From the course: PLC: Industrial Sensors

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What are thermocouples?

What are thermocouples?

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- [Instructor] Thermocouple is one of the common devices for temperature measurement. It consists of two different types of metals joined together at one end. The other end produces millivolts according to the temperature measured. Then millivolts are sent to an analog input module of a PLC. Thermocouples have a hot junction and a cold junction. The hot junction or measuring junction is the side where the temperature measurement is desired. The cold junction or reference junction is kept at a constant temperature to provide a reference point. The produced voltage in millivolts is proportional to the difference in temperature between the two junctions. For thermocouples, usually the two types of metals are housed inside a metallic tube and it's called a thermocouple probe. Looking like this. Industrial thermocouples come in different shapes as you can see here. They can be simple cable or inside broad sensor devices,…

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