L Thanh Tng - 1552417 - CC01A

Principles of temperature measurement

There are four different principles of temperature measurement, each of these is applied for some
kinds of thermometre. Following is the four principles and corresponding types of thermometer:
1. Mechanic:
a/ Liquid-in-gas thermometer: As the temperature rises, the liquid expands, moving up the tube,
which contains the liquid. The scale is ready to read directly. Mercury is used commonly.
b/ Bimetallic strip thermometer: Bimetallic strip is two different metals bonded together, which
are different in thermal expansion. As temperature increases, one metal expands more than the
other causing the strip to curl to the less expand metal.
c/ Sealed bellows: As temperature changes, the gas or vapour or liquid contained in the bellows
will expand or contract, causing the chang in volume and pressure.
d/ Pressure thermometer: As temperature changes, the pressure of gas in a closed buld, which is
constant in volume, changes correspondingly. Those changes are measured by a pressure gage
and be converted to temperature unit.
2. Thermo-junction:
A thermocouples is made up of two different metals, joined together at one end, that produce a
voltage, which is expressed in millivolts, with a change in temperature.
When two different metals are connected, a small voltage called a thermo-junction voltage is
generated. If the temperature of the junction changes, it causes 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.
Both of these effects can be combined to measure temperature. By holding one junction at a
known temperature (reference junction) and measuring the voltage, the temperature at the
sensing junctioncan be deduced. The voltage generated is directly proportional to the temperature
difference.
3. Thermal-resistance:
As temperature changes, the electrical resistance of a material changes. The resistance change is
measured to infer the temperature change. There are two types of thermometer use thermoresistance:
a/ Resistance temperature detectors (RTD) or Resistance thermometers: RTD elements, which
are usually platinum, nikel or copper, consist of a length of fine coiled wire wrapped around a
ceramic or glass core, placed inside a sheathed probe. As temperature changes, the material has a
predictable change in resistance and it is used to determine temperature.

b/ Thermistors: It is similar to an RTD, but a semiconductor material is used instead of a metal. A

thermistor is a solid state device and has larger sensitivity than does an RTD. There are two main
types of thermistors, positive temperature coefficient (PTC) and negative temperature coefficient
(NTC) - the resistance of a thermistor decreases as temperature increases. The temperatureresistance characteristic of a thermistor cannot be characterized by a single coefficient.
4. Thermal-radiation:
a/ Infrared pyrometers: By knowing the amount of infrared energy emitted by the object and its
emissivity, the object's temperature can often be determined without contacting to the measured
object.
b/ Optical pyrometers: It is useful for measuring very high temperatures (even flames) as it is a
non-contact thermometer. The optical pyrometer uses an infrared radiation-sensitive sensor to
compare the radiation from the unknown with that of the radiation from an internal incandescent
source.