Standard platinum resistance thermometer interpolations in a revised temperature scale

The thermal metrology community is considering revising the International Temperature Scale of 1990 (ITS-90), motivated by the opportunity to improve the thermodynamic accuracy, reproducibility, and ease of use of the scale, as well as health and safety concerns with the use of mercury in the current scale. This paper considers the mathematical structure of the standard platinum resistance thermometer (SPRT) interpolations of the ITS-90 and identifies (i) mathematical features that are advantageous and should be retained, (ii) opportunities for improvements, and (iii) the research required to maximise the benefits from such improvements. The improvements considered include minor adjustments that leave ITS-90 intact, numerical adjustments to reference resistance ratios that preserve the structure of ITS-90, fixed-point replacements, new subranges, and large-scale changes in the mathematical structure of the interpolations. A significant research effort will be required to implement some of the changes. Overall, an improvement in the thermodynamic accuracy by a factor of about ten is relatively easily realised, but improvements in reproducibility of the scale of even a couple of tens of percent will be hard won. For most users, the costs and inconvenience of a substantial scale revision may outweigh the benefits.