Thermo-Electricity

Heat and Matter Laboratory Report

Written by : Oktian Fajar Nugroho

(0901944)
 Preface

Praise is to Allah, turning to us who had to bestow the gift of His servant, so that the
paper of Thermo-Electricity experiment was completed. This paper is structured to meet one
of the tasks of the laboratory activities of Heat and Matter.

Hopefully this paper can be useful for us who read it, writer realized there are still
many deficiencies as a writer, therefore, criticism and suggestions writer need to make the
paper better in the future.

International
International Program
Program onon Science
Science
Education
Education
Faculty
Faculty of
of Science
Science and
and Mathematic
Mathematic
Indonesia
Indonesia University
University of
of Education
Education
2010
2010
 CHAPTER I

A.Basic theory

Thermoelectricity is a two-way process. It can refer either to the

way a temperature difference between one side of a material and the
other can produce electricity, or to the reverse: the way applying an
electric current through a material can create a temperature difference
between its two sides, which can be used to heat or cool things without
combustion or moving parts. It is a field in which MIT has been doing
pioneering work for decades.

The first part of the thermoelectric effect, the conversion of heat to

electricity, was discovered in 1821 by the Estonian physicist Thomas
Seebeck and was explored in more detail by French physicist Jean Peltier,
and it is sometimes referred to as the Peltier-Seebeck effect.

The reverse phenomenon, where heating or cooling can be

produced by running an electric current through a material, was
discovered in 1851 by William Thomson, also known as Lord Kelvin (for
whom the absolute Kelvin temperature scale is named), and is called the
Thomson effect. The effect is caused by charge carriers within the
material (either electrons, or places where an electron is missing, known
as “holes”) diffusing from the hotter side to the cooler side, similarly to
the way gas expands when it is heated. The thermoelectric property of a
material is measured in volts per Kelvin.

These effects, which are generally quite inefficient, began to be

developed into practical products, such as power generators for
spacecraft, in the 1960s by researchers including Paul Gray, the electrical
engineering professor who would later become MIT’s president. This work
has been carried forward since the 1990s by Institute Professor Mildred
Dresselhaus, Theodore Harman and his co-workers at MIT’s Lincoln
Laboratory, and other MIT researchers, who worked on developing new
materials based on the semiconductors used in the computer and
electronics industries to convert temperature differences more efficiently
into electricity, and to use the reverse effect to produce heating and
cooling devices with no moving parts.

The fundamental problem in creating efficient thermoelectric

materials is that they need to be good at conducting electricity, but not at
conducting thermal energy. That way, one side can get hot while the
other gets cold, instead of the material quickly equalizing the
temperature. But in most materials, electrical and thermal conductivity go
hand in hand. New nano-engineered materials provide a way around that,
making it possible to fine-tune the thermal and electrical properties of the
material. Some MIT groups, including ones led by professors Gang Chen
and Michael Strano, have been developing such materials.

Such systems are produced for the heating and cooling of a variety
of things, such as car seats, food and beverage carriers, and computer
chips. Also under development by researchers including MIT’s Anantha
Chandrakasan are systems that use the Peltier-Seebeck effect to harvest
waste heat, for everything from electronic devices to cars and
powerplants, in order to produce usable electricity and thus improve
overall efficiency.

Thermocouple

One of the most common industrial thermometer is the

thermocouple. It was discovered by Thomas Seebeck's in 1822. He noted
that a voltage difference appeared when the wire was heated at one end.
Regardless of temperature, if both ends were at the same temperature
there was no voltage difference. If the circuit were made with wire of the
same material there was no current flow.

A thermocouple consists of two dissimilar metals, joined together at

one end, and produce a small unique voltage at a given temperature. This
voltage is measured and interpreted by a thermocouple thermometer.

The thermoelectric voltage resulting from the temperature

difference from one end of the wire to the other is actually the sum of all
the voltage differences along the wire from end to end

Thermocouples can be made from a variety of metals and cover a

temperature range 200 oC to 2,600 oC. Comparing thermocouples to
other types of sensors should be made in terms of the tolerance given in
ASTM E 230.

Maximum Temperature (0C)

Thermocouple
Continous Spot
Copper-Constantan 400 500

Iron-Constantan 850 1100

Chromel-Constantan 700 1000

Chromel-Alumel 1100 1300

Nicrosil-Nisil 1250 -

Tungsten-Molybdenum 2600 2650

* Not used below 1250 oC.

• Advantages with thermocouples

Capable of being used to directly measure temperatures up to 2600

oC.
 The thermocouple junction may be grounded and brought into direct
contact with the material being measured.

• Disadvantages with thermocouples

Temperature measurement with a thermocouple requires two

temperatures be measured, the junction at the work end (the hot junction)
and the junction where wires meet the instrumentation copper wires (cold
junction). To avoid error the cold junction temperature is in general
compensated in the electronic instruments by measuring the temperature
at the terminal block using with a semiconductor, thermistor, or RTD.

Thermocouples operation are relatively complex with potential

sources of error. The materials of which thermocouple wires are made are
not inert and the thermoelectric voltage developed along the length of the
thermocouple wire may be influenced by corrosion etc.

The relationship between the process temperature and the

thermocouple signal (millivolt) is not linear.

The calibration of the thermocouple should be carried out while it is

in use by comparing it to a nearby comparison thermocouple. If the
thermocouple is removed and placed in a calibration bath, the output
integrated over the length is not reproduced exactly.

○ Thermocouple Types

Thermocouples are available in different combinations of metals or

calibrations. The four most common calibrations are J, K, T and E. Each
calibration has a different temperature range and environment, although
the maximum temperature varies with the diameter of the wire used in
the thermocouple.

Some of the thermocouple types have standardized with calibration

tables, color codes and assigned letter-designations. The ASTM Standard
E230 provides all the specifications for most of the common industrial
grades, including letter designation, color codes (USA only), suggested
use limits and the complete voltage versus temperature tables for cold
junctions maintained at 32 oF and 0 oC.

There are four "classes" of thermocouples:

1. The home body class (called base metal),
2. the upper crust class (called rare metal or precious metal),
3. the rarified class (refractory metals) and,
4. the exotic class (standards and developmental devices).

The home bodies are the Types E, J, K, N and T. The upper crust are
types B, S, and R, platinum all to varying percentages. The exotic class
includes several tungsten alloy thermocouples usually designated as Type
W (something).

Temperature Conversions

o
F = (1.8 x oC) + 32

o
C = (oF - 32) x 0.555

Kelvin = oC + 273.2

o
Rankin = oF + 459.67
 CHAPTER II
A.Objective

Measure electricity generated on a thermocouple by Seebeck effect

B.Apparatus
1. Thermometer
2. Thermocouple
3. mV meter
4. Furnace

A.Procedure
1. connect electric furnance, thermocouple (for example CA
thermocouple), mV meter and mercury stick thermometer. connect
the thermocouple nothing the polarity.
2. Check the main switch is off and plug AC cord to AC 100V outlet
 3. Read the thermometer.
4. Snap the main switch of the furnance on and turn VOLT-ADJ (heater
voltage adjustor) to set at an appropriate voltage.
5. As the temperature of the furnance goes up, see the mV meter
reading very and learn the electricity generates on the
thermocouple. Check the temperature rise with the mercury stick
thermometer.
6. Next, change the thermocouple to CC and IC, and repeat the
experiment as described above to learn the difference off emf by
different thermocouple.

A.Data Gained

Temperature 0C V1, Brown V2, Yellow V3, Blue

30 0,2 -

60 1,3 -
70 1,65 2,5 2,7

80 2,1 2,6 2,8

90 2,5 2,9 2,9

100 3,05 3,1 3

110 3,5 3,4 3,1

120 3,95 3,5 3.2

130 4,45 3,6 3.3

140 4,95 3,9 3.5

150 5,4 4,1 3.6

 B. Graphs of Experiment

B
Data1B
UCL
160 LCL
UPL
140 LPL
Y Axis Title

120

100

80

60

40

20
0 1 2 3 4 5
Xaxistitle

Linear Regression for Data1_B:

Y = A + B * X

Parameter Value Error

------------------------------------------------------------
A 33.02874 2.97409
B 23.0445 0.92903
------------------------------------------------------------

R SD N P
------------------------------------------------------------
0.99277 4.62671 11 <0.0001
------------------------------------------------------------
 Linear

B
D ata1B
UCL
16 0 LC L
UPL
LP L
14 0

12 0
Y Axis Title

10 0

80

60
2.6 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6
X axis title

Regression for Data1_B:

Y = A + B * X

Parameter Value Error

------------------------------------------------------------
A -166.86765 10.44421
B 88.67647 3.33081
------------------------------------------------------------

R SD N P
------------------------------------------------------------
0.9951 2.89523 9 <0.0001
 B
Data1B
UCL
160 LCL
UPL
LPL
140

120
Y Axis Title

100

80

60
2.4 2.6 2.8 3.0 3.2 3.4 3.6 3.8 4.0 4.2
X axis title
Linear Regression for Data1_B:
Y = A + B * X

Parameter Value Error

------------------------------------------------------------
A -51.18812 6.69301
B 49.0099 2.00971
------------------------------------------------------------

R SD N P
------------------------------------------------------------
0.99417 3.1578 9 <0.0001
------------------------------------------------------------

CHAPTER III
A.Data Analaysis

B.Conclusion

C.Suggestion

This experiment is complicated and needs long time to do it.

Bibliography
Available in http://www.engineeringtoolbox.com/thermocouples-
d_496.html