Experiment No.

1
MEASUREMENT OF THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF A METAL BAR

Aim: Measurement of thermal conductivity of a metal bar Apparatus required: Thermometers, Voltmeter, Ammeter, Long beaker, Dimmerstat, Stop watch, Metal rod under test (brass, copper, etc.), Heating coil, Water jacket Introduction: Heat is a form of energy transfer which takes place from a region of high temperature to a region of low temperature. There are three different modes by which heat transfer can take place. They are: (i) Conduction, (ii) Convection and (iii) Radiation The conduction occurs usually in the stationary mediums. It is the mode of heat transfer in which energy exchange takes place from a region of high temperature to that of low temperature by direct molecular interactions and by the drift of electrons. These two
effects are additive, but in general the transport due to free electrons is more effective than transport due to vibrational energy in the lattice structure. Conduction can take place in

solids, liquids, or gases. In gases and liquids, conduction is due to the collisions and diffusion of the molecules during their random motion. In solids it is due to the combination of vibrations of the molecules in a lattice and the energy transport by free electrons. In non-metals the energy transfer is due to lattice vibrations only. In good electrical conductors a rather large number of free electrons move about in a lattice structure of the material. Just as these electrons may transport electric charge, they also carry thermal energy from a high temperature region to low temperature region. In fact, these electrons are frequently referred as the electron gas. In general, however, molecular vibration mode of energy transfer is not as large as the electron transport and it is for this reason that good electrical conductors are almost always good heat conductors, for eg: Aluminum, Copper and Silver. With the increase in temperature, however the increased lattice vibrations come in the way of electron transport by free electrons and for most of the pure metals the thermal conductivity decreases with the increase in the temperature. The law governing the rate of conduction heat transfer was first proposed by J.Fourier and is popularly called as Fouriers law of heat conduction. The law is stated as follows: The rate of heat conduction through a plane layer is proportional to the temperature difference across the layer and the heat transfer area, but is inversely proportional to the thickness of the layer. That is
= k A dT Q (1) x dx Where the constant of proportionality k is the thermal conductivity of the material, which is a measure of the ability of the material to conduct heat. The negative sign in Eq. (1) is necessary to satisfy second law of thermodynamics, which states that heat transfer will take place spontaneously from a region of high temperature to a region of low temperature without the aid of any external agency. This means that positive heat transfer can take place in the direction in which the temperature is decreasing. In other
.

words in the direction of positive heat transfer the temperature gradient, dT/dx will be negative and therefore the negative sign in Eq. (1) will make Qx positive in the direction of heat transfer. Equation (1) can also be viewed as the defining equation for thermal conductivity. Thus thermal conductivity of a material can be defined as the rate of heat transfer through a unit thickness of the material per unit area per unit temperature difference. A high value of thermal conductivity indicates that the material is a good heat conductor (e.g. diamond, silver, copper, gold, aluminum etc) where as a low value indicates that the material is a poor heat conductor (e.g. glass, brick, human skin, wood, asbestos, rubber etc.). Thermal conductivity is one of the important properties of the materials and its knowledge is required for analyzing heat conduction problems. Physical meaning of the thermal conductivity is how quickly heat passes through a given material. Thus the determination of this property is of considerable engineering importance. The conduction heat transfer in liquids and gases occurs due to collisions and diffusion of molecules during their random motion. However, the nature is much more complex. Most of liquids except water become poorer conductors at higher temperatures. For gases, the distance between molecules is related to the pressure. However, unless at very high pressures, the molecules in gases are at large distances and therefore, thermal conduction is almost negligible. Thermal conductivities of materials vary with temperature. The variation of k over certain range of temperature is negligible for certain materials, but significant for other materials. In the laboratory the thermal conductivity of a metal rod is determined by measuring the heat flow through the rod Qx and the temperature gradient dT/dx under steady state conditions and using Eq. (1). The thermal conductivity is measured in watts per meter per degree Celsius or Watt per meter per Kelvin, when heat flow rate is expressed in watts. The thermal conductivity of a substance is highest in solid phase and lowest in gaseous phase. Figure 1 shows typical range of thermal conductivity of various materials at room temperature The heater is provided with a dimmerstat for controlling the heat input. Water under constant heat condition is circulated through the jacket and its flow rate and temperature rise are noted. Effect of temperature on thermal conductivity (Fig. 2) The flow of free electrons in metal results in an increase in value of thermal conductivity several times. But at the same time, due to increase in temperature, the vibration of the molecules in the metals becomes violent and they obstruct the flow of free electrons and contribution to the heat conduction by free electrons decreases. Thus it may result in net decrease in the heat flow. Hence, for most of metals, the value of thermal conductivity decreases as temperature increases.

Fig.1 Thermal conductivity of solids, liquids and gases at room temperature

Fig. 2 Effect of temperature on thermal conductivity

Apparatus required: Thermometers, Voltmeter, Ammeter, Long beaker, Dimmerstat, Stop watch, Metal rod under test (brass, copper, etc.), Heating coil, Water jacket. The experimental set up consists of a horizontally placed metal bar, one end of which is heated by an electric heater while the other end of the bar projects inside the cooling water jacket. The middle portion of the bar is surrounded by a cylindrical shell filled with insulating material. Figure 3 shows a photograph of the set up.

Fig. 3 Setup of thermal conductivity of metal bar

The temperature of the bar is measured at five axial locations {Fig. 5 (1) to (4)} while the radial temperature distribution is measured by separate thermocouples at four radial locations in the insulating shell as shown in Fig. . The latter measurement is made to evaluate the lateral heat loss from the bar through the insulation in radial direction. Theory The bar is analyzed at two sections (AA and BB) along its length. According to the first law of thermodynamics at any section, the rate of incoming energy must be equal to the rate of outgoing energy. Rate of heat absorption by circulating water = Rate of heat conduction at free end of the rod The rate of heat energy reaching to circulating water = Rate of axial heat flowing in section B

=m w c p ,w (Tw,o Tw,i ) , Q w
where, = mass flow rate of water, kg/s, w cp,w = specific heat of water in kJ/kg. K Tw,o Tw,i = temperature difference of circulating water, C Thermal conductivity of the bar in section B:
kB = Q w dT Abar x dx = Abar
B

(2)

Q w , W/m K (T3 T5 ) x dx B

(3)

Rate of heat entering section B = Rate of radial heat loss from section B + Rate of heat carried by the jacket water. That is, Where, LB = Length of section B, m Abar = Area of cross section of metal bar, m2 T and r correspond to temperature (0C) and radius (m) Thermal conductivity of bar in section A:
kA = Q 3 dT Abar x dx = Abar
A

Q 3 , W/m K (T1 T3 ) x dx A

(4)

where

 = The rate of heat flow out of section A in to section B, W Q 3 = Radial heat loss from section B + heat carried by jacket cooling water (T T9 ) = 2 k insulation LB 8 +Q w r9 ln( ) r8

(5)

heater 7 6 60 1 2 55 60 3 60 4 9 8 35 60 5

Water out

22 dia

kinsulation = 0.11W/m K insulation Section A Section B Water jacket Water in Fig. Schematic of thermal conductivity set up

Temperature, 0C

Axial thermocouple locations

Fig. Temperature profile

Heat in put to the metal rod: From energy balance: Heat input = Radial heat loss from section A + Radial heat loss from section B + Heat carried by jacket cooling water, W
(T6 T7 ) (T T9 ) = 2 k + 2 k insulation LB 8 +Q Q insulation L A in w r7 r9 ln( ) ln( ) r6 r8 From power measurement:

(6)

= V I cos Q in

(7)

Where, V = Heater voltage, V I = Heater current, A = power factor = 0.85

Procedure:
1. Adjust the flow rate of water to 1-2 L/min using a measuring jar or a long beaker. 2. Switch on the power supply and adjust the dimmer stat to obtain the required heat input. 3. After attaining steady state temperature, note down the readings of thermocouples T1 to T9 by adjusting the selector switch. 4. Note down the temperature of water inlet and outlet by using thermometers. 5. Repeat measurements for different voltage settings of the heater. Every time confirm steady state condition (No two successive temperature readings at any given location is greater than 0.10C). 6. Tabulate data and compute thermal conductivity value. Tabular column: Sl. No. 1 2 3 4 Results Sl. No. Mean temperature, 0C kA, W/m K kB, W/m K Mean k, Heat input, W W/m K Measured Heat balance V I Metal rod T2 T3 T4 Temperature, 0C Insulation T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 Water TW,O TW,i Time for 20CC water, s

T1

1 2 3 4 Plot: Mean conductivity Vs Mean temperature