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THE BASICS OF THERMOCOUPLES

by Bob Perrin

Start ý A Tail of Two Metals ý Breaking the Loop ý Measuring Temperature ý Practical Matters ý Circuits ý Closing Time ý Sources and PDF

BREAKING THE LOOP

If you use thermocouples, you must insert a measurement device in the loop to acquire information about the temperature difference between the hot and cold junctions. Figure 1b shows a typical setup. The thermocouple wires are brought to a terminal block and an electric circuit measures the open circuit voltage.

Figure 1býTo use a thermocouple, you must have a measurement system.

When the thermocouple wires are connected to the terminal block, an additional pair of thermocouples is formed (one at each screw terminal). This is true if the screw-terminals are a different alloy from the thermocouple wires. Figure 1c shows an alternate representation of Figure 1b. Junction 2 and junction 3 are undesired artifacts of the connection to the measurement circuitry. These two junctions are commonly called parasitic thermocouples.

Figure 1cýThe act of connecting a measurement system made of copper introduces two parasitic thermocouples.

In a physical circuit, parasitic thermocouples are formed at every solder joint, connector, and even every internal IC bond wire. If it werenýt for something called the Law of Intermediate Metals, these parasitic junctions would cause us endless trouble.

The Law of Intermediate Metals states that a third metal may be inserted into a thermocouple system without affecting the system if, and only if, the junctions with the third metal are kept isothermal (at the same temperature).

In Figure 1c, if junction 2 and junction 3 are at the same temperature, they will have no effect on the current in the loop. The voltage seen by the voltmeter in Figure 1b will be proportional to the difference in temperature between Junction 1 and Junctions 2 and 3.

Junction 1 is the hot junction. The isothermal terminal block is effectively removed electrically from the circuit, so the temperature of the cold junction is the temperature of the terminal block.

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