The realization of a three-dimensional temperature measurement system and development of adaptive heating models

Electric heaters have a wide range of applications due to their advantages, including rapid heating, portability, ease of use, and reliability. The widespread use of electric heaters makes the correct selection of heaters crucial in terms of efficiency and energy savings. In this thesis study, a temperature measurement system has been developed to enable the design and production of more efficient and purpose-oriented heaters. The measurement system incorporated a novel sensor circuit structure capable of detecting temperature variations with a sensitivity of 0.0489 °C, and 81 sensor circuit boards were used. The sensors were positioned in a two-dimensional 9 × 9 matrix arrangement on the 𝑥𝑦 plane, and by vertically moving the heater along the z-axis, three-dimensional heating models were obtained. In the experimental studies, heating models obtained from a sample fan heater were first used to derive the mathematical model of the heater. The model's performance was evaluated using error-based performance assessment criteria for five different heater configurations. Accordingly, the mean absolute error between the mathematical model and the measurement results was calculated as 0.31 °C, with an R2 compatibility value of 98.18%. Subsequently, independent of the measurement system, adaptive heating models were obtained using radial movement, particle swarm, and mayfly optimization algorithms for reference models created with different numbers and configurations of heaters using the mathematical model. The simulation results demonstrated that the optimization methods successfully identified the heater positions and the distances between the heaters and the sensor array.