Table of content

Summary
This report consist of three different part of experiment regarding temperature and humidity
measurement. The first experiment is determining time constant of different types of
temperature measurement devices which are PT 100 thermocouple, Type K thermocouple, bimetallic, vapour compression and commonly used, mercury and spirit thermometer. The
second experiment is carried out focusing in only Type K thermocouple and understanding of
its working principle, sensitivity and relationship of the variables. The final part of this report
shows the measurement of humidity of a room. Whirling hygrometer is used to measure the
humidity which consist of two bulb, namely wet and dry bulb. The data from the hygrometer
is recorded and humidity value is found by using the psychrometric chart. The reading is
compared with the dial gage hygrometer.
Experiment 1:
Objective

To compare the time constant of Type K, PT 100, Bi-metallic, vapour compression,

thermistor, mercury and spirit thermometer with reference to mercury thermometer
which has the lowest time constant.

Theory
Temperature is a measure of hotness. Together with a measure of thermal mass of a
body it gives an indication of the total thermodynamics energy that body contains. There are
many scales for the comparison of temperatures, the most important is with their
corresponding values for melting ice and boiling water (which are common reference
temperatures) being given in the table below.

Celsius (or Centigrade)

Fahrenheit

0
32

100
212

Liquid filled thermometer

This type of thermometer depends on the expansion of a liquid associated with an increase
in temperature. The most common type is the mercury-in-glass thermometer. This
thermometer consists of a capillary tube with a bulbous end.
On heating, the mercury expands relative to the glass container and a column is pushed along
the bore of the tube. A scale along the tube, calibrated in units of temperature, gives a direct
reading of temperature. The mercury-in-glass thermometer is an accurate device but is very
fragile and care should be exercised in use. This type of thermometer should not be used in
applications such as the food industry where mercury poisoning could occur in the event of
breakage.
The mercury may be replaced by other fluids according to the application. For example,
alcohol is cheaper and may be used at lower temperatures than mercury. A mercury-in-glass
thermometer is used due to its stable and accurate performance. For accurate measurement
of temperature using a liquid filled thermo meter, it is important that the thermometer is
immersed into the medium being measured by the correct amount. The depth of immersion
is usually stated on the stem of the thermo meter and defines the condition under which
calibration is maintained. The immersion depth may be partial or total and is independent of
filling or range.
Vapour pressure manometer
For industrial applications, the liquid-in-glass thermometer is far from suitable due to its
fragility and the difficulty in reading. In these applications the glass is replaced by a metal
container and mechanical indication is substituted. One example of this type of thermo meter
is the vapour pressure thermo meter.
This consists of a metal bulb partially filled with fluid, which is connected to the sensing
element of a Bourdon gauge. The space above the fluid is filled with vapour of the fluid, the
pressure of which is display on the Bourdon gauge. The gauge is calibrated directly in units
of temperature corresponding to the equivalent, pressure of the vapour but calibration is far
from linear due to the pressure increasing more and more rapidly as the temperature
increases. For this reason, the vapour pressure thermometer is suitable only for operation
over short ranges of temperature and suffers from lack of sensitivity at low readings. In

service, the range should be selected so that the gauge remains within operational limits with
the normal operating point at approximately two thirds of full scale reading.
Vapour pressure thermometers offer the advantage of remote reading. The thermometer may
be ordered with a metal capillary tube connecting the bulb to the gauge, permitting remote
operation over distances up to sixty meters. Correct orientation of the bulb and gauge should
be preserved for accurate results. The vapour pressure thermometer supplied with the bench
has the Bourdon gauge connected directly to the stem for case of operation.
Bi-Metallic Thermometer
Expansion of solids may be used to measure temperature but direct measurement
is impractical due to the very small movements involved. However, if two thin metal
strips, having different coefficients of linear expression, are mechanically fastened
together, the result is a strip which bends significantly when heated. This combination is
called a Bi-metal strip and the sensitivity may be increased by coiling the strip into a
spiral. One end of the strip is fixed to the case and a pointer is attached to the other end.
This type of thermometer is very robust and has many applications throughout industry
where accuracy of measurement is not important. The bi- metal thermometer supplied with
the bench is mounted on the back-board and gives a direct reading of ambient air
temperature.
Resistance Thermometer
The resistance of a material changes with temperature. Resistance thermometer uses this
relationship in measuring the temperature. If high accuracy is required, the material used in
resistance thermometer is platinum. Nickel is used in general operation and monitoring.
Copper is also suitable but only in a restricted temperature range of approximately 250oC,
because copper tends to corrode more extensively when subjected to oxidation.
Figure 3.1 shows the resistance change of the metals as a function of the temperature T. They
have a positive temperature coefficient. For the purpose of comparison a resistance
characteristics of a thermistor (NTC) was added, which runs much more non-linearly, and in
contrast to the metals, demonstrates a negative coefficient. For small temperature ranges we
may assume that linear relationships exist between resistance and temperature. From figure

3.2 one can deduce the temperature-dependent resistance ratio R(T) caused by the resistance
change R is:

From Figure 3.1 we can see that for large measurement ranges no linear relationship between
resistance R and temperature T can be assumed. In this case we must take into consideration,
apart from the linear temperature coefficient
2, and for very large temperature changes

1 , also the square temperature coefficients

T also the cubic temperature coefficients

3, and if necessary the biquadratic value 4.

Thermal Response
The response of the thermo meter is defined by the time ta ken f or the temperature
reading to change by 63.2% of the step change. For any thermometer, this time will be a
constant value irrespective of step change and is defined as the "time constant" for the
thermometer. The time constant and response profile f or a thermometer will change if
the system is modified. For example, the speed of response of a thermometer will be
slowed down if it is protected from the system being measured by a thermometer. The
response will also be affected by the thermal contact between the thermometer and pocket,
fluid filling of the pocket resulting in a reduction in time constant.

Experiment apparatus setup

Equipment
Figure 4

Water MUST also be used as test liquid and not any other.

Procedure
1.

Experiment 2