HTTPS://WWW.RUGGEDMONITORING.

COM/BLOG/6-REASONS-WHY-THERMOCOUPLES-ARE-BEING-AVOIDED-IN-

EMOBILITY-/5CE831CEF6AD060001FCFFC7

6 REASONS WHY THERMOCOUPLES ARE BEING

AVOIDED IN EMOBILITY!

Thermocouples are widely used in automotive industry for temperature testing at product
design and EOL (End of Line) stages and for permanent monitoring afterwards. However,
with the increasing voltage levels in Emobility thermocouples possess many risks in product
design and testing stages. Some of them are safety related risk and have potential to be life
threatening for employees (research and test engineers).

Thermocouples are based on the principles, that a small voltage (in milli-volts) gets
produced when a junction (joint) of two dissimilar metal wires is cooled or heated. The
generated voltage signal is measured at the other end of the metal wires and calibrated for
the temperature range. During the temperature testing the junction end is put on the test
object and voltage is being measured at the other end to estimate the temperature of test
object.

Now imagine if the two metal wires are put on the 1000 V Battery or Motor for temperature
testing and somehow the test engineers touch the wire by mistake. Even worse how
accurate will be the milli-volt signal when it passes through an environment where there is
high electric and magnetic field.

Without getting into more technicality let us take a closer look on the common reasons why
thermocouples have failed in Emobility testing and should be replaced with intrinsically safe
sensors.

1. Safety

It is very obvious and common sensical thing to find out the safety risk of using
thermocouples in Emobility testing, especially when test engineers have to adjust sensing
location such as finding the right hot spot or reach to the measuring points that are not
easily accessible (Inverters, Stator Windings, Battery Cooling duct). Thermocouples are
subject to creating a short circuit and electrocution risks to the employees.

2. Noise

With the Emobility going towards 1000V and even higher 2500V (for commercial vehicles),
thermocouples are highly susceptible to noise. The milli-volt signal requires lot of isolation
under such large voltages and even then, the signal is not clear enough to measure
accurate temperature.

3. Larger Size

Thermocouples are not suitable for Emobility applications that has very tiny space for
putting sensors such as Charging Points, Invertor IGBTs, Battery Inter-cell temperature
measurement etc. It has been observed that thermocouples are less responsive and
inaccurate (up to 20 to 30 Deg Celsius) if they are not put directly on the charging points.

4. Non-Linearity Over The Range

Though the thermocouples are calibrated for a certain range, they still need complex
compensation algorithm to maintain linearity over the range since they are being used at
harsh conditions (High electric, chemical and magnetic fields) and different test
environments.

5. Longer Response Time

Faster and accurate measurement is critical for Emobility during the performance, life cycle
and abuse testing. Not only the accuracy, thermocouples are also limited by the response
time requirements of Emobility applications such as detection of Thermal Runaway Issues,
Charging Point Temperature, Stator Winding Temperature etc.

6. Poor Repeatability

Thermocouples are made of two dissimilar metallic wires and susceptive to material purity
which varies from batch to batch and manufacturer to manufacturer. This variation creates
calibration issues resulting into non-repeatability of accurate measurements. Further the
chemical composition of metal changes with time especially if they are put into chemical
environment like Batteries.

Solution
With the currently available technologies Fiber Optic Temperature sensors stand out
clearly to be the most suitable sensors for Emobility applications at higher voltages
(250V+). The major benefits of Fiber optic Temperature sensors are:

1. Safety: Fiber optics are safe – highest dielectric strength, ~1pC, tested up to 1500kV

2. Noise: Sensor are immune to electric, chemical and magnetic environments. Being used
without any isolation, in applications that has 1500kV+ voltage, up to 25 Tesla magnetic
field and chemical environment ranging from 0 to 14pH without any interference to the
sensory readings.
3. Size: Ultra small sensors (Diameter of up to 0.4mm) to fit into tiniest spaces.

4. Linearity: Fiber optic sensors transmit light signals through glass, the purest form of
silica. The sensors are linear and does not need any compensation and special algorithms.

5. Response Time: Fiber optic temperature system has a milliseconds response level.
Response rate varies between 1ms to 200ms depending on the type of monitor selected for
the application.

6. Repeatability: Fiber Optic temperature sensors are very stable and repeatable over
the entire range without getting influenced by and external fields.

Conclusion
Thermocouples are generally being avoided in Emobility to keep the highest standards of
safety at workplace, provide easy tools to engineers for testing and measurement and
reduce time in making complex temperature compensation algorithms. Fiber Optic
Temperature sensors are being accepted by engineers as the best and even better
alternate of thermocouples for Emobility applications.