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Heat Transfer by Conduction Using Ni Lab AIM

This document describes an experiment to determine the thermal conductivity of a material using a guarded hot plate method. Heat is applied to a main heating plate surrounded by a guard heating plate to prevent heat loss. The material sample is placed between the heating plates and cooled plates on the outside to create a temperature difference. Thermocouples measure the temperatures, and equations accounting for the heat flow rate, temperature difference, thickness, and area are used to calculate the thermal conductivity of the sample. The simulator allows selecting a material, setting plate sizes and temperatures, powering the heaters, measuring temperatures, and calculating the thermal conductivity result.

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mmk.mech59
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92 views

Heat Transfer by Conduction Using Ni Lab AIM

This document describes an experiment to determine the thermal conductivity of a material using a guarded hot plate method. Heat is applied to a main heating plate surrounded by a guard heating plate to prevent heat loss. The material sample is placed between the heating plates and cooled plates on the outside to create a temperature difference. Thermocouples measure the temperatures, and equations accounting for the heat flow rate, temperature difference, thickness, and area are used to calculate the thermal conductivity of the sample. The simulator allows selecting a material, setting plate sizes and temperatures, powering the heaters, measuring temperatures, and calculating the thermal conductivity result.

Uploaded by

mmk.mech59
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HEAT TRANSFER BY CONDUCTION USING NI LAB

AIM
 To find the thermal conductivity of a material by the two slabs guarded hot plate method.
 To find the thermal resistance of the sample.

APPARATUS
A circular main heater plate (MH) is surrounded by an annular guard heater plate (GH) with a
narrow air gap in between. Each heater is made up of electrical resistance wire sandwiched
between two copper plates. Thermocouples are fixed to the plates to measure their surface
temperatures. Two identical circular slabs of the material to be tested are placed on either side of
and in good thermal contact with the heater plates. On the outer sides of the two slabs, in good
thermal contact, are two circular water-cooled slabs whose surface temperatures can also be
monitored with thermocouples (Fig 1).
The purpose of the guard heater is to prevent heat loss from the edge of the main heater by
maintaining the temperature outside the main heater at the same temperature as the main heater.
This ensures that all heat lost from the main heater flows through the test slabs.

THEORY
The theory of heat transfer seeks to predict the energy transfer that may take place between
material bodies as a result of temperature difference. This energy transfer is defined as heat. The
three modes by which heat can be transferred from one place to another are conduction,
convection and radiation. In conduction, heat is carried by means of collisions between rapidly
moving molecules closer to the hot end of a body of matter and the slower molecules closer to
the cold end. Some of the kinetic energy of the fast molecules passes to the slow molecules, and
as a result of successive collisions, heat flows through the body of matter from the hot end to the
cold end. Solids, liquids, and gases all conduct heat. Conduction is poorest in gases because their
molecules are relatively far apart and so interact less frequently than in solids and liquids. Metals
are the best conductors of heat because some of their electrons are able to move about relatively
freely and can interact frequently by collisions. Without the guard heater, cooler air surrounding
the edge of the main heater would be heated by conduction and convection. Thus some of the
heat supplied to the main heater would be carried away by the surrounding air. With the guard
heater in place and adjusted to the same temperature as the main heater, the air in the gap
between is maintained at the temperature of the main heater, so no heat is lost at the edge of the
main heater. All heat lost from the main heater must flow into the test slabs. Consider one
dimensional heat conduction (Fig 2). The rate at which heat is conducted through a slab of a
particular material is proportional to the area A of the slab and to the temperature
difference ΔT between its sides and inversely proportional to the slab's thickness d.
The amount of heat Q that flows through the slab in the time t is given by

Rate of conduction

And thus (1)

Where ΔT = T1 – T2, and k is the thermal conductivity of the material, is a measure of its ability
to conduct heat. The SI unit of k is Wm-1K-1.
Thermal conductivity: Note that a heat flow rate is involved, and the numerical value of the
thermal conductivity indicates how fast heat will flow. In general, thermal conductivity is
strongly temperature dependent. It has the units of watts per meter per Kelvin. Heat transfer by
conduction in a solid can be realized through the support of phonons, electrons and photons. The
individual contributions of these carriers widely depend on material and its temperature. Thermal
conductivity is thus a second order tensor, but in a material with cubic isotropy it reduces to a
scalar. It is an intensive property (changing the amount of material does not change its thermal
conductivity) and is a function of both pressure and temperature.
The thermal resistance R of a layer of a material of thickness d and of thermal conductivity k is

given by (2)
The greater the value of R, the greater the resistance to the flow of heat.

APPLICATIONS
Heat transfer has wide applications for the proper functioning of thermal devices and systems.
This principle is used to solve many problems in thermal mechanics.
1. Heat exchangers.
2. Building construction works.
3. Thermal energy storage devices.
4. Heat transfer in human body.
5. Thermopile and infrared thermometer.
6. Thermal resistance in electronics like thermal diode or thermal rectifier.
7. Used in laser cooling, radiative cooling, magnetic cooling, etc.

PERFORMING SIMULATION

Simulator Controls
The Choose Material combo box is used to select the material for the test slab.
2. The Diameter of the material slider is used set the diameter of the portion of the test slab
in contact with the main heater, in cm
3. The Thickness of material slider is used to set the thickness of the test slab, in cm.
4. The Coldwater temperature slider is used to set the temperature ( in degrees Celsius) of the
water flowing inside the outer plates.
5. The White knobs in simulator can be rotated by clicking side arrows to adjust the voltage
and corresponding current, which can be used to calculate input power.
6. The MH-GH Switch is used to set either main heater (MH) or guard heater (GH) voltage and
current as shown on the meters. Note: For the simulator to be powered on, the voltage for both
heaters must be the same.
7. The Power on button switches on the power after the initial adjustments are done.
8. The Temperature indicator is used to read the temperature at the positions of the various
thermocouples. After a steady state is reached (when the timer shows 20 minutes), click the
arrows on either side of the knob to read temperatures T1 to T8 in degrees Celsius.

PROCEDURE FOR SIMULATION

1. Choose the material from combo box.


2. Using the sliders, fix a particular diameter for the portion of the test slab in contact with the
main heater, and a thickness for the entire slab.
3. Adjust the cold water temperature using the slider.
4. Using the white knobs, fix the value of same voltage and current for both main heater (MH)
and guard heater (GH). With the MH-GH switch set to MH, use white MH knob to set the
voltage and current for the main heater. Then click the MH-GH switch to GH and use the white
GH knob to set the voltage and current for the guard heater to the same values you set for the
main heater.
5. Click the Power On switch to power the unit on.
6. After a steady state is reached (20 minutes in the timer), use the temperature indicator to read
and note down T1, T2, T3, T4, T5, T6, T7 and T8.

7. Using the work sheet and the equations from the theory page, calculate the thermal
conductivity of the test slab. Note: since the main heater is in contact with a test slab on both
sides, the area A in equation

(1)
where d is the diameter of the MH, not , as might first be assumed.
SIMULATOR

RESULT

Thermal conductivity of the given specimen by conduction = _____ Wm-1K-1

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