Mini Project Report

LOW TEMPERATURE DETECTOR

Submitted By:
T. Ravi Teja(07331A04B3)
V.V.H. Tejaswi(07331A04C9)
N. Hemanth Kamesh(08335A0405)
Y.
Srinivas(07331A04D0)
I

ABSTRACT

This project is being developed as a part of control

of temperature in an industry where a high
temperature is to be maintained. In a manufacture
industry where a metal or a chemical is to be dealt
a particular high temperature must be maintained,
when ever there is a error in the temperature the
workers must be made aware of that, so that they
can make the necessary arrangements to maintain
the required temperature. Therefore an efficient
LOW TEMPERATURE SENSOR must be placed which
detects the fluctuations and alarm the workers of
the error that has occurred and they maintain the
temperature employing the necessary
arrangements.
This circiut deals with a parallel
operation of a 555timer with the switching
characteristics of a thermistor ,whose impedance
varies with the temperature on it and provides the
apt switching accordingly, on the basis of which
the timer operates the alarm.
II

Candidate Declaration

We hereby declare that the work presented in this

project titled“LOW TEMPERATURE DETECTOR”
submitted towardscompletion of mini-project in
sixth Semester of B.Tech (ECE) at Maharaja
VijayaramGajapathi Raja College OfEngineering.It
is anauthentic record of our original work pursued
under the guidanceof SirSrinivasgaru
.

T. Ravi
Teja(07331A04B3)
V.V.H. Tejaswi(07331A04C9)
N. Hemanth
Kamesh(08335A0405)
 Y.
Srinivas(07331A04D0)

III
Acknowledgement

First and foremost, I would like to express my

sincere
gratitude to my project guide, Sir SrinivasGaru. I
was privileged to
experience a sustained enthusiastic and involved
interest from his side.This fueled my enthusiasm
even further and encouraged us to boldlystep into
what was a totally dark and unexplored expanse
before us.

I would also like to thank my seniors who were

ready with a positive comment all the time,
whether it was an off-hand comment to
encourages or a constructive piece of criticism and
a special thank to IEEE organization who arranged
a good database for mines.

Last but not least, I would like to thank the MVGR

College of Engineering, ECE staff members andthe
institute, in general, for extending a helping hand
at every junctureof need.
 T. Ravi
Teja(07331A04B3)
V.V.H. Tejaswi(07331A04C9)
N. Hemanth
Kamesh(08335A0405)
Y.
Srinivas(07331A04D0)

Table Of Contents

Abstract
…………………………………………………………………
…………….I
Candidate declaration
…………………………………………………………II
Acknowledgement
……………………………………………………………..III

Project

 Introduction
 Circuit diagram
  Circuit working

Components

 Component description
 Data sheets
 Applications

Project applications

Improvisation

Bibliography

LOW TEMPERATURE DETECTOR

INTRODUCTION

The main motto of this project is to make the

workers aware of the temperature levels of the
manufacture unit on which they are working on. A
particular manufacture unit (like a furnace) is to be
maintained at a particular temperature, which is the duty
of the worker or the employee to look after the
temperature to be maintained. Every occasion an
employee cant check the temperature manually. So a
particular electronic device is required to observe the
temperature levels and inform any error is detected

This device is designed in such a manner that it

works only belaow a particular temperature and all the
temperatures above that threshold, the circiut is in its off
state. As the temperature falls down to the threshold the
circiut slowly comes to its on state from its off condition.
As the temperature further falllsbelaow the threshold
level the circiut switches on and alarms the workers
indicating an error in the temperature levels of the
furnace or the manufacturing unit.

The temperature levels are different at

different levels based on the application of the industry or
the manufacturing unit. This level is can be altered by the
designer of the circiut by varying the parameters like
impedance and capacitance that provide the biasing to
the switching unit and timer that are employed in it to
actuate the alarm according to the raise and fall of the
temperature in the unit. The components may not change
much due to the temperature levels and applications but
there exists variations in the values of the passive
components that are to be employed.

CIRCIUT DIAGRAM
M:………………………………………..Speaker (Audio
output)
C1,C2:…………………………………..0.01UF
C3: ………………………………………100UF
TH: ………………………………………
Thermistor(Temperature sensor)

CIRCIUT OPERATION
The circiut works on the basic principle of the thermistor.
A thermistor can be defined as a resistor whose
impedance varies with the temperature of the
environment in which it is placed. It can be of two types,
they are the negative temperature coefficient and the
positive coefficient. The negative coefficient thermistor
increases the impedance with the decrease in
temperature whereas the positive coefficient thermistor
increases the impedance with increase in temperature.
The thermistor here used depends on the design required
for he manufacture unit or furnace.

The temperature of the environment which is to be

measured is exposed to the thermistor and the terminals
are connected to a 555 timer which is being operated as
an astablemultivibrator. As the temperature of the
environment varies the impedance of the thermistor
varies accordingly and thereby the supply to the timer
which generates the pulses if necessary.
The thermistor is biased appropriately with a 1K
potentiometer which maintains the design parameters,
mainly the threshold level of temperature to which the
furnace or the manufacturing unit should not reduce.

The transistor BC547 used is an NPN transistor which acts

as a switch with the potentiometer as the collector
resistance which manages the threshold level that
switches the device on and off. The fluctuations in
impedance make the transistor operate in active and
saturation region instantaneously making the alarm on
and off respectively, according to the pulses generated
by the timer.
 The thermistor having a linear relation with
temperature may either decrease or increase with the
decrease with temperature, so a thermistor with positive
temperature coefficient is selected in order to provide the
path low impedance when the temperature decreases in
the environment. This replaces a short circuit in place of
thermistor when ever the temperature of the
environment reduces the threshold temperature designed
by the potentiometer, as desired for the application. The
zener connected in reverse bias to the thermistor which is
connected to the speaker through the timer device.

Therefore the circuit is placed in the furnace

by exposing the thermistor to the environment to which
the temperature is to be observed. The potentiometer is
set in a designed manner to provide the necessary
threshold level. The timer provides the pulses to alarm
according the switching conditions of the transistor when
ever the temperature at the thermistor falls below the
threshold level set as per the design.
COMPONENTS

 Thermistor
 3296-3/8” Square Trim pot trimming
potentiometer
 BC547 Transistor
 555Timer
 3V Zener diode
 Capacitors (100UF and 0.01UF)
 Resistors (1Kohms and 4Kohms)
 Speaker(8ohms and 1watt)
 Battery (power supply 3V-9V)
 COMPONENTS DESCRIPTION AND
DATASHEETS

1. THERMISTOR

A thermistor is a type of resistor whose resistance

varies with temperature. The word is a portmanteau of
thermal and resistor. Thermistors are widely used as
inrush current limiters, temperature sensors, self-
resetting overcurrent protectors, and self-regulating
heating elements.

Thermistors differ from resistance temperaturedetectors

(RTD) in that the material used in a thermistor is
generally a ceramic or polymer, while RTDs use pure
metals. The temperature response is also different; RTDs
are useful over larger temperature ranges, while
thermistors typically achieve a higher precision within a
limited temperature range.

Assuming, as a first-order approximation, that the

relationship between resistance and temperature is
linear, then:

Where

ΔR = change in resistance
ΔT = change in temperature
k = first-order temperature coefficient of resistance
Thermistors can be classified into two types, depending
on the sign of k. If k is positive, the resistance increases
with increasing temperature, and the device is called a
positive temperaturecoefficient (PTC) thermistor, or
posistor. If k is negative, the resistance decreases with
increasing temperature, and the device is called a
negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistor.
Resistors that are not thermistors are designed to have a
k as close to zero as possible (smallest possible k), so
that their resistance remains nearly constant over a wide
temperature range.

Instead of the temperature coefficient k, sometimes the

temperature coefficient of resistanceα (alpha) or αT is
used.

Structure and Function of PTC Thermistor

PTC (Positive Temperature Coefficient of Resistance) thermistor is a

kind of positive temperature coefficient thermistor, mainly made up of
BaTiO3 ceramics. BaTiO3 ceramics is a kind of typical ferroelectric
material with the resistivity of greater than 1012Ω.cm under normal
temperature, through semi-conductor doping, it has a strong PTC
efficacy, that means it has extremely low resistance under normal
temperature, but it experiences a sudden and large mutation around
Curie temperature (also called switch temperature, or reference
temperature) as ambient temperature rises. This is because a barrier layer
induced by the surface state exists on the crystal particle border of the
multicrystal BaTiO3 semiconductor material. Under Curie temperature,
the high-resistance crystal boundary has ferroelectric characteristics with
great dielectric constant and low potential barrier, electrons can easily
penetrate the potential barrier and corresponding materials have low
resistivity. When above Curie temperature, crystal lattice occurs at the
high-resistance layer and the ferroelectric constant decreases quickly.
The potential barrier increases because the dielectric constant drops in
accordance with the Curie-Weiss Law. With the dramatic increase of the
barrier height, it becomes difficult for electrons to pass potential barrier
and the resistivity of the corresponding materials rises dramatically. This
behaves as the PTC efficacy of the material in a macro manner. Due to
this property, the PTC thermistor is widely used in industrial electronic
equipment and household appliances. The field of its application is
classified in light of the three basic electric performances of the PTC
thermistors. The fundamental parameters are as indicated in the
following matrix diagram (Fig.1).

Rn - Room temperature zero-power

resistance

Rmin - Minimum zero-power resistance

Tb - Curie temperature

Rb - Switch resistance value Rb=2Rn

Rmax - Maximum resistance

Tp - Poise point temperature

Fig.1 PTC Thermistor Resistance vs.
Temperature Curve β - Lift-drag ratio is LgRmax/Rmin

Applications
• PTC thermistors can be used as current-limiting
devices for circuit protection, as replacements for
fuses. Current through the device cause a small
amount of resistive heating. If the current is large
enough to generate more heat than the device can
lose to its surroundings, the device heats up, causing
 its resistance to increase, and therefore causing even
more heating. This creates a self-reinforcing effect
that drives the resistance upwards, reducing the
current and voltage available to the device.
• NTC thermistors are used as resistance
thermometers in low-temperature measurements of
the order of 10 K.
• NTC thermistors can be used as inrush-current
limiting devices in power supply circuits. They
present a higher resistance initially which prevents
large currents from flowing at turn-on, and then heat
up and become much lower resistance to allow
higher current flow during normal operation. These
thermistors are usually much larger than measuring
type thermistors, and are purposely designed for this
application.
• NTC thermistors are regularly used in automotive
applications. For example, they monitor things like
coolant temperature and/or oil temperature inside
the engine and provide data to the ECU and,
indirectly, to the dashboard. They can be also used
to monitor temperature of an incubator.
2. 3296-3/8” Square Trimpot Trimming
Potentiometer

A potentiometer (colloquially known as a "pot") is a

three-terminalresistor with a sliding contact that forms an
adjustable voltage divider. If only two terminals are used
(one side and the wiper), it acts as a variable resistor
or rheostat. Potentiometers are commonly used to
control electrical devices such as volume controls on
audio equipment. Potentiometers operated by a
mechanism can be used as position transducers, for
example, in a joystick.

Potentiometers are rarely used to directly control

significant power (more than a watt). Instead they are
used to adjust the level of analog signals (e.g. volume
controls on audio equipment), and as control inputs for
electronic circuits. For example, a light dimmer uses a
potentiometer to control the switching of a TRIAC and so
indirectly control the brightness of lamps.

APPLICATIONS
Potentiometers are widely used as user controls, and may
control a very wide variety of equipment functions. The
widespread use of potentiometers in consumer
electronics has declined in the 1990s, with digital controls
now more common. However they remain in many
applications, such as volume controls and as position
sensors.

 AUDIO CONTROL

One of the most common uses for modern low-power

potentiometers is as audio control devices. Both linear
pots (also known as "faders") and rotary potentiometers
(commonly called knobs) are regularly used to adjust
loudness, frequency attenuation and other characteristics
of audio signals.

The 'log pot' is used as the volume control in audio

amplifiers, where it is also called an "audio taper pot",
because the amplitude response of the human ear is also
logarithmic. It ensures that, on a volume control marked
0 to 10, for example, a setting of 5 sounds half as loud as
a setting of 10. There is also an anti-log pot or reverse
audio taper which is simply the reverse of a log pot. It is
almost always used in a ganged configuration with a log
pot, for instance, in an audio balance control.

Television

Potentiometers were formerly used to control picture

brightness, contrast, and color response. A potentiometer
was often used to adjust "vertical hold", which affected
the synchronization between the receiver's internal
sweep circuit and the received picture signal.

Transducers

Potentiometers are also very widely used as a part of

displacementtransducers because of the simplicity of
construction and because they can give a large output
signal.

Computation

In analog computers, high precision potentiometers are used to

scale intermediate results by desired constant factors, or to set initial
conditions for a calculation. A motor-driven potentiometer may be used
as a function generator, using a non-linear resistance card to supply
approximations to trigonometric functions.

3. 555 Timer

The 555 Timer IC is an integrated circuit (chip)

implementing a variety of timer and multivibrator
applications. The IC was designed by Hans R. Camenzind
in 1970 and brought to market in 1971 by Signetics (later
acquired by Philips). The original name was the SE555
(metal can)/NE555 (plastic DIP) and the part was
described as "The IC Time Machine”.It has been claimed
that the 555 gets its name from the three 5kΩ resistors
used in typical early implementations, but Hans
Camenzind has stated that the number was arbitrary. The
part is still in wide use, thanks to its ease of use, low price
and good stability. As of 2003, it is estimated that 1
billion units are manufactured every year.

Depending on the manufacturer, the standard 555

package includes over 20 transistors, 2 diodes and 15
resistors on a silicon chip installed in an 8-pin mini dual-
in-line package (DIP-8). Variants available include the 556
(a 14-pin DIP combining two 555s on one chip), and the
558 (a 16-pin DIP combining four slightly modified 555s
with DIS & THR connected internally, and TR falling edge
sensitive instead of level sensitive).

Ultra-low power versions of the 555 are also available,

such as the 7555 and TLC555. The 7555 requires slightly
different wiring using fewer external components and less
power.

The 555 has three operating modes:

• Monostable mode: in this mode, the 555 functions as

a "one-shot". Applications include timers, missing
pulse detection, bounce free switches, touch
switches, frequency divider, capacitance
measurement, pulse-width modulation (PWM) etc
• Astable - free running mode: the 555 can operate as
an oscillator. Uses include LED and lamp flashers,
pulse generation, logic clocks, tone generation,
security alarms, pulse position modulation, etc.
• Bistable mode or Schmitt trigger: the 555 can
operate as a flip-flop, if the DIS pin is not connected
and no capacitor is used. Uses include bounce free
latched switches, etc.
4. 3V Zener diode

A Zener diode is a type of diode that permits current not

only in the forward direction like a normal diode, but also
in the reverse direction if the voltage is larger than the
breakdown voltage known as "Zener knee voltage" or
"Zener voltage". The device was named after Clarence
Zener, who discovered this electrical property.

A conventional solid-state diode will not allow significant

current if it is reverse-biased below its reverse breakdown
voltage. When the reverse bias breakdown voltage is
exceeded, a conventional diode is subject to high current
due to avalanche breakdown. Unless this current is
limited by circuitry, the diode will be permanently
damaged. In case of large forward bias (current in the
direction of the arrow), the diode exhibits a voltage drop
due to its junction built-in voltage and internal resistance.
The amount of the voltage drop depends on the
semiconductor material and the doping concentrations.

A Zener diode exhibits almost the same properties,

except the device is specially designed so as to have a
greatly reduced breakdown voltage, the so-called Zener
voltage. By contrast with the conventional device, a
reverse-biased Zener diode will exhibit a controlled
breakdown and allow the current to keep the voltage
across the Zener diode at the Zener voltage. For
example, a diode with a Zener breakdown voltage of 3.2
V will exhibit a voltage drop of 3.2 V if reverse bias
voltage applied across it is more than its Zener voltage.
The Zener diode is therefore ideal for applications such as
the generation of a reference voltage (e.g. for an
amplifier stage), or as a voltage stabilizer for low-current
applications.

The Zener diode's operation depends on the heavy

doping of its p-n junction allowing electrons to tunnel
from the valence band of the p-type material to the
conduction band of the n-type material. In the atomic
scale, this tunneling corresponds to the transport of
valence band electrons into the empty conduction band
states; as a result of the reduced barrier between these
bands and high electric fields that are induced due to the
relatively high levels of doping’s on both sides. The
breakdown voltage can be controlled quite accurately in
the doping process. While tolerances within 0.05% are
available, the most widely used tolerances are 5% and
10%. Breakdown voltage for commonly available zener
diodes can vary widely from 1.2 volts to 200volts.

Current-voltage characteristic of a Zener diode with a breakdown voltage of

17 volt. Notice the change of voltage scale between the forward biased
(positive) direction and the reverse biased (negative) direction.

5. Capacitor
A capacitor (formerly known as condenser) is a
passiveelectronic component consisting of a pair of
conductors separated by a dielectric (insulator). When a
potential difference (voltage) exists across the
conductors, an electric field is present in the dielectric.
This field stores energy and produces a mechanical force
between the conductors. The effect is greatest when
there is a narrow separation between large areas of
conductor; hence capacitor conductors are often called
plates.

An ideal capacitor is characterized by a single constant

value, capacitance, which is measured in farads. This is
the ratio of the electric charge on each conductor to the
potential difference between them. In practice, the
dielectric between the plates passes a small amount of
leakage current. The conductors and leads introduce an
equivalent series resistance and the dielectric has an
electric field strength limit resulting in a breakdown
voltage.

Capacitors are widely used in electronic circuits to block

direct current while allowing alternating current to pass,
to filter out interference, to smooth the output of power
supplies, and for many other purposes. They are used in
resonant circuits in radio frequency equipment to select
particular frequencies from a signal with many
frequencies.
Capacitor packages: SMD ceramic at top left; SMD tantalum at bottom left;
through-hole tantalum at top right; through-hole electrolytic at bottom right.
Major scale divisions are cm.

6. Resistor
A resistor is a two-terminalelectronic component that
produces a voltage across its terminals that is
proportional to the electric current passing through it in
accordance with Ohm's law:

V = IR

Resistors are elements of electrical networks and

electronic circuits and are ubiquitous in most electronic
equipment. Practical resistors can be made of various
compounds and films, as well as resistance wire (wire
made of a high-resistivity alloy, such as nickel/chrome).

The primary characteristics of a resistor are the

resistance, the tolerance, maximum working voltage and
the power rating. Other characteristics include
temperature coefficient, noise, and inductance. Less well-
known is critical resistance, the value below which power
dissipation limits the maximum permitted current flow,
and above which the limit is applied voltage. Critical
resistance is determined by the design, materials and
dimensions of the resistor.
Resistors can be integrated into hybrid and printed
circuits, as well as integrated circuits. Size, and position
of leads (or terminals) are relevant to equipment
designers; resistors must be physically large enough not
to overheat when dissipating their power.

7. BC547 Transistor
A bipolar (junction) transistor (BJT) is a three-terminal
electronic device constructed of dopedsemiconductor
material and may be used in amplifying or switching
applications. Bipolar transistors are so named because
their operation involves both electrons and holes. Charge
flow in a BJT is due to bidirectional diffusion of charge
carriers across a junction between two regions of
different charge concentrations. This mode of operation is
contrasted with unipolar transistors, such as field-effect
transistors, in which only one carrier type is involved in
charge flow due to drift. By design, most of the BJT
collector current is due to the flow of charges injected
from a high-concentration emitter into the base where
they are minority carriers that diffuse toward the
collector, and so BJTs are classified as minority-carrier
devices.

APPLICATIONS
The BJT remains a device that excels in some
applications, such as discrete circuit design, due to the
very wide selection of BJT types available, and because of
its high trans conductance and output resistance
compared to MOSFETs. The BJT is also the choice for
demanding analog circuits, especially for very-high-
frequency applications, such as radio-frequency circuits
for wireless systems. Bipolar transistors can be combined
with MOSFETs in an integrated circuit by using a BiCMOS
process of wafer fabrication to create circuits that take
advantage of the application strengths of both types of
transistor.

Temperature sensors

Because of the known temperature and current

dependence of the forward-biased base–emitter junction
voltage, the BJT can be used to measure temperature by
subtracting two voltages at two different bias currents in
a known ratio.

Logarithmic converters

Because base–emitter voltage varies as the log of the

base–emitter and collector–emitter currents, a BJT can
also be used to compute logarithmsand anti-logarithms. A
diode can also perform these nonlinear functions, but the
transistor provides more circuit flexibility.

PROJECT APPLICATIONS
The design model presented has a wide range of
application in the field of industry and manufacturing
units. The temperature maintenance plays a key role in
any kind of industrial plant.

 For example when a manufacturing unit like steel

plant is considered we need the temperature of the
furnace to maintained at a high temperature.
 Though the parameters may change the design and
circuitry remains the same.

 The temperature of the metal to be melted and the

temperature at which the chemical reaction takes
place can also be maintained by the circuit.

 The temperature in room heaters and thermal units

can use this circuit in order to check if the
temperature of the environment doesn’t fall below
the threshold level

 The incubators require necessary warmth for the

organism to survive; this can be checked all the time
using this circuit.

 Storing a chemical at a particular temperature is

sometimes necessary, where the temperature should
not fall, this circuit is applicable.

IMPROVISATIONS
The circuit can be extended by adding a smoke detector
to it. If at all any case of excess heat exists, the workers
will be aware of it also. So the extension using a smoke
detector will maintain the circuit at a very efficient
condition avoiding over heat and also maintain the
operation at the required threshold level.