Development of the Triple-Point-of-Argon System

A triple-point-of-argon system was developed to realize the argon triple-point temperature defined in the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90) and to calibrate long-stem standard platinum resistance thermometers (SPRTs). The system structure, the techniques for realization of the triple-point temperature, and the testing results are presented in this paper. In this system, there is a central argon cell that includes four re-entrant wells with an immersion depth of 160?mm which can be used to calibrate four long-stem SPRTs simultaneously. A high-accuracy temperature controller is used to control the realization process of the argon triple-point temperature plateau. The argon triple-point plateau can be easily realized with this system. The influence of different experimental parameters on the triple-point-of-argon plateau was investigated and is discussed. The testing results show that the duration of the plateau can be over 100?h with the temperature change less than 0.05?mK. The temperature homogeneity of the four re-entrant wells was tested. The immersion profile of the system was measured, and the measurement results were compared with the ITS-90 hydrostatic values. The uncertainty analysis shows that the uncertainty of the argon system is 0.25?mK (k = 2).