Zarqa University Faculty of engineering

Mechanical Engineering Department

Heat Transfer laboratory

name: Student ‫ﻣﺤﻤﺪ ﯾﻮﺳﻒ ﻋﺒﺪ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺼﻮري‬

Id: 20171418
Experiment Number: 3
Experiment Name: Radial heat conduction
Supervised by: Eng. Safa`a Al.Zyoudi
Date: 17/11/2021
Introduction:
Conduction heat transfer is the transfer of heat through matter (i.e., solids, liquids, or gases)
without bulk motion of the matter. In another ward, conduction is the transfer of energy from
the more energetic to less energetic particles of a substance due to interaction between the
particles. Conduction heat transfer in gases and liquids is due to the collisions and diffusion of
the molecules during their random motion. On the other hand, heat transfer in solids is due to
the combination of lattice vibrations of the molecules and the energy transport by free electrons.

The law of heat conduction, also known as Fourier's law, states that the rate of heat transfer
through a material is proportional to the negative gradient in the temperature and to the area, at
right angles to that gradient, through which the heat flows. We can state this law in two
equivalent forms: the integral form, in which we look at the amount of energy flowing into or
out of a body as a whole, and the differential form, in which we look at the flow rates or fluxes
of energy locally.

Objectives:

In this experiment we will continue working on the heat conduction but this time with radial
heat conduction apparatus and we are going to:
 Demonstrate the application of Fourier`s law to a radial system.
 To determine the thermal conductivity for a good conductor.
 To determine the rate of heat transfer.

Theory:

When the outer and inner surfaces of a cylinder are at different and uniform
temperatures, a heat flow with radial direction is created.
If there is a radial system consists of a set of consecutive layers; the radial heat flow crossing
each layer must be constant. As the surface area of these layers increases if the radius
increases, the temperature gradient will decrease with it.

1
The surface area of the heat flow in a layer with thickness dR, height L and distance R from the
center will be:
A = 2πRL
The radial temperature gradient (perpendicular to the axis of the cylinder) is dt/dR;
applying Fourier’s law will obtain: . 𝑑𝑇
𝑸𝑸 = −𝐾 (𝟐𝟐𝜋. 𝘙.
𝐿) 𝑑𝘙

Apparatus and equipment needed:

The unit mod. TE6B/EV (radial heat conduction apparatus) has been designed to study the radial
heat conduction in steady-state conditions; it mainly consists of a metallic disk with temperature
probes mounted radically from the center to the periphery.
The disk is manufactured from brass is 3 mm-thick and it has a diameter of 110 mm and a central
copper core (diameter of 14 mm). The periphery of the disk is cooled by tap water flowing
through a copper tube which is welded to the circumference of the disk.
Six K-type thermocouples (T1, T2, T3, T4, T5 and T6) are positioned at different radii in the
heated disk: T1 is placed at a distance of 7 mm from the center; then the other thermocouples
are placed at uniform intervals of 10 mm.

Fig. 2: radial heat conduction apparatus

Procedure:

1. Adjust the voltage to 12 V

2. Wait until temperatures stabilize and record their values; a criterion for the steady
state could be d(T1)/dt ≤ 0.2 °C
3. Increase the voltage to 14 V
4. Wait until temperatures stabilize and record their values
5. Increase the voltage to 16 V
6. Wait until temperatures stabilize and record their values
2
Data and calculations:

The temperature distribution can be written as:

Q 𝐫𝐫
T(R) = T𝟏𝟏 − 𝐐𝐐𝐐𝐐 )
𝟐𝟐𝛑𝛑. L. K
(
𝐫𝐫

The thermal conductivity can also be determined by:

𝐫𝐫
Q𝐐𝐐𝐐𝐐( �)
𝐫𝐫
K = (𝟐𝟐𝛑𝛑. L). (T𝟏𝟏𝟏𝟏 − T𝟔𝟔)
Where Q is determined by
Q =V×I

Volt (V) 12 14 16.19

Ampere 2.09 2.45 2.83
Q (W) 25.08 34.3 45.8177
T@Q1 T@Q2 T@Q3 r ln r x =L Kth
T1 (°C) 42.9 48 54.5 0.007 -4.96185 0.003 121
T2 (°C) 33.1 35.7 38.9 0.01 -4.60517
T3 (°C) 31.6 34.2 37.3 0.02 -3.91202
T4 (°C) 28.6 30.2 31.9 0.03 -3.50656
T5 (°C) 26.4 27.7 28.9 0.04 -3.21888
T6 (°C) 25.2 26 26.6 0.05 -2.99573
T@(r=55mm) 20.23226 16.99907 13.08917 0.055 -2.90042
K@Q1 K@Q2 K@Q3
K 147.7956 162.6218 171.2917
Error% 22.15% 34.40% 41.56%

Table 1: Data and Calculation

 Sample of calculation

- At Q=25.08
𝑄𝑄.𝑙𝑛
�𝑟𝑟6� (12×2.09)×ln (0.05⁄0.007)
𝐾@( )= 𝑟𝑟1 ≅ 147.8 W/m.K
𝑄𝑄 = 25.08 (2𝜋×0.003)×(42.9−25.2)

(2𝜋.𝐿)(𝑇 −𝑇6) =
𝐾𝑡ℎ − (𝐾𝑡ℎ)𝑒𝑥𝑝 1 121 − 147.8
𝐸𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑟 % = � � =� � × 100% ≅ 22.15%
𝐾𝑡ℎ 121
Q r 25.08×ln (0.055)
= T1 − ln � � =42.9 -
0.007
≅20.23 ℃
T( 55mm) 2πLKth r1 2×π×0.003×121
r=

3
 temperature versus Ln of the radius for the various
values of Q
60

50

40
Temperature

30
Q3
20 Q2 Q1

10

0
-6 -5 -4 -3 -2 -1 0
Ln(r)

Figure 1: temperature versus Ln of the radius for the various values of Q

Conclusions:
In this experiment we show Conduction heat transfer in radial direction, and temperature
will be decreased as we move away from the center (Ln (r) inversely proportional to T).
(See Figure 1).
We also proofed the Fourier`s law to a radial system, increasing the power input (Q) leads to
temperature increasing and that’s leading to increasing in the thermal conductivity.
However; I couldn’t explain the behavior at T= 55mm.
The experiment could have some errors because of heat losing, instability of readings because the
device not completely in steady state and other random errors.