CallendarVanDusen

A simple Julia package that implements the Callendar Van Dusen equation. This equation applies to Platinum Resistive Thermometers (PRTs), and defines functional relationships between temperature and resistance.

This package does not export the main functions R and t, due to possibility of name-clashing. It instead exports CVD as an alias for CallendarVanDusen, allowing users to write CVD.R and CVD.t to access the functions.

Docstrings and explanation

There is really not much to this package. In this section we will look at the docstrings, and give a little interpretation about what it means.

First, we load the package

julia> using CallendarVanDusen

The first function is CVD.R, which returnes the resistance (in Ohm's), for a given temperature. Let's look at its docstring:

help?> CVD.R
  R(t, R0)
  R(t, R0; A, B, C)

  Calculate the resistance (in Ohm's) of a Platinum Resistive
  Thermometer (PRT) at a given temperature t (intepreted as °C),
  according to the Callendar Van Dusen equation. The second
  argument R0 is the resistance at 0°C, and is typically used in
  the naming of the PRT. For example, for a PRT100, R0 = 100.

  The coefficients A, B, and C that enter the equation can be
  set as keyword arguments. They do however have reasonable
  default values. Quoting from [1]:

  │  Typically, industrial PRTs have a nominal alpha
  │  value of α = 3.85 × 10-3 per °C. For this grade of
  │  PRT, standard EN 60751:1995 provides values for 
  |  the coefficients of:
  │
  │    •  A = 3.9083 × 10⁻³ °C⁻¹
  │
  │    •  B = -5.775 × 10⁻⁷ °C⁻²
  │
  │    •  C = -4.183 × 10⁻¹² °C⁻⁴

  [1]: Source 1 in
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callendar-Van_Dusen_equation.

  Examples
  ≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡

  julia> CVD.R(0, 100)
  100.0

So let's say we have a given PRT. It will have a resistance at 0 °C, denoted R0. R0 is typically given in the datasheet, and determines the second argument to CVD.R. So we can find the resistance at any temperature t within the valid range of (-200 °C, 661 °C) by running CVD.R(t, R0), assuming that the PRT is up to the relevant industry standard.

The next relevant function is CVD.t. Let's check its docstring:

help?> CVD.t
  t(R_meas, R0)
  t(R_meas, R0; A, B, C)

  Calculate the temperature that would result in a resistance R_meas
  for a Platinum Resistive Thermometer (PRT), according to the
  Callendar Van Dusen equation. The second argument R0 is the
  resistance at 0°C, and is typically used in the naming of the PRT.
  For example, for a PRT100, R0 = 100.

  The output temperature is given in units of °C.

  The coefficients A, B, and C that enter the equation can be set as
  keyword arguments. They do however have reasonable default values.
  Quoting from [1]:

  │  Typically, industrial PRTs have a nominal alpha
  │  value of α = 3.85 × 10-3 per °C. For this grade of
  │  PRT, standard EN 60751:1995 provides values for 
  |  the coefficients of:
  │
  │    •  A = 3.9083 × 10⁻³ °C⁻¹
  │
  │    •  B = -5.775 × 10⁻⁷ °C⁻²
  │
  │    •  C = -4.183 × 10⁻¹² °C⁻⁴

  [1]: Source 1 in
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Callendar-Van_Dusen_equation.

  Examples
  ≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡≡

  julia> CVD.t(100, 100)
  0.0

CVD.t(R_meas, R0) finds and returns the temperature t that corresponds to a resistance of R_meas. It does this by solving CVD.R(t, R0) - R_meas = 0 for t, numerically.

If anything is still confusing, do not hesitate to open up an issue asking about whatever is unclear.