A Novel Two-dimensional Distributed Temperature Sensor Based on Electrical Resistance Tomography

Abstract

This paper presents the development of a novel two-dimensional (2D) Electrical Resistance Tomography (ERT) based distributed temperature sensor. This sensor consists of a thin layer of porous metal film that is manufactured by spraying colloidal copper paint to the surface of an electrically non-conductive substrate. A local temperature change of the metal film, locally changes its electrical conductivity. This conductivity change is localized and quantified with ERT. In the present work, the proposed temperature sensor is experimentally evaluated by imposing known temperature changes on its surface using a heat source. The results indicate that the ERT-based temperature sensor provides a good qualitative estimates of the magnitude and quantitative estimates of the location of the temperature change.