When a constant current is passed through a thermometer of resistance Rt and a set reference resistor of known value Rs, the voltage across them will be in direct proportion with their resistance values.
The ratio of the two voltages and for that reason of the two resistors, can be measured very accurately using high-precision voltage divider techniques employed in the AC bridges with ASL technology. As Rs is known, Rt can be determined from n=Rt/Rs, where n is the measured ratio.
The benefits of the AC bridge
The low-frequency AC (alternating electric current) bridge technology has major advantages over DC (direct current) systems for high-precision measurement of platinum resistance thermometers, two which are:
DC generates small voltages in the thermometer, reference resistor and cables, across every junction where different materials are employed, (for example copper, tin, platinum, palladium, nickel etc.). These voltages add to or subtract from the measured voltages and so are dependent on the various temperature differences at the junctions, hence they’re known as ?Thermal EMFs?. These variable voltages cause measurement errors and the more accurate DC bridge systems switch the polarity of the existing to try to solve the problem, taking between two and four seconds for every reversal. By using the ASL technology, the AC bridges perform this reversal automatically 75 times another, a more effective solution.
Active circuits, which are key to the performance of DC systems, have problems with ambient temperature changes and also the effects of component ageing. Fundamental to the ASL AC bridges accuracy is its inductive voltage divider ? a passive, precision voltage divider, the performance which is unaffected by ambient temperature change and by time. DC bridges require very stable and accurate electronics to accomplish their performance. Because active circuitry within the AC bridge is secondary to performance, the consequences of active component drifts and ageing are therefore minimised. Ass Kicking results in an instrument which will not require regular recalibration to stay within specification.
Note
Information on our resistance thermometry bridges are available on the WIKA Website.