Innovations in Non Contact Temperature Measurement

Innovations in Non Contact Temperature Measurement

Since ancient times, inventors have been coming up with ways to measure temperature change and record it accurately. Temperature affects a wide range of processes. As a result, temperature measurement is used in many different industries including chemical engineering and medicine. Over the years, the way we measure and record temperature has changed a lot. Innovations to technology have helped make measurements faster, more precise and easier.

One of the biggest advances in temperature measurement has been the invention of non contact sensors. In this article, we’ll explore the key innovations behind these devices and why they’re so useful in a wide variety of modern industries.

What Are Non Contact Temperature Measurement Devices?

Traditionally, thermometers are placed against an object to receive heat energy and take a reading. Older thermometers used mercury, which expands when exposed to heat energy. However, newer devices typically use thermistors. These are electrical current resistors where the level of resistance changes depending on the heat energy it’s exposed to. As a result, a computer circuit is able to accurately measure the temperature.

While traditional thermometers, even modern ones using thermistors, need to be placed against an object to record its temperature, it’s not the only way to measure temperatures. Non contact thermometers are capable of recording the temperature from a distance, using infrared radiation. All objects which are above absolute zero release some energy as light and the higher the temperature, the more energy that’s released.

A non contact thermometer uses a lens which focuses the infrared radiation released. This is focused on a thermopile, which is a sensor capable of converting infrared radiation into heat and measuring it accurately. Every object gives off some infrared radiation, which means the temperature of anything can be measured. However, it’s important to note that this will only measure the surface temperature of an object.

Advantages of Non Contact Thermometers

There are a lot of advantages of using non contact thermometers over standard digital thermometers. To begin with, they’re able to measure temperatures from further away. This is useful in conditions where it might be dangerous to approach an object to take a reading. Instead, a non contact thermometer can be used from a distance to take an instant measurement. Examples where this might be useful include industrial settings where temperatures are extremely high.

In addition to being good at taking readings from a distance, these thermometers tend to be highly accurate and provide fast readings. However, it’s important to note that the accuracy can drop at larger distances. When choosing non contact thermometers, you should consider the distance to spot ratio.

Infrared thermometers also give fast readings, which is vital in situations where temperatures are changing quickly. In many settings, it’s important to take a lot of measurements to record accurate data on how the temperature is changing. This is particularly important when dealing with chemical reactions where a small temperature change can drastically affect the efficiency of the reaction.

Innovations in Temperature Measurement

The very first infrared thermometer was patented back in 1901 but it took over a century for the technology to become fully widespread. There wasn’t a single inventor of this technology, but it has been developed and innovated many times over the decades. As our understanding of infrared radiation has improved, so has our ability to measure it.

Modern infrared thermometers were one of the key instruments used in detection of COVID-19 during the global pandemic. This technology is very useful in medical settings, as it allows for fast readings while also allowing the medical practitioner to keep their distance from the patient.