Thermophysical Properties Research Laboratory, Inc.
Phone : 765-463-1581
Perkin-Elmer DSC
(For Operation: ASTM E 1269-05, ASTM E 1356-08, ASTM D 3418-08, ASTM E 793-06; For Calibration: ASTM E 967-08, ASTM E 968-02)
TPRL, Inc. has two types of Perkin-Elmer Differential Scanning Calorimeters for measuring
specific heat.
Two of the DSC's are used to measure the specific heats of a material from room temperature to 500°C, and the other
DSC measures specific heat below room temperature with the use of liquid nitrogen. The sample and reference holder
of the low temperature DSC is surrounded by a glove box to protect this area from moisture condensation when
measurements are made.
Both types of DSC's consist of a reference holder and a sample holder. Both the reference and sample holders are
equipped with heaters and temperature sensors. These sensors detect fluctuations of the sample holder with respect
to the reference holder as both are heated. A high gain, closed-loop electronic system provides differential electrical
power to read out directly in millicalories per second and is equivalent to the rate of energy absorption or evolution
of the sample. By comparing this rate with the rate measured during the heating of a known mass of sapphire, the
specific heat is calculated. The experiments are performed under computer control and specific heat is calculated
in Joules/(gm K) and BTU/(lb F) (which equals Cal/(gm C) ) at the related temperature intervals. The DSC's are
periodically checked by running either NIST sapphire or aluminum as a sample and the results are compared to the
NIST values.
Copyright 2011 TPRL, Inc.
3080 Kent Avenue
West Lafayette, IN 47906
Last updated 1/5/2012