1. Given the following information about temperature sensors, answer the questions listed below.
1. Negative Temperature Coefficient (NTC) thermistor
An NTC thermistor experiences such a large change in resistance per °C, small changes in temperature are reflected very fast and with high accuracy (0.05 to 1.5 °C). Because of its exponential nature, the output of an NTC thermistor requires linearization. The effective operating range is -50 to 250 °C for glass encapsulated thermistors or 150°C for standard.
2. Resistance Temperature Detector (RTD)
An RTD, consists of a film or, for greater accuracy, a wire wrapped around a ceramic or glass core. The most accurate RTDs are made using platinum but lower-cost RTDs can be made from nickel or copper. However, nickle and copper are not as stable or repeatable. Platinum RTDs offer a fairly linear output that is highly accurate (0.1 to 1 °C) across -200 to 600 °C. While providing the greatest accuracy, RTDs also tend to be the most expensive of temperature sensors.
3. Thermocouple
This temperature sensor type consists of two wires of different metals connected at two points. The varying voltage between these two points reflects proportional changes in temperature. Thermocouples are nonlinear, requiring conversion when used for temperature control and compensation, typically accomplished using a lookup table. Accuracy is low, from 0.5 °C to 5 °C. However, they operate from -200 °C to 1750 °C.
4. Semiconductor-based sensors
A semiconductor-based temperature sensor is placed on integrated circuits (ICs). These sensors are effectively two identical diodes with temperature-sensitive voltage vs current characteristics that can be used to monitor changes in temperature. They offer a linear response but have the lowest accuracy of the basic sensor types at 1 °C to 5 °C. They also have the slowest responsiveness (5 s to 60 s) across the narrowest temperature range (-70 °C to 150 °C).
Information from Ametherm Thermistors
You are designing a new pottery kiln for tribal pottery. The maximum temperature in the kiln will be 1500F degrees.
Which of the temperature sensors listed above should you use in the kiln?