EMPRESS: A pan-European project to enhance process efficiency through improved temperature measurement

The ground-breaking results of a European project called EMPRESS, funded by the EURAMET's European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) are described. This three-year project, led by the UK's National Physical Laboratory, started in May 2015, and is intended to significantly enhance the efficiency of high value manufacturing processes by improving temperature measurement capability and implementing traceability to the SI unit of temperature, the kelvin, in-process. Key developments, demonstrated in process, include new ultrastable thermocouples, surface temperature measurement based on phosphor thermometry, and a portable `standard flame' for traceable combustion thermometry.