Dr D Y Patil Educational Enterprises Charitable Trust’s

Dr D Y Patil School of Engineering & Technology

Dr D Y Patil Knowledge City, Charholi (Bk.), Via. Lohgaon, Pune – 412 105

Experiment No. 03
Aim:

Temperature detection using RTD & control the temperature of water at desired set point.

Objectives:

1. Study RTD Temperature sensor.

2. Study how temperature is controlled by PID.

Introduction:

RTD stands for Resistance Temperature Detector. RTDs are sometimes referred to generally as
resistance thermometers. The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) has defined
the term resistance thermometer as follows:
Resistance thermometer, n. - a temperature-measuring device composed of a resistance
thermometer element, internal connecting wires, a protective shell with or without means for
mounting a connection head, or connecting wire or other fittings, or both.
An RTD is a temperature sensor which measures temperature using the principle that the
resistance of a metal changes with temperature. In practice, an electrical current is transmitted
through a piece of metal (the RTD element or resistor) located in proximity to the area where
temperature is to be measured. The resistance value of the RTD element is then measured by an
instrument. This resistance value is then correlated to temperature based upon the known
resistance characteristics of the RTD element.
How do RTDs Work?
RTDs work on a basic correlation between metals and temperature. As the temperature of a
metal increases, the metal's resistance to the flow of electricity increases. Similarly, as the
temperature of the RTD resistance element increases, the electrical resistance, measured in ohms
(Ω), increases. RTD elements are commonly specified according to their resistance in ohms at
zero degrees Celsius. The most common RTD specification is 100 Ω, which means that at 0C the
RTD element should demonstrate 100 Ω of resistance.
Platinum is the most commonly used metal for RTD elements due to a number of factors,
including its (1) chemical inertness, (2) nearly linear temperature versus resistance relationship,
(3) temperature coefficient of resistance that is large enough to give readily measurable
resistance changes with temperature and (4) stability (in that its temperature resistance does not
drastically change with time).
Other metals that are less frequently used as the resistor elements in an RTD include nickel,
copper and Balco.

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RTD elements are typically in one of three configurations: (1) a platinum or metal glass slurry
film deposited or screened onto a small flat ceramic substrate known as "thin film" RTD
elements, and (2) platinum or metal wire wound on a glass or ceramic bobbin and sealed with a
coating of molten glass known as "wire wound" RTD elements. (3) A partially supported wound
element which is a small coil of wire inserted into a hole in a ceramic insulator and attached
along one side of that hole. Of the three RTD elements, the thin film is most rugged and has
become increasingly more accurate over time.

Why are RTDs sometimes called 2, 3 or 4 wire RTDs? And why would I want one RTD wire
configuration instead of another?
A simple rule of thumb is that the more wires an RTD has the more accurate it is. The entire
RTD assembly is not platinum. Among other issues, constructing an RTD in that manner would
for most purposes be prohibitively expensive. As a result, only the small RTD element itself is
made of platinum. As a practical matter the resistance value of the RTD element would be
useless without a means to communicate that resistance to an instrument. Accordingly, insulated
copper wires typically connect the RTD element to the measuring instrument.
Like platinum, copper has a resistance value. Resistance along the copper lead wires can impact
the resistance measurement determined by the instrument connected to the RTD. Two wire
RTDs do not have a practical means for accounting for the resistance associated with the copper
lead wires which reduces the extent to which the resistance measured can be accurately
correlated to the temperature of the RTD element. As a result, two wire RTDs are least
commonly specified and are generally used where only an approximate value for temperature is
needed.

Three wire RTDs are the most common specification for industrial applications. Three wire
RTDs normally use a Wheatstone bridge measurement circuit to compensate for the lead wire
resistance as shown below.

In a 3 wire RTD configuration, Wires "A" & "B" should be close to the same length. These
lengths are significant because the intention of the Wheatstone bridge is to make the impedances
of wires A and B, each acting as an opposite leg of the bridge, cancel the other out, leaving Wire
"C" to act as a sense lead carrying a very small (microamperage range) current.

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4 Wire RTDs are even more accurate than their 3 wire RTD counterparts because they are able to
completely compensate for the resistance of the wires without having to pay particular attention
to the length of each of the wires. This can provide significantly increased accuracy at the
relatively low cost of increased copper extension wire.

Limitations of RTD:
In the RTD resistance, there will be an I2R power dissipation by the device itself that causes a
slight heating effect. This is called as self-heating in RTD. This may also cause an erroneous
reading. Thus, the electric current through the RTD resistance must be kept sufficiently low and
constant to avoid self-heating.

How temperature of water is controlled by PID:

The water tank process consist of several things mainly water tank, sensor, data acquisition
system, controller and heater. Here RTD is used as the temperature sensor DAQ is used for inter
connection between sensor and controller as well as controller and driver circuit. The RTD
output is in terms of mille volt range so we use a amplifier circuit for increasing the voltage
range. The working of the system is described as, when the temperature is measured by the RTD
it is converted into the voltage, which is going to the controller through DAQ. The difference
between set point and actual value is applied to the controller, nothing but error .The PWM
signal is produced corresponding to the 10 output voltage of the sensor. to control the
temperature of the water bath process, it’s tuned automatically and correcting the error in the
process its shown figure 1.

Fig. 1. Closed loop PID temperature control of water heating tank system

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System Diagram:

Procedure:
1. Make the connections as per connection diagram
2. Ensure the availability of water.
3. Ensure the hand valve settings are correct.
4. Switch ON VMPA - 62A unit
5. Heater / Pump ON switch should be in ‘Heater’ mode.
6. Enter the parameters and observe the responses of various controllers at various set points
7. The input to the system is given as step input.
8. The change in process variable and steady state is noted
9. Set variable value is set initially at some desired set point temperature.
10. The total change in PV (Process variable) that is going to occur is calculated.
11. Stop the process.

Observations:

SV=

Sr. PV Time
No
1
2
3
4

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Graph:-

Time VS Temperature

Result And Conclusion:-