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Heat Transfer: Thermal Conductivity of Solids

Amba, Gillian Wyn E., Gumahad, Gerald M., Mangubat, Junroe D., Osorio, Carlo Kurt F.
Department of Chemical Engineering and Technology, MSU-Iligan Institute of Technology,
Philippines

Abstract

The thermal conductivities of steel, mahogany wood and glass were investigated by plotting
temperature versus time for each material, and then compared to their respective literature values. Percent
errors of 27.77%, 1533% and 1096% were obtained for steel, mahogany wood and glass, respectively. By
comparing the different thermal conductivities, the materials were identified as conductor or insulator.
Moreover, the corresponding Fourier numbers were determined in order to distinguish their effects on the
temperature before reaching steady-state.

Keywords: Fourier number, heat transfer, thermal conductivity

1. Background

Thermal energy is transferred via three different mechanisms: conduction, convection, and
radiation. Among them, conduction is present in all heat-transfer operations. When a temperature
gradient exists in a continuous substance, heat flows from a region with high temperature to a
region with low temperature through conduction. This system was described by Fourier’s
equation which states that heat flux is proportional to the temperature gradient as shown below:

𝑑𝑞 𝑑𝑇
= −𝑘 (1)
𝑑𝐴 𝑑𝑥

Where, q is the heat flow rate normal to surface, A is the surface area, T is the temperature, x
is the distance measured normal to the surface, and k is the thermal conductivity. Thermal
conductivity k varies with material. Materials with low k values are good insulators while
materials with high k values are good conductors. Thus, measuring the thermal conductivity of
the material is necessary to know which suitable material should be used for specific engineering
design.

2. Methods

2.1 Materials

To measure thermal conductivity of mahogany wood, glass, and steel, fragments of such
types of materials were first cut. That is, a 4.5 x 4.5 x 4.5 cm mahogany wood block, 5 x 5 x 2
cm of glass block, and 6.4 x 1.2 x 1.1 cm steel bar were used in the experiment. Each material
was drilled with a hole at the middle enough to fit a thermometer through. The blocks were

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drilled up to the midpoint of the material. Teflon is used to seal the sides of the thermometer to
keep water from getting in the hole.

2.2 Experimental Procedure

In a 1000 mL beaker, a water bath where each material was to be submerged was first
prepared. The water bath was placed on a hotplate such that it warms up to 90℃. To keep the
temperature constant at 90℃, an ample amount of salt was added. The specimen is then
submerged once temperature of water is stable at 90℃. The midpoint temperature was recorded
every five (5) seconds until the temperature of the specimen is in equilibrium with the bath
temperature or until it reached a steady state for at least two (2) to three (3) minutes. Three
replicates were done per material.

3. Results

3.1 Formula and Equation

According to Newton’s Law of Cooling (or Heating), the rate of change of the temperature
𝑑𝑇/𝑑𝑡 is proportional to the difference between the temperature of the specimen, 𝑇(𝑡), and the
ambient temperature or surrounding temperature 𝑇𝑎 (UBC Calculus Online, n.d.). This means
that:

𝑑𝑇
𝑖𝑠 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 (𝑇 − 𝑇𝑎 )
𝑑𝑡

If the situation is cooling where the specimen is hotter than the surrounding medium, then
𝑑𝑇
𝑇(𝑡) − 𝑇𝑎 > 0 which means that the derivative 𝑑𝑡 should be negative. With this, we get the
equation:

𝑑𝑇
= −𝑘′(𝑇 − 𝑇𝑎) = 𝑘′(𝑇𝑎 − 𝑇) (2)
𝑑𝑡

where k’ is a positive proportionality constant.

Letting 𝑦(𝑡) = 𝑇(𝑡) − 𝑇𝑎 and 𝑦𝑜 = 𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑎 and taking the derivative of y(t), we get the
following equations:

𝑑𝑦 𝑑 𝑑𝑇 𝑑𝑇𝑎 𝑑𝑇
= 𝑑𝑥 (𝑇(𝑡) − 𝑇𝑎 ) = − = = −𝑘′(𝑇 − 𝑇𝑎) = −𝑘′𝑦 (3)
𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡 𝑑𝑡

𝑑𝑦
= −𝑘′𝑦
𝑑𝑡

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𝑦 = 𝑦𝑜 𝑒 −𝑘′𝑡 (4)

Substituting the values of 𝑦 and 𝑦𝑜 , we get

𝑇(𝑡) = 𝑇𝑎 + (𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑎 )𝑒 −𝑘′𝑡 (5)

Linearizing this equation, finally we have this equation:

ln(𝑇(𝑡) − 𝑇𝑎 ) = ln(𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑎 ) − 𝑘′𝑡 (6)

Extracting from Equation 1, which shows the Fourier’s law and where k is the thermal
conductivity, also equates the heat energy that flows through the material (Incropera, 2002),

𝑑𝑞 𝑑𝑇 𝑑𝑇
= −𝑘 𝑑𝑥 = −𝑚𝐶𝑝 𝑑𝑡 (7)
𝑑𝐴

Manipulating Equation (7) and through dimensional analysis, substituting obtained equation of 𝑘’
to Equation (6), we get a linear equation

𝑘𝐴
ln(𝑇(𝑡) − 𝑇𝑎 ) = ln(𝑇𝑜 − 𝑇𝑎 ) − 𝑚𝐶 𝑥 𝑡 (8)
𝑝

Using Equation 8, the thermal conductivity 𝑘 will be obtained by plotting the 𝑙𝑛(𝑇(𝑡) − 𝑇𝑎) vs 𝑡
𝑘𝐴
having the slope of 𝑚𝐶 𝑥.
𝑝

In this experiment, the following values are used in the calculation to get thermal conductivity
values.

Steel alloy Wood Glass


Density (kg/m3) 7800 490 2700
Heat Capacity (J/kg-K) 510.7896 1760 840
deltaX (m) 0.032 0.0225 0.02
Cross sectional area (m2) 0.000132 0.002025 0.0025
Thermal Conductivity 46 0.12 1.0
(W/m-K)

Table 1. Values used in the calculations

Steel alloy Wood Glass


Calculated 𝒌, 34.39 1.96 11.96
(W/m-K)

Table 2. Calculated values of thermal conductivity

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3.2 Figures and Tables

The following are the temperature versus time diagrams of the three materials in their
average values.

Temperature vs Time (Steel Block)

100
90
80
Temperature (C)

70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 20 40 60 80 100
Time (s)

Figure 1. Average measured values of temperature from the three trials of Steel vs time

Temperature vs Time (Glass block)

90
80
70
Temperature (C)

60
50
40
30
20
10
0
0 100 200 300 400
Time (s)

Figure 2. Average measured values of temperature from the three trials of Glass vs time

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Temperature vs Time (Wood block)

80
70
60
Temperature (C)

50
40
30
20
10
0
0 200 400 600 800
Time (s)

Figure 3. Average measured values of temperature from the three trials of Wood vs time

4. Conclusions
From the experiment, the percent errors of the thermal conductivity of the steel block,
mahogany and glass are 27.77%, 1533%, and 1096% respectively. It can also be stated that
the steel block is a conductor while mahogany and glass are insulators. It is observed that the
errors for the insulators are significant, and this may be attributed to the dimensions of the
materials since the equation used assumes a one-axis heat transfer. It is recommended that
the dimensions follow accepted standards, such as the ASTM, in order to get accurate results.
Furthermore, the deviation may also be caused by the water penetrating to the thermometer
tip due to the loose sealing of the Teflon. The Teflon may also have added thermal resistance
to the material. Another possible cause of error could be that the heater was not completely
turned off when the material was submerged to the setup. This causes additional heat to be
added to the water-to-material heat transfer which is supposed to be in equilibrium. The
system’s equilibrium becomes disturbed and measurements may have become inaccurate.

5. References

Incropera, F. P., & DeWitt, D. P. (2002). Fundamentals of heat and mass transfer. New
York: J. Wiley.

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UBC Calculus Online. (n.d.). Newton’s Law of Cooling. Retrieved from
http://www.ugrad.math.ubc.ca/coursedoc/math100/notes/diffeqs/cool.html. Retrieved last
October 9, 2018.

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6. Appendices

6.1 Materials/Equipment

Steel

Nylon
Glass Wood

teflon

Drill

6.2 Experiment

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6.3 Raw Data
75 61.83333333 3.338139246
Time (s) AVERAGE ln(Ts-T) 80 63.16666667 3.289644896
0 32 4.060443011 85 64.33333333 3.245193133
5 51.33333333 3.654977902 90 65.83333333 3.184974273
10 66.66666667 3.149882953 95 67 3.135494216
15 77.33333333 2.538973871 100 68 3.091042453
20 81 2.197224577 105 69 3.044522438
25 85.33333333 1.540445041 110 69.83333333 3.004031076
30 87.33333333 0.980829253 115 70.66666667 2.961830722
35 88.16666667 0.606135804 120 71.66666667 2.908720897
40 89 0 125 72.33333333 2.871679625
45 89.33333333 -0.405465108 130 73 2.833213344
50 89.66666667 -1.098612289 135 73.83333333 2.782951509
55 89.66666667 -1.098612289 140 74.66666667 2.730029108
60 89.66666667 -1.098612289 145 75.16666667 2.696876901
65 89.66666667 -1.098612289 150 75.66666667 2.662587827
70 89.76666667 -1.455287233 155 76.16666667 2.627081139
75 89.76666667 -1.455287233 160 76.66666667 2.590267165
80 89.76666667 -1.455287233 165 77 2.564949357
85 90 #NUM! 170 77.5 2.525728644
90 90 #NUM! 175 78 2.48490665
180 78.16666667 2.470920408
Table 1. Raw data of values for Steel 185 78.66666667 2.427748236
block in three trials 190 79.16666667 2.382627801
195 79.43333333 2.357704392
Time
200 79.6 2.341805806
(seconds) AVERAGE ln(Ts-T)
205 80 2.302585093
0 28.66666667 4.116323469
210 80.06666667 2.295896105
5 29.66666667 4.099884743
215 80.46666667 2.254794429
10 30.66666667 4.083171262
220 80.5 2.251291799
15 33.66666667 4.031286426
225 80.66666667 2.233592222
20 36.66666667 3.976561527
230 80.8 2.219203484
25 39.33333333 3.925268232
235 81.13333333 2.182298927
30 41.66666667 3.878121454
240 81.13333333 2.182298927
35 45.33333333 3.799227511
245 81.16666667 2.178532444
40 48 3.737669618
250 81.5 2.140066163
45 50.66666667 3.672072336
255 81.6 2.128231706
50 53.16666667 3.606403232
260 81.83333333 2.100060829
55 55 3.555348061
265 81.96666667 2.083599552
60 56.66666667 3.506557897
270 81.96666667 2.083599552
65 58.83333333 3.439349148
275 82 2.079441542
70 60.5 3.384390263
280 82 2.079441542

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285 82 2.079441542 125 44.33333333 3.821369
290 82 2.079441542 130 45 3.806662
295 82 2.079441542 135 45.33333333 3.799228
300 82 2.079441542 140 45.83333333 3.787970
305 82.06666667 2.071073292 145 46.16666667 3.780395
310 82.06666667 2.071073292 150 46.66666667 3.768922
315 82.06666667 2.071073292 155 47 3.761200
320 82.06666667 2.071073292 160 47.66666667 3.745575
325 82.06666667 2.071073292 165 47.83333333 3.741630
330 82.06666667 2.071073292 170 48.16666667 3.733693
175 48.83333333 3.717629
180 49 3.713572
Table 2. Raw data of Glass sample in 185 49.66666667 3.697178
three trials 190 49.83333333 3.693037
195 50 3.688879
200 50.33333333 3.680511
Time
(seconds) Average ln(Ts-T) 205 50.66666667 3.672072
0 30.66666667 4.083171 210 50.83333333 3.667826
5 31.66666667 4.066174 215 51.5 3.650658
10 31.83333333 4.063312 220 51.83333333 3.641963
15 32.33333333 4.054679 225 52.33333333 3.628776
20 32.83333333 4.045971 230 52.83333333 3.615412
25 33.33333333 4.037186 235 53 3.610918
30 33.66666667 4.031286 240 53.5 3.597312
35 34.33333333 4.019382 245 53.83333333 3.588138
40 34.5 4.016383 250 54 3.583519
45 35.33333333 4.001254 255 54.16666667 3.578879
50 35.83333333 3.992066 260 54.66666667 3.564827
55 36.66666667 3.976562 265 54.83333333 3.560099
60 37.16666667 3.967142 270 55.16666667 3.550575
65 38.16666667 3.948033 275 55.43333333 3.542890
70 38.66666667 3.938340 280 55.66666667 3.536117
75 39.33333333 3.925268 285 56 3.526361
80 40.33333333 3.905334 290 56.43333333 3.513534
85 40.5 3.901973 295 56.83333333 3.501545
90 41 3.891820 300 57 3.496508
95 41.83333333 3.874667 305 57.5 3.481240
100 42 3.871201 310 57.83333333 3.470931
105 42.33333333 3.864232 315 58.1 3.462606
110 42.83333333 3.853687 320 58.5 3.449988
115 43.5 3.839452 325 58.83333333 3.439349
120 44 3.828641 330 59 3.433987
335 59.33333333 3.423176

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340 59.83333333 3.406738 555 70.16666667 2.987364
345 60.33333333 3.390024 560 70.33333333 2.978925
350 60.33333333 3.390024 565 70.66666667 2.961831
355 60.5 3.384390 570 70.66666667 2.961831
360 60.66666667 3.378725 575 70.83333333 2.953173
365 60.83333333 3.373027 580 71.16666667 2.935628
370 61.33333333 3.355735 585 71.16666667 2.935628
375 61.5 3.349904 590 71.33333333 2.926739
380 61.8 3.339322 595 71.33333333 2.926739
385 62.16666667 3.326234 600 71.33333333 2.926739
390 62.66666667 3.308107 605 71.66666667 2.908721
395 62.83333333 3.301991 610 71.66666667 2.908721
400 63 3.295837 615 71.66666667 2.908721
405 63.33333333 3.283414 620 71.66666667 2.908721
410 63.5 3.277145 625 71.83333333 2.899588
415 64 3.258097 630 72 2.890372
420 64.16666667 3.251666 635 72 2.890372
425 64.5 3.238678 640 72 2.890372
430 65 3.218876 645 72.5 2.862201
435 65.16666667 3.212187 650 72.5 2.862201
440 65.33333333 3.205453 655 72.5 2.862201
445 65.5 3.198673 660 72.83333333 2.842970
450 65.83333333 3.184974 665 72.83333333 2.842970
455 66 3.178054 670 72.83333333 2.842970
460 66.16666667 3.171085 675 72.83333333 2.842970
465 66.66666667 3.149883 680 72.83333333 2.842970
470 67 3.135494 685 73.33333333 2.813411
475 67.5 3.113515 690 73.33333333 2.813411
480 67.5 3.113515 695 73.33333333 2.813411
485 67.5 3.113515 700 73.33333333 2.813411
490 67.66666667 3.106080 705 73.33333333 2.813411
495 68 3.091042 710 73.83333333 2.782952
500 68 3.091042 715 73.83333333 2.782952
505 68.16666667 3.083438 720 73.83333333 2.782952
510 68.33333333 3.075775 725 73.83333333 2.782952
515 68.66666667 3.060271 730 73.83333333 2.782952
520 68.66666667 3.060271 735 73.83333333 2.782952
525 68.83333333 3.052428 740 73.83333333 2.782952
530 69.16666667 3.036554 745 74 2.772589
535 69.5 3.020425 750 74 2.772589
540 69.66666667 3.012262
545 69.66666667 3.012262 Table 3. Raw data for the Wood
550 69.83333333 3.004031 specimen in three trials

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