KTY Sensor Fundamentals

KTY type sensors are in essence variable resistors with positive temperature coefficients. There are two most frequently used series - KTY81 and KTY83, the former in TO92 plastic housings, the latter in DO-34 glass ones; electrically, there is very little difference among them. In both series, there are two subseries - the one with approximately 1 k resistance, the other with approximately 2 k at room temperature (25'C). Subseries can be determined by the first digit in the second part of the component marking, for example KTY81-210 is a sensor in TO92 housing with 2 k nominal resistance. The remaining two digits ("10" in this example) define sensor resistance tolerance. Please refer to appropriate datasheets for more detailed explanations. But why bother with such simple analog devices as there are fancy digital temperature sensors available on the market, one might ask. Well, there are several good reasons. Firstly, KTYs cost much less. This can be tollerated if a single sensor is to be used, but what if a whole array of them is needed? In such applications, the difference easily rockets to hundreds of $. Secondly, KTYs are much more rugged components. All they require is a somewhat constant power supply, but they easily tollerate voltage transients, current surges etc. which destroy digital electronics with no mercy. Furthermore, digital sensors are aimed to be placed at most a few decimeters (a feet) away from the CPU while KTYs can be put hundreds of meters (yards) away from the measuring unit. Finally, maximal accuracy of digital sensors is very rarely better than 0,5'C which is nice but sometimes not nice enough for industrial applications, and there is nothing one can do about this. In contrast, KTYs can be made accurate to less than 0,1'C with very simple and inexpensive hardware such as the one presented here. Philips, KTY sensor producer, gives accurate numerical data for each sensor type in the datasheets. When plotted grafically, it can be observed that a typical KTY resistance dependence on temperature is approximately linear, but not as much as one would expect. If one naively takes the curve as a straight line, the difference between the actual and the measured temperature easily exceeds 10'C near room temperature! Therefore, if KTY sensor is supplied by constant current source and then voltage on its contacts is measured, a kind of a nonlinear error correcting circuit is necessary to be used before displaying the voltage on a linear scale such as a galvanometer, A/D converter etc. Errors can also be corrected in software but that necessarily wastes precious processing power. Fortunately, there is a way out. If KTY sensors are not powered by a constat current source, but by a constant voltage source using a constant resistor connected in series with it, it can be observed that for each sensor type there is a specific resistance that, inside a given temperature range, reduces the nonlinearities enormously! This is of course a too big struck

of luck to be a mere coincidence - the autor of this article firmly believes that some dedicated component designers have spent many sleepless nights tweaking physical sensor characteristics to achieve this, but intriguingly Philips has never published this convenience in the datasheets. So, basic idea is now clear: choose the sensor type and the operating temperature range, and then calculate the optimal linearising resistance value. Alas. Calculation is not at all straightforward as there is only a discrete numerical data set given in component datasheets i.e. no analytical formulas to deal with - not that it would make the process easier :) That is the reason why we have developed a small interractive PC applicaiton that enables visual estimation of sensor output voltage linearity if a particular linearising resistance is used. That program is presented on the third page of this article. But then, if the optimal resistance value is used, the output voltage range is at most a half of a volt or so between Tmin and Tmax - not really suitable for serious work. So we also figured out a simple operational amplifier circuit presented below, that easily corrects this. And there is of course much more...

Signal conditioning hardware

Hmm, there seems not to be that much in it. This is a typical measurement bridge with the addition of DC voltage amplifier. But the simplicity is deceptive - this circuit achieves excellence not through complexity but through carefull adjusting of resistor and voltage values it uses. Let's analyse it. Left branch of the measurement bridge is formed by the linearising resistance Rlin connected in series to the sensing element. Physical property that carries temperature data is DC voltage at the midpoint, picked by the noninverting input of the operational amplifier. As has been mentioned, this is actually all we need to make "temperature-tovoltage" transfer characteristics of KTY type sensors linear. But obviously, not just any resistor will act fine as Rlin. For each given temperature range, there is an exact Rlin resistance that makes output voltage change exceptionally linear. As this value is not easy to find out numarically, we have developed a PC application that enables its accurate estimation. Application functions are explained thoroughly on the next page. Right branch of the bridge is formed by resistors Ra and Rb, while Rc sets operational amplifier gain. Ra and Rb set a fixed reference DC voltage to which the amplifier continually compares sensor voltage; it then amplifies the difference by (1 + Rc/(Ra||Rb)) factor ratio and provides the result on its output. By carefull setting of Ra, Rb and Rc values, it is possible to fulfill these two conditions: Vout = 0V at T = Tmin and Vout = Vout_max at T = Tmax. Output voltage Vout(T) then rises linearly from 0V to Vout_max between Tmin and Tmax. As input and output voltages are referenced to ground, operational amplifier needs only a single side (positive) power supply. It should be able to provide 0V on its output i.e. should have "negative rail" output capability; fortunately, ubiquitous and cheap LM358 and LM324 series integrated circuits are up to the task. A circuit designer can choose Rb value at will. It is a good practice to make the equivalent galvanic resistances connected to inverting and noninverting inputs of an operational amplifier equal - this way, the instability of its DC output voltage due to input current temperature drift will be minimised. In this circuit, picking Rb value being approximately

equal to KTY sensor resistance at an approximate middle of the temperature range in interest is recommended. For example, Rb = 2,2 k is a good choice for a circuit optimising KTY81-210 performance between -10'C and +50'C. At this point, it is not yet clear what the value of Vbridge should be - operational amplifier surrounding components can be optimised to put Vout into the desired voltage span for a broad range of Vbridge values. As will be explained on the next page, this degree of freedom can be exploited in an unusual but rather convenient way. As for picking Vout_max value, if an A/D converter is to be used, it is desirable to choose Vout_max to be equal to Vacd_max i.e. maximum output voltage of the operational amplifier should be equal to maximum input voltage of the A/D converter. This way, the largest possible signal-to-noise ratio in the digital part of the measurement system will be achieved. Maximum input voltage is a standard parameter given in any A/D converter or microcontroller datasheet. If an analog galvanometer is to be connected to the amplifier output pin, then Vout_max choice is less critical as it is easy to set the galvanometer current to reach its maximum value Imax at any particular Vout_max via an additional resistor connected in series with it. Note, however, that Vout_max cannot be set higher than the maximum output voltage the operational amplifier is able to produce at a given Vcc. For example, LM358/324 ICs cannot produce more than Vout = Vcc - 1,2V at their outputs for any given Vcc. Some newer operational amplifiers referred to as having "positive rail" outputs can produce Vout as high as Vcc, but that is not necessary in this application.

Hardware conditioning software

Legal stuff first. This is a completely free piece of software which we declare open source in compliance with GNU GPL license - which in essence means that one can use it as one wishes for whichever purpose (private or commercial) she or he wants.

As for machine/system parameters on which this program is to be run on, it's written in standard Tcl/Tk language v8.5 and doesn't require any additional libraries. If Tcl/Tk is already installed in your system, download only the source code and use the interpretter to run it. Otherwise, download a much larger 32-bit Windows executable which in essence consists of the source core wrapped into the interpretter and run it as a standalone application. Both versions produce the same results. The main application window screenshot is given below. This program presents itself as an interactive graph with some entry and result fields in it. Horisontal graph axis represents sensor temperature while vertical axis represents "raw" voltage found on the sensor i.e. at the noninverting amplifier input. Prior to calculating resistance and voltage values, a user should enter data into entry fields at the upper-left corner of the graph defining sensor type, Rb resistance, Tmin and Tmax temperatures, and Vbridge and Vadc_max voltages. After pressing the Enter key on the keyboard, the program automatically focuses onto the part of the graph in interest and plots Vsens voltage at available reference temperatures for which there are data given in sensor datasheets. Plotted green dots form a so called "transfer curve" of the measurement system. Current Rlin value is given in pink at the lower-right corner of the graph. A diagonal line that dominates the interface enables visual estimation of sensor linaerity inside the given temperature range. Linearity depends solely on Rlin resistance, which can be changed by moving the horisontal slider button below the graph or by pressing left/right arrow keys on the keyboard. While the user changes Rlin value, program interactively recalculates values of Ra and Rc, and redraws the graph. The role of the circuit designer is to try to make the transfer curve as lineas as possible, which means to get the maximum number of green dots onto the straight diagonal line. For each sensor type and for each operating temperature range, there is a distinct optimal Rlin value to be found that produces maximum linearity. As has been mentioned on the introductory page, it is amazing how linear KTYs can be made if the right Rlin value is selected. The only case in which this doesn't hold truth is if sensors are expected to operate at extreme (lower or upper) portions of their absolute temperature range, approximately below -30'C and/or above 120'C. The program provides an additional tool for estimating the maximum flatness region - the user can place and move a straight yelow line by clicking the left mouse button inside the graph area. This can be helpful if a compromise in terms of accuracy vs. linearity of the measurement system being designed is necessary to be made. The yellow line can be removed from and put back into the diagram by clicking the right mouse button.

The pale blue dot

"Raw" sensor voltage is calculated and presented along the vertical axis while the absolute raw sensor voltage amplitude is given at the bottom-right corner of the diagram. The application presents in pale blue color the two additional pieces of calculated data at the same diagram corner - the so designated rotation temperature Trot and rotation voltage Vrot. What are these vaues and what is their use? As has been explained on the previous page, the operational amplifier circuit amplifies the difference between DC voltages it observes at the noninverting and inverting inputs, and the amount of amplification can be set by choosing the value of the feedback resistor Rc - the higher the Rc resistance, the greater the amplification which means the higher the output circuit voltage at Tmax. If one visualises how changing Rc value changes the circuit output, it is not hard to figure out that it in effect rotates the straight output voltage line inside the plotted diagram around the temperature at which V- and V+ are equal. Since at that temperature (Trot) there is no voltage difference to amplify, Vout must be equal to V- and V+, no matter what the value of Rc; therefore, in terms of changing Rc, the point (Trot, Vrot) behaves as a fixed anchoring point. This special point is plotted in blue in the diagram. To put the further cumbersome explanation aside, it can be stated that having all other variables fixed, Trot can take any value inside the operating temperature range depending

solely on the relative ratio of Vbridge to Vadc_max voltages. By clicking on "Opt(imise)" buttons to the right of Vbridge and Vadc_max entry fields, the program provides the means of optimising either of these values versus the other so that Trot is set to precisely 0'C. Some simple A/D converters use fixed reference voltages which means that in that case Vbridge should be optimised; others accept various reference voltages which makes optimisation of either Vbridge or Vadc_max possible. In any case, setting Trot at 0'C leads to a very simple and convenient three step adjustment procedure of the actual circuit after it is built: Disconnect Rc and adjust Ra value so that voltage at Op Amp inverting input is precisely equal to the calculated Vrot value. Please use a digital voltmeter with high input resistance for this one and the next step. Put the sensor at precisely 0'C (for example by dipping it into the mixture of tap water and ice) and adjust Rlin value so that voltage at Op Amp noninverting input is equal to the calculated Vrot value. Connect the Rc and put the sensor at some controlled reference temperature higher than 0'C inside the desired operating temperature range. Adjust the Rc value so that the temperature reading at the circuit output is correct. The boiling point of water (100'C) is a convenient temperature for this step if no trusted reference thermometer is at hand, but any other temperature is fine if there is one. In order to provide for fine resistor value adjustments, it is wise to make approximately 9/10 of their calculated values out of fixed resistors, while the rest 1/10 should be made out of 1/2 of a trimming potentiometer. For example, if 5,2 k is an ideal calculated value for a particular resistor, then one should connect 4,7 k fixed resistor in series to 1 k trimmer; we assume that the optimal value of the equivalent resistance will be found somewhere around the trimmer mid point, but there is also enough room to tweak it even if component tollerances are huge. If everything is being done with enough care, the accuracy of 0.1'C can be achieved. This is much better than almost all commercially available digital temperature sensors with huge savings in money.