Eddy currents could provide a new way to measure high temperatures in a range of challenging applications. According to The Technology Partnership, its inductive technique has already been used to measure temperature over ranges of several hundred degrees Celsius to an accuracy of 1°C.
While the concept of inducing eddy currents is used in other applications – including non destructive testing – TTP says it has exploited the fact that eddy currents are dependent on a material's temperature. It believes the approach could replace existing contact methods, such as thermocouples and the use of infrared.
"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, pictured, senior consultant at TTP. "Because of the simplicity of applying the technology in practical environments, it could also be used in low cost consumer applications."
Eddy currents were discovered by Foucault in 1851, but the technology was not used for industrial applications until the 1930s. "It's very exciting to take a 165 year old principle and discover a completely new range of applications for it," said Dr 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."
Pic: Dr David Pooley, senior consultant, TTP
Author
Graham Pitcher
Source: www.newelectronics.co.uk