Isotopic Correction of Water-Triple-Point Cells at NMIJ

Abstract

The twenty-one participating laboratories in the international key comparison of water-triple-point cells (CCT-K7) can be classified into three groups: two laboratories that corrected the effect of the isotopic composition of water, four laboratories that had information on the isotopic composition but did not correct the effect, and the remaining laboratories that had no information. There were significant differences in the realized national standard for the triple point of water (TPW) between those laboratories that applied the isotopic correction and those that did not. The isotopic correction is now considered essential for the triple point of water. Since the National Metrology Institute of Japan (NMIJ) did not apply the isotopic correction and estimated large uncertainties at the time of the CCT-K7 comparison, we subsequently developed new cells for the TPW to improve the reliability and to reduce the uncertainty of the realization as a national reference. The isotopic compositions of seven cells were analyzed, and a chemical impurity analysis of one cell was performed. The good consistency among seven cells was shown in the results obtained when the isotopic correction was applied to the realized temperatures measured experimentally. The expanded uncertainty of the new national reference of NMIJ is estimated to be 49 µK (k = 2), and as a result of this improvement, the expanded uncertainty for calibrating a water-triple-point cell is 80 µK. The previous reference of NMIJ, reported in CCT-K7 to have an expanded uncertainty of 302 µK, is 42 µK lower than the new one. The new reference value is within the uncertainty of the previous national reference, and the new uncertainty is completely covered by the previous uncertainty. Furthermore, the new reference of NMIJ shows good agreement with the national references of the six laboratories able to apply isotopic corrects to their results for CCT-K7. These facts confirm the validity and the linkage to the CCT-K7 of both the previous and the new national references of NMIJ.