Lecture36:TemperatueMeasurements

Contents
Principleofthermocouples
Materialsforthemocouples
Coldjunctioncompensation
Compensatingwires
Selectionofthermocouples
Illustrationofgastemperaturecorrection

KeyWords:Thermocouple,SeebackEffect,Furnace,emf

PrincipleofThermocouples
Whentwodissimilarmetalssuchaironandcopperaregainedtoformaclosedcircuit,currentflow
whenonejunctionisathighertemperatureandtheotheroneisatlowertemperatureasshowninthe
figure.

Figure36.1:Principleofmeasurementoftemperaturebyathermocouple

Theemfdrivingthecurrentiscalledathermoelectricemfandthephenomenonisknownas
thermoelectriceffectorSeebackeffect.
Usuallyathermoelectricemfisverysmall.Apairofdissimilarmetalsweldedtogetherattheirjunction
formswhatiscalledathermocouple.Whenseveralthermocouplesarearrangedinseries,theemfis
addedtogethertogiveanappreciableoutput,thisarrangementiscalledthermopileasshowninthe
figure.

Figure36.2:Arrangementofthermocoupletoformathermopile

Whentwodissimilarmetalsarejoinedtogether,thefreeelectronsmoverandomlyacrossthejunction.
Becauseofthedifferentatomicstructureofeachmetal,electronspassmorereadilyacrossthe
boundaryinonedirectionthaninother.Thisresultsindisplacementofcharges,makingonemetal
positiveandothernegative.

Materialsforthermocouple:
1. Meltingpointofthermocouplematerialsmustbehigherthanthemeasuringtemperature.
2. Thedissimilarmaterialsonjoiningshouldbeabletoproducelargeemfforaccuracyof
measurements.
3. Temperatureisdeterminedindirectlyi.e.throughcalibrationsofemfwithtemperature.As
foraspossible,thelinearvariationofemfwithtemperatureisdesired.
4. Thermocouplematerialsshouldberesistanttoatmospheresinfurnaces.
Availablethermocouples.
Type Positivewire
(+ve)
Negativewire
(ve)
Maximum
temperature( )
Suitable
under
T C
u
Ni
45
Cu
55
370 . Oxidizing&
reducing
S Pt
90
Rh
10
Pt 1700 . Oxidizing&
inert
N Ni
85
Ci
14
Si
1.5
Ni
95.5
Si
1.5
Nn
0.4
1260 . Oxidizing&
inert
Ni
90
Ci
10
Ni
95
Nn
2
At K
2
Si
1
1260 . Oxidizing
&inert
J Fe Ni
45
Cu
55
760 . Oxidizingand
reducing
B Pi
70
Rh
30
Pt
94
Rh
6
1750 . Oxidizing,
inert&
vacuum

Coldjunctioncompensation
Application of see back effect to thermocouple requires that one end of the junction (cold) must be at
constanttemperature.
The standard calibration data for all thermocouples are based on 0 cold junction temperature. In
practiceitmaynotbepossibletokeepcoldjunctionatzerodegreetemperature.Hencestandarddata
need to be corrected. One way is to add the environmental temperature to the value of temperature
determinedbythermocouplemeasurement.
In another method, thermistor may be put in the thermocouple circuit. The voltage drop across
thermistordependsonenvironmentaltemperaturewhichthencompensatesfortheerror.
Compensatingwires
Compensating wires are those wires which are connected from the thermocouple to the temperature
indicator.Compensatingwiresshouldhavesameemfasthatofthermocouples.
Compensatingwiresarecolorcoded.
Positivewire
Fe
NiCr
Cu
NiCr
NiCrSi
Color
White
Yellow
Blue
Purple
Orange
Thermocouple
Feconstantan
Chromelalumel
CuNIbase
Chromelconstantan
Nicrosil/Nisil

Thenegativewiresinallthermocouplesarered.
Selectionofthermocouples
1)Typeoffurnace;whetherbatchorcontinuousandthefrequencyofmeasurement.

2)Furnaceatmosphere:Thefurnaceatmospheremaybeoxidizingorreducing,inertorvacuum.
Accordingly thermocouples are selected. For example Pt, PtRh can be used in oxidizing and
inert atmospheres up to 148u. Chromel alumel thermocouples may be used in reducing
atmospherebutatlowtemperatures.

3)Responseofthermocoupletotemperaturedifferenceisimportant.Normallythermocouples
re inserted in a ceramic sheath. During temperature measurement, The hot junction of the
Illustrat ofgastemperaturecorrection
re of gas by a thermocouple. When a thermocouple in a
protection tube is inserted in gas or liquid, the outer surface of the tube receives heat either by
mocoupleindicates833K.Theforcedconvectiveheattransfer
he temperature measured by the thermocouple is lower than that of gas because thermocouple
othewall.Energybalanceatsteadystateis

A
1
=surfaceareaofthermocouple
e =emissivity,o =StefansBoltzmannconstant.
T
1
= Temperature of thermocouple, and T = Temperature of duct wall
nu
T
I
-T
1
a
thermocouple is heated by the transfer of heat from sheath. Also large diameter of wire
requiressufficienttimeforheating.

ion

Consider the measurement of temperatu

convectionorbyconvection+radiation.
Consider a thermocouple with an emissivity 0.75 measures the temperature of gas flowing in a duct
whosewalltemperatureis593K.Ather
coefficient between the gas and the thermocouple is 12u Wm
-2
K
-1
. What would be the actual
temperatureofgas?

Solution
T
radiatest
Radiantheatflowfromthethermocoupletothewall=Convectiveheatflowformgastothermocouple

A
1
F
12
(T
1
4
- T
2
4
) = h A
1
(T
I
- T
1
)

2
a T
I
=temperatureoffluid.
=
F
12
c o (T
1
4
- T
2
4
)
h

Substitutingthevalues
10.755.67 _ [
833
100
T
I
- T
1
=

4
- [
S93
100

4
_
120

=
10.755.67 | 48150 - 1273]
120

= 12S.S K
T
I
= 9S8.S K
One notes that there is an appreciable error and this must be taken into account. It should be
t in an oven or furnace gas temperature may not be equal to the temperature of the
majorsourceofradiation.Thismayleadtooverheatingofmaterials.Propershieldingofthermocouple
recognized tha
wouldbenecessary.