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Temperature measurements

Gold-platinum thermocouples

Range: 0 °C to 1000 °C

Superior homogeneity and stability

Gold-platinum (Au/Pt) thermocouples are also used in place of standard platinum resistance thermometers (SPRTs) in some instances where the lower cost and insensitivity to mechanical knocks are of importance.

NPL’s Au/Pt thermocouple calibration service is UKAS (ISO 17025) accredited and is typically achieved by measuring a customer thermocouple at three ITS-90 reference temperatures. The results are then used to create an equation to describe the thermocouple voltage (emf) versus ITS-90 temperature. The resulting calibration equation applies over the whole temperature range of interest, and a formal certificate is provided.

The calibration uncertainty can be as low as ±0.05 °C over the full range of 0 °C to 1000 °C.

ITS-90 fixed points 

These are the reference temperature artefacts, as specified in the ITS-90, for the practical realisation of the temperature scale. At NPL, the Zn (420 °C), Al (660 °C)and Ag (962 °C) fixed points are used for UKAS accredited thermocouple calibrations.

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