Test Results of a Solid State Calorimetry Prototype

Heat flow calorimeters have been being used as nondestructive assay instruments for over 40 years. However, nearly all of these calorimeters to date have used a wire wound wheatstone bridge as their primary sensing element. Mound has conducted some preliminary tests of a solid state heat flow sensor in a calorimetry application. These tests show that the sensor is an accurate and fast responding hardware component within the test environment. The preliminary test analysis shows an average error of less than 0.2% with a standard deviation of less than 0.25% over the 0.010 through 1.5 watt range. This solid state technology could lead to decreased assay times, higher repeatability/accuracy and more compact calorimeter systems - all of which have been identified as desirable features by present calorimetry users.