KING FAHD UNIVERSITY OF PETROLEUM & MINERALS

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT

ME 402: Measurments and Control Lab

Student Name Mohammed Albazzaz

Student ID # 201851480

Section # 01

Experiment No. & Title 1-Temperature

Instructor Name Saeed Bahatab

Date 13/2/2024
 EXPERIMENT A

ASSESSMENT OF THE PERFORMANCE OF DIFFERENT TEMPERATURE

MEASURING SENSORS

1. INTRODUCTION

Temperature is a property of materials that describes whether the substance is cold or hot, also it is
associated with how much internal energy dose this material have. Having accurate temperature
readings is very important in many applications. Therefore, different devices are utilized to measure
the temperature such as;

Thermocouple
The thermocouple is an electrical device consisting of two legs from different material forming
electrical junctions at differing temperatures. Thermocouple produces a voltage due to the change in
temperature at the welded end, then interpret the produced voltage to calculate the temperature.

RTD
Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD) is a temperature sensor that contains a resistor whose
resistance value varies as its temperature changes. RTDs have long been used for industrial
temperature measurement and in precise laboratory work. The invention of a resistance thermometer
was made possible by the discovery that the conductivity of metals decreases predictably with
increases in their temperatures. Measuring the resistance across the sensing element at any given
temperature allows that temperature to be calculated with a high degree of accuracy. The issues with
RTD might be the initial price and the lower sensitivity compared with the thermocouple.

Thermistor
Thermistor is an element with an electrical resistance that changes in response to temperature. This
name is derived from the more descriptive term “thermally sensitive resistor”. Thermistors are a type
of semiconductor, meaning they have greater resistance than conducting materials, but lower
resistance than insulating materials. The relationship between a thermistor’s temperature and its
resistance is highly dependent upon the materials from which it’s composed. In contrast to RTDs that
change resistance in a nearly linear way with temperature, NTC thermistors have a highly nonlinear
change in resistance (See Fig.1) and actually reduce their resistance with increases in temperature.
 Fig. 1. Resistance vs. Temperature Curve

2. OBJECTIVES

• Assess the thermal response of three different temperature sensors; thermocouple, RTD and
thermistor.
• Calibrate the temperature readings of the three sensors, with the temperature trainer setting
temperature.
• Check for hysteresis error in the sensors by measuring at different temperature levels during
heating and cooling.
• Check the validity of the manual equations provided with the sensors

3. APPARATUS AND DEVICES

1. Glass thermometer.
2. Thermistor thermometer.
3. RTD thermometer.
4. Thermocouple thermometer (J-type).
5. Hot plate.
6. Heater indicator.
7. Power switch.
8. Temperature controller.
9. Electric fan.
10. Computer connected to data acquisition system.
 Fig. 2. Temperature Measurement Trainer

4. PROCEDURE

1. Connect the Temperature Measurement Trainer (TMT) to the computer using the USB.
2. Turn on the power switch (part 7 in the in Fig. 2) in the Temperature Measurement Trainer
(TMT).
3. Open the Temperature Measurement Trainer (TMT) software on the computer. The below
window will be shown;
4. Click on “Run Experiments” button.
5. Select “Thermometers Comparison” option, the below window will be shown.

6. Set the temperature in the temperature controller (Part 8 in Fig. 2) at 25oC.

7. Turn on the air heater from the software by clicking on the heater On/Off button, you will see
that the heater indicator (part 6 in Fig. 2) is ON.
 8. When the temperature value on the temperature indicator is 25 oC, the heater indicator will be
turned off automatically.
9. Stop the heater and record the temperature of the three devices by clicking on the read button
in the above window.
Important Note: Click the read button when the temperature in the temperature controller is 25oC.
10. Repeat steps 6, 7, 8 and 9 for temperature values of 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50oC.
11. When the last value (50 oC) is reached, six data points for each device has been recorded and
the cooling will be started.
12. Upon cooling, starting point is the same 50 oC for heating and following the same path till
reaching 25oC.
13. Save the data by clicking on the “Save Report” on the above window.
14. Turn off the power switch.

5. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Requirements (Draw the graphs using LabVIEW)

1. Provide all the measured data in one table.

Reference Heating Cooling
temperature
Thermocouple Thermistor RTD Thermocouple Thermistor RTD
Atmospheric -8.3755 27.1455 27.4569
30 -13.3709 31.6981 31.7307 -9.5246 25.7383 28.9374
35 -10.2667 38.8591 39.9204 -3.4177 27.1199 33.7889
40 -1.9554 44.8940 46.7836 5.1069 29.3589 40.4713
45 1.5376 50.2215 52.8228 7.4513 30.7256 45.0224
50 -1.6042 55.7337 58.7192 -1.6042 55.7337 58.7192

2. One detailed sample of calculation, with substitution, for each temperature sensor, during
cooling, to verify the manual equations and calculate the percentage error.
Sensor Vmeasured or Rmeasured Tcalculated Tmeasured Error%

𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 −𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
Thermocouple 0.3771 T = Fn. (V) 7.4513

×100
Thermistor 4687.215 T = Fn. (R) 30.725
𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
6
RTD 117.5589 T = Fn. (R) 45.0224
3. Use the temperature values to check for hysteresis error in all the sensors by plotting the
graphs of the measured temperature (in the X-axis) vs reference temperature (in the Y-axis) for
the three sensors, heating and cooling on the same graph (3 graphs).
1. Plot the measured temperature (in the X-axis) vs the reference temperature (in the Y-axis) for all
the sensors on one graph for heating only (1 graph).
4. Plot the measured temperature (in the X-axis) vs the reference temperature (in the Y-axis) for all
the sensors on one graph for cooling only (1 graph).

2. Use the data provided for the voltage and resistance of the devices (for cooling only), verify if
the same temperatures are obtained using the calibration equations of the devices given in the
appendix (show the results in 1 table) and calculate the percentage of error.
Sensor Vmeasured or Tcalculated Tcalculated Tmeasured Error%
Rmeasured
0.3771 7.452 7.4513
0.2581 5.107 5.1069
-0.1718 -3.417 -3.4177
T = Fn.
𝑇𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑒𝑑 −𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
Thermocouple
-0.4770 (V) -9.524 -9.5246
×1
00
𝑇𝑐𝑎𝑙𝑐𝑢𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑑
4687.215 30.38755621 30.7256

4968.041 T = Fn. 30.25089318 29.3589

Thermistor
(R)
5470.480 30.02699329 27.1199

5809.260 29.88882509 25.7383

117.5589 T = Fn. 44.378 45.0224

RTD
(R)
115.7838 39.865 40.4713
113.1777 33.250 33.7889
111.2856 28.456 28.9374
3. Discuss all the results. Given below are some hints for writing the discussion:
• What is the nature of the relations between the temperature measured by the devices and
the reference temperature? (Linear, polynomial, exponential …etc.)
Thermocouple (J-type): Nonlinear (polynomial).
RTD (PT100): Linear.
Thermistor (NTC): Highly nonlinear (exponential).

• If linear, is it accurate? With bias (systematic) error? Or another type of error? (mention
it)
RTD (PT100): Linear, generally accurate with minimal bias errors.

• If not linear, does it have sensitivity error?

Thermocouple (J-type): Can have sensitivity errors.
Thermistor (NTC): Can exhibit sensitivity errors.

• What are the expected sources of error?

Thermocouple (J-type): Non-uniform temperature distribution, cold junction
compensation, and drift.
RTD (PT100): Lead resistance, self-heating effects, and calibration inaccuracies.
Thermistor (NTC): Self-heating, nonlinearity, and sensitivity variations.

• Which device you think is more accurate and you recommend to be used and justify your
answer?

RTD (PT100): Preferred for its linear response, low sensitivity errors, and reliability
within a moderate temperature range.

Consider application-specific needs and constraints when choosing between sensors.

•
APPENDIX

Calibration Equations for The Measuring Devices

1. Thermocouple (J-type)

𝑇 = 𝑉(1.978425 ∗ 10−2) + 𝑉2(−2.001204 ∗ 10−7) + 𝑉3(1.036969 ∗

10−11)
+ 𝑉4(−2.549687 ∗ 10−16) + 𝑉5(3.585153 ∗ 10−21) + 𝑉6(−5.344285

∗ 10−26) + 𝑉7(5.099890 ∗ 10−31)

Where:

T ≡ The calculated temperature in oC

V ≡ The thermocouple voltage in microvolt

NOTE: The experimental voltage values MUST be converted to microvolt.

2. RTD (PT100)
𝑅𝑜 − 𝑅

Where:

T ≡ The calculated temperature in oC

𝑅𝑜 ≡ The RTD nominal resistance at 0oC, for PT100, 𝑅𝑜=100 Ohm.
𝑅 ≡ The measured resistance in Ohm.
A = 3.90802*10−3
B = -5.80195*10−7

3. Thermistor (NTC)
1

𝑇 = 𝑎 + 𝑏(𝑙𝑛𝑅) + 𝑐(𝑙𝑛𝑅)3

Where:

T ≡ The calculated temperature in Kelvin.

𝑅 ≡ The measured resistance in Ohm.
a = 1.2407635*10−3 b
= 2.3612017*10−4 c
= 8.97975*10−8

a= 8.99898125×10^−8

b= 0.0000724375

c= 0.000380273