EXPERIMENT 5

Thermal Conductivity

MECH 3120.104
Group 3B

Jasmine Miller
Nicholas Walker

Date of Experiment
04/08/2022
Date of Report Submission
04/22/2022

Contribution of each member:

Jasmine Miller: Results, Abstract, Nomenclature, Methods, Experimental Apparatus, Error
Analysis, References
Nicholas Walker: Sample Calculations,Graphs, Discussion, Results, Error Analysis
Abstract:
The TecQuipment TE19 Thermal Conductivity Experiment Apparatus uses thermocouples, a
heating unit, a cooling unit, and a roughing pump that is capable of reaching approximately
24.94 Torr to obtain the thermal conductivity value. In this experiment the effect of varying
thermal energy on the thermal conductivity of Aluminum, brass, and copper can be studied using
the apparatus. Metals (electrical conductors) tend to have a higher conductivity than most other
materials (electrical insulators). During the experiment the material of the specimen will initially
be undetermined until calculating the thermal conductivity and comparing the values to those
provided in Table 2. The heat energy is transferred from the hot end of the conductor, test
specimen, to the cold end. The test specimen will be placed in a glass chamber where a vacuum
pump draws out all of the air, minimizing the heat energy lost due to convection of the
atmosphere. Conduction is the desired method of heat transfer for the experiment. The heater
will be set to 0.1 W and then incremented by 0.1 until it reaches 0.5 W, the thermal conductivity
will be calculated for all values. Throughout the experiment the principles of conductivity are
utilized to determine the effects of varying heater wattage. There might be some differences
between the measured thermal conductivities due to the errors in the apparatus as to whether
there could be thermal loss through conduction and radiation.

Nomenclature:

Variable Variable Name Dimension

𝑘 Thermal Conductivity (𝑊/𝑚. 𝐾 )

𝑇𝑎 Ambient Temperature (𝐾)

𝑇1 Temperature at top of (𝐾)

specimen

𝑇2 Temperature at bottom of (𝐾)

specimen

𝐿 Specimen effective length (𝑚)

𝐷 Specimen diameter (𝑚)

𝐴 Cross-section area 2
(𝑚 )
 𝑉 Voltage (𝑉)

𝐼 Current (𝐴)

𝑊ℎ Heater Power (𝑊)

𝑊𝑐 Cooler Power (𝑊)

𝑄 Heat Energy (𝐽)

𝑡 Time (𝑠)

Experimental Apparatus

Figure 1: Experimental Setup for thermal conductivity

The TecQuipment TE19 Thermal Conductivity Experiment Apparatus is used to analyze the
effect of a heater power on thermal conductivity. The apparatus also consists of a test specimen
that is housed in a glass chamber on the base unit. The specimen is cylindrical with a nominal
diameter, two thermocouples, and a heater attached to the system. There are two positions on the
specimen, one near the heater and another position lower down. The heat energy is defined and
applied to the top end of the specimen.The temperatures at the thermocouples are measured and
then used to calculate the thermal conductivity of the specimen. A small vacuum pump is located
at the base of the unit and removes air from the glass chamber. This minimizes the loss of heat
energy due to convection of the atmospheric pressure in the chamber. The assumption can be
made that the heat energy applied is equal to the heat energy that leaves the specimen.

Methods:
1. Record the ambient temperature and dimensions of the specimen.
2. Ensure that the controls for the heater and cooler are switched off and turned to the
minimum power (counter clockwise). Switch on the control and instrumentation module.
3. Close the pressure release valve, open the vacuum line valve (control valve), and start the
vacuum pump.
4. Wait at least 5 minutes for the apparatus to reach approximately -0.8 to -0.9 bar.
5. Switch on the cooler and the heater and slowly increase the power to approximately 0.1
W. Allow about twenty minutes for the system to stabilize and then record the data.
6. Increase the heater and cooler power to 0.2 W. Wait approximately 10 minutes until the
conditions stabilize and record all of the data. Repeat this step for the heater and cooler
powers of 0.3 W, 0.4 W, and 0.5 W.
7. Reduce the heater and cooler power to their minimum power values. Turn off the control
and instrumentation module.
8. Close the vacuum line valve (control valve) and turn off the pump. Open the release
valve to allow air back into the test area. Open the vacuum line valve. (Be sure to shut
the control valve before switching off the pump to avoid sealing damage.)

Sample Calculations:
Because the power on the hot and cold sides were not equal, we need to calculate the average
power between the two temperatures. To calculate for the average power when the power was
about .2W, we can use the equation below:
𝑊ℎ+𝑊𝑐 0.202+0.206
𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔 = 2
= 2
= 0. 204 𝑊

Next, we can find the change in temperature, ∆𝑇, by using the equation below. The change in
temperature, ∆𝑇, for when the power is .204W is:

∆𝑇 = 𝑇1 − 𝑇2 = 22. 90 − 18. 06 = 4. 84 ℃

To calculate for the cross sectional area, we can use this equation:
2 0.0047 −5 2
𝐴 = π ·𝑟 = π · ( 2
) = 1. 735 · 10 𝑚

Finally, we can now calculate for our k value using the results we have above. The thermal
conductivity, k, when the average power output is equal to .204W is:
𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔𝐿 𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔𝐿 (0.204)(0.049) 2 −1 −1
𝑘= 𝐴(𝑇1−𝑇2)
= 𝐴∆𝑇
= 2 = 1. 50 * 10 𝑊𝑚 𝐾
(π/4)(0.0047) (4.84)

Graphs:
The plot below shows the calculated thermal conductivity, k, plotted with the average power
when the power goes from .1W to .5W

Figure 2: Thermal conductivity vs power

Discussion:
From our data, we can see that increasing the power of the heater for the aluminum test piece
will increase the thermal conductivity. The one time it decreased and that was when we increased
the power to 0.4W. There could be various reasons why there would be heat loss in the test piece
such as convection or radiation. From our experiment, we can see that our results are very similar
to the table given in the lab slides. When the temperature was equal to 24.90 ℃ our thermal
conductivity was around 175 W.m-1K-1 which is very close to the table's value with k = 170 when
the temperature is at 24.85 ℃. This helps support the idea that aluminum is one of the best
thermal conducting materials as heat passes through the material the fastest.
Raw Data & Results:

Material = Cross Sectional Area = Ambient Temperature = 285.9

−5 2
Aluminum 1. 735 · 10 𝑚
Length = 49
mm
Diameter =
4.7 mm

Heater Cooler Avg Temperature Temperature 𝑇1 − 𝑇2 Thermal

at top of at bottom of ℃ Conductivity
Specimen Specimen K
Power Power Power
(W) 𝑇1 (℃) 𝑇2 (℃) (𝑊. 𝑚 𝐾 )
−1 −1
𝑊ℎ 𝑊𝑐
(W) (W)

0.103 0.111 0.107 21.64 18.94 2.70 1.12*10^2

0.200 0.206 0.204 22.90 18.06 4.84 1.50*10^2

0.300 0.299 0.298 23.06 18.62 4.44 1.90*10^2

0.399 0.395 0.3975 24.90 18.48 6.42 1.75*10^2

0.501 0.494 0.497 26 18.40 7.60 1.85*10^2

 Material Thermal Conductivity
(at 298 K) (24.85º C) (k)
−1 −1
(𝑊. 𝑚 𝐾 )

Metals (used Aluminum (grade 6082) 170

on the TE19)
Brass (type CZ121) 123

Copper (type C101) 388

Gas Air 0.0234

Hydrogen 0.172

Others Asbestos 0.28

Glass 0.8

Water 0.6

Table 2: Thermal Conductivity of a Selection of Materials [1]

References:
[1] MECH 3360 Experiment 5 Lab Manual

[2]“HT Lab 5, Thermal Conductivity”, UTD Mechanical Engineering , Dr. Fatemeh Hassanipour

Error Analysis:
Uncertainties:
⍵𝑅 = ⍵𝐿 = 0. 5 𝑚𝑚 ⍵𝑇 = 1 𝐾 𝑟 = 2. 35 𝑚𝑚 = 0. 00235 𝑚
Case : 4

1. Temperature Uncertainty (⍵ )
𝑇

Δ𝑇 = 𝑇1 − 𝑇2 = 6. 42
 ∂Δ𝑇 ∂Δ𝑇
∂𝑇1
= 1, ∂𝑇2
=− 1

ॱ ⍵𝑇 ) ॱ ⍵𝑇 )
∂Δ𝑇 2 ∂Δ𝑇 2
⍵Δ𝑇 = ( ∂𝑇1
+ ( ∂𝑇2
1 2

= 1
2. Area (⍵ )
𝐴

ॱ ⍵𝑅)
∂𝐴 2
⍵𝐴 = ( ∂𝑟

∂(π ॱ𝑟)
2
ॱ ⍵𝑅)
2
= ( ∂𝑟

∂(π ॱ𝑟)
2
ॱ ⍵𝑅)
2
= ( ∂𝑟

(2π𝑟 ॱ ⍵𝑅)
2
=

= 7. 38 ॱ 10 𝑚
−6 2

𝐴 = 1. 735 · 10 𝑚 ± 7. 38 ॱ 10 𝑚
−5 2 −6 2

3. Average Power (⍵ )
𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔

𝑊ℎ+𝑊𝑐
𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔 = 2

∂𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔 ∂𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔 1
∂𝑊ℎ
= ∂𝑊𝑐
= 2

∂𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔 ∂𝑊𝑎𝑣𝑔
ॱ ⍵𝑊(𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟)) ॱ ⍵𝑊(𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟))
2 2
⍵𝑊 = ( ∂𝑊ℎ
+( ∂𝑊𝑐
𝑎𝑣𝑔

= 0. 28107494
𝑊 = 0. 204 𝑊 ± . 281
4. Thermal Conductivity (⍵𝑘)

( ∂𝐴 ॱ⍵𝐴 ) + ( ∂𝐿 ॱ⍵𝐿 ) + ( ∂(𝑇 −𝑇 ) ॱ⍵𝑇 )

∂𝑘 2 ∂𝑘 2 ∂𝑘 2
⍵𝑘 =
1 2
 𝑊𝐿 𝑊𝐿 𝑊𝐿
∂( 𝐴(𝑇 −𝑇 ) ) ∂( 𝐴(𝑇 −𝑇 ) ) ∂( 𝐴(𝑇 −𝑇 ) )
ॱ⍵𝐴 ) + ( ॱ⍵𝐿 ) + ( ॱ⍵𝑇 )
2 2 2
= ( ∂𝐴
1 2 1

∂𝐿
2 1

∂(𝑇1−𝑇2)
2

ॱ⍵𝐴 ) + ( 𝐴(Δ𝑇) ॱ⍵𝐿 ) + ( ॱ⍵𝑇 )

−𝑊𝐿 2 𝑊 2 −𝑊𝐿 2
= ( 2 2
𝐴 (Δ𝑇) 𝐴(Δ𝑇)

ॱ⍵𝐴 ) + ( 𝐴(Δ𝑇) ॱ⍵𝐿 ) + ( ॱ⍵𝑇 )

−𝑊𝐿 2 𝑊 2 −𝑊𝐿 2
= ( 2 2
𝐴 (Δ𝑇) 𝐴(Δ𝑇)

−1 −1
= 7. 913 𝑊. 𝑚 𝐾

Table 12:

⍵𝑊 ⍵𝑘
𝑎𝑣𝑔

0.107 6.31

0.203 5.60

0.2995 9.17

0.397 7.91

0.4975 8.23