How to select a Temperature sensor (Thermocouple Vs RTD)

Thermocouple or RTD which type of sensor is suitable for your application.

Consider the following attributes and decide which sensor is good for your temperature measurement application.

Thermocouple

Operating Range (Deg C) - -200 deg C to 2000 deg C Accuracy (Deg C) - 1 Linearity - Medium Thermal response - Fast Noise Problem - High long term stability - Low Cold Junction Compensation - Required Corrosion Issue - High

RTD

Operating Range (Deg C) - -250 deg C to 850 deg C Accuracy (Deg C) - 0.03 Linearity - High Thermal response - Slow Noise Problem - Medium long term stability - High Cold Junction Compensation - Not applicable Corrosion Issue - Low

Process requirements will drive the sensor choice.