BS-PH191/291 TO STUDY THE CHARACTERISTICS OF VARIOUS TRANSDUCERS‘Theory/Working Formula :~ Temperature measurement and control is one of the commonest tests Performed in many industries. The basic device used for this purpose is a sensor, some characteristics of which undergoes a change as the temperature varies. In a simple mercury thermometer, for example, the volume expansions of mercury is used to indicate temperature on a scale. In the present experiment however we are interested in only these sensors which can be used properties generate electrical signals. Thease are called transducers. In these transducers some electrical properties change as a function of temperature. ‘Some common transducers and the electrical properties which are temperature sensitive are given below. ‘Sensors ‘Temperature Sensitive Parameters RTD= Platinum wire Electrical Resistance Thermo couple junction of dissimilarities wire | Thermo e. m. f IC — sensor— forward voltage drop ina diode | Potential Drop Thermistor Electrical Resistance Instrument Specifications :~ The experimental unit comprises of the following blocks as subsystems a) An instrumentation amplifier, the gain of which may be emitted between 1 and 50. b) Interfacing circuits for the different Transducers :~ Thermocouple, I C sensor, Thermistor ©) A3 and half digit voltmeter for displaying the amplifier output at 1.999V full scale. 4) A sine wave source of variable amplitude for instrumentation amplifier studies - 500 Hz, 0-25 V P-P)(approx.) e) A temperature controlled oven with digital reading of the temperature in °C. f) Regulated power supplies for all the circuit. Experimental Kit[SDT OF TEMPERATURE TRANSDUCER MODEL STT oP -, Panel Diagram on the Kit Interfacing Circuits a) b) ° Thermocouple : A Chromel/Alumel thermocouple is supplied with this unit, although the characteristics of any other thermocouple available in the form of thin wires with a welded junction may be studied equally well, All thermocouples produce very low signal output and has extremely low ( near zero)output resistance. The only signal conditioning needed is therefore a low noise high gain amplifier. The built in instrumentation amplifier serves both these purposes and therefore no special interfacing circuit is needed for thermocouples. Semiconductor Temperature Transducer : An IC temperature sensor, type ADS90, is supplied with the unit. The sensor required a d.c. supply for its operation and produces roughly 1 per K at the output. The interfacing circuit must supply a well regulated d.c. power to it and also a current to voltage converter is required to bring the output voltage to a level suitable for the instrumentation amplifier. The current-to-voltage circuit has a nominal transfer characteristics of 1 volvamp, Thermistors(NTC/PTC) : These are devices which need a constant current source of appropriate magnitude for their operation and have a medium value of output resistance. The interfacing circuit for thermistors has been designed for nominal resistance value of about 1-10 Kohm and provide a very low output resistance, The constant current in this unit has been set to 0.25 mA(nominal value). Digital Voltmeter This is a 33. digit panel meter calibrated for a full scale reading of 1.999 volts dc. All the ‘measurements suggested in this experiment are possible through a single wire connection.‘Temperature Controlled Oven A fast oven with temperature adjustable from room temperature to about 150°C is provided with the experiment. The oven draws its power and control signals from the main unit with a resolution of 0.1°C. An RTD sensor, deposited Pt-100, is used for controlling the oven and all calibration are based on its, standard resistance chart, The temperature display will not suffer from the usual inaccuracies of measurement using mercury bulb thermometer. The control circuit uses a special feedback linearizer which nullifies even the slight non-linearity of Pt-100 above 120°C. The temperature reading being very accurate, it was thought undesirable to calibrate the ‘SET TEMP? potentiometer in temperature scale. The dial calibration obviously would not match the digital reading due to the vast difference in their resolution. Also exact temperature setting is not necessary in any of the experiments, while a rough setting is always possible with the help of the green LED on the panel indicating the oven condition. For each type of sensor, sensor co-efficients can be calculated as follows, Change in the amplifier output ‘Change in temperature Sensor co-efficient between two sets of readings = Experimental Results A) Characteristic of a Negative Temperature Coefficient Thermistor Nominal Resistance of 1. 1 Kohm at room temperature of 30.6°C; Amplifier Gait No. “Temperature, “C ‘Amplifier Output ( | 10 u 12 13 14 15 16 From the graph drawn it is observed characteristic is highly non-linear, A standard graph is shown below.Calculation of Sensor Coefficients between sets of Readings ‘SINo Corresponding Sets of readings Change in amplifier Output Change in temperature Sensor Co-efficient Mean value of Sensor Co-efficient