Chapter 3

Temperature Measurements

Methods of Temperature Measurement

1. Mechanical Methods

2. Electrical Methods

Methods of Temperature Measurement

The temperature measuring instruments
are classified according to the nature of the
change produced in the testing body by the
change of temperature. They may be
classified as follows:
(i)
(ii)
(iii)

Expansion thermometers
Filled-system thermometers
Electrical temperature instruments

Expansion Thermometer
Expansion thermometers are classified according to
the nature of
substance which expands. They may be described
under three
headings as follows:
(i)expansion of solids
Bimetallic thermometers
(ii)expansion of liquids
Liquid-in-glass thermometers

Liquid-in-metal thermometers
(iii)expansion of gases
Gas thermometers

Expansion Thermometer- Bimetallic

Thermometer
(expansion of solids)

Effect of unequal expansion of a

bimetallic strip

Bimetallic thermometer

Expansion Thermometer- Bimetallic

Thermometer
It consists of two strips of metal welded together, each strip
made from a metal having a different coefficient of thermal
expansion. Whenever the welded strip is heated, the two
metals change length in accordance with their individual
rates of thermal expansion.
The two metals expand to different lengths as the
temperature rises. This forces the bimetallic strip to bend
towards the side with low coefficient of thermal Expansion.
If one end of the bimetallic strip is fixed so that it cannot
move, the distance the other end bends is directly
proportional to the square of the length of the metal strip as
well as to the total change in temperature, and is inversely
proportional to the thickness of the metal.

Expansion thermometer with Spiral

Bimetallic Element(expansion of solids)
If the bimetallic element is wound in the form of a
spiral, the spiral coil is tightened with increase in
temperature.
As it coils, the counterpost rotates clockwise, and
thus a pointer attached to the post also moves on a
calibrated temperature scale.

Expansion thermometer with Helical

Bimetallic Element (expansion of solids)
It consists of a tightly wound
helical bimetallic strip located
inside the stem of the
thermometer with one end
fastened permanently to the
outer casing.
A strip is attached to a centre
post that extends from the
stem to the centre of an
indicating dial. A pointer is
attached to the centre post.
When the temperature
surrounding the whole stem
changes, the bimetal expands
and the helical coil winds and
unwinds, which rotates the
centre post. This causes the

Expansion
thermometer with
Spiral Bimetallic
Element
Expansion thermometer with Spiral Bimetallic Element

Expansion
thermometer
with Helical
Bimetallic

Thermal expansion methods: Bimetallic

sensors (expansion of solids)

Thermal expansion methods: Bimetallic

sensors Advantages
Following are the advantages of bimetallic
thermometers:
(i) Their cost is low.
(ii) They are tough, and cannot easily be
broken.
(iii) They are easily installed and maintained
(iv) They have good accuracy relative to cost.
(v) They have fairly wide temperature range.

Thermal expansion methods: Bimetallic

sensors disadvantages
Following are the disadvantages of bimetallic
thermometers:
(i)
They are limited to local mounting.
(ii) Only indicating type is available.
(iii) There is always a possibility of calibration change
due
to rough handling.
(iv) Their accuracy is not as high as glass stem
thermometers.

Liquid-in-glass Thermometer
(expansion of liquids)
Its operation is based on the fact that liquid expands
as the temperature rises.
In this type of thermometer, the expansion causes the
liquid to rise in the tube, indicating the temperature.
It consists of a small-bore glass
tube with a thin-wall glass bulb at
its lower end.
The liquid that fills the bulb and
part of the tube is usually
mercury.
As heat is transferred through the
well and metal stem and into the
mercury, the mercury expands,
pushing the column of mercury

Liquid-in-glass ThermometerDisadvantages
(expansion of liquids)

They are fragile and not easily adapted to

automatic recording or transmission of
temperature data. This limits their use in
modern industries.

They can be difficult to read also.

In the mercury-in-glass thermometer, a large

error may be introduced by changes in the size
of the bulb due to ageing

Liquid-in-metal Thermometer(expansion of liquids)

The liquid mercury-in-steel thermometer
works on exactly the same principle as the
liquid-in-glass thermometer.
As mercury in the system is not visible, a
bourdon tube is used to measure the
change in its volume. The bourdon tube, the
bulb and the capillary tube are completely
filled with mercury, usually at a higher
pressure.
When the temperature to be measured
rises, the mercury in the bulb expands more
than the bulb so that some mercury is
driven through the capillary tube into the
Bourdon tube.
As the temperature continues to rise,
increasing amounts of mercury will be
driven into the Bourdon tube, causing it to
bend. One end of the bourdon tube is fixed,

Liquid-in-metal Thermometer-

Gas Thermometer-(expansion of gases)

The volume of a gas increases with
temperature, if the pressure is maintained
constant;
the pressure increases with temperature, if
the volume is maintained constant.
If a certain volume of inert gas is enclosed
in a bulb, capillary and Bourdon tube then
the pressure indicated by the Bourdon tube
may be calibrated in terms of the
temperature of the bulb.

Gas Thermometer-(expansion of gases)

Advantages
An advantage of the gas-filled
thermometer is that the gas in the bulb
has a low thermal capacity than a similar
quantity of liquid, so that the response of
the thermometer to temperature changes
will be more rapid than that for a liquidfilled system with a bulb of the same size
and shape.

Filled system thermometers

It consists of:
Bulb
Capillary tube
Pressure element
Scale

Filled system thermometers

When in use, the thermometer bulb is installed
inside the substance to be measured. This causes
the filling liquid inside the bulb to heat or cool until
its temperature matches the temperature of the
measured substance. This change in temperature
causes the filling liquid to expand or contract and
thus the bourdon tube moves. With increase in
temperature (heating) the liquid expands and this
expansion forces the bourdon tube to uncoil.
With decrease in temperature (cooling) the liquid
contracts and it forces the bourdon tube to coil more
tightly. The movement of the bourdon tube may be
used to drive a pointer for indicating temperature or
to drive the pen on a strip-chart.

Filled system thermometers - Advantages

They have a rugged construction.

They require low maintenance.
There is no need for electric power since they are
self-sufficient.
They possess satisfactory time response sensitivity
and accuracy for most industrial applications
Their cost is low.
They deliver enough power to drive not only a
pointer or recording pen but also a controller
mechanism.
Three (or more) separate systems can be put in a
single instrument case.

Filled system thermometers Disadvantages

They need a large bulb for the sake of accuracy.

The entire system usually has to be replaced in case of failure.

Their accuracy, sensitivity, and temperature span is much

lower compared to electrical temperature instruments.

Maximum spans are not as narrow as in the bimetallic

thermometer or electrical systems.

They have limited maximum temperature compared to some

electrical measuring systems.

Electrical temperature instruments

There are three types of electrical temperature instruments
(temperature sensors) which are generally used in industries.

Resistance thermometer(RTD)

Thermocouple

Thermistor

Resistance Temperature Detector- RTD

How it works:

Make up:

Utilizes the fact that

resistance of a metal
changes with
temperature.
Traditionally made up of
platinum, nickel, iron or
copper wound around an
insulator.

Temperature range:

From about -196C to

482C.
Thin Film RTD

Resistance Temperature Detector- RTD

It is a positive temperature
coefficient device, which
means that the resistance
increases with temperature.
The industry standard is the platinum wire
RTD (Pt100) whose base resistance is
exactly 100.00 ohms at 0.0 C.

Resistance Temperature Detector- RTD

Platinum Wire RTDs (PRTs)
PRTs have established themselves as the de-facto industry
standard for temperature measurement, and for many
reasons:
linear temperature sensors
Resistance vs temperature
characteristics are stable
and reproducible
linear positive temperature
coefficient (-200 to 800 C)
very accurate and suitable
for use as a secondary

Resistance Temperature Detector- RTD

Platinum Scale ( 0 to 100 C )

Resistance Temperature Detector- RTD

International Practical scale for Temperature
(0 to

650. 30 C)

Resistance Temperature Detector- RTD

International Practical scale for Temperature
(Below 0 C)

RTDs with a bridge circuit

Only practical if the RTD lead wires are short.
In many applications the RTD is located far from the
conditioning circuit adding extra resistance because the length
of the copper lead wire.
Cu = 0.0302 per ft.

Most RTDs have an extra wire

to compensate for the length
of lead wire.
A temperature sensitive resistance
element is fabricated in a suitable
form to insert in the medium whose
temperature is to be measured, and
is connected by leads to a
wheatstone bridge

Resistance Temperature Detector- RTD

The bridge consists of a sensing element resistance X
having high temperature coefficient and resistances A,
B and C whose ohmic values do not alter with change
of temperature. LR1 and LR2 are the lead wire
resistances of the sensing element.
The principle of wheat-stone bridge states
that in balanced condition (when no current
flows through galvanometer).
The ratio of resistances is given by:
A X LR1 LR2

B
C

Now, when resistance X changes, the wheatstone

bridge becomes unbalanced and thus galvanometer
will give deflection which can be calibrated to give

Resistance Temperature Detector- RTD

The requirement for the resistance materials used in
RTDs are

High temperature coefficient of resistance in order to

give
substantial change in resistance for relatively small
change
in temperature or larger sensitivity

High resistivity
Linearity of relation between resistance and
temperature
for convenience in measurement.

Stability of electrical characteristics of the material

RTD Advantages
(i)

They possess high accuracy of measurement.

(ii) They have a wide temperature range from 200 to 650C.

(iii) They are small in size.
(iv) They are fast in response.
(v) They have good reproducibility.
(vi) They have shown stable and accurate performance over
many years.
(vii)

Temperature compensation is not required.

RTD disadvantages
(i)

Their cost is high.

(ii) They need a bridge circuit, power supply.

(iii) They show inaccuracy resulting from the
current flowing through the bridge circuit
and thereby heating the resistance element.
(iv) They have larger bulb size than
thermocouples.

Thermocouples
Principle of operation: Thermo-electric effect.
When 2 dissimilar metals are joined together to form
a junction, an emf is produced which is proportional
to the temperature being sensed.
The amount of the current produced depends on the
difference in temperature between the two junctions
and on the characteristics of the two metals. This was
first observed by Seebeck in 1821 and is known as
Seebeck effect.
Instrument which record the variations in current flow
are calibrated in terms of temperature and are known
as Thermocouple Pyrometers

Typical Industrial Thermocouple Assembly

Thermocouples
The relation between the emf and the difference of
temperature of hot and cold junctions over a limited
temperature range is given by the expression:
1
e (T To ) (T 2 To2 )
2
Where e is the thermo-electric emf in volts,
T is the absolute temperature of hot junction,
To is the absolute temperature of cold
junction
and are constants whose value depends
on the thermo electric power of the two metals

Thermocouples - Example
A copper constantan thermocouple has = 37.5
V/C and = 0.0045 V/C. Determine the emf
developed by the thermocouple when its hot junction
is at 200 C and cold junction is kept in ice.
Given: = 37.5 V/C, = 0.0045 V/C
Temperature at hot junction = 200 + 273 =
473K
Temperature at cold junction = 0 + 273
=273 K
1
2
2
e

(
T

T
)

(Tby
Tthe
Emf developed
thermocouple,
o
o )
2
1
37.5 10 6 (473 273) 0.0045 10 6 (4732 2732 )
2
7.84mV

Thermocouples - Advantage

They have rugged construction.

They are inexpensive.
They are simpler to use than resistance thermometers.
There is no need of a bridge circuit.
They have extremely wide temperature ranges from
-270C to 2800C.
They have wide variety of designs to both standard and
special applications.
Their electrical output is adaptable to a variety of
readout and/or control devices.
They have high response speed compared to filled
systems thermometers.
They possess good accuracy.
Calibration checking is easily made.
They possess long transmission distances.

Thermocouples - Disadvantage
They have limited use in temperature spans of less than
about 33C because of the relatively small change in
junction voltages with temperature.
Extension leads must be housed in metal conduit, as low
junction voltage can cause the device to pickup stray
electrical signals.
They need to hold reference junction temperatures
constant or compensation for any deviations.
Their temperature-voltage relationship is non-linear.
They hold chances of stray voltage pickups.
Temperature spans are not as narrow as filled system or
resistance thermometers.
They require much of an amplifier for many applications.
They need expensive accessories for control

Thermistor

Thermistor

The thermistors can be in the shape of a rod, bead or disc.

Manufactured from
oxides of nickel,
manganese,
iron,
cobalt, magnesium,
titanium and other
metals.

Thermistor

Thermistor - Advantages and

Disadvantages
Advantages:
Very sensitive (has the
largest output change
from input
temperature)
Quick response
More accurate than
RTD and
Thermocouples

Disadvantages:
Output is a non-linear
function
Limited temperature
range.
Require a current
source
Self heating
Fragile

Resistance Thermometers Comparison

The word that best describes the

thermistors is sensitive

Resistance Thermometers Comparison

Lets Experiment!
In lab a RTD, thermistor, and
thermocouple were placed in a beaker of
750mL of water and readings were taken
from 19C to 80C.
The next two slides show the results.

Thermocoupl
e

RTD

Thermistor

(mille-Volts)

(ohms)

(kilo-ohms)

19

-0.10

108.00

105.60

20

-0.10

108.40

99.80

21

0.00

108.70

94.20

22

0.00

109.00

88.20

23

0.00

109.50

83.80

24

0.10

110.00

79.70

25

0.10

110.40

75.90

26

0.10

110.90

73.30

27

0.20

111.30

70.00

28

0.20

111.50

68.40

29

0.30

112.00

63.40

30

0.40

112.90

60.50

32

0.50

113.20

54.80

Temperature
(degrees
Celsius)

Resistance Thermometers Comparison

Summary of Temperature Sensor

Characteristics

Summary of Temperature Sensor

Characteristics