College of Engineering

and Technology
Department of Agricultural
and Biosystems Engineering
Visca, Baybay City, Leyte, PHILIPPINES
Telephone: (053) 525-0140 local 1015
Email: dabe@vsu.edu.ph
Website: www.vsu.edu.ph

ABEn 147. Properties of AB Materials

1st Semester, AY 2022-2023

Laboratory Exercise No. 4

Determination of Thermal Properties
A Computational Laboratory Exercise

Name: Lormelyn O. Tribunalo Date Submitted: Jan. 23,2023

Degree and Yr. BSABE - 3

I. INSTRUCTION

Solve the following problems as required. Present your solutions systematically. Observe
proper margin and other standard requirements in solving engineering problems.

You may write your solutions either using the computer or your own handwriting.

All the best!

II. PROBLEMS

1. The thermal conductivity of a Royal Gala apple is measured at 25C by guarded

hot plate method. The apple samples are cut into chips with area of 305 mm ×
305 mm and thickness of 15 mm. The temperature difference between the hot
and cold surfaces is kept at 2C and the measured rate of heat input is 6.1 W.
Calculate the thermal conductivity of the apple.

Given:
T1= 25 ºC = 298.15K
T2= 2 ºC = 275.15
Q= 6.1 W
L= 15mm = 0.015m
A= 305 mm × 305 mm =0.093025m2
Req`d:
K =?
Sol`n:
QL
k=
A (T 1−T 2 )
(6.1W )(0.015 m)
¿ 2
(0.093025 m )(298.15 K−275.15 K )
W
K ¿ 0.0427655
mK

2. Determine the thermal conductivity of hazelnut having a porosity of 0.45 at 24.8C

 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

using the isotropic model of Kopelman. Determine the thermal conductivity using
the order: water (1), carbohydrate (2), protein (3), fat (4), ash (5), and air (6). The
composition data and density () and thermal conductivity (ki) of each component
are given in Table 1 below.
Given:

Table 1. Composition Data and Density and Thermal Conductivity of Each

Component
Composition  at 24.8 ki at 24.8C
Component
(weight %) ◦C (kg/m3) (W/m K)
Water
5.6 995.0 0.62
Carbohydrat
12.3 1591.0 0.17
e
13 1317.0 0.21
Protein
66.5 915.0 0.23
Fat
2.6 2417.0 0.36
Ash
Negligible weight 1.2 0.025
Air

Req`d:
K=?
Sol`n:

Using the formula:

Mass fractionof component
specific volume=
Mass fractionof component

To determine the total specific volume, add the volume of each component and
found as 0.000969834.

Volume fractions of components are calculated by dividing the component volume to

total volume. Specific volumes and volume fractions of each component are given in
Table 1.1

Table 1.1. Specific Volume and Volume Fraction of Each Component

specific volume Volume Fraction
Component
(m3 /kg) ( X vi )
Water 0.058032027
5.62814(10-05)
Carbohydrat 0.079714573
7.73099(10-05)
e 0.101779514
9.87092(10-05)
Protein 0.749382151
0.000726776
Fat 0.011091735
1.07571(10-05)
Ash 0
0
Air
total 0.000969834

K value of date fruit is calculated using the order of water (1), carbohydrate (2),
protein (3), fat (4), ash (5) and air (6) in the iteration.
 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

k i ( 1−Qi+1 )
k comp ,i+l =
[ ]
1
1−Q i+1 1−( X )
v 3
d , 1+1

[ ]
2
k i +1
Qi+1 =( X )
v 3
d ,1 +1 1−
ki
V
( X vd , 1+1 )= i+1 i +1
∑Vi
i

Using the procedure in the Kopelman Isotropic Model, The calculated values in
the iterative procedure are shown in Table 1.2.

Table 1.2. Results Obtained in the Iterative Procedure

System X vd Q K (W/mK)
Water - CHO 0.57870447 0.504032703 0.335700318
water-CHO-protein 0.424920323 0.21163604 0.279326494
water-CHO-protein-Fat 0.757787327 0.146779818 0.241456651
water-CHO-protein-Fat - Ash 0.011091735 -0.024417677 0.242747021
water-CHO-protein-Fat - 0 0 0.242747021
Ash-Air

Solving by using the Kopelman Isentropic Model, the thermal conductivity, k is:

K = 0.2427 W/m K

3. The line heat source probe method was used to determine the thermal
conductivity of a food sample. The sample container is filled with the sample with
the probe inserted at the center and placed in a constant temperature bath at
25C for equilibration. After the equilibrium is reached, the probe heater was
activated. The electrical resistance of heated source per unit length is 223.1 /m
and the electrical current was measured as 0.14 A. Calculate the thermal
conductivity from the data given in Table 2 below.

Table 2. Temperature Versus Time

Data During Measurement
Time Temperature
(s) (◦C)
0 25.00
5 25.30
10 26.34
15 27.12
20 27.68
25 28.11
30 28.46
 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

Given:
Tc = 25⁰C
R = 223.1 /m
I = 0.14 A

Req`d: Thermal Conductivity (k) =?

Sol`n:
The equation for the line heat source method is:
Q t
∆ T −∆ T 0 = ln ⁡( )
4 πk t0
The above equation can be converted into a slope-intercept line
equation:
y=mx+b

Where:
Y = dependent variable = (∆ t−∆ T 0 )
Q
m = slope =
4 πk
t
x = ln ⁡( )
t0
b = intercept = 0, in this case

From the results of linear regression, the value of the slope m and the
regression coefficient are:

Q
m = 1.178425235 K =
4 πk
r2 = 0.9711985155

The heat supplied per unit length (Q) can be calculated from electrical
resistance of heated source and the electrical current, thus:
2
Q=I R
2
Q= ( 0.14 ) (223.1) = 4.37276 W/m

Q
Using the formula: =¿ 1.178425235
4 πk

Rearranging:
Q
k=
4 π (1.178425235)
4.37278
k=
4 π (1.178425235)

k =0.295 W /m⋅ K
 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

4. A modified Fitch device was used for measuring the thermal conductivity of a
strawberry sample. The sample was shaped to obtain a cylinder with 6.35 mm
diameter and 2.25 mm height, which is suitable for the device. The initial
temperature of both the sample and the copper plug was 25C. After equilibrium
was reached, the copper rod, which had a constant temperature of 35◦C, was
lowered, making good contact with the sample surface, and the temperature
variation of copper plug was recorded and given in Table3. Calculate the thermal
conductivity of the sample if the mass and specific heat of the copper plug are
0.010762 kg and 384.9 J/kg K, respectively.

Table 3. Temperature Variation of Copper

Plug During Measurement
Time (s) Temperature
(◦C)
0 25.00
2 25.03
4 25.06
6 25.10
8 25.13
10 25.16

Given:

Time (s) Temperature

(◦C)
0 25.00
2 25.03
4 25.06
6 25.10
8 25.13
10 25.16

d= 6.35 mm = 0.00635 m L= 2.25 mm = 0.00225 m

T0= 25 ºC
Tcu-rod= 35 ºC
mc= 0.010762 kg
cpc = 384.9 J/kg K

Req`d:
K=?

Sol`n:
Modified Fitch method:
 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

ln ( T 0−T cu −rod
T −T cu−rod
= ) kAt
L m c c pc

Convert to slope-intercept line equation:

y=ln
( T 0−T cu−rod
T −T cu−rod )
x=t
kA
m=
L mc c pc

We then convert the temperature value in Table 3 into the ln

( T 0−T cu −rod
T −T cu−rod ).

The results are shown in table below:

Table 3.1. Converted values of Table 3

( )
Time (s) T 0−T cu −rod
ln
T −T cu−rod
0 0
2 0.0030
4 05
6 0.0060
8 18
0.0100
10
5
0.0130
85
0.0161
29

kA
m= =0.0016
L mc c pc

0.0016 ( Lmc c pc )
k=
A
Where;
A=heat transfer area
π 2
A= × d
4

π 2
A= × ( 0.00635 )
4
−5
A=3.16692× 10
 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

Substituting all the values

( 0.0016 ) ( 0.00225 )( 0.010762 ) ( 384.9 )
k=
( 3.16692 ×10−5 )
W
k =0.497075256
m℃

5. To determine the specific heat of the apple, 100 g of apple was heated from 20C
to 30C for 10 min via the guarded plate method. The voltage and the current
supplied to the heater were 0.5 V and 12 A, respectively. Calculate the specific
heat of the apple.

Given:
m= 100g = 0.1 kg t=10 mins = 600 s
Tis= 20 ºC V= 0.5 V
Tes= 30 ºC I= 12 A

Req`d:
Cp = ?

Sol`n:
For guarded plate method:

m c p ( T es −T is )=VIT
From the equation above we can derive the formula for Cp,

VIT
c p=
m ( T es −T is )

( 0.5 ) ( 12 )( 600 )
c p=
( 0.1 ) ( 30−20 )

kJ
c p=3600
kg ℃

6. The comparison calorimeter is used to determine the specific heat of milk. The first
cup is filled with 100 g of distilled water having a specific heat of 4.18 kJ/kg K.
The other cup is filled with 105 g of milk. Both cups are heated to the same
temperature and then placed in the calorimeter to cool. The rates of cooling are
10◦C/s and 10.3◦C/s for water and milk, respectively. Both cups have the same
mass (50 g) and specific heat of 0.95 kJ/kg K. The calorimeter is well insulated
and the heat loss to the surroundings is negligible. Calculate the specific heat of
milk.

Given:
 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

mw= 100g =0.1 kg

cpw= 4.18 kJ/kg K
mm= 105g =0.105 kg
∆T/∆tw= 10 K/s
∆T/∆tm= 10.3 K/s
mc= 50g = 0.05 kg
Cpc= 0.95 kJ/kg K

Req`dd:
cpm = ?
Sol`n:

Modifying the formula of comparison calorimeter to fit the given data.

∆T ∆T
( mc c pc +mw c pw ) ∆ t =( mc c pc + mm c pm ) ∆t
w m

( ( 0.05 ) ( 0.95 ) + ( 0.1 ) ( 4.18 )) ( 10 ) =( ( 0.05 ) ( 0.95 ) + ( 0.105 ) c pm ) (10.3 )

kJ
c pm=7.805
kg K

7. The specific heat of cucumber was determined using DSC. An 18-mg sample was
used. The deflection from the baseline was 87.78 for the sample and 19 for the
sapphire at 32◦C in the thermogram. The specific heat of the sapphire is 0.191
kJ/kg K. If the mass of reference material is 82 mg, calculate the specific heat of
cucumber at 32C.

Given:
mass of sample (m) = 18 mg
deflection from the baseline for the sample (d) =87.78
deflection from the baseline for the sapphire (d’) = 19
specific heat of the sapphire (c’p) = 0.191 kJ/kg K
mass of reference material (m’) =82 mg

Req`d:
Cp = ?
Sol`n:
The equation for the Differential scanning calorimeter (DSC)

( dd' )( m'm ) c '

c p= p

c =(
19 )( 18 )
87.78 82
p 0.191

kJ
c p=4.02
kg K

8. The Dickerson method was used to measure thermal diffusivity of a sample. The
variation of surface (Ts) and center (Tc) temperatures of a sample during
 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

measurement is shown in Table 4.

Table 4. Variation of Surface and Center

Temperatures of a Sample with Time
Time (s) Ts (C) Tc (C)
0 25.0 25.0
2 30.6 26.6
4 35.2 28.2
6 39.7 30.7
8 45.3 36.1
10 49.8 40.7
12 54.8 45.9
14 60.0 51.2

A cylindrical container in which the sample was placed has a diameter of 3.6 cm.
The center temperature (Tc) and surface temperature (Ts) were recorded at 2-min
intervals until the surface temperature of the sample reached to 60C. Calculate
the thermal diffusivity of the sample.

Given:
d= 3.6 cm
r = R = 0.018 m

Req`d: Thermal Diffusivity (α) =?

Sol`n:

Ts= 25.242 °C Ts= 22.1 °C

ms = 2.4726 °C/s ms = 1.9214 °C/s

To calculate the constant rate of temperature (Ω)

m s + mc
Ω=
2
2.4726+1.9214
¿
2
Ω=2.197 ° C /s

To calculate thermal diffusivity (α)

Ω R2
α=
4 (T s−T c )
¿ 2.197 ¿ ¿
α =5.66 x 10−5 m2 / s
 ABEn 147. Laboratory Exercise No. 3

III. LIFELONG LEARNING

The laboratory exercise requires past knowledge and a much deeper

research for solving the thermal properties of AB Materials. This laboratory exercise
serves as a training ground to the ABE students in order to effectively solve practical
and situational problems in regards to the ABE field, most especially in the field of AB
Materials and Process. Critical thinking and analytical thinking must be acquired by the
students in this aspect. Honestly saying, it took me longer days to finished this activity
as I need to completely understand each process.

IV. REFERENCES

Guarte, R. (2020). Student Learning Guide in ABEn147 Properties of AB Materials

Module 4 – Lesson 2. The Thermal Properties of AB Materials.

Toppr. (n.d.). Retrieved from:

https://www.toppr.com/guides/physics-formulas/thermal-conductivity-formula/