MEASUREMENT TECHNOLOGY

TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT

School of Electrical Engineering, Hanoi University of Science and Technology

1 Dai Co Viet road, Hà Nôi, Viêt Nam

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 Outline
• Thermocouples
– overview, reference junction, proper connections, types, special
limits of error wire, time constants, sheathing, potential problems,
DAQ setup
• RTDs
– overview, bridges, calibration, accuracy, response time, potentail
problems
• Thermistors
• Infrared Thermometry
– fundamentals, emissivity determination, field of view
• Other
– Non-electronic measurement, thin-film heat flux gauge
• Temperature Controllers
• How to Choose
– Standards, cost, accuracy, stability, sensitivity, size, contact/non-
contact, temperature range, fluid type

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 Thermocouples

• Seebeck effect
– If two wires of dissimilar metals are joined at both ends and one
end is heated, current will flow.
– If the circuit is broken, there will be an open circuit voltage across
the wires.
– Voltage is a function of temperature and metal types.
– For small DT’s, the relationship with temperature is linear

DV = DT
– For larger DT’s, non-linearities may occur.

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 Measuring the Thermocouple Voltage
• If you attach the thermocouple directly to a voltmeter, you will
have problems.

• You have just created another junction! Your displayed voltage

will be proportional to the difference between J1 and J2 (and
hence T1 and T2). Note that this is “Type T” thermocouple.
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 External Reference Junction

• A solution is to put J2 in an ice-bath;

then you know T2, and your output
voltage will be proportional to T1-T2.

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 Other types of thermocouples
• Many thermocouples don’t have one copper wire. Shown
below is a “Type J” thermocouple.

• If the two terminals aren’t at the same temperature, this

also creates an error.

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 Isothermal Block
• The block is an electrical insulator but good heat
conductor. This way the voltages for J3 and J4 cancel out.
Thermocouple data acquisition set-ups include these
isothermal blocks.

• If we eliminate the ice-bath, then the isothermal block

temperature is our reference temperature

V =  (T1 − Tblock )
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 Software Compensation
• How can we find the temperature of the block?
Use a thermister or RTD.
• Once the temperature is known, the voltage
associated with that temperature can be
subtracted off.
• Then why use thermocouples at all?
– Thermocouples are cheaper, smaller, more flexible and
rugged, and operate over a wider temperature range.
• Most data acquisition systems have software
compensation built in. To use Labview,you’ll need
to know if you have a thermister or RTD.

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 Hardware Compensation
• With hardware compensation, the temperature of the
isothermal block again is measured, and then a battery
is used to cancel out the voltage of the reference
junction.
• This is also called an “electronic ice point reference”.
With this reference, you can use a normal voltmeter
instead of a thermocouple reader. You need a separate
ice-point reference for every type of thermocouple.

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 Making Thermocouple Beads

• Soldering, silver-soldering, butt or spot or beaded gas

welding, crimping, and twisting are all OK.
• The third metal introduced doesn’t effect results as long
as the temperature everywhere in the bead is the
same.
• Welding should be done carefully so as to not degrade
the metals.
• If you consistently will need a lot of thermocouples, you
can buy a thermocouple welder; you stick the two ends
into a hole, hit a button, and the welding is done.

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 Time Constant vs. Wire Diameter

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 Time Constant vs. Wire Diameter, cont.

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 Thermocouple Types

If you do your own

calibration, you can
usually improve on the
listed uncertainties.
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 Thermocouple Types, cont.

• Type B – very poor below 50ºC; reference junction temperature not

important since voltage output is about the same from 0 to 42 ºC
• Type E – good for low temperatures since dV/dT () is high for low
temperatures
• Type J – cheap because one wire is iron; high sensitivity but also high
uncertainty (iron impurities cause inaccuracy)
• Type T – good accuracy but low max temperature (400 ºC); one lead is
copper, making connections easier; watch for heat being conducted
along the copper wire, changing your surface temp
• Type K – popular type since it has decent accuracy and a wide
temperature range; some instability (drift) over time
• Type N – most stable over time when exposed to elevated
temperatures for long periods

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 Sheathing and SLE

• “Special Limits of Error” wire can be used to improve accuracy.

• Sheathing of wires protects them from the environment
(fracture, oxidation, etc.) and shields them from electrical
interference.
• The sheath should extend completely through the medium of
interest. Outside the medium of interest it can be reduced.
• Sometimes the bead is exposed and only the wire is covered by
the sheath. In harsher environments, the bead is also covered.
This will increase the time constant.
• Platinum wires should be sheathed in non-metallic sheaths
since they have a problem with metallic vapor diffusion at high
temperatures.

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 Sheathing, cont.

• From J. Nicholas & D. White, 2001, Traceable Temperatures: An Introduction to

Temperature Measurement and Calibration, 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons.
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 Potential Problems
• Poor bead construction
– Weld changed material characteristics because the weld
temp. was too high.
– Large solder bead with temperature gradient across it
• Decalibration
– If thermocouples are used for very high or cold temperatures,
wire properties can change due to diffusion of insulation or
atmosphere particles into the wire, cold-working, or
annealing.
– Inhomogeneities in the wire; these are especially bad in areas
with large temperature gradients; esp. common in iron.
Metallic sleeving can help reduce their effect on the final
temperature reading.

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 Potential Problems, cont.
• Shunt impedence
– As temperature goes up, the resistance of many
insulation types goes down. At high enough
temperatures, this creates a “virtual junction”. This is
especially problematic for small diameter wires.
• Galvanic Action
– The dyes in some insulations form an electrolyte in the
water. This creates a galvanic action with a resulting
emf potentially many times that of the thermocouple.
Use an appropriate shield for a wet environment. “T
Type” thermocouples have less of a problem with this.

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 Potential Problems, cont.

• Thermal shunting
– It takes energy to heat the thermocouple, which results in a small decrease
in the surroundings’ temperature. For tiny spaces, this may be a problem.
– Use small wire (with a small thermal mass) to help alleviate this problem.
Small-diameter wire is more susceptible to decalibration and shunt
impedence problems. Extension wire helps alleviate this problem. Have
short leads on the thermocouple, and connect them to the same type of
extension wire which is larger. Extension wire has a smaller temperature
range than normal wire.
• Noise
– Several types of circuit set-ups help reduce line-related noise. You can set
your data acquisition system up with a filter, too.
– Small-diameter wires have more of a problem with noise.

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 Potential Problems

• Conduction along the thermocouple wire

– In areas of large temperature gradient, heat can be
conducted along the thermocouple wire, changing
the bead temperature.
– Small diameter wires conduct less of this heat.
– T-type thermocouples have more of a problem with
this than most other types since one of the leads is
made of copper which has a high thermal
conductivity.
• Inaccurate ice-point

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 Data Acquisition Systems for Thermocouples

• Agilent, HP, and National Instruments are

probably the most popular DAQ systems
• Example National Instruments DAQ setup for
thermocouples and costs
item part number cost
16-bit temperature data acquisition card PCI 6232E 1495
analog input module for thermocouples SCXI-1112 695
chassis SCXI-1000 695
terminal block for thermocouples SCXI-1303 275
shielded cable SH68-68-EP 95
Total cost: 3255

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 Things to Note During System Assembly

• Make sure materials are clean, esp. for high temperatures.

• Check the temperature range of materials. Materials may degrade
significantly before the highest temperature listed.
• Make sure you have a good isothermal junction.
• Use enough wire that there are no temperature gradients where it’s
connected to your DAQ system.
• If you’re using thermocouple connectors, use the right type for your
wire.
• If you’re using a DAQ system, use the right set-up for thermocouples.
• Check the ice-point reference.
• Provide proper insulation for harsh environments.
• Pass a hair-dryer over the wire. The temperature reading should only
change when you pass it over the bead.
• Mount a thermocouple only on a surface that is not electrically live
(watch for this when measuring temperatures of electronics).

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 RTDs (Resistance Temperature Detectors)

• Resistivity of metals is a function of temperature.

• Platinum often used since it can be used for a wide temperature range
and has excellent stability. Nickel or nickel alloys are used as well, but
they aren’t as accurate.
• In several common configurations, the platinum wire is exposed
directly to air (called a bird-cage element), wound around a bobbin and
then sealed in molten glass, or threaded through a ceramic cylinder.
• Metal film RTDs are new. To make these, a platinum or metal-glass
slurry film is deposited onto a ceramic substrate. The substrate is then
etched with a laser. These RTDs are very small but aren’t as stable
(and hence accurate).
• RTDs are more accurate but also larger and more expensive than
thermocouples.

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 RTD geometry

From Nicholas & White, Traceable Temperatures.

• Sheathing: stainless steel or iconel, glass, alumina, quartz
• Metal sheath can cause contamination at high temperatures and
are best below 250ºC.
• At very high temperatures, quartz and high-purity alumina are
best to prevent contamination.
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 Resistance Measurement
• Several different bridge circuits are used to determine
the resistance. Bridge circuits help improve the
accuracy of the measurements significantly. Bridge
output voltage is a function of the RTD resistance.

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 Resistance/Temperature Conversion

• Published equations relating bridge voltage to

temperature can be used.
• For very accurate results, do your own calibration.
– Several electronic calibrators are available.
– The most accurate calibration that you can do easily yourself
is to use a constant temperature bath and NIST-traceable
thermometers. You then can make your own calibration curve
correlating temperature and voltage.

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 Accuracy and Response Time

• Response time is longer than thermocouples; for a ¼

sheath, response time can easily be 10 s.
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 Potential Problems

• RTDs are more fragile than thermocouples.

• An external current must be supplied to the RTD. This current can heat
the RTD, altering the results. For situations with high heat transfer
coefficients, this error is small since the heat is dissipated to air. For
small diameter thermocouples and still air this error is the largest. Use
the largest RTD possible and smallest external current possible to
minimize this error.
• Be careful about the way you set up your measurement device.
Attaching it can change the voltage.
• When the platinum is connected to copper connectors, a voltage
difference will occur (as in thermocouples). This voltage must be
subtracted off.

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 Thermistors

• Thermistors also measure the change in resistance with

temperature.
• Thermistors are very sensitive (up to 100 times more than RTDs
and 1000 times more than thermocouples) and can detect very
small changes in temperature. They are also very fast.
• Due to their speed, they are used for precision temperature
control and any time very small temperature differences must be
detected.
• They are made of ceramic semiconductor material (metal
oxides).
• The change in thermistor resistance with temperature is very
non-linear.

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 Thermistor Non-Linearity

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 Resistance/Temperature Conversion

• Standard thermistors curves are not provided as much

as with thermocouples or RTDs. You often need a
curve for a specific batch of thermistors.
• No 4-wire bridge is required as with an RTD.
• DAQ systems can handle the non-linear curve fit easily.
• Thermistors do not do well at high temperatures and
show instability with time (but for the best ones, this
instability is only a few millikelvin per year)

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 Infrared Thermometry

• Infrared thermometers measure the amount of radiation

emitted by an object.
• Peak magnitude is often in the infrared region.
• Surface emissivity must be known. This can add a lot of
error.
• Reflection from other objects can introduce error as
well.
• Surface whose temp you’re measuring must fill the field
of view of your camera.

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 Benefits of Infrared Thermometry

• Can be used for

– Moving objects
– Non-contact
applications where
sensors would
affect results or be
difficult to insert or
conditions are
hazardous
– Large distances
– Very high
temperatures
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 Field of View
• On some infrared thermometers, FOV is
adjustable.

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 Emissivity

• To back out temperature, surface emissivity must

be known.
• You can look up emissivities, but it’s not easy to
get an accurate number, esp. if surface condition
is uncertain (for example, degree of oxidation).
• Highly reflective surfaces introduce a lot of error.
• Narrow-band spectral filtering results in a more
accurate emissivity value.

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 Ways to Determine Emissivity

1. Measure the temperature with a thermocouple and an infrared

thermometer. Back out the emissivity. This method works well if
emissivity doesn’t change much with temperature or you’re not
dealing with a large temperature range.
2. For temperatures below 500°F, place an object covered with masking
tape (which has e=0.95) in the same atmosphere. Both objects will be
at the same temperature. Back out the unknown emissivity of the
surface.
3. Drill a long hole in the object. The hole acts like a blackbody with
e=1.0. Measure the temperature of the hole, and find the surface
emissivity that gives the same temperature.
4. Coat all or part of the surface with dull black paint which has e=1.0.
5. For a standard material with known surface condition, look up e.

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 Spectral Effects

• Use a filter to eliminate longer-wavelength atmospheric radiation (since

your surface will often have a much higher temperature than the
atmosphere).
• If you know the range of temperatures that you’ll be measuring, you
can filter out both smaller and larger wavelength radiation. Filtering out
small wavelengths eliminates the effects of flames or other hot spots.
• If you’re measuring through glass-type surfaces, make sure that the
glass is transparent for the wavelengths you care about. Otherwise the
temperature you read will be a sort of average of your desired surface
and glass temperatures.

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 Price and Accuracy

• Prices range from $500 (for a cheap handheld) to

$6000 (for a highly accurate computer-controlled
model).
• Accuracy is often in the 0.5-1% of full range.
Uncertainties of 10°F are common, but at temperatures
of several hundred degrees, this is small.

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 Non-Electronic Temperature Gages

• Crayons – You can buy crayons with specified melting temperatures.

Mark the surface, and when the mark melts, you know the temperature
at that time.
• Lacquers – Special lacquers are available that change from dull to
glossy and transparent at a specified temperature. This is a type of
phase change.
• Pellets – These change phase like crayons and lacquers but are
larger. If the heating time is long, oxidation may obscure crayon marks.
Pellets are also used as thermal fuses; they can be placed so that
when they melt, they release a circuit breaker.
• Temperature sensitive labels – These are nice because you can peel
them off when finished and place them in a log book.

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 Non-Electronic Temperature Gages, cont.

• Liquid crystals – They change color with temperature. If

the calibration is know, color can be determined very
accurately using a digital camera and appropriate
image analysis software. This is used a fair amount for
research.
• Naphthalene sublimation (to find h, not T)– Make
samples out of naphthalene and measure their mass
change over a specified time period. Use the heat and
mass transfer analogy to back out h.

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 Thin-Film Heat Flux Gauge

• Temperature difference across a narrow gap of known

material is measured using a thermopile.
• A thermopile is a group of thermocouples combined in
series to reduce uncertainty and measure a
temperature difference.

From Nicholas & White, Traceable Temperatures.

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 Thin-Film Heat Flux Gauge, cont.

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 Thin-Film Heat Flux Gauge, cont.
• Difficulties with these gauges
– The distance between the two sides is very
small, so the temperature difference is small.
The uncertainty in the temperature difference
measurement can be large.
– Watch where you place them. If the effective
conductivity of the gauges is different than the
conductivity of the material surrounding it, it will
be either easier or harder for heat to pass
through it. Heat will take the path of least
resistance, so if you don’t position the gauge
carefully, you may not be measuring the actual
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heat flux. 43
 Temperature Controllers

• Consider the following when choosing a controller

– Type of temperature sensor (thermocouples and RTDs are
common)
– Number and type of outputs required (for example, turn on a
heater, turn off a cooling system, sound an alarm)
– Type of control algarithm (on/off, proportional, PID)
• On/off controllers
– These are the simplest controllers.
– On above a certain setpoint, and off below a certain setpoint
– On/off differential used to prevent continuous cycling on and off.
– This type of controller can’t be used for precise temperature
control.
– Often used for systems with a large thermal mass (where
temperatures take a long time to change) and for alarms.

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 Proportional controllers

• Proportional controllers
– Power can be varied. For example, in a heating
unit the average power supplied will decrease
the closer one gets to the set point.
– Power is often varied by turning the controller
on and off very quickly rather than using a VFD
– Some proportional controllers use proportional
analog outputs where the output level is varied
rather than turning the controller on and off.

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 PID
• Combines proportional with integral and derivative control.
• With proportional control, the temperature usually stabilizes a
certain amount above or below the setpoint. This difference is
called offset.

• With integral and derivative control, this offset is compensated

for so that you end up at the setpoint. This provides very
accurate temperature control, even for systems where the temp.
is changing rapidly.
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 How to Choose a Temperature Control
Device or System
• Things to take into account
– Standards
– Cost
– Accuracy
– Stability over time (esp. for high temperatures)
– Sensitivity
– Size
– Contact/non-contact
– Temperature range
– Fluid
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 International Standards

• North America
– NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers
Association), UL (Underwriters Laboratories),
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CSA (Canadian Standards Association
48
 Enclosure Ratings

• Type 1 – general purpose indoor enclosure to prevent

accidental contact
• Type 2 – indoor use, provides limited protection from dirt and
dripping water
• Type 3 – outdoor use to protect against wind-blown dust, sleet,
rain, but no ice formation
• Type 3R – outdoor use to protect against falling rain but no ice
formation
• Type 4 – add splashing or hose-directed water to 3
• Type 4x – add corrosion
• Type 6 – add occasional submersion to 4x
• etc.

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 Choice Between RTDs, Thermocouples,
Thermisters
• Cost – thermocouples are cheapest by far, followed by RTDs
• Accuracy – RTDs or thermisters
• Sensitivity – thermisters
• Speed - thermisters
• Stability at high temperatures – not thermisters
• Size – thermocouples and thermisters can be made quite small
• Temperature range – thermocouples have the highest range, followed
by RTDs
• Ruggedness – thermocouples are best if your system will be taking a
lot of abuse

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 Simplified Uncertainty Analysis for Lab 1

• Random (precision) error

– For temperature measurements, this typically includes
fluctuations in the electronics of the data acquisition units
as well as fluctuations in the quantities measured
• Bias (fixed) error
– For temperature measurements, this typically includes the
finite resolution of the A/D card (if one is used), the use of
a curve fit for the thermocouples, reading of calibration
thermometers, and conduction and radiation errors.
• Total uncertainty is found using the root mean square of
these two errors

U = random error 2 + bias error 2

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 Random Error
• 95% confidence interval – 95% of temperature readings
will fall in this range
– =+/- 2 standard deviations
– For your lab, during calibration, take at least 35 data points
(N=35) at one temperature. Then calculate the average and
standard deviation using the equations below.
– Excel can also be used.

1 N
T =  Ti
N i =1
1
 1 N 2
(Ti − T ) 
2
ST =  
 N − 1 i =1 

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 Bias Error
• Conduction and radiation errors should be
negligible.
• For our lab, we will do a simplified analysis.
• Once you have a calibration curve fit, find the
deviation between the curve fit and each data
point. Use the magnitude of the maximum
deviation as your bias error.
• In ME 120 you’ll learn a lot more about calculating
uncertainties!

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 Thank you for your attention!

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