Publications
A new method to compute the proper radiant heat transfer correction of bare-wire thermocouple measurements
The proper consideration of the radiation correction for bare-wire thermocouple measurements requires consideration of the convective and radiative heat transfer of the thermocouple with its surroundings, as well as conductive heat transfer between the thermocouple bead and the connecting thermocouple wires. This has rarely been considered in the past, and to do so has involved complex simulation of the complete thermocouple energy balance. This paper reports on a new, easy-to-implement approach for calculating the proper radiant correction for thermocouples, subject to uncertainties associated with the relevant thermocouple and gas properties and limitations to characterizing convective heat transfer to the thermocouple bead and wires via standard correlations. Examples of the radiation correction computed with this new method as a function of temperature and bead and wire size are given, and are compared with traditional approaches considering heat transfer around either the thermocouple bead or the thermocouple wire.