Patent ID: 8746966

Claim:
A thermoanalytical instrument, in particular a differential scanning calorimeter, comprising: a first and a second measurement position; a first and a second heater, each heater associated with the corresponding measurement position; a first and a second compensation heater, each compensation heater associated with directly heating the corresponding measurement position; a first and a second sensor, for measuring a temperature at the corresponding measurement position; and a controller, comprising: means for setting a predetermined temperature program of temperature target values versus time; a first control loop for controlling the application of the temperature program to the first and second heaters; means for determining the lower of the temperatures measured at the first and second measurement positions; and a second control loop for controlling the compensation of the differential temperature between the first and the second measurement position by applying an extra heating power to the measurement position having the lower measured temperature, by a means for restricting the extra heating power to only the corresponding compensation heater at any point in time, wherein the means for restricting comprises, for each heater and compensation heater: a voltage follower; and a diode, oppositely orientated to the voltage follower with which it is associated.