Page 23 - Handbook of Thermal Analysis of Construction Materials

Section 2.0 - Classical Techniques 7

system must be of extremely high sensitivity and large fluctuations in the
environment must be absent so as to avoid compensating effects which are
not due to the sample. Also, the complexity of the electronics prevents the
system from being used above ~1100 K.

Figure 2. Comparison of curves obtained on heating by (a) DTA, (b) power-compensating
DSC, and (c) heat-flux DSC.

2.3 Calibration of DTA and DSC

The calibration of a DSC or DTA instrument is crucial for various
reasons. Firstly, for the determination of the temperature, and secondly, to
convert the dissipated power into useful energy units, e.g., joules or
calories. The temperature calibration is of vital importance since, in most
cases, a calibrated thermometer cannot be used for the temperature mea-
surement. As for the calibration of energy, it too is important as, in many