A comparative analysis of common types of temperature sensors: seeking optimal solutions for diverse industrial environments

This paper conducts a comprehensive analysis of four common types of temperature sensors: Resistance Temperature Detectors, Thermocouples, Thermistors, and Semiconductor Temperature Sensors. It explores the working principles, advantages and limitations, application scenarios, and future developments of these sensors. Resistance Temperature Detectors are precise and durable but expensive and vulnerable to physical and high-temperature conditions. Thermocouples are robust with a wide temperature range, but they have lower accuracy and cable nonlinearity issues. Thermistors are highly sensitive, compact, and cost-effective, but this kind of sensors have non-linear resistance-temperature relationships and a limited temperature sensitivity range, while potential self-heating problems could not be ignored. Semiconductor Temperature Sensors are adaptable, precise, with digital output, but these sensors have shorter lifespans and are vulnerable to extreme environmental factors. This study not only provides a basis for selecting the appropriate sensor for different application scenarios, but also discusses the future development directions of these types of sensors.