Experiment 5

Measurements and Control Lab

UNIVERSITY OF JORDAN FACULTY OF ENG. & TECH. MECHATRONICS ENG. DEPT.

Experiment number 3 Thermocouple Calibration and Time Constant

1. Introduction
When a pair of electrical conductors (metals) is joined together, a thermal emf is generated when the junctions are at different temperatures. The resultant emf developed by the thermocouple is in the millivolt range when the temperature difference between the junctions is 100 - 0C. A thermocouple consists of two wires of two different materials that are joined at each end. When these two junctions are kept at different temperatures a small electric current is induced. Due to the flow of current a voltage drop occurs. This voltage drop depends on the temperature difference between the two junctions. This phenomenon is called Seebeck effect. The measurement of the voltage drop (or Emf) can then be correlated to this temperature difference.. Seebeck effect - If two wires of dissimilar metals are joined at both ends and one end is heated, current will flow. - If the circuit is broken, there will be an open circuit voltage across the wires. - Voltage is a function of temperature and metal types. - For small DTs, the relationship with temperature is linear - For larger DTs, non-linearities may occur.

Measuring the Thermocouple Voltage If you attach the thermocouple directly to a voltmeter, you will have problems. A. If the set up in Figure A.1 is used, the measured voltage depends not only upon the unknown temperature but room temperature as well. This is undesirable because room temperature can fluctuate, causing apparent fluctuations in the measured temperature. The second problem is that the contacts between metal A and the voltmeter and metal B and the voltmeter will both set up small contact voltages which 1 Copyrights are held by the authors Eng. Ala' Bata & Eng.Rasha Noufal

Experiment 5

Measurements and Control Lab

will be different from each other because metals A and B are different. The differences between these two voltages set up an additional (spurious) voltage that gives rise to error in the measurement.

Fig. A.1 B. You have just created another junction! Your displayed voltage will be proportional to the difference between J1 and J2 (and hence T1 and T2).

Fig. B.1 - A solution is to put J2 in an ice-bath; then you know T2, and your output voltage will be proportional to T1-T2.

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Experiment 5

Measurements and Control Lab

Fig. B.2

Fig. B.3 To get around these problems experimenters use a multiple-thermocouple setup like the one shown in Figure B.3. In this figure VS2 is the Seebeck voltage of the thermocouple measuring the temperature of interest and VS1 is a thermocouple at a reference temperature (say, ice water at 0C). When a second (reference) thermocouple is used as in Figure B.3 the reading becomes sensitive only to the unknown temperature TU. - However, things are never perfect, so it is always necessary to calibrate the thermocouple setup by measuring the temperatures of known standards. Ice water, liquid nitrogen, and dry ice/ethanol mixtures are examples of such standards. Thermocouple Types - Type B ( Platinum-Platinum ) very poor below 50C; reference Junction temperature not important since voltage output is about the same from 0 to 42 C - Type E ( Nickel-Constantan ) good for low temperatures since dV/dT (a) is high for low temperatures - Type J ( Iron-Constantan ) cheap because one wire is iron; high sensitivity but also high uncertainty (iron impurities cause inaccuracy) - Type T ( Copper-Constantan ) good accuracy but low max 3 Copyrights are held by the authors Eng. Ala' Bata & Eng.Rasha Noufal

Experiment 5

Measurements and Control Lab

Temperature (400 C); one lead is copper, making connections easier; watch for heat being conducted along the copper wire, changing your surface temp - Type K ( Nickel-Nickel ) popular type since it has decent accuracy and a wide temperature range; some instability (drift) over time - Type N ( Nicrosil-Nisil ) most stable over time when exposed to elevated temperatures for long periods Time Constant - The increase in voltage output lags behind the change in the temperature of the junction, This change is a typical exponential growth, after one time constant, the value of the output voltage reaches 63% of its final value This is used as way to find the time constant of the system under test

2. Objectives
In this experiment you will carry out the calibration of a K-type & J-type thermocouple and understand the relationship between the temperature it is measuring and the output voltage. You will also measure the time constant of the thermocouple in air and in water.

3. Equipment
You will need the following equipment: 1. Digital multi-meter with 200 mV range setting. 2. K type & J type thermocouple with metallic sheath. 4 Copyrights are held by the authors Eng. Ala' Bata & Eng.Rasha Noufal

Experiment 5 3. Mercury-in-glass thermometer. 4. Kettle and two mugs.

Measurements and Control Lab

4. Pre-lab Assignments
You will need to prepare the following before attending the lab. Prelab 1: Read this lab sheet completely. Prelab 2: Search on the internet and get as much information as possible on the K type thermocouple. Prelab 3: Revise how you can practically measure the time constant of a first order system.

5. Procedure
Part 1: Calibrating the Thermocouple The thermocouples you have constructed must now be calibrated before it is used in any experiment. To calibrate, we measure the thermocouple voltage at various known temperatures, so as to develop a correlation between thermocouple voltage and thermocouple temperature. This correlation may be represented by a graph - A. Follow the steps outlined below using first K-type thermocouple: 1. Connect the thermocouple terminals to the digital mutlimeter. 2. Ensure you connect the positive terminal and negative terminal to the corresponding terminals on the multi-meter . 3. Set the multi-meter to the 200 mV range. 4. Prepare a mug of cold water from the tap. 5. Boil the water in the kettle provided. Make sure it is boiling before you switch it off. 6. Place the mercury in glass thermometer in the water . 7. Place the thermocouple in the water as well . 8. Every one minute, take a reading of the thermometer and the multimeter voltage and record it in the table below. You need to take as many pairs of readings a possible, covering the temperature range from 80 C to 20 C. Each pair of readings should have the temperature from the thermometer and the voltage output of the thermocouple. 9. Repeat the last step for around 40 minutes (i.e. take 40 pairs of readings). 10. You will now notice that the change in temperature is very slow. To speed things up, you can pour some of the cold water into the hot water mug. Wait for 5 seconds for the temperature to settle and take a reading. 11. Repeat the last step a number of times until the temperature of the water are near room temperature or until the thermocouple voltage is zero. 5 Copyrights are held by the authors Eng. Ala' Bata & Eng.Rasha Noufal

Experiment 5

Measurements and Control Lab

12. Plot the temperature against the voltage on a scatter diagram (use MS Excel for example). Draw the best line fit and find the relationship between the two.

- B. Repeat the Procedure again using J-type thermocouple Table 1: Results for K-type Thermocouple . Time (minute) Temperature (C) Voltage reading (mV)

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Experiment 5

Measurements and Control Lab

- Looking at the results, discuss the main problems with this experiment and how you can improve it. Specifically you need to comment on the accuracy of the method, the number of point obtained and the number of significant figures you are getting from the multi-meter.

- The thermocouple reads the room ( ambient ) temperature. How much voltage does the meter indicate at room temperature using k-type thermocouple.

Table 1: Results for J-type Thermocouple . Time (minute) Temperature (C) Voltage reading (mV)

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Experiment 5

Measurements and Control Lab

Looking at the results, discuss the main problems with this experiment and how you can improve it. Specifically you need to comment on the accuracy of the method, the number of point obtained and the number of significant figures you are getting from the multi-meter.

- The thermocouple reads the room ( ambient ) temperature. How much voltage does the meter indicate at room temperature using k-type thermocouple. Part 2: time constants The time constants for the thermocouple are to be determined in air and water (note that these are found by subjecting the instrument to a step function). For the thermometer, the time constant is determined by moving the thermometer from an initial temperature To to a medium with final temperature T, and by measuring the time it takes to reach a predetermined temperature Tr. Tr should be within 0.6 to 0.8 of the total temperature difference plus the initial temperature. We now will measure the time constant of the thermocouple under two scenarios: in air and in water for two type of thermocouple ( K&J type ).

- Follow the steps outlined below First using K-type Thermocouple:

C. time constant for the thermocouple in water.

1. Place the thermocouple in the cold water. Record the final voltage value at which it settles. 2. Remove the thermocouple and place it in the hot water mug and keep it. Record the voltage that it shows. 3. The difference between the two voltages will be the step function it is exposed to when moving from one to the other. The time constant will be the time takes it to drop to the 37% of the difference between the two values. 4. Prepare a stopwatch to measure the time. 5. At the same time, start the stopwatch and move the thermocouple from the hot water to the cold water. 6. Note when the voltage drops to 37% of the difference and check the time. 7. This is the time constant for the thermocouple in water.

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Experiment 5

Measurements and Control Lab

D. Repeat the Procedure ( A ) again using J-type thermocouple

- In order to find the time constant in air, follow the steps below using First K-type thermocouple : E. time constant for the thermocouple in air. 1. Place the thermocouple in air. Wait long enough for it to settle. Record the final voltage value at which it settles. 2. Remove the thermocouple and place it in the hot water mug and keep it. Record the voltage that it shows. 3. The difference between the two voltages will be the step function it is exposed to when moving from one to the other. The time constant will be the time takes it to drop to the 37% of the difference between the two values. 4. Prepare a stopwatch to measure the time. 5. At the same time, start the stopwatch and move the thermocouple from the hot water to the air. 6. Note when the voltage drops to 37% of the difference and check the time. 7. This is the time constant for the thermocouple in air.

F. Repeat the Procedure ( E ) again using J-type thermocouple

Comment on the difference between the two. You can use the discussion shown in section 8.8 of J.P. Holmans textbook: Experimental methods for Engineers.

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