Temperature sensors based on thermoelectric effect

In many industrial applications temperatures must be measured which is realized with temperature sensors. Typical temperature sensors are based on thermocouples or resistance elements. However, these sensors are not always suitable for each application such as temperature sensors of liquids or gases in pipelines. Standard sensors inside such a material flow have an influence on the flow itself or hinder a cleaning of the pipeline system. Novel thermoelectric temperature sensors, which could reduce the previously demonstrated problems, have been developed as part of a research project. The basic idea of the novel sensor concept is to use thick film technology to enable novel sensor geometries. The typical application of thick film technology is the realization of ceramic circuit boards. Metal based thick film pastes were screen printed and fired as conductive material. The sensor concept uses a combination of different commercially available metal-based pastes (platinum, silver, nickel, gold) to creates thermocouples based on the Seebeck effect.