INTRODUCTION TO TEMPERATURE MEASUREMENT Temperature is one of the most frequently used process measurements.

Almost all processes and reactions in food processing are temperature dependent. Where the temperature is critical to the reaction, incorrect temperature may cause a considerable loss of product. In some cases, unable to monitor or measure temperature can result in damage to a food product with possibly loss of life. Therefore, proper temperature measurement is critical for ensuring safe and quality production and is necessary to prevent such consequences. Devices for measuring temperature are thermometer, thermocouple, thermistor, or other device that indicates the temperature of food, air or water. They organize the output of the temperature sensing device and/or convert the output to meaningful temperature readout. One group of temperature sensing device relies on thermal expansion of materials. Glass and bimetallic thermometers and filled thermal elements belong to this group. Other devices used thermoelectric effect which is a property of thermocouples. Resistance thermometer and thermistor, on the other hand, are types of thermoresistive measuring devices in which the change in resistance is measured to infer the temperature change. Liquid-in-glass Thermometer The liquid-in-glass thermometer is not generally used nowadays for high-precision measurements but it is the most widely used device for temperature measurement. It consists typically of a capillary glass tube with a bulb at one end filled with a thermometric liquid, vacuumed and sealed. The bulb and part of the tube are filled with a liquid, most commonly used are mercury, gallium, alcohol, pentane and the silicones. The operation of liquid-in-glass thermometers is based on the expansion of the liquid with temperature. The liquid acts as a transducer to convert thermal energy into a mechanical form. As the liquid in the bulb becomes hotter, it expands and the liquid is forced up the capillary stem. By reading the position of the liquid level on a scale, a temperature value can be obtained. The advantages of liquid-in-glass thermometers are their simple design, simple observation method and the possibility of temperature measurement anywhere as they require no electric power for operation. The disadvantage is that careful handling is required because the glass material is fragile. Moreover, long stabilization time is needed because it does not contract immediately on cooling. Bimetallic Thermometer Bimetallic thermometer consists of two dissimilar metal plates with different expansion coefficients bonded, welded or brazed together, and then rolled to an appropriate thickness. As temperature increases, in the absence of external forces, the bimetallic thermometer will take the shape of an arc due to the difference in the thermal expansion coefficients of the two metals. Likewise, if one end of a straight bimetal strip is fixed, the other end deflects in direct proportion to a temperature change. The deflection for a given temperature change is proportional to the square of the length of the strip and is inversely proportional to the thickness of the strip. On the other hand, when the bimetal strip is wound into a spiral or helix and one end is fixed, the other end will rotate with a change in temperature. The advantages of such device are simple, inexpensive, used in many dial thermometers and the amount of bending can be mechanically amplified to produce a large and hence easily measurable displacement. On the other hand, limited temperature range can be measured using bimetallic thermometer.

Thermistors Thermistors, derived from thermally-sensitive resistors, whose primary function is to exhibit a change in electric resistance with a change in body temperature. There are two main types of thermistors depending on the type of material system used. A thermistor can have either a large positive temperature coefficient of resistance (PTC device) or a large negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTC device). PTC changes resistance directly proportional to temperature while NTC thermistors exhibit the characteristic of resistance falling with increasing temperature. The latter type is most commonly used for temperature measurement. A thermistor is similar to a resistance temperature detector (RTD) but it differs in RTD in some other ways like the type of conductors used. A thermistor uses a ceramic semiconductor while RTD uses metal wire wound in a coil. Thermistor also has larger sensitivity than does an RTD. Unlike RTDs, the temperature-resistance characteristic of a thermistor is non-linear, and cannot characterized by a single coefficient. Furthermore, unlike RTDs, the resistance of a thermistor decreases with increasing temperature. The known advantages of themistors are good stability, large resistance change with temperature, rapid response time, ability to eliminate difficulties caused by lead resistance and low cost. Some of the disadvantages are non-linear, limited operating temperature range, may be subjected to inaccuracy due to overheating and a current source is required. Resistance Temperature Detectors (RTD) A resistance temperature detector (RTD) operates on the principle that the electrical resistance of a metal changes predictably in an essentially linear and repeatable manner with changes in temperature. It has positive temperature coefficient, meaning as the resistance increases, the temperature also increases. The sensitive portion of an RTD, called an element, is a coil of smalldiameter, high-purity wire, usually constructed of platinum, copper, or nickel. This type of configuration is called a wire-wound element. With thin-film elements, a thin film of platinum is deposited onto a ceramic substrate. The resistance of the element at a base temperature is proportional to the length of the element and the inverse of the cross sectional area. The advantages of RTD are linear resistance with temperature, good stability, wide range of operating temperature and interchangeable over wide temperature range. The disadvantages are small resistance change with temperature, responses may be slower, subject to self heating and an external circuit power is required for it to operate. Thermocouples One of the most frequently used temperature transducers is the thermocouple. A thermocouple consists of two dissimilar metals connected together at both ends by soldering, welding, or merely twisting to form a pair of junctions. Due to the combination of two dissimilar metals, an electromotive force (emf) called a thermo-junction voltage is generated at the junction. This is called the Peltier effect. If the temperature of the junction changes, it causes the voltage to change too, which can be measured by the input circuits of an electronic controller. The output is a voltage proportional to the temperature difference between the junction and the free ends. This is called the Thompson effect. Both of these effects can be combined to measure temperature. By holding one junction at a known temperature (reference junction), usually at 0oC or an ice bath immersed junction, the temperature at the sensing junction can be deduced. Likewise, by using a millivoltmeter or a potentiometer to measure the existing emf or the induced electric current, respectively, the temperature of the second junction can be determined from an appropriate calibration table or curve. The voltage generated is directly proportional to the temperature difference. The combined effect is known as the thermo-junction effect or the Seeback effect. Copper and constantan are the metals most commonly used to form the thermocouple.

Considering the above effects, three thermoelectric laws have been formulated which characterize the behavior of thermocouples. They are as follows: 1. Law of homogeneous material A thermoelectric current cannot be sustained in a circuit of a single homogeneous material by the application of heat alone, regardless of cross-section variations. 2. Law of intermediate materials - If in a circuit of solid conductors, the temperature is uniform from any point (P) through all the conducting matter to a point (Q), the sum of the thermoelectric forces in the entire circuit is totally independent of this intermediate matter and is the same as if P and Q were put in contact. 3. Law of successive or intermediate temperatures - If two dissimilar metals produce emf1 at junction temperatures T1 and T2 and produce emf2 at temperatures T2 and T3, then the emf generated at junction temperatures T1 and T3 will be emf1 + emf2 . Construction of thermocouple consists of measuring junction, thermocouple wires, ceramic insulators, protective sheath and connection head. Out of two junctions, one is kept at constant reference temperature. Hence, it is referred to as cold junction, as shown in Figure 1. While the temperature changes to be measured are subjected to the other junction which is referred as hot junction. When the hot junction temperature is greater as compared to cold junction, emf is generated due to the temperature gradient. The magnitude of the emf generated depends on the material used for the wires and temperature difference between the two junctions. Generally, a meter or recorder is used to measure emf. The hot junction is sometimes called measuring junction while the cold junction is called reference junction. The two wires of the thermocouple are generally twisted and welded together. To measure higher temperature, the wire used should be heavier. But if the size of the wire increases, the response time of the thermocouple also increases.

(a) (b) Figure 1. (a) Basic thermocouple circuit; (b) Practical thermocouple circuit. Thermocouples are commonly used to monitor temperature with PC-based data acquisition systems. The analog data collected by thermocouples has no precisely measurable or discrete value unless converted to digital data which can only be read by computers. Analog to digital conversion is the process by which a continuous signal (generally a voltage) is mapped at a particular point in time to a digital value. To convert signals from analog to digital require an analogue-to-digital converter (ADC). ADC converts the input signal from temperature sensor device to voltage form that has 8-bit output. The signals from analog are gathered by sensors which are often also transducers. Before converting to a digital value using ADC, the transducer output must be processed - amplified, attenuated, scaled or filtered to reduce noise. Transducers used as sensors for input to ADC devices usually convert energy from heat, light, pressure to electrical impulses. These analog impulses are then sampled and digitized.

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