An automated thermocouple calibration system

Author

Bethea, Mark D. ; Rosenthal, Bruce N.

Author_Institution

NASA Lewis Res. Center, Cleveland, OH, USA

Volume

41

Issue

5

fYear

1992

fDate

10/1/1992 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

702

Lastpage

706

Abstract

An automated thermocouple calibration system (ATCS) was developed for the unattended calibration of type-K thermocouples. This system operates from room temperature to 650°C and has been used for calibration of thermocouples in an eight-zone furnace system which may employ as many as 60 thermocouples simultaneously. It is highly efficient, allowing for the calibration of large numbers of thermocouples in significantly less time than required for manual calibrations. The system consists of a personal computer, a data acquisition/control unit, and a laboratory calibration furnace. The calibration furnace is a microprocessor-controlled multipurpose temperature calibrator with an accuracy of ±0.7°C. The computer software is menu-based for flexibility and ease of use. The user needs no programming experience to operate the system

Keywords

calibration; computerised instrumentation; furnaces; microcomputer applications; thermocouples; 20 to 650 degC; automated thermocouple calibration; data acquisition; eight-zone furnace; laboratory calibration furnace; menu based software; microprocessor control; personal computer; type-K thermocouples; unattended calibration; Calibration; Furnaces; Measurement standards; NASA; NIST; Nickel; Temperature control; Temperature distribution; Temperature sensors; Thermal force;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Instrumentation and Measurement, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9456

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/19.177346

Filename

177346