The Gradient Approach to Thermocouple
Circuitry
Part II-Illustrations of the Method
ROBERT J. MOFFAT, Mechanical Engineering Department. Stanford
The first part of this paper described the basic premise
of the 'gradient approach,' (I e , that all of the emf can be
accounted for by considering only the portions of wire
which are in regions of temperature gradient) In this part,
let us examine some rather complex circuits to illustrate
the ease with which their apparently anomalous behavior
can be explained using this approach
These circuits represent a simple demonstration
apparatus which was used at the Research Laboratories
to demonstrate the validity and usefulness of this approach
Illustrations
Consider a thermocouple circuit composed of chromel
and alumel wire, but interrupted midway by an equal
length of copper wire in each leg When this thermocouple
is inserted into a muffle furnace to various depths, as
shown in Fig 1, the indicated temperature will change
This article was originally published by Reinhold Publishing
Company (New York) in 'Temperature-Its Measurement and
Control in Science and Industry, 3 (2-Applied Methods and
instruments), (1962)
cu
cu
cu
w
cu I
Fig. 1-The indjcated temperalure of a compound
thermocouple with different locations of the
gradient
University
markedly.* The thermocouple is assumed to be connected
to a readout instrument with cold-junction compensation
so that if there is no external signal, the instrument will
read ambient temperature, 75°F in this case as shown
in Fig l(a)
With the tip of the probe in the furnace, as in Fig l(b),
the instrument will read 1000°F If all of the chromel-
alumel is inside the furnace, as in Fig l(c), then the
instrument will again read 75"F, since all of the chromel
and alurnel is at a uniform temperature and hence does
not generate any emf This can be deduced from eq (1)'
since dl/dx = 0 for all the chromel and alumel The only
material in a gradient is copper integration from 75" to
1000" to 75°F in the same material yields no emf
If the thermocouple is pushed through the furnace so
that half of the chromel-alumel tip protrudes as in Fig
l(d), then the instrument will read -850"F, although the
apparent junction is now at 7 5 ° F There I S a temperature
gradient in a pair of copper wires and in a chromel-
alumel pair The copper wires yield no net emf, while the
chromel-alumel is in a negative temperature gradient
___
*Everything inside the furnace is assumed to be at 1000°F
everything outside is assumed to be at 7 5 ° F
' See Part 1. March EIT, p 25
+- -+ I
0 2M) 600 IWO 1400 1800 2200 2600
Fig. 2- Thermai-EMF relarimships for thermocouple
materials vs plaiinum
Experimental Techniques 23
 0 200 400 600 Mx) lo00
TEW. - * F
TEW.-
.F
Fig. 3-Graphical solution for the net EMF of a
compound circuit
(temperature decreasing with distance from the instrument).
Thus we have essentially a chromel-alumel thermocouple
connected to the instrument backward. The chromel-
alumel couple is generating an emf proportional to 925" F,
the temperature difference across the chromel-alumel
wires, which is now subtracted from the 75°F reference
rather than being added to it.
Each of these examples could be handled junction by
junction if tabular data were available for chromel-copper
and alumelcopper and if the proper sign conventions were
used. These illustrations were intended to show, however,
the relative speed and ease with which these circuits can
be handled by considering only the materials in a tem-
perature gradient.
Graphical Analysis of Compound Circuits
The gradient analysis can be made even more useful
through its application to the graphical analysis of circuits.
Resolving a complex circuit into a graphical solution
provides a certainty and an intuitive understanding which
is hard to equal by any other means. As an example, a
leadwire-error problem is solved graphically in Fig. 3 based
on the data presented in Fig. 2. The 'integration' is accom-
plished by moving clockwise around the circuit. Point 1
represents one terminal of the measuring instrument, and
represents 0 emf. A copper wire extends from point 1
(32°F) to point 2 (500°F). This is represented graphically
by a line drawn parallel to the copper vs. platinum emf
curve between 32°F and 500°F. starting at 0 emf at
32OF. A chromel wire connects point 2 (500°F) to point 3
24 April 1984
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32 400 800 I200 1600 IBM)
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Fig. 4-Graphical analysis of calibration drift due
to service-induced distributed inhomogeneity
(1000°F). This is represented by a line parallel to the
chromel vs. platinum emf curve between 500°F and
1000°F. The line is extended from point 3 to point 4
parallel to the alumel vs. platinum curve over the tempera-
ture span from 1000°F to 500°F. The circuit is completed
by the last segment parallel to constantan between 500°F
and 32OF.
The magnitude and direction of the net emf of this
circuit can be determined from the ordinate of point 5 on
the completed analysis. Magnitude is straightforward. The
sign convention is not. The electrical polarity of point 5 is
the opposite of the sign of its ordinate on this chart. The
ordinate, here, is positive, meaning that point 5 is elec-
trically negative with respect to point 1. This sign reversal
results from the original construction of Fig. 2 and the
definitions of the words 'positive' and 'negative' as applied
to thermocouples. When chromel is referred to as 'positive'
with respect to alumel, this means that the cold end of the
chromel is positive with respect to the cold end of the
alumel. Figure 2 is drawn to yield the intuitive polarity
understanding which agrees with tabular data. When
Fig. 2 is used in a graphical analysis, a sign reversal results.
Graphical Analysis of the Calibration
of Used Thermocouples
The gradient approach also makes crystal clear the
reason why used thermocouples should not be recalibrated
In a furnace Consider a thermocouple removed from
service because solrie evidence suggests !hat its output

Fig. 5-Graphical analysis of furnace calibration
01 athermocouple with distributed inhomogeneity
Thermocouple o f Fig 4
has changed. Somewhere in the thermocouple the emf
characteristics of the wire have changed, perhaps due to
a change in composition by selective oxidation or by
alloying with environmental contaminants. The changed
material must have been in a region of temperature
gradient when the thermcouple was in service in order to
cause the change in output. From the gradient approach
it is obvious that this damaged material must be placed
under exactly the same temperature gradient condition if
the thermocouple recalibration is to have any significance
In terms of service operation. If the damaged portion of the
wire is put into a uniform temperature region (such as a
muffle furnace) for calibration, no effect will be seen.
Furnace calibrations are, in reality, calibrations only of the
length of material at the entrance to the furnace; that is.
the material in the temperature gradient. If the wire is not
homogeneous, a furnace calibration is useless.
This is illustrated in Fig. 4 using a pair of wires A and B
which have the characteristic that B loses its thermo-
electric power after exposure to a certain set of environ-
mental conditions. In Fig. 4(a) are shown the emf vs.
temperature curves for these hypothetical materials. The
positive element is unaffected by its environment. The
negative material could show any one of four calibration
lines depending on the temperature to which it had been
exposed. The B , curve represents the calibration after
exposure to 1450' F, 8, after exposure to 1550' F and &
after 1650" F service. These values are hypothetical for
illustration of the technique and do not reflect measured
Performance for any material.
The circuit, and its operating temperature profile are
shown in Fig. 4(b). The effect of this temperature distri-
bution is to change the thermoelectric power of the
material 8 so that the wire in each temperature interval
from 1400°F to 1700°F has a different calibration. This
will be represented, for simplicity, by three uniformly
changed segments, based on the mean temperature in
each segment.
The emf of this thermocouple under operating con-
ditions is shown in Fig. 4(c). When first installed, no shift
in calibration has occurred. After aging, the different
calibrations shown in Fig. 4(a) begin to appear. Beginning
at point 1, a single line represents the unchanged A
material between 32'F and 1700°F. From point 2 to
point.3, a line is constructed parallel to the B, line, for
material 8 ; from 3 to 4 the line is parallel to the €I2 line;
from 4 to 5 it is parallel to the B , line; from 5 to 6 it re-
presents B o , the unchanged material. The dashed line
represents the behavior on first immersion, before material
B had been changed in calibration. The difference in emf is
the 'drift' related to a distributed change in calibration
along the wire when the thermocouple is still in the tem-
perature gradient which caused the calibration change.
Now let us attempt a furnace calibration of this thermo-
couple as in Fig. 5(a). Figure 5(b) shows the temperature
distribution in the thermocouple due to its insertion into a
muffle furnace with a long region of uniform temperature.
All of the gradient occurs in material which had never
changed its calibration. The emf is derived in Fig. 5(c).
where the integration through the uniform temperature
region is shown by the single point representing all the
material which is at 1700°F. Note that there is no emf
contributed by the changed material since it is not in a
temperature gradient. To the casual investigator this probe
would appear to be perfectly good and would go back into
service. Once back in its original environment, with a
temperature gradient in the changed region, it would
continue to give faulty information.
This example is intended only to provide an under-
standing of the effects of a distributed inhomogeneity on
service and calibration results. There is little or no informa-
tion available from which to construct actual 'service
calibration' solutions such as shown in Fig. 4(c).
References
I . Peltier. M., Ann. chrm. etphys.. 56, 371 (7834).
2. Dike, P. H., Thermoelectric Thermometry, Leeds and Northrup
Co., Philadefph,a (1954).
3. Somerfefd, A,, Thermodynamics and Statistical Mechanics,
Academic Press, fnc , Publishers, New Yark. 156-163 and 342
( 1 956).
4 . Seitz, f . , The Modern Theory of Solids, McGraw-Hill Book Co.,
lnc., New York and London, 178-187 (1940).
5. Roeser, W.F. and Dahl, A.I., "Standard Tables for Chromel-
Afumel Thermocouples," J. Res. NES, RP 767, 74, 239(1935).
6. Roeser, W.F. and Dahl, A.I., "Reference Tables for lron-
Constantan and Copper-Constantan Thermocouples, ' ' J Res
NBS, RP 1080, 20, 337(1938).
7. Shenker, H., Reference Tables for Thermocouples, NES
Circular 561 (1955)
Experimental Techniques 25