Facts At Your Fingertips

Resistance Temperature Detectors

Department Editor: Scott Jenkins
Lead wire 1

T
temperature measurement is coefficient of resis­
critical in many types of pro­ tance (TCR), which o—*
cess equipment, including determines the tem­
reactors, distillation columns, fur­ perature-resistance
naces, heat exchangers, evapora­ relationship. A com­ if Y
tors, boilers and more. Among the mon industry stan­ §
most widely used instruments for dard is the platinum
measuring temperatures in chemi­ 3850 ppm/K, where
cal process industries (CPI) opera­ the resistance of the O—•
tions are resistance temperature sensor increases
Lead wire 2
detectors (RTDs). This one-page 0.385 ohms for
reference describes the principles each one degree- FIGURE 1. A two-wire RTD detects temperature-dependent changes in re­
behind the operation of RTDs, and Celsius increase in sistance, but must be corrected for resistance added by the lead wires
their advantages and limitations. temperature.
Advantages and limitations
RTD operation Physical principles RTDs have good accuracy, preci­
RTDs are temperature sensors that The Callendar-Van Dusen (CVD) sion and longterm stability. Concerns
operate on the principle that a ma­ equation is used to define the rela­ about maintenance, cost and accu­
terial’s electrical resistance changes tionship between resistance (R) and racy are the primary drivers in the shift
with temperature in a predictable temperature (7) of platinum RTDs. It to the use of RTDs from thermocou­
way. When an RTD is supplied with is also used in the international stan­ples. Thermocouples will have a lower
a constant current, the resulting volt­dard I EC 60751 (International Elec­ initial cost, when compared to RTDs,
age drop can be measured and the trotechnical Commission standard but the value of the accuracy and sta­
resistance calculated. The highly pre­on industrial platinum resistance ther­bility offered by RTDs often exceeds
dictable relationship between RTD mometers and platinum temperaturethe initial cost savings of installing a
resistance and surrounding tempera­sensors). Originally developed by thermocouple. With thin-film RTDs,
ture allows the temperature to be de­British physicist H.L. Callendar, and as opposed to wire-wound designs,
termined accurately and reproducibly. refined by M. S. Van Dusen, the CVDthe cost difference is smaller.
RTDs can be connected in a two-, equations are used to determine the Thermocouples may still have to
three-, or four-wire configuration, in temperature-resistance behavior for be used in situations where process
which current is conducted through platinum resistance temperature de­ temperatures exceed the limit of an
the RTD and the resulting voltage tectors. The CVD coefficients A, B RTD (650°C), or when a very fast
measured. The two-wire configu­ and C are temperature-dependent, response is needed. However, there
ration is the simplest, but also the and can be determined for a specificare some fast-response RTD de­
most prone to error, because the twoRTD by using calibration techniques signs available that may also negate
connecting lead wires add some re­ in a laboratory. The CVD equation isthe use of thermocouples in the latter
sistance to the RTD (Figure 1). This shown in Equations (1) and (2). case. Thin-film RTDs are typically lim­
introduces error. The three-wire setup ited to temperatures of 260°C, while
is similar, except that a third wire pro­R(T) = F?o[1 +AT + BT2 + C(T - 100)wire-wound
T3 ] elements can withstand
vides compensation for the lead re­ (from -200 to 0°C) (D temperatures up to 650°C. Also, due
sistance. This requires either a three- to the construction of the sensing
wire compensating measurement unitR(T) = Ro(1 + AT + BT2) element, thin-film RTDs do not per­
or actually measuring the contribution(from 0°C and 661 °C) (2) form as well in environments where
from the third wire and subtracting it high levels of vibration or severe me­
from the overall measurement. In theAs an example, the coefficients for chanical shock occur. ■
four-wire method, current is sourced a Pt100 resistor (a platinum con­
on one set of leads, while the volt­ structed, 100-0 RTD) according to References
age is sensed on another set of leads the IEC751 and international tem­ 1.Cushing, M., Temperature Measurement: Trends and
to eliminate the test lead resistance perature scale (ITS-90) standards are Technologies. Ctim Eng.. June 2015, pp. 42-45.
2. Cigoy, D„ Resistance Temperature Detectors Control
from the measurement. given here: Engineering, vmwcontrolengcom, Nov. 1.2005.
Temperature-sensitive materials R0 = 100 O; A = 3,908 x 10^ °C-1 3. AZO Materials Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD):
used in the construction of RTDs B = -5,775 x 10-7°C-2 Principle of Operation, Materials Configuration and Ben­
include platinum, nickel and copper, C = -4,183 x lO-'^CF . 4 efits. published online, wvm.azom.com, 2010.
with platinum being the most com­ Another coefficient, a, is a linear 3.Temperatucescom Inc.. https://wvm.temperatures.conV
ftdshtml. Southampton. Pa., accessed Sept. 2018.
mon. An important characteristic of parameter defined as the normalized4. Omega Engineering. An Introduction to RTD sensors
an RTD material is its temperature slope between 0 and 100 °C. online guide, www.omega.com/prodinfo/r1d.html, ac­
cessed September. 2018.
CHEMICAL ENGINEERING WWW.CHEMENGONLINE.COM NOVEMBER 2018 31