• Author Author: rscasny
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Seeking Feedback: What Would You Design, Test or Build with a Thermocouple Measurement System from National Instruments?

rscasny

Greetings.

 

Last week, I had a great conversation with one of our managers concerning a thermocouple test system bundle. It combines data acquisition hardware and software from National Instruments and thermocouples from Omega. I learned it's entry-level 4-channel USB thermocouple measurement system.

 

Here are a few features of the system:

 

  • NI quality data acquisition hardware for confidence in your test data
  • FlexLogger data logging software to get you from sensor to data, fast
  • Configure a custom UI with graphs, charts, and alarm indicators
  • Set trigger conditions for alarms and logging
  • Add operator input panels to capture test meta data
  • Save to file formats for Excel (.csv) or the open binary standard .tdms so you can use with any in-house software
  • A modular, 1-slot chassis so you can change your measurement system as easy as you can change modules. Reuse the chassis and software with any of the 80+ other CompactDAQ compatible C Series modules from NI

 

In the following table, I list the parts in the bundle, along with the datasheets:

 

NININIOmega

Temp Input module

(NI) Temperature Input Module, C Series, NI-9210, 14 SPS, 24 bit, 4 Input, CompactDAQ/RIO System, Mini TC

Datasheet

For More InformationFor More Information

chassiss

Chassis, cDAQ-9171, CompactDAQ System, 1 Slot, USB

 

 

Datasheet

For More InformationFor More Information

flexlogger

Test Software, FlexLogger, Subscription License, Download, Windows

 

Datasheet

For More InformationFor More Information

omega thermocouple

Thermocouple, K, 260 °C, 36 ", 900 mm

 

 

Datasheet

For More information

 

In my conversation, we talked about getting some of these product bundles for either a roadtest, design competition, or special project. I wanted to put this out to the community to get your feedback and some ideas of what you would do with this Thermocouple Measurement System.

 

Discussion Question: What Would You Design, Test or Build with a Thermocouple Measurement

  •            I would like to add this to a test bench that we already have working. 

    We build Heat exchangers and the bench I would like to add monitoring to actually does Internal Corrosion test.

    The part is in an enclosed chamber with no air flow.  I would like to be able to  monitor the Heat Transfer rate in the enclosed chamber and compare against the results from the Heat Transfer Wind Tunnel.  Even though we do tests with no induced air flow, there is still some heat transfer caused from air movement in the area of the test.

  • in reply to phoenixcomm

      Ug. Texas. I was stationed at Fort Hood my last year in the Army.  It was also a record setting heat year - so much so that the blacktop became tacky and stuck to your boot.  Yup.  You know real heat.  My oldest daughter also lives near College Station.  We try not to visit in the Summer. image

  • This is a neat set of instrumentation to measure temperature. I like the little chassis, which avoids a big rack.

    I built a system that can measure 4 thermocouples, so I'm not sure I need this instrumentation, but here are some Ideas for road testing ...

    • In the past I was involved in things like measuring the effect of fuel temperature on internal combustion engine efficiency.(Should you pre-heat the fuel and if so, how much?)
    • In the case of a home furnace, does inlet fuel temperature make a difference to flame temperature?
    • In the case of a Stirling engine, which is notoriously inefficient, where is all the heat wasted?
    • In the case of a hot water heater, is it worth adding an electric heater at the tap, to get instant hot water, instead of running the water until hot water from the tank gets to the tap?
    • In the case of solar blinds, how much energy do they save?
    • In the case of various heatsink systems for Raspberry Pi's, which one does the best job?
  • in reply to kmikemoo

    I don't want to mess about the Thermocouples (pain), I much prefer to use senors. MUCH EASIER.  In my old house, I did a pre-cooler for my AC unit. parts where: car radiator, car fan, liquid to liquid heat exchanger, and a small pump. Water circulated through the Radiator and the heat exchanger via the pump. The AC hotline went to one end of the center of the heat exchange, and the other to the AC unit itself. I controlled it with a 68k SBC and some ADC converters,

    You had to monitor several temps, outside free air, inside free air both were just thermostats on-off, the only other thing to monitor was the temperature of the water exiting the rad. I had one relay for the pump.

    This cut my $ by about 20 - 30 percent in the summer here in Texas.

    ~~Cris

  • in reply to shabaz

    I have used NI, good stuff, for a while, the first was a box connected to HPIB cable.

    ~~Cris