nonlinear behavior.
• Power dissipation: Typical values vary from 1mW/oC in
free air to 10mW/oC or more in oil bath.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Thermocouples

Most frequently used method to measure

temperatures with an electrical output signal.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

What are thermocouples?

• Thermocouples operate under the principle that a circuit
made by connecting two dissimilar metals produces a
measurable voltage (emf) when a temperature gradient is
imposed between one end and the other.
• This effect is known as
Seebeck effect

• They are inexpensive, small, rugged and accurate when

used with an understanding of their peculiarities.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS

Thermocouples Principle of
Operation - Seebeck effect

• In, 1821 T. J. Seebeck observed the existence of an

electromotive force (EMF) at the junction formed between
two dissimilar metals (Seebeck effect).
• Seebeck effect is actually the combined result of two other
phenomena, Thomson and Peltier effects.
 Thomson observed the existence of an EMF due to the
contact of two dissimilar metals at the junction
temperature.
 Peltier discovered that temperature gradients along
conductors in a circuit generate an EMF.
 The Thomson effect is normally much smaller than the
Peltier effect.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 21

The Seebeck Effect

The relationship between temperature difference and
voltage varies with materials

Nickel-Chromium Alloy
+
The voltage difference
of the two dissimilar
metals can be measured VS = SΔT
and related to the
corresponding
temperature gradient -
Copper-Nickel Alloy

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

How thermocouples work

Seebeck effect

• It is generally reasonable to assume that the emf is generated

in the wires, not in the junction. The signal is generated when
dT/dx is not zero.
• When the materials are homogeneous, thermoelectric power,
is a function of temperature only.
• Two wires begin and end at the same two temperatures.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Material EMF versus Temperature

• Two materials
– Material A (+) Chromel
– Material B (-)
Iron
emf Copper
Platinum-Rhodium
Plus and minus
refers to how
the emf changes Alumel
with temp
Constantan
Temperature

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Thermocouples Types
Type Materials Normal
Range (oC)
J Iron-constantan -190 to 760
T Copper-constantan -200 to 371
K Chromel-alumel -190 to 1260
E Chromel- -100 to 1260
constantan
S 90% 0 to 1482
platinum+10%
rhodium-platinum
R 87% platinum+13% 0 to 1482
rhodium-platinum

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Thermocouple Tables – EMF Temp

• Thermocouple output voltages are highly nonlinear
• Thermocouple tables correlate temperature to emf voltage.
▫ Need to keep in mind that the thermocouple tables
provide a voltage value with respect to a reference
temperature.
▫ Usually the reference temperature is 0°C. If your
reference junction is not at 0°C, a correction must be
applied.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 26

Measuring Temperature

To determine You need to

the absolute know the
temperature temperature
at the hot at the Ref
junction… junction!

How can we
determine the
temperature at the
reference junction?

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

Reference Temp Systems

Vmeasure = V(Thot) – V(Tref)

• In thermocouple one temperature must be known as the emf

produce is proportional to the difference between the
junction temperatures.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 28

Ice Bath Method (Forcing a Temp)

Thermocouple reference
tables are generated with
Tref = 0 oC

If we know the voltage-

temperature relationship of
our thermocouple, we could
determine the temperature at
the hot junction
▫ Ice Baths
 Accurate and inexpensive
Is This Really Practical For a Rocket?

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 29

Cold Junction Compensation

(Electronically Controlled Reference)

▫ Electronically Controlled References

 Require periodic calibration and are generally not as stable
as ice baths, but are more convenient.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq Temperature ENGINEERING

 DMTS

Reference Compensation

Following techniques are employed :

1. Controlled temperature reference block: The reference junction
of all the thermocouple used , placed in a temperature controlled
block to control the reference junction.
2. Reference compensation circuit: An IC is used to monitor the
reference junction temperature. This will add or subtract the
correction factor directly to the Thermocouple output.
3. Software reference correction: In computer based measurement
system the reference junction temperature is monitored by another
temperature sensor and provided as an input to computer. Then
software provides the correction in the thermocouple value.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 31

Thermocouple Look-Up Table

Example:
If cold junction (Tref) is at 0 oC , What will be emf generated at 22 oC
(Tmeasure) ?
Ans: 0.87mV

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 32

Thermocouple Look-Up Table

Example:
What will be emf generated at 55 oC, if cold junction is at 22 oC ?
Ans: 2.251mV - 0.87mV = 1.381mV

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 33

Thermocouple Look-Up Table

Example:
Voltage difference of the hot and cold junctions: VD = 3.409 mV
What is the temperature of the hot junction if the cold junction is at 22 oC?

Ans:
The hot
junction
voltage is
3.409 +
0.870 =
4.279 mV

The temp at
the hot junc
is therefore
100 oC
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 34

Thermocouple Look-Up Table

Voltage difference of the hot and cold junctions: VD = 4.472 mV
What is the temperature of the hot junction if the cold junction is
at –5 oC?

At -5 oC, the
cold junc
voltage is
–0.193 mV

The hot junction voltage is therefore = 4.472 mV + (– 0.193 mV) = 4.279 mV

The temperature at the hot junction is therefore 100 oC
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 35

Thermocouple Look-Up Table

Where
• VM=The measured voltage, lies between a higher voltage,
VH, and a lower voltage, VL which are in the tables.
• TM=The measured temperature, lies between a higher
temp, TH, and a lower temp, TL .
• TH & TL corresponds to VH & VL respectively.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 36

Example: Thermocouple Look-Up Table

A voltage of 2.095 mV is measured with a type K TC at a 0oC reference.
Find the temperature of the measurement junction.

TH= 52oC
TL= 51oC
VM= 2.095mV
TM= VL VH

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 37

Thermocouple
• Sensitivity:
▫ Type J : 0.05 mV /oC
▫ Type S : 0.006 mV /oC
• Range: Thermocouple temperature sensor has the greatest range
of all the types considered. General purpose thermocouple is usable
from -190 to 760oC(J type) or S type is usable up to 1765oC.
• Response Time: The response time of thermocouple related to the
size of wire. Small gauge wire thermocouple has response time of
10-20 msec while large industrial thick wire thermocouple has 10
to 20 sec.
• Construction: Thermocouple is sheathed in a protective covering or
even sealed in a glass to protect the unit from a hostile
environment.
• Signal conditioning: Thermocouple is used with a high gain
differential amplifier to cancel noise.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS

Noise in Thermocouples

• Noise: A bare thermocouple may have many times more noise

than temperature signal. Following techniques are employed
for noise reduction
▫ The extension wire from the thermocouple to the reference
junction or measurement system are twisted and then
wrapped with a grounded foil sheath.
▫ The stainless steal sheath covering of measurement
junction should be grounded.
▫ An instrumentation (differential) amplifier that has
high common mode rejection is employed for
measurement.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 39

Temperature Data Acquistion

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 40

OTHER THERMAL SENSORS

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

41
Bimetallic strip
• When two materials with
grossly different
expansion coefficients
are bounded together and
are heated, the different
expansion rates cause the
assembly to curve.
• This effect can be used to
close switch contacts or to
actuate an On/Off
mechanism.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS

42
Bimetallic strip - Applications

A bimetallic coil from a thermometer reacts to the heat

from a lighter, by uncoiling and then coiling back up when
the lighter is removed.
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 43

Bimetallic strip
• Bimetal strip based upon thermal expansion of solids.
• If we have a rod of length lo at temperature To and temperature is
raised to a new value, T, the rod will be found to have a new length, l,
given by
l = lo [ 1 + γ ΔT ]
Where ΔT = T – To and
γ is the linear thermal expansion coefficient.
• Bimetal strip is usually used for On/Off control, because it has
relatively slow time response, have hysteresis, and being low in cost.

Material Expansion Coefficient

Aluminum 25 x 10-6/oC
Copper 16.6 x 10-6/oC
Steel 6.7 x 10-6/oC
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 44

Bimetallic strip
• Example: How much an aluminum rod of 10m length at 20oC
expand when the temperature is changed from 0 to 100oC?
• Solution :
• Find the length at 0oC and at 100oC, then subtract both.

• l = lo [ 1 + γ ΔT ] Material Expansion
Coefficient
• l 1 = (10m)[1+(25 x 10-6)(0oC - 20oC)] Aluminum 25 x 10-6/oC

• l at 0oC = 9.995 m Copper 16.6 x 10-6/oC

Steel 6.7 x 10-6/oC
• l2 = (10m)[1+(25 x 10-6)(100oC - 20oC)] copper 9.3 x 10-6/oC
• l at 100oC = 10.02 m
• Change in length = 25 mm

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 45

Other thermal sensors

•

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 46

Other thermal sensors

Vapor-pressure Thermometers
• A vapor-pressure thermometer converts temperature
information directly into pressure as gas thermometer
does.
• It consist of a closed vessel partially filled with
liquid, then the space above the liquid will consist of
evaporated vapor of the liquid at a pressure that
depends on the temperature.
• If the temperature is raised, more liquid will vaporize,
and the pressure will increase.
• If the temperature decrease, condensation of some of
the vapor occurs and pressure will decrease.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 47

other thermal sensors

Solid state temperature sensor

• These devices offer voltages that vary linearly

with temperature over a specified range.
• The operating temperature is typically -50 to
150oC.
• The time constant for good thermal contact is 1-5
sec and for poor thermal contact it may be 60 sec
or more.
• The dissipation constant is in the range of 2 to
20mW/oC.
• These type of sensors are easy to interface to
control systems and computers.
• One important application is to provide
automatic reference temperature
compensation for thermocouple.

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 48

Design Considerations
• Identify the nature of the measurement

• Identify the required output signal

• Select an appropriate sensor

• Design the required signal conditioning

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 49

Example: Practical Consideration

A type J thermocouple is to be used in a measurement system that must
provide an output of 2v at 200oC. A solid state temperature sensor
system will be used to provide reference temperature correction whose
voltage VC varies as 8mV/oC.

Solution :
• From J type thermocouple (TC) table
1. Output is 10.78mV at 200oC
2. Output voltage varies approximately @ 50μV/oC
• However the output of the correction sensor is 8mV/oC
• For cold junction compensation, we need to bring o/p of TC and
correction sensor at the same level i.e. amplify the o/p of TC
Amplify @ (8mV/oC)/(50μV/oC)=160 times.
• We have to amplify the thermocouple signal by 160 times before adding
correction voltages from the reference correction sensor.
Vout 1= [ 160 VTC + VC ]
Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq
 DMTS 50

Example: Practical Consideration

A type J thermocouple is to be used in a measurement system that must
provide an output of 2v at 200oC. A solid state temperature sensor
system will be used to provide reference temperature correction whose
voltage VC varies as 8mV/oC.

Solution (Cont’):
Vout 1= [ 160 VTC + VC ]
• As per given criteria, we need to fix gain of TC (i.e. 2V for 200oC).
=> Desired TC Gain = 2V/0.01078=185.5
• Therefore desired TC gain is achieved in two stages i.e.
▫ Stage 1: Gain, K1=160 (as already calculated)
▫ Stage2: Correction Gain, K2=185.5/160=1.159
• We have to amplify the thermocouple signal by 160 times before adding
correction voltages from the reference correction sensor.
Final Characteristic Eq: Vout 2= 1.159 [ 160 VTC + VC ]

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 51

other thermal sensors

K1VTC
K1 V1 K2 V2

=V1
V2 = K2 [ K1VTC + VC ]

Vout = 1.159 [ 160 VTC + VC ]

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq

 DMTS 54

Home Assignment
• Example: 4.17 – 4.20
• Exercise Problems: 4.1 – 4.30

Lt Col Dr Nauman Razzaq