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Studying and calibrating thermocouples: A laboratory exercise at the

Technological Educational Institute of Crete

Conference Paper · September 2003

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2nd Balkan Region Conference on Engineering Education  2003 LBUS
Sibiu, Romania, 16 - 19 September, 2003

Studying and Calibrating Thermocouples: A Laboratory Exercise at the Technological

Educational Institute of Crete

J.P. Makris1), I.O. Vardiambasis1), V. Saltas2) & N. Petrakis1)

1) Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Department of Electronics

2) Technological Educational Institute of Crete, Department of Natural Resources & Environment
Chania, Crete Island, Greece

ABSTRACT: Thermocouples stand for the most common sensors for the temperature measurement based on thermoelectric effects.
The objective of this work is to present a laboratory exercise suitable for an introductory study of the thermocouples’ behaviour and
calibration procedure. Various types of thermocouples (K, N, J, Τ) are examined simultaneously in the temperature range 25°C to
100°C. Reference temperature values are obtained using a high-quality mercury-in-glass thermometer. The thermocouple circuit
applied is that of cold junction compensation (reference junction). Furthermore, the mechanical thermometer is compared against
the reference junction compensation using type T thermocouple and thermistor. The data are collected in a PC which is
communicating through its serial port with a programmable data logger thus familiarizing the students with low level programming,
as well as with the principles of digital measurement and data acquisition procedures. Data analysis consists of calibration curves,
assessment of uncertainties, polynomial fitting, study of the thermoelectric power (sensitivity) against temperature, design of
algorithm to calculate temperatures from thermocouple voltages and comparison of the results with NIST standard tables.

INTRODUCTION THERMOELECTRIC EFFECTS (THERMOCOUPLES)

The Laboratory of Electronic Tests & Measurements and Data Two dissimilar metals or alloys, A (positive) and B (negative)
Acquisition Systems of Electronics Department at the “thermoelements”, joined to form a circuit constitute a
Technological Educational Institute of Crete is focusing its thermocouple sensor (TC). T.J. Seebeck [1-3] first discovered
technological and scientific research on the principles of in 1822 that a thermocouple would produce a current in closed
sensors, measuring and data acquisition systems studying their circuit having two junctions at different temperatures due to an
structure, features and specifications. Special attention is given electromotive force (emf), EAB, and this is the reversible
on equipment calibration procedures with respect to Seebeck effect. Seebeck coefficient, SAB, is defined as the
traceability to international standards and the calculation of temperature derivative of EAB:
uncertainties when measurements are conducted. In the dE AB
S AB = = SB − SA (1)
aforementioned issues are also developed the educational dT
activities of the Laboratory. where SA and SB are the absolute thermoelectric power for A
and B respectively (see Table I). Two additional reversible
In the second law of thermodynamics, temperature is related to thermoelectric effects are not of prime concern on a
heat transfer and the internal energy of the materials. Statistical thermocouple sensor.
physics correlates temperature with average kinetic energy of
the molecules of ideal gases and with energy levels in liquids Table I. Thermoelectric power against Platinum of a
and solids [1-3]. Since pressure, volume, electrical properties thermoelement made of listed materials, µVoC-1 (reference
etc., are all related to temperature through the fundamental
junction at 0 oC).
molecular structure, the measurement of temperature and its
variations is inevitable as well as important and in many cases
material S (µVoC-1)
crucial for almost any technological application and
measurement of other physical quantities. Furthermore, the Constantan -35
calibration of temperature sensors and related measuring Nickel -15
devices must be performed regularly through the comparison Platinum 0
with established standards (ITS-90) [4,5]. Aluminum 3,5
Copper 6,5
Iron 18,5
The above discussion makes imperative, from educational
Silicon 440
point of view, a laboratory exercise for engineers on the
measurement of temperature and its most common sensors i.e.,
the thermocouples. The Peltier effect [1-3] discovered by J.C.A. Peltier in 1834 is
an exchange of heat between a junction and its environment
directly proportional to the current flow into the TC-circuit. W. average sensitivity of ~40µV/°C. Type J (Iron/Constantan) is a
Thomson (later Lord Kelvin) discovered in 1847-54 that heat is non-oxidizing welded tip, glass fiber insulated, 2m long, with a
evolved or absorbed reversibly when current is drawn through sensitivity rising to 55µV/°C in the range -50°C to +400°C [7].
a homogeneous conductor in a temperature gradient [1-3]. The
net thermocouple emf is a line integral on the path from Cold junction
ITS-90 accreditated compensation
positive to negative thermoelement: mercury-in-glass isolated
v v thermocouple
E AB = (S B − S A ) ⋅ ∇T ⋅ dx
∫
thermometer RS232
(2) assembly
interface Data storage
& Analysis
dependent on the path if the thermocouple is inhomogeneous Computer

(variation in chemical composition or physical state of

thermoelements, strain, handling etc.) as is always the case. distilled
water
The ideal thermocouple behavior is summarized with the
three laws of thermoelectric circuits [6]. (i) Law of heat ice-water datalogger
homogeneous metals: a thermoelectric current cannot be resistance mixture
sustained in a circuit of a single homogeneous material by the
application of heat alone. (ii) Law of intermediate metals: the Figure 1. Experimental setup of the laboratory exercise for the
algebraic sum of the emfs in a circuit composed of any number study and calibration of thermocouples.
of dissimilar materials is zero if all of the circuit is at uniform
temperature. (iii) Law of successive or intermediate Usually, the thermoelectric emf is expressed in terms of the
temperatures: if two dissimilar homogeneous metals produce potential generated with a reference junction at 0°C. This
an emf E1, when the junctions are at temperatures T1 and T2, method is commonly referred as reference (cold) junction TC-
and a thermal emf of E2, when they are at T2 and T3, the emf circuit and it was adopted in the experimental setup of the
generated when the junctions are at T1 and T3, will be E1+E2. present exercise for the thermocouples K, N and T (Figs 1 and
2). In such a case the output voltage can be approximated with
From the hundreds of different types of TCs identified and the expression:
studied, only a few types have been standardized, because of 2
E AB ≈ α 0 t 90 + α 1 t 90 + α 2 t 90
3
(3)
their favourable characteristics (low resistivity, high
temperature coefficient, high linearity, environmental strength where t90 is the thermodynamic International Celsius
etc.) and the fact that they are the ones most commonly used. temperature (ITS-90) [4]:
They are identified by a letter code (ANSI-MC-96.1, 1982; t 90 / °C = T90 / °K − 273.15 (4)
ASTM 230-87) [3] that is still in use although has been (see also Table II). Then, the thermoelectric power, or
replaced with a new specification colour code standard sensitivity of a thermocouple is given by:
BS4937 Part 30 1993 which conforms to IEC 584-3 1989 [7]. dE AB α α 2
The choice of a thermocouple is strongly influenced by the S= = α 0 + 1 t 90 + 2 t 90 (5)
dt 90 2 3
temperature range of the measurement. Furthermore, TCs are
frequently used in transient temperature measurements due to For the J-type it is used the hardware-compensation device [1].
their advantages of small transient response time, no self- This is an alternative circuit to alleviate the problem of the
heating of the bias electric current, etc [8]. However, the TCs reference junction (see Fig. 3). A thermistor is in thermal
must be calibrated in advance because they are always contact with terminal strip of the datalogger to which the J-
different from one another for the reason of the internal stress thermocouple is connected. The voltage υb and thermistor’s
inside the materials and inhomogeneity of the chemical temperature coefficient are adjusted so that VC will match the
composition of the thermoelements. TC-temperature coefficient. The value of Rx is regulated so
that the ∆V readout is zero at 0°C.
EXPERIMENTAL SETUP
Constantan
T
The educational objectives that the laboratory exercise design Iron Constantan
intends to meet are: (i) carrying out temperature and
temperature variation measurements, (ii) study the voltage
characteristics of different types of thermocouples and their ice-water
measurement
conventional method of circuitry (establishing reference device
mixture
temperature), (iii) perform a first calibration of the examined
TCs and calculate the uncertainties involved and (iv)
introducing to low level programming of measuring systems Figure 2. Cold (0°C) junction technique for establishing
and data acquisition features. The experimental setup of the reference temperature in thermocouple circuit.
laboratory exercise is depicted in Fig. 1 and described in detail
following in this section. As a system with temperature varying in time, it is used 200ml
distilled water contained in a pyrex vessel, in room temperature
Four different types of base-metal thermocouples were selected (t90~25°C) that is heated, with no constant rate, up to boil point
to be tested during the exercise, i.e., K, N, T and J. They were (t90=100°C) using a heating resistance. The standard
supplied from RS-Components and their specification details temperature values necessary for the calibration are provided
can be found in the relevant data sheets [7]. Types K (Nickel through the analog readings on high quality accredited
Chromium/Nickel Aluminum), N (Nicrosil/Nisil) and T mercury-in-glass mechanical thermometer with traceability to
(Copper/Constantan) are welded tips, PTFE (Poly Tetra Fluoro ITS-90 (see Fig. 2).
Ethylene) insulated for chemical resistance, having lm length,
covering the temperature range -40°C to +200°C with an
Table II. Thermoelectric emf (in mV) for commonly used intermediate storage for data processing, (iii) the final storage
thermocouples, at various thermodynamic International which contains the processed data ready to transfer to the PC,
Celsius temperatures, according to ITS-90 (reference junction (iv) the system memory, and (v) the user program memory. In
at 0oC). the latter the students have to enter the program, created by
themselves after consulting the relevant sections of the 21X’s
Temperature Copper vs Iron vs Chromel Nicosil manual, that performs and controls all the datalogger’s
(oC) Constantan Constantan vs Alumel vs Nisil measuring and data processing operations. For a detailed
(T) (J) (K) (N) description, the reader is referred to the exercise booklet and
0 0 0 0 0 the 21X’s manual [9, 12].
25 0,992 1,277 1,000 0,402 thermistor
RA
50 2,036 2,585 2,023 0,836
RT
75 3,132 3,918 3,059 1,297 υb
100 4,279 5,269 4,096 1,758 thermocouple RX RA
lead ∆V readout

Thermocouple reference junctions are maintained at 0°C in an

ice bath (Fig. 2), which consists of a mixture of finely divided terminal
VC
pure ice and distilled water contained in a Dewar flask. strip copper wires

As a millivoltometer and data acquisition system it is selected Figure 3. Hardware-compensation device for reference
the Micrologger 21X of Campbell Scientific (see Fig. 1). The junction compensation using thermistor.
21X combines precision measurement with processing and
control capabilities in a rechargeable battery operated system The communication of the datalogger with data collection PC
[9]. In its wiring terminal strips are connected the TCs and an is established through an optically isolated RS232 interface
insulated cover of the analog strips provides diminution of [10]. The thermocouple data are retrieved from the datalogger
temperature gradients across the input terminals. The 21X is to the PC using the provided software bundle. The PC208W
programmed to make differential measurement to the used datalogger support software package provides a graphical user
inputs (1-3, 5) which means that the voltage on the H(igh) interface that is servicing exchange of data, programs, and
terminal is measured with respect to the voltage of the L(ow) commands between 21X and the computer [11]. Furthermore,
terminal of every input (input noise voltage 0.1µVrms, it allows the real-time monitoring of the measured TC-voltages
CMRR>140dB, input resistance 200GΩ). TC-voltage versus the time and continuously displays the time of the
measurements are performed by integrating the input signal for datalogger.
a fixed time (20ms), thus removing noise such as 50Hz from ac
power, and then holding the integrated value for the A/D EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE AND DATA ANALYSIS
conversion which is made with a 14bit successive
approximation technique that resolves the signal to For the execution of the laboratory exercise, the synergy of
approximately 1/15,000 of the full scale range on the three students is requested. Initially, the students must have
differential measurement, i.e., 1/15,000 × 5mV = 0.33µV. thoroughly study the about 10 pages booklet [12] that already
Furthermore, the 21X Micrologger is capable to perform, after own, in order to realize the basic theory and the
suitable programming, automatic temperature measurements instrumentation, as well as the steps undertaken during the
using an attached to it thermocouple and its panel temperature execution in the laboratory and the relevant homework (data
as the reference junction [9]. Firstly, the reference junction analysis and interpretation).
temperature is measured with a built-in thermistor mounted
under the analog input terminal strip. The accuracy of this During the measurements each student is assigned a specific
measurement is a combination of the thermistor’s task but their collaboration and coordination as well as their
interchangeability, specification and precision of the bridge concentration are requested in the superlative degree. This is
resistors and any difference in temperature between the very important from educational and pedagogical point of view
thermistor and the actual reference junction (the input to which and it was accounted during the design of the exercise. One
the TC is attached). The latter influence is drastically reduced student is responsible carefully read the indications of the
by using the isolating terminal cover and connecting the mercury-in-glass thermometer. The second is responsible to
selected T-thermocouple at input 4 which is located exactly write down the readings of the first. The third student checks
above the thermistor. The 21X calculates the voltage that the continuously the time on the PC’s monitor and instructs the
T-thermocouple would output at the reference junction first student when to make a thermometer reading. The
temperature if its reference junction was at 0°C, and adds this programmed datalogger takes measurements from all of its
voltage to the measured TC-voltage. The temperature of the inputs every one second but due to the fact that this is a very
measuring junction is then calculated from a polynomial high sampling rate for the experimentalists, they measure the
approximation of the National Institute of Standards and temperature of the water under heating every 5 seconds. The
Technology (NIST Monograph 175 [5]) TC calibrations. The complete time is noted only for the first measurement in order
aforementioned procedure is also realized in the presented to correspond with their measurements, these of the datalogger.
exercise, in order to have additional and independent The experiment lasts about 15-20 minutes i.e., until to bring
temperature measurements of the water under heating. the water temperature from its room-value (~25°C) to the boil
point (100°C). Then, the data are collected through the serial
The internal memory of 21X is divided into five areas: (i) the connection from the datalogger to the PC and stored in a file
input storage where the measurements are held, (ii) the with comma separated ASCII format. The students receive the
 created file in a diskette in order to process data at home. The Different types of thermocouples are tested and studied and
data can be easily imported in spreadsheet software (e.g., various techniques of TC-circuits were adopted. An
Microsoft Excel) for further analysis. Of course, it is necessary educational advantage of the presented exercise is the existence
to resample the data accordingly, in order to correspond with both of analog and digital measurements and devices, which
the manually obtained measurements. helps the students to clarify the difference between the two
concepts. Also, a first level familiarization with standards
4,5 (ITS-90, NIST table) and uncertainties assessment and their
4,0
type K major role in engineering is fairly achieved. The extended data
type N
3,5 analysis and interpretation requested as homework and the
type J
output voltage (mV)

3,0 type T submission of a full report with the results by the students
underlines the importance and the cohesion of both the
2,5
experimental work and the data processing.
2,0
1,5 The presented exercise demands the activation, participation,
1,0 concentration and alertness of every student and cultivates
0,5 their collaboration skills, fundamental qualifications of the
0,0
future engineers. Furthermore, although the exercise does not
take a lot of laboratory time to complete a good preparation is
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 need for a successful execution.
temperature ( oC)
Figure 5. Observed calibration curves for the thermocouples Finally, there are a lot of ideas to evolve and enrich the
tested in the frame of the laboratory exercise. exercise. As indicative examples we just mention here aspects
that already we are working on: (i) thermopiles, (ii)
Among the various steps of data analysis and interpretation and thermocouple response and compensation and (iii) comparison
questions that have to be answered, which contained in the of thermocouples with other temperature sensors.
exercise booklet [12], we following quote the most important:
(i) calibration curve (thermocouple emfs vs temperature) for REFERENCES
each thermocouple under study in the temperature range 25°-
100°C (see Fig. 4), (ii) linear regression analysis of each 1. Holman, J.P., Experimental Methods for Engineers. 7th
calibration curve and calculation of the thermocouple International Edition, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 355-419
sensitivity; comparison with the declared values from RS- (2001).
Components, (iii) third-order polynomial fitting of the 2. Pallas-Areny, R. and Webster, J.G., Sensors and Signal
calibration curves and determination of the relevant Conditioning. N.Y., Chichester, Brisbane, Toronto,
coefficients, (iv) for thermocouples J, K and T, calculation of Singapore: John Wiley & Sons, 233-247 (1991).
temperature from TC-voltages by forming a polynomial 3. Burns, G.W. and Scroger, M.G., The Calibration of
expression: Thermocouples and Thermocouple Materials. Natl. Inst.
Stand. Technol. (NIST) Spec. Publ. 250-35, 201p. (1989).
t 90 = c 0 + c1 v + c 2 v 2 + ... + c 8 v 8 (6)
4. Preston-Thomas, H., The International Temperature Scale
where t90 the temperature in °C, v the TC-voltage (with of 1990 (ITS-90). Metrologia, 27, 3-10, (1990).
reference junction at 0°C) and ci the polynomial coefficients 5. Burns, G.W., Scroger, M.G. and Strouse, G.F.,
that have to be compared with those depicted on NIST Temperature Electromotive Force Reference Functions
standard table [5], (v) comparison of the manual temperature and Tables for the Letter Designated Thermocouple Type
measurements using the mechanical thermometer with the Based on ITS-90. Natl. Inst. Stand. Technol. (NIST)
temperature values provided automatically from the datalogger Monograph 175 (1993).
using a T-thermocouple with the reference junction in the 6. Manual on the Use of Thermocouples in Temperature
21X’s panel temperature. Finally, a summary containing all the Measurements. Amer. Soc. for Test. & Materl. (ASTM)
comments, remarks and conclusions drawn from the Spec. Publ. 470B (1981).
elaboration of the exercise must be the epilogue of the report 7. Thermocouples Data Sheet 240-0070, RS-Components,
that the students will submit. (2002).
8. Zhang, P., Xu, Y.X., Wang, R.Z., and Murakami, M.,
CONCLUSIONS Fractal study of the fluctuation characteristic in the
calibration of the cryogenic thermocouples. Cryogenics,
In this work it was presented a laboratory exercise on studying 43, 53–58 (2003).
and calibrating thermocouples, designed and developed at the 9. 21X Micrologger, Instruction Manual, Campbell
Laboratory of Electronic Tests & Measurements and Data Scientific, Inc. (1992).
Acquisition Systems of Electronics Department at the 10. SC32A Optically Isolated RS232 Interface, Reference
Technological Educational Institute of Crete. Manual, Campbell Scientific, Inc. (1994).
The laboratory exercise is aiming to introduce the students to 11. PC208W, Datalogger Support Software, User Guide,
the principles of the temperature measurement based on the Campbell Scientific, Inc. (1996).
thermoelectric effects and using the most spread sensors, i.e., 12. Booklet of the laboratory exercise “Comparative Study
the thermocouples. The basic and essential steps in the and Calibration of Thermocouples”, Laboratory of
calibration of a sensor were strived to be depicted in the frame Electronic Tests & Measurements and Data Acquisition
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to acquire some experience on low level programming of Educational Institute of Crete, 2002.
measuring systems and data acquisition.

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