TTP, one of Europe’s leading technology and product development companies, has come up with an innovative new non-contact way to measure high temperatures for applications ranging from foundries, machining and food processing to use on aircraft engines and braking systems and even for low-cost applications in the home. The new patent-pending inductive technique has already been used over temperature ranges of several hundred degrees Celsius with a accuracy of 1°C and could replace existing contact methods such as thermocouples and the use of infrared.
Researchers at TTP have applied the age old principle that applying an alternating current to a coil will induce eddy currents in nearby metallic objects; an effect commonly used in proximity sensors and non-destructive testing, looking for cracks or voids in material, for example. But TTP has exploited the fact that the flow of eddy currents is also dependent on the material’s temperature and can be used to provide a completely new approach to non-contact temperature sensing.
Using a special coil arrangement, sensing methodology and algorithm to detect and measure the induced eddy currents, TTP researchers have been able to implement inductive temperature sensing of targets in a wide range of challenging environments, through metal barriers and even in applications where the geometry of the target material is unknown.
(Image removed)“Inductive temperature sensing is ideal for applications where contact methods are not reliable and where lack of line-of-sight access, variable emissivity or high cost limit the use of infrared techniques,” said Dr. David Pooley, senior consultant at TTP (right). “And because of the simplicity of applying the technology in practical environments, it could also be used in low-cost consumer applications.”
Eddy currents were first discovered by French physicist Leon Foucault in 1851, following the discovery of electromagnetic induction by Michael Faraday in 1831. But it was not until the 1930s that eddy current technology started to be used for industrial applications. “It’s very exciting to take a 165 year old principle and discover a completely new range of applications for it,” says Pooley. “We are continuing our practical trials to refine the process and explore new applications and we are already getting a lot of interest from potential partners to commercialise the technology and take it to market.”
About TTP
The Technology Partnership plc (TTP) is one of Europe's leading technology and product development companies. TTP works closely with its clients to create disruptive products based on advances in technology and engineering innovation. TTP’s technology lies behind many products and processes in areas as diverse as communications, digital printing, instrumentation, consumer & industrial products, biotechnology, medical devices, cleantech and security systems.
www.ttp.com
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For more information contact:
TTP, enquiries@ttp.com, +44 1763 262626
For editorial enquiries and images, please contact:
Peter Rennison, PRPR, pr@prpr.co.uk, + 44 (0)1442 245030
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New inductive temperature sensing reaches places other techniques can’t reach
20 May 2015
The Technology Partnership (TTP) applies the eddy current principle to high temperature measuring applications - from steel processing to home cooking.