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LABORATORY REPORT OF

INSTRUMENTATION AND CONTROL LAB

DEPARTMENT OF POLYMER AND PROCESS ENGINEERING

6th Semester

Batch 2015-2019

Submitted to: Submitted by:


Miss Sehrish Hafiz Tanveer Ashraf 2015-PE-20

University of Engineering and Technology Lahore


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Instrumentation and Control Lab

Contents:

Experiment Title 3
Objectives 3
Introduction 3
Working Principle of Thermocouples 4
Types of Thermocouples 4
Experimentation 5
Apparatus 5
Procedure 5
Observations and Calculations 6
Results 7
Applications 8
Conclusion 8
References 8
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Instrumentation and Control Lab

Experiment Title:
Determine the time constant of a typical Iron-Constantan thermocouple.

Objectives:
➢ Introduction to the thermocouples.
➢ To determine the time constant of a typical Iron-Constantan thermocouple.

Figure 1: Iron-Constantan thermocouple

Introduction:
Thermocouples are pairs of dissimilar metal wires joined at least at one end, which generate a net
thermoelectric voltage between the open pair according to the size of the temperature difference
between the ends. Thermocouples are among the easiest temperature sensors to use and obtain and
are widely used in science and industry. They are based on the See beck effect that occurs in
electrical conductors that experience a temperature gradient along their length. Thermocouples
only measures the temperature difference between the two junctions not the actual temperature.
Iron-Constantan thermocouple is Composed of a positive leg which is iron and a negative leg
which is approximately 45 % nickel-55% copper. (Note - Constantan is Copper-Nickel).
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Instrumentation and Control Lab

Working Principle of Thermocouples:


Thermocouples are based on the principle that two wires made of dissimilar materials connected
at either end will generate a potential between the two ends that is a function of the materials and
temperature difference between the two ends (also called the See Beck Effect).
See beck effect is actually the combined result of two other phenomena, Thomson and Peltier
effects.
• Thomson observed the existence of an EMF due to the contact of two dissimilar metals at the
junction temperature.
• Peltier discovered that temperature gradients along conductors in a circuit generate an EMF.
• The Thomson effect is normally much smaller than the Peltier effect.

Figure 2: Thermocouple basic diagram

Types of Thermocouples:
Based on different metals used and the range of temperature sensing thermocouples are classified
into many types. The difference is given in the following table.

Table 1: Comparison of Different Thermocouples


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Instrumentation and Control Lab

Experimentation:

Apparatus:

➢ Thermocouple
➢ Heater
➢ Digital Voltmeter
➢ Stopwatch
➢ Hookup wires

Procedure:

➢ Join the one end of the hookup wires with thermocouple and the other with the digital
voltmeter.
➢ Note the reading on the digital voltmeter.
➢ Switch on the heater.
➢ As thermocouple receives heat, digital voltmeter reading changes.
➢ Note the reading after every minute.
➢ After some time, the measured voltage shall settle on a particular time constant from the
plot.
➢ Draw the graph of emf vs time and establish the time constant from the plot.
➢ Calculate the temperature at all measured emf using the thermocouple tables of J type
thermocouple.
➢ Draw the graph of emf vs temperature and the time vs temperature also to study the
relationship between them.
➢ Time constant is defined as the time required to reach 63.2% of ultimate value of the
function.
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Instrumentation and Control Lab

Observations and Calculations: Table 1: Iron Constantan Thermocouple Readings


# of Observations Time (t) min emf (mV) Temperature (˚C)
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Instrumentation and Control Lab

Results:
Results are plotted in the following graphs.

Time vs emf
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Voltmeter Reading emf (mV)
5

0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Time (min)

Graph 1: Time vs emf

Time vs Temperature
120

100
Temperature (˚C)

80

60

40

20

0
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29 31 33
Time (min)

Graph 2: Time vs Temperature


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Instrumentation and Control Lab

Time Constant Calculations by emf:


Max Reading on digital voltmeter = 5.3mV
63.2% of Max = 3.34 mV
Time Constant = 13.7min
Time Constant Calculations by temperature:
Max Reading of Temperature = 100 oC
63.2% of Max = 63.2 oC
Time Constant = 14.2 min

Applications:
➢ Type B, S, R and K thermocouples are used extensively in the steel and iron industries to
monitor temperatures and chemistry throughout the steel making process.
➢ Gas-fed heating appliances such as ovens & water heaters.
➢ In the testing of prototype electrical and mechanical apparatus
➢ Other applications include temperature measurement for kilns, gas turbine exhaust, diesel
engines, other industrial processes and fog machines etc.

Conclusion:
From the above results and graphs we can conclude that there is a direct relationship between the
temperature difference and emf. As the temperature difference increases emf also increases and
vice versa. Also, the Voltage or emf produced depends on:
➢ Types of materials used
➢ Temperature difference between the measuring junction and the reference junction.
There is also a direct relationship between time and temperature and the time and emf.
Depending upon the heater capacity a constant value of the emf is obtained after certain time.

References
1. Pollock, Daniel D. (1991). Thermocouples: Theory and Properties. CRC Press.
pp. 249– ISBN 978-0-8493-4243-1.
2. "Thermocouple Theory". Capgo. Retrieved 17 December 2013.
3. Manual on the Use of Thermocouples in Temperature Measurement (4th Ed.). ASTM. 1993.
pp. 48–51. ISBN 978-0-8031-1466-1

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