School of Engineering

Chemical and Petroleum Engineering Department

FALL 2019 CHEN 321

EXPERIMENT 3

Measurement of Thermal Conductivity

Group members

Victor Shanaa Abdirahman Mohammed Chowdhury

Experiment performed on Linear heat conduction study unit

Submitted on 14-10-2019

Name: Reeves Nayagam - 2016002446

Instructor: Engr. Nazik Abdullahi Mohamed Ahmed Abdulla

Table of Contents

Introduction ......................................................................................................................... 1

Objectives of Performing the Experiment .......................................................................... 1

Theory ................................................................................................................................. 1

Equipment ........................................................................................................................... 3

Experimental procedures .................................................................................................... 4

Safety.. ........................................................................................................................... .....5

Results ................................................................................................................................. 5

Discussions ......................................................................................................................... 7

Conclusions and Recommendations ................................................................................... 8

Introduction
A common day to day phenomenon, the transmission of heat from high temperature region to
cold temperature region due the differences in temperature gradient between the 2 bodies. The heat
flows from hot region to the cold region, to obtain equilibrium. The energy transfer can occur in 3
different ways that are:
 Conduction
 Convection
 Radiation
In this experiment, we will be studying the about the linear thermal conductive of materials. The mode
of heat transfer here is conduction, and the heat is transferred through the vibrations of molecules in
high temperature region to the low temperature region. The ability of the material to conduct energy
i.e. heat is measured in this experiment i.e. Thermal Conductivity, the material we are testing is
aluminum.

Objectives of Performing the Experiment

Determination of thermal conductivity of carbon and stainless-steel specimen and

aluminum, using copper specimen as a thermal flow meter and validation of Fourier’s
law in the case of linear (mono-dimensional) steady state thermal conduction.

Theory
When a temperature gradient exists in a body, an energy transfer from high-
temperature region to low-temperature region takes place.
It is said that the energy is transferred by conduction and that the heat transfer rate
per unit area is proportional to the temperature gradient:

(q / A) / (dT / dx) (9.1)

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 Where;
q: The heat transfer rate

dT / dx: The temperature gradient in the direction of heat flow.

The above relation may be represented mathematically in the
form; (q / A) = k (dT / dx)
Where k is the thermal conductivity of the material.

a) To determine the thermal conductivity of each specimen use:

𝑱∗𝑴∗𝑳(𝑻𝟐 −𝑻𝟏 )
k= 𝑾/𝒎𝒌
𝑨∗(𝑻𝟒 −𝑻𝟑 )

k = thermal conductivity
J = mechanical equivalent of heat (130w) V*I
M = mass of water (kg)
T1= water inlet temperature (Co)
T2= water outlet temperature (Co)
A = area of specimen (m2)
t = time for flow of M kg of water (seconds)
T3= thermocouple temperature (cold end) Co
T4= thermocouple temperature (hot end) Co
L = distance between thermocouples (m)

2
 b) To study the heat flow per second over the whole length of the two specimens.

Where
X1 = Temp at element end. (Co)
X2 = Temp at water end. (Co)
L1 = length of specimen. (m)
A = Area of specimen. (m)
k1 = Thermal Conductivity of specimen. (W/mK)
L2 = Length of specimen. (m)
k2 = Thermal Conductivity of specimen. (W/mK)

Equipment

 Self-clamping specimen stack assembly with electrically heated source

 Potentiometer instrument

 Calorimeter base

 Constant head cooling water supply tank

 Multipoint thermocouple switch

3
Experimental procedures

1. The apparatus is assembled with one specimen (mild steel or stainless steel i.e. low
conductivity material) in lower position, and one specimen (copper high conductivity material)
in upper position.

 Operate the clamp by moving the protruding lever positioned on the front of the
apparatus to a downward position and place specimens between heating element and
clamp. 

 Ensure that the holes for the thermocouples are accessible. Release the lever, thereby
clamping specimens in position. Insert thermo-couples into holes provided.


4. Ensure that the thermostat adjustment control which is situated on the front of heating element
is turned fully clockwise.

 Fit the thermometers into the special leak proof connections provided on top of
calorimeter base.

6. Adjust the water flow rate (cooling power) by operating valve (g) and the heating power
according to instruction given in order to get steady state conditions.

 When reaching steady state, read out all the temperature values together with water
flow rate and heating power (V and A) and write them down in a table.

8. Repeat the test at different operating temperatures. Remember to wait until reaching steady
state before writing down test results on a table.

4
Safety
1. During the experiment the outer surfaces of the blocks can get very hot, always use gloves
when handling them.
2. Since we are working with electricity always stay grounded.
3. Wear the necessary PPE’s and follow all the instructions given by the Lab instructor.

Results
No Time (min) T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8

1 0min 130 129.7 123.4 122.6 45.4 42.7 32.7 33.4

2 5min 130 129.5 123.5 122.6 49.3 45.7 32.7 33.6
3 10min 131 129.9 123.5 123.8 50.2 46.5 32.8 33.7
Total
391 389.1 370.4 369 144.9 134.9 98.2 100.7
Average
130.3 129.7 123.5 123.0 48.3 45.0 32.7 33.6

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The material we used was aluminum.

Thermal Conductivity is given by,

k = J * M * L * (T2 – T1) / (A * t (T4 – T3))

J = 130 W (Given in the handout)

Water flow rate = 30% of 108 L/h = 32.4 l/h
L = 40 mm = 0.04 m
r = 0.03 m
Area of contact is given, A = 2.826*10^-3 m^2
M/t = Ṁ = 0.54 kg/sec
The average temperatures are taken for calculating the k value,
T1 = 130.3 °C; T2 = 129.7 °C; T3 = 123.4 °C; T4 = 122.67 °C
k = 273.5 W/mK

Percentage error in experimental value of k:

%error = (ktheoretical – kexperimental)/(ktheoretical) * 100 = |(210 – 313.95)/(210) * 100| = 30.23%

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Discussion
The percentage of error in this experiment is very high as seen above, many factors could affect the
result at this point we shall look at a few of them.

 The equipment wasn’t working properly so we had to take our readings at a reduced heating
value (30), the optimal value for the heating value is above 35 to get near perfect value for our
experimental numbers.

 The clamps where not tighten properly, there was clear gap between copper and the aluminum
resulting in loss of heat transmission, the heat is lost here due to convection.

 The equipment had a lot of faults the second group blew the fuse once, they could have
damaged the equipment completely and when we had the chance to use the equipment the
apparatus stopped showing the voltage and current, which could resulted in this huge error.
We had to take the current and voltage from the previous group.

 The aluminum did not reach the required temperature to take the correct reading for thermal
conductivity, so we had to make do with what we had.

 Even if we took repeated reading and took their averages, it would still result in an error,
because the equipment is at fault here.

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Conclusions and Recommendations

It was an interesting experiment plagued by a faulty equipment, nevertheless we completed the

experiment, found the thermal conductivity to be 273.5 W/mK.

The percentage error was in the high tab of things, way higher than expected (30% error).
Some recommendations:

1. The faulty equipment needs to be fixed by a professional from the company.

2. We can let the system stabilize before taking the values i.e wait for 20 mins before taking the
first reading.