Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
2, FEBRUARY 2009
441
AbstractThermistors have found wide application in temperature measurement and control in different fields, but they exhibit
a strong nonlinearity of the characteristic, which is of an exponential type. This paper investigates the possibility of creating a
thermistor-based temperature sensor with frequency and analog
outputs and a linearized characteristic on the basis of a 7555 timer.
It is shown through simulations that the linearization of the characteristic can be achieved without connecting additional elements
to the circuit but only through a choice of the parameters of the
thermistor and of the frequency-determining circuit elements. The
investigations conducted show a good match between the theoretically and experimentally obtained characteristics. The proposed
circuit is characterized by nonlinearity of 1% in a specific
temperature range, as well as high temperature stability.
Index TermsLinearization, sensors, temperature measurement, thermistors, 7555 timer.
I. I NTRODUCTION
(1)
where A = R is a constant corresponding to the thermistor resistivity at an infinitely high temperature T (i.e., when
1/T 0), and B is the material constant (expressed in
kelvins), which is determined by the activation energy q and
the Boltzmanns constant k with the dependence
B = q/k.
(2)
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
442
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 58, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2009
1.44
(R + 2RT )C
(3)
1.44
1.44
=
B/T
(R +2R e
)C
R +2RT 25 eB(1/T 1/298) C
(4)
(5)
Z = F (X)
(6)
Y = X.
(7)
then
In this case, the linearization of the highly nonlinear characteristic of the thermistor is attained because of the reciprocal
character in some ranges of the functions f = F (RT ) and
RT = F (T ), and unlike other circuits of thermistor connection, the connection of additional linearization elements is not
required.
From the analysis of function (4), it follows that
lim f = 0
T 0+
lim f =
T +
1.44
1.44
(R + 2R )C
R C
(8)
(9)
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
443
(10)
is numerically solved.
From the simulation results, it is determined that the temperature at which the point of inflection is obtained (further on
in this paper, this temperature is termed inflection temperature
Tin for short) depends on the ratio RT 25 /R , as well as on B.
This dependence is graphically shown in Fig. 3.
For the cases when RT 25 /R 11.2, the parameter B
only insignificantly influences the inflection temperature. At
RT 25 /R 1.1, the points of inflection for different values of
B coincide at Tin 308 K with precision of 1 K (Fig. 4).
When RT 25 > R , an increase in B leads to a decrease in
the inflection temperature, and when RT 25 < R , an increase
in B leads to an increase in the inflection temperature, but in
this case, this influence is much smaller. Apart from this, the
results obtained lead to the conclusion that for small values of
B, the rate of change of the second derivative around the point
of inflection is small, which leads to a wider linearized segment
of the characteristic.
An increase in the ratio RT 25 /R leads to an increase in
the inflection temperature. That is, keeping the frequencydetermining resistance R constant, using thermistors with
higher values of RT 25 leads to an increase in the inflection
temperature, which means linearization at higher temperatures.
For a given thermistor (i.e., for a given RT 25 ), an increase in
R will lead to a decrease in the inflection temperature, and
vice versa.
Fig. 5 shows simulation results when varying RT 25 (R =
const and B = const), whereas Fig. 6 shows results when
varying B (RT 25 > R , R = const, and RT 25 = const).
Fig. 7 shows the influence of R (RT 25 = const and B =
const). The results obtained not only show that an increase in
R leads to a decrease in the inflection temperature but also
confirm the conclusion obtained on the basis of (9) that, for a
given thermistor, an increase in R leads to a decrease in the
asymptotic value to which the output frequency of the circuit
tends. To increase the output range in such cases, the frequencydetermining capacitance C has to be decreased.
On the basis of the simulations and the dependences obtained, the following approach for the choice of the thermistor
and frequency-determining parameters of the circuit can be
proposed to obtain a linearized segment of the characteristic in
a prespecified working temperature range.
1) To achieve a wider linearized segment of the characteristic, a choice of a thermistor with a lower value of B is
required.
2) If RT 25 /R 11.2, then the inflection temperature is
around 308 K (35 C) for any value of B.
3) If the inflection point required has to be at a temperature
lower than 308 K (35 C), then the condition RT 25 < R
has to hold, in which case, the value of B does not
significantly affect the position of this point.
4) If the inflection point required has to be at a temperature
higher than 308 K (35 C), then the condition RT 25 > R
has to hold. In this case, an increase in the ratio RT 25 /R
(holding B constant) leads to an increase in the inflection
temperature, i.e., the linearized segment will be in a
higher temperature range.
5) When RT 25 > R , a decrease in B while holding the
ratio RT 25 /R constant increases the inflection temperature, and vice versa.
6) A specific output frequency range for a given set of parameters of the thermistor and the frequency-determining
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
444
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 58, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2009
NTC thermistors with different parameters have been selected to conduct the investigations. Because manufacturers
usually offer thermistors with B greater than 3000 K, a V2 O5 based thermistor has been prepared. The experimentally investigated thermistors [20], [21] are shown in Table I.
The V2 O5 -based thermistor has been prepared using classical ceramic technology [22]. V2 O5 (purity) has been used as
a material. The ceramic samples have been synthesized at a
temperature of 660 C for 2 h. After being fired, the ceramic
samples have been ground and cleaned in an ultrasonic basin.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
445
Fig. 9. (a) Simulated characteristics f = F (T ) and (b) second derivative obtained for R = 6.2 k and C = 47 nF and for the parameters of thermistor
Ther3 (RT 25 /R 7.6).
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
446
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 58, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2009
TABLE II
PARAMETERS C AND R FOR THE THERMISTOR CONNECTION CIRCUIT
AND T EMPERATURE R ANGES W ITH A L INEARIZED C HARACTERISTIC
Fig. 11. Simulated characteristics f = F (T ) and experimental characteristics fe = F (T ) of the connection circuit when connecting (a) Ther1, (b) Ther2,
and (c) Ther3.
Tx
u(t)dt =
1
U0 t0 = U0 t0 f = pf
Tx
(11)
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
447
Fig. 12. Thermistor connection circuit with frequency and voltage outputs.
(12)
Fig. 13. Experimental characteristics f = F (T ) and U = F (T ) of the connection circuit from Fig. 12 when connecting Ther1.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
448
IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON INSTRUMENTATION AND MEASUREMENT, VOL. 58, NO. 2, FEBRUARY 2009
R EFERENCES
Fig. 14. Nonlinearity error of the Ther1 connection circuit characteristic with
linear approximation for ranges (a) 0 C to 120 C and (b) 20 C to 120 C.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.
449
Toshko G. Nenov (M98) received the M.S. degree in electronics from the Technical University
of Gabrovo, Gabrovo, Bulgaria, in 1979 and the
Ph.D. degree in microelectronics from the National
Technical University of Ukraine Kiev Polytechnic
Institute, Kiev, Ukraine, in 1984.
During 19851994, he was an Assistant Professor with the Department of Automation, Information, and Control Systems, Technical University of
Gabrovo, where he has been an Associate Professor
since 1994. He has authored more than 100 publications, including the book Ceramic Sensors: Technology and Application
(Technomic, 1996), which was published in the U.S. His research interests are
in the fields of sensors and microprocessor systems.
Prof. Nenov is a member of the Bulgarian Union of Automation and
Informatics.
Authorized licensed use limited to: Rafael Gonzalez-Landaeta. Downloaded on January 22, 2009 at 11:22 from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.