Features of High-Temperature Calibration of W/Re Thermocouples

Investigations of Type A (W-5 %Re/W-20 %Re) thermocouples were performed at several laboratories to validate their reference function before its standardization in the new issue of the international standard IEC 60584. The Type A thermocouples investigated were equipped with sealed protection tubes made of sapphire which were filled with an inert gas (argon). The investigations at Russian laboratories were performed mainly in carbon-free high-temperature furnaces. The calibration results obtained in the temperature range (600 to 1850) ∘C\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$\end{document} in the carbon-free environment were within ±0.5\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\pm 0.5$$\end{document} % tolerance limits and confirmed the suitability of Type A thermocouples for industrial applications. In contrast, the Type A thermocouple 89/95-P investigated at PTB (Germany) was exposed to a carbon environment when annealed at 1850∘C\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$1850~^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$\end{document} and when it was calibrated at metal–carbon eutectic (Me–C) fixed points. Measurements made at Me–C fixed points did not deviate from the reference function by more than about 6 K at the first stage when temperatures were below 1500∘C\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$1500~^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$\end{document}. However, the inhomogeneity of the thermoelements increased continuously after the calibration at the Me–C eutectic fixed points. The additional measurements at the Cr3C2-C\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\hbox {Cr}_{3}\hbox {C}_{2}{-}\hbox {C}$$\end{document} peritectic fixed point (1826∘C\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$1826~^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$\end{document}) resulted in a continuous emf drift to deviations from the reference function of about -\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$-$$\end{document}(100 to 150) μV\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$\upmu \hbox {V}$$\end{document} which corresponds to a temperature equivalent of about -\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$-$$\end{document}(9 to 14) K. The thermoelectric stability and homogeneity of the thermocouple 89/95-P during these investigations was checked by repeated measurements at the freezing point of copper (1084.62∘C\documentclass[12pt]{minimal} \usepackage{amsmath} \usepackage{wasysym} \usepackage{amsfonts} \usepackage{amssymb} \usepackage{amsbsy} \usepackage{mathrsfs} \usepackage{upgreek} \setlength{\oddsidemargin}{-69pt} \begin{document}$$1084.62~^{\circ }\hbox {C}$$\end{document}).