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HomeISAPublicationsInTechMagazine2006/FebAutomationBasics:TakingTemperatures:OptionsforMeasuring

1 February 2006

Taking Temperatures: Options for Measuring

By Vernon Trevathan P.E.
TemperaturemeasuresinunitsofKelvin,Celsius,Fahrenheit,orRankin.
Unliketheother"bigfour"measurements,inmanytemperatureapplications,thesensorisseparatefromthetransmitter.Whilethetransmitteroramplifiercanbeinthehousingofthe
sensor,itcanalsoberemote,whetherinafieldboxcontaininganumberoftemperaturetransmitters,orinthecontrolroom,ortheoutputofthesensorcanconnectdirectlytoa
temperatureloggerordirectlytoadistributedcontrolsystemoraprogrammablelogiccontroller.
Thethermocoupleisthemostpopulartypeofsensor.(Seeaccompanyingdiagram.)Thermocouplesoperateontheprinciplethattwowiresmadeofdissimilarmaterialsconnectedat
eitherendwillgenerateapotential(adifferenceinvoltage)betweenthetwoendsthatisafunctionofthematerialsandthetemperaturedifferencebetweenthetwoends.
Anumberofmaterialchoicesareincommonuse.Basemetalthermocouplesareusefulformeasuringtemperaturesunder1000C.Thisclassincludesiron/constantan(TypeJ),
Chromel/Alumel(TypeK),andanumberofothers.
Nobelmetalthermocouplesareusefultoabout2000C.Thisclassincludestungstenrheniumalloythermocouplesandothers.
Thepotentialgeneratedisinmillivoltsandisanonlinearfunctionoftemperature.Inpractice,oneendgoesnearthematerialwhosetemperatureyouwanttomeasure,andtheother
endconnectstotheinstrument.
Becausethethermocouplematerialsarenottypicallygoodmaterialsfortransmission,wireswithsimilarcharacteristicsarethechoicewhenthetransmittinginstrumentisremote.

Thethermocoupleisthemostpopulartypeofsensor.Thermocouplesare
basedontheprinciplethattwowiresmadeofdissimilarmaterialsconnectedat
eitherendwillgenerateapotentialbetweenthetwoendsthatisafunctionof
thematerialsandtemperaturedifferencebetweenthetwoends.

Resistive temperature
ResistanceTemperatureDetectors(RTDs)consistofametalwireorfiberorofsemiconductormaterialthatrespondstotemperaturechangebychangingitselectricalresistance.
Platinum,nickel,tungsten,andothermetalsthathavehighresistivity,goodtemperaturecoefficientofresistance,goodductileortensilestrength,andchemicalinertnesswith
packagingandinsulationmaterialsworkbest.
Whenthematerialisasemiconductor,thesensorisathermistor.
Thechangeinresistancecanbedeterminedusingabridgecircuit.Sinceresistancechangesintheconnectionwireduetoambienttemperaturechangescanalsoaffectthe
resistancereading,athirdwirefromanotherleginthebridgetobalancethatchangeisalsoapartofthescheme.
RTDsaregenerallymoreaccuratethanthermocouplesbutlessruggedanddonotworkatashightemperatures.
Alltypesoftemperaturemeasuringdevicessufferfromslowresponse,sinceitisnecessaryfortheheattoconductthroughtheprotectivesheath,andthroughanyinstalledwell.
Locatingthewell(orunprotectedsensor)soitseesashighavelocityofprocessmaterialaspossiblehelpsreducethislag,asdoeshavingthesensorcontactthewell.Abare
thermocoupletouchingthesheathand/orwell,however,generatesagroundandrequiresanisolatedamplifier.

About the Author

VernonTrevathanP.E.isanISAFellowandchairoftheISACAP(CertifiedAutomationProfessional)SteeringTeam.Thisarticleisanexcerptfromhisrecentbook,AGuidetothe
AutomationBodyofKnowledge,ISAPress,2006.

https://www.isa.org/standardsandpublications/isapublications/intechmagazine/2006/february/automationbasicstakingtemperaturesoptionsformeas

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6/10/2015

AutomationBasics:TakingTemperatures:OptionsforMeasuringISA

https://www.isa.org/standardsandpublications/isapublications/intechmagazine/2006/february/automationbasicstakingtemperaturesoptionsformeas

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