Development of improved surface temperature calibrator

Purpose and goal

The goal of this project is to develop a new calibrator of surface temperature sensors. Today´s equipment consists of a heated metal cylinder where the reference temperature is measured near the surface. The difference between the measured temperature and the real surface temperature amount to a large part of the total measurement uncertainty. In the new equipment, the temperature will be measured at several points and together with a physical model, the real surface temperature will be estimated more accurately, which will give a lower measurement uncertainty than today equipment.

Expected effects and result

Today´s equipment is limited to 660 °C and has an extended measurement uncertainty that is at best 0.5 °C around room temperature, increasing to over 3 °C at the highest temperatures. The goal of the new equipment is to be able to handle higher temperatures than the current one, with a measurement uncertainty over the entire temperature range that is halved compared to today. We will therefore be able to perform calibrations with lower measurement uncertainty than today, which will ultimately lead to safer measurements for the Swedish industry.

Planned approach and implementation

The project will carry out a literature study of similar equipment to see how they are constructed and have modelled the temperature. The equipment will then be designed, and a physical model developed. The equipment will consist of a heated metal block with several sensors that will be connected to a measuring system. A program will be developed that takes the temperatures from the measurement system and based on the model of the temperature in the block estimate the surface temperature. The equipment will then be tested, the measurement uncertainty calculated, and the result published.