Thermal flux sensor

Commercially available heat flux sensors with thermopiles sandwiched at the interface were used to measure the local temperatures and heat fluxes that is. Omega Corporation, Model HFS-4 devices. The total thickness of the sensors was nominally less then 0.18 mm, and a schematic of the device is shown in Fig. 5.10. By measuring the temperature difference across the center film (AT) and assuming one-dimentional heat transfer, then the heat flux can be measured using the temperature difference and the thermal conductivity of the film. The local temperature is recorded using the thermocouple nearest the barrel. The senors were calibrated at ambient condition with zero heat flux. 

Perry and Lee [28,29] offer an enhancement of QPA, based upon use of dual heat flux sensors and additional thermocouples in autoclave curing. This enhancement entails determining heat transfer properties during the cure, then using these properties in conjunction with PID regulatory control of autoclave temperature. Using the additional sensors, Perry and Lee employ an on-line Damkohler number in lieu of the second time-derivative of temperature to avoid exothermic thermal runaway within the prepreg stack thermoset resin. The Damkohler number is defined as ... 

With a thermal resistance heat flux sensor, the presence of the instrument in the environment will disturb the temperature field somewhat and introduce an error in the measurement. Wall-heating systems require a heat source (or sink) and an appropriate heat balance equation to determine the heat flux. The temperature-transient types require a measurement of the temperature variation with time. The energy input or output types require good control or measurement of the temperature of the heat flux instrument. For the fourth type, the properties of the fluid are required. A brief discussion of different types of heat flux sensors is given below. 

The temperature drop across the thermal resistance is usually measured with a multijunction thermocouple (thermopile) to increase the sensitivity of the device. The sensitivity of a heat flux sensor depends on the slab material and slab thickness, which essentially determine Rik, and the number of junctions in the thermopile, which determines the output EMF as a function of A T. 

Goldstein and Chiang [12], Arai, Matsunami, and Churchill [1], and Okoh and Brown [13] discuss the theory of operation of the heat flux techniques discussed here. Bachmann, Chambers, and Giedt [14] experimentally studied how the installation of heat flux sensors embedded in a surface affects the actual heat transfer in the body. They concluded that proper sensor design can minimize the heat flux measurement errors caused by probe thermal resistance that can disturb the heat... 

Next we have to define the boundary and the initial conditions. For so called zero flux sensors there is no transport of any of the participating species across the sensor/enzyme layer boundary. Such condition would apply to, e.g., optical, thermal or potentiometric enzyme sensors. In that case the first space derivatives of all variables at point x are zero. On the other hand amperometric sensors would fall into the category of non-zero-flux sensors by this definition and the flux of at least one of the species (product or substrate) would be given by the current through the electrode. 

Due to their compactness and standard fabrication technology, the temperature in thermal flow sensors is often measured by thermocouples, which rely on the thermoelectric effect. The thermoelectric effect describes the coupling between the electrical and thermal currents, especially the occurrence of an electrical voltage due to a temperature difference between two material contacts, known as the Seebeck effect. In reverse, an electrical current can produce a heat flux or a cooling of a material contact, known as the Peltier effect. A third effect, the Thomson effect, is also connected with thermoelectricity, where an electric current flowing in a temperature gradient can absorb or release heat from or to the ambient [10, 11]. The relation between the first two effects can be described by methods of irreversible thermodynamics and the linear transport theory of Onsager in vector form. 

In power compensated DSC the small size of the individual sample and reference holders makes for rapid response. The temperature sensors are platinum (Pt) resistive elements. The individual furnaces are made of Pt/Rh alloy. It is important that the thermal characteristics of the sample and reference assemblies be matched precisely. The maximum operating temperature is limited to about 750 °C. High temperature DSC measurements (750-1600°C) are made by heat flux instruments using thermocouples of Pt and Pt/Rh alloys. The thermocouples often incorporate a plate to support the crucible. The use of precious metal thermocouples is at the expense of a small signal strength. Both chromel/alumel and chromel/constantan are used in heat flux DSC equipment for measurements at temperatures to about 750 °C. Multiple thermocouple assemblies offer the possibility of an increased sensitivity - recently a 20-junction Au/Au-Pd thermocouple assembly has been developed. Thermocouples of W and W/Re are used in DTA equipment for measurements above 1600°C. The operating temperature is the predominant feature which determines the design and the materials used in the con-... 

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