LONG-TERM STABILITY OF Co-C AND Pd-C EUTECTIC FIXED POINTS FOR THERMOCOUPLES CALIBRATION

Abstract

Eutectic fixed points are close to becoming a reference for high temperatures calibration, especially as the new International Temperature Scale (ITS) approach to issue after the re-definition of the Kelvin unit. In this work the long-term stability of Co-C and Pd-C eutectic fixed points were investigated using NIS-Egypt facilities. The eutectic points were measured using Pt/Pd thermocouple. The total exposure to the Co-C and Pd-C melting temperature was about 200 h for the fixed-point cell and 150 h for the Pt/Pd thermocouple. The emfs of the thermocouple at the melting point were observed to drift by about 0.25 °C. Realization uncertainties were estimated to be ~ 0.446 ◦C for Co-C and ~0.742 for Pd-C (k = 2). Results show that Co-C and Pd-C eutectic cells can exhibit long term stability.