Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

Heat Transfer Lab Report

Trinika
2017B3A40698P

Experiment 1: Thermal Conductivity of Insulating Material

Aim: The aim of the experiment is to calculate the thermal conductivity of asbestos powder (insulating
material) and find its relationship with the temperature.

Apparatus: Spherical shell, asbestos powder, thermo couples, Heater, Voltmeter, Ammeter, Two
concentric spherical shells made of thin metal, electric heater inside, and 10 Thermocouples
 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

Theory and Formula:

Thermal conductivity is an important property of materials and its knowledge is required for analysing
heat conduction problems. Physically thermal conductivity indicates how quickly heat can pass through a
material. In this experiment to calculate thermal conductivity we used the insulating material between
two concentric shells of radius ri and ro, each made of a thin sheet. An electric heater inside the inner
shell heats the insulating powder, the heat flow is in the radial direction.
Once the system attains the steady state (where temperature doesn’t change w.r.t time), we shall begin
the experiment and calculate the thermal conductivity using the formula mentioned below.
There are thermocouples located on the inner and outer spheres to measure the temperatures.
Heat flow for steady state condition in a sphere body can be calculated as follows:
4 πk (T i−T o )
Q=
1 1
−
ri ro

Ti : Surface temperature of inner sphere

To : Surface temperature of outer sphere
k : Thermal conductivity
ri : Radius of inner sphere
ro : Radius of outer sphere
Q = V(input voltage) * I(input current)
Assumptions
1. Steady state condition.
2. Only one-dimensional radial heat conduction takes place.
3. No internal heat generation
4. The material is isotropic and homogeneous.
5. Properties such as K, ⍴, Cp are constant. 

Other formulas used

 Mean inner Temperature (Ti)- (T1+T2+T3+T4)/4
 Mean outer Temperature (To)- (T5+T6+T7+T8+T9+T10)/6
 Heat input Q = V*I

Observations:
ri = 50 mm
ro = 100 mm
Room temperature = 31o C
 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

Sr. Input Input Temperature from thermocouple

no. voltag current
Inner Sphere Outer sphere
e
V I T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8 T9 T10
1 28 0.3 42 41 41 44 30 31 31 31 30 29
2 36 0.4 59 60 57 60 30 31 31 31 31 30
3 40 0.45 72 72 69 73 31 32 32 32 32 31
4 43 0.5 87 87 84 88 32 33 33 33 33 32
5 48 0.55 98 98 94 97 33 34 33 33 34 33
6 52 0.6 108 107 103 109 33 34 34 34 34 33
7 58 0.65 123 122 118 124 34 35 35 35 35 34
8 62 0.7 163 163 107 165 35 39 38 37 37 39

Ti (mean inner To (mean K (Thermal

Sr.No. Q = V*I
sphere temp.) outer sphere temp.) conductivity)

1 8.40 42.00 30.333 0.573

2 14.40 59.00 30.667 0.405
3 18.00 71.50 31.667 0.360
4 21.50 86.50 32.667 0.318
5 26.40 96.75 33.333 0.331
6 31.20 106.75 33.667 0.340
7 37.70 121.75 34.667 0.345
8 43.40 149.50 37.500 0.309
Average 25.125 91.71875 33.0625 0.3725

Calculations:
Sample calculation for first reading:
Mean inner surface temperature, Ti = 42
Mean outer surface temperature, To = 30.333
Heat input, Q = V*I = 8.4;
Q(r o−r i )
k= = 0.5735 W/mK
4 π r i r o (T i −T o)

Average thermal conductivity obtained from all the readings,

 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

k avg = 0.3725 W/mK

Results:
 The effective conductivity of Asbestos is 0.3725 W/m K.
 The thermal conductivity of the material decreases with temperature.
Precautions:

 Do not Increase current value abruptly and to much higher values.

 Wait for steady state to reach before recording values (20-30 min)

Questions:
1. Is 100% radial heat transfer ensured in the experiment?
No not possible, for practical/ non-ideal purpose 100% radial transfer cannot be ensured due to
the presence of manufacturing defects. For radial heat flow the heat distribution around
the sphere should be uniform. This is not the case in our experiment, which can be
seen by the different readings of the thermocouple.

2. Derive the equation for radial heat transfer through a spherical shell.
 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

3. Compare this method with other methods of thermal conductivity determination and enumerate
advantages and disadvantages of this method.
Compared to other methods for thermal conductivity like transient states or guard plate experiments,
this experiment has the following:
Advantages:
 Greater precision and accuracy. No additional apparatus is required
 Easy to use apparatus
Disadvantages:
 High waiting time to reach steady status.
 It is relatively expensive.
 Due to difference in surface temperature, we are unable to achieve 100% 1D heat transfer,
which increases the errors in our results.
Learning Outcomes:
 Thermal conductivity increases with increase in temperature.
 The parameters on which Heat Transfer depends are: Thermal Conductivity (Proportional),
Temperature, Dimensions
 We should wait for sufficient amount of time for the steady state to reach
Doing the experiment made it easy to interpret the process and understand theory better.
 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

Experiment 2 : Heat Transfer through Lagged Pipe

Aim: The aim of the experiment is to calculate the thermal conductivities of asbestos and saw dust, and
find the effective thermal conductivity for the given arrangement.

Apparatus: Lagged Pipe, asbestos powder, thermo couples, Heater, Voltmeter, Ammeter, sawdust.

Theory and Formulae used:

We considered a long composite cylinder two insulators separated by three cylindrical pipes at average
temperatures Ti ,Tm and To respectively with radii r1 , r2 , r3 respectively.
If the thermal conductivity of asbestos powder is K1 and that of saw dust is K2 then heat flow can be
calculated as follows
General equation for Heat flow through a layer,
(T ¿ ¿ o−T i)
Q=(2 πkL) ¿
ln ¿ ¿ ¿¿ ¿
All the layers can be effectively considered to be in series combination, as the heat flow through each of
them is equal. This gives us the heat flow as,
 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

T i−T o
Q=
ln (r m /r i)
+ ln ¿ ¿ ¿ ¿
2 π k1 L

Ti = inner temperature
To = outer temperature
ro (outer radius) = 0.075m
rm (middle radius) = 0.05m
ri (inner radius) = 0.025m
L(length of the pipe) = 1m
k1 = thermal conductivity of Asbestos
k2= thermal conductivity of SawDust
Q = V (input voltage) * I (input current)

The individual thermal conductivity can be calculated using following formula ( put values in the general
equation of the heat flow.
r2 Q r3 Q
K 1=ln & K 2=ln
r 1 ( T 1−T 2 ) 2 π l r 2 ( T 2−T 3 ) 2 π l

As, the thermal conductivities can be visualized as two thermal resistances in series with the effective
resistance of :
r3 r2 r3
ln ln ln
r1 r1 r2
= +
2 π k eff 2 π k 1 2 π k 2

Above formula will be used for calculating Keff.

Assumptions
 Steady state condition.
 Only one-dimensional radial heat conduction takes place.
 No internal heat generation
 The material is isotropic and homogeneous.
 Properties such as K, ⍴, Cp are constant.

Precautions:
 Do not disturb the apparatus during experiment.
 Do not Increase current value abruptly and to much higher values.
 Wait for steady state to reach before recording values(20-30 min)
 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

Observations:

V I T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6
Sr. No.
Input Input
Voltage current
1. 40 0.19 34 35 33 33 32 32
2. 50 0.30 36 36 34 34 34 33
3. 60 0.38 38 39 35 35 33 33
4. 65 0.42 41 42 36 37 33 33
5. 70 0.45 42 43 37 38 33 33
6. 75 0.49 43 44 38 38 33 33
7. 80 0.53 45 45 39 39 33 34
8. 85 0.57 45 46 39 40 33 34
9. 90 0.61 47 48 40 40 33 34
10. 100 0.70 49 50 40 41 33 34

Keff = K1 = q K2 = q
Ti = Tm = To = q ln(rm/ri ln(ro/r
T for T for T for
Sr. No. Q (T1+T2)/ (T3+T4)/ (T5+T6)/ ln(ro/r ) m) /
K1 K2 Keff
2 2 2 i) / 2π / 2π (Ti- 2π (Tm-
(Ti-To) Tm) To)
33.7 33.2
1
7.60 34.50 33.00 32.00 0.532 0.559 0.491 5 32.5 5
15.0 33.7 34.7
2
0 36.00 34.00 33.50 1.050 0.828 1.937 35 5 5
22.8 36.7 35.7
3
0 38.50 35.00 33.00 0.725 0.719 0.736 5 34 5
27.3 34.7 37.2
4
0 41.50 36.50 33.00 0.562 0.603 0.504 39 5 5
31.5 35.2 37.7
5
0 42.50 37.50 33.00 0.580 0.695 0.452 40 5 5
36.7 40.7 38.2
6
5 43.50 38.00 33.00 0.612 0.737 0.475 5 35.5 5
42.4 36.2 39.2
7
0 45.00 39.00 33.50 0.645 0.780 0.498 42 5 5
48.4
8
5 45.50 39.50 33.50 0.706 0.891 0.521 42.5 36.5 39.5
54.9 43.7 36.7
9
0 47.50 40.00 33.50 0.686 0.808 0.545 5 5 40.5
70.0
10
0 49.50 40.50 33.50 0.765 0.858 0.646 45 37 41.5
Averag
e         0.686 0.748 0.680      
 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)
Calculations:
Sample Calculation for the first reading,
Q=V*I=7.6 W
Q∗ln (r 2/r 1)
k1 = = 0.5592 W/mK
(2∗π∗1∗(T i−T m))

Q∗ln (r 3/r 2)
k2 = = 0.4907 W/mK
(2∗π∗1∗(T m−T o))

Q∗ln (r 3/r 1)
keff = ¿ = 0.5318 W/mK
2∗π∗1∗(T i−T 0)¿

Average thermal conductivity of Asbestos, k1,avg =0.7479 W/mK

Average thermal conductivity of SawDust, k2,avg =0.6804 W/mK
Effective thermal conductivity (average), keff,avg =0.6864 W/mK
Trinika (2017B3A40698P)
 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

Results:
 The average conductivity of the Asbestos is 0.7479 W/mK.
 The average conductivity of the SawDust is 0.6804 W/mK.
 The average effective conductivity is 0.6864 W/mK.

Review Questions:

1. Is 100% radial heat transfer ensured in the experiment?

No, for practical purpose 100% radial transfer cannot be ensured due to the presence of
manufacturing defects. Also, we have made several assumptions that the material is isotropic
and homogeneous but practically that is impossible to achieve.

2. Derive the equation of radial heat transfer for a cylindrical Pipe.

 Trinika (2017B3A40698P)

3. Compare this method with other methods of thermal conductivity determination and
enumerate advantages and disadvantages of this method.
Compared to other methods for thermal conductivity like transient states or guard plate experiments,
this experiment has the following:
Advantages:
 Greater precision and accuracy. No additional apparatus is required
 Easy to use apparatus
Disadvantages:
 High waiting time to reach steady status.
 It is relatively expensive.
 Heat transfer also takes place axially though we ignore it as length is longer
 Due to difference in surface temperature, we are unable to achieve 100% 1D heat transfer,
which increases the errors in our results.