1.

Department of Chemical Engineering

ECH 3023 (Heat Transfer) - Laboratory Exercise

Laboratory
Laboratory Title Thermal Radiation
Exercise Number
Course Code ECH 3023 Course Title Heat Transfer

Student ID Student Name

Term Date

Instructor

Section
Group
Members

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Safety

 Wear safety glasses or face shields when working with hazardous materials and/or equipment.
 Wear gloves when using any hazardous or toxic agent. They should be removed before leaving
the lab,.
 Clothing: When handling dangerous substances, wear gloves, laboratory coats, and safety
shield or glasses. Shorts and sandals should not be worn in the lab. Shoes are required when
working near machinery.

1. Objective :

To show that the intensity of radiation varies as the fourth power of the source temperature.

2. Introduction and theory

As commonly known heat transfer due to a temperature difference. Heat can be transferred in three
different ways, which are known as conduction, convection and radiation.
Any object that is hot gives off light known as Thermal Radiation. The hotter an object is, the more
light it emits. And, as the temperature of the object increase, it emits most of its light at higher and
higher energies. (Higher energy light means shorter wavelength light.) In general, the net rate of energy
transfer by thermal radiation between two surfaces involves complicated relationships among the
properties of the surface, their orientations with respect to each other, the extent to which the intervening
medium scatters, emits and absorbs thermal radiation and other factors

In 1859 G. Kirchhoff showed that a good absorber of radiant heat is also a good emitter. It followed
from his analysis that a perfect “black body” (that is, one which absorbs all the radiation that falls on it)
is the best possible emitter of radiant energy be-cause a body must both radiate and absorb energy at
the same rate in order to maintain a constant temperature. Kirchoff’s theory also showed that the total
radiation from a black body depends only on the temperature of the body and not on its chemical or
physical characteristics.
Stefan-Boltzmann Law: The relationship between radiant energy and temperature for a black body
radiator, now referred to as the Stefan–Boltzmann Law, was independently formulated by Stefan in
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1879 and by Boltzmann in 1884. It relates the total radiant flux F (in W/m ), from the surface of the
black body to its temperature T: ,
F = σ T4 (1)
Where σ is the Stefan–Boltzmann constant.
The radiating body to be investigated in this experiment is the tungsten filament of an ordinary light
bulb. Since the purpose of a light bulb is to provide illumination, it doesn’t fulfil the basic requirement
of a black body radiator, i.e., that it be in radiative equilibrium. Instead, it can be thought of as a grey
body that emits some fraction of the black body radiation given by its emissivity. Thus, for the light
bulb, the radiant flux is
F = e σ T4 (2)
The radiant flux is simply the power, P dissipated per unit area of the emitting body, i.e. . Consequently,
the total power radiated is given by P/=F A
P= A e σ T4 (3)
The main objective of this experiment is to explore how well the Stefan–Boltzmann law models the
radiation from the light bulb. The resistivity of tungsten is a well-known function of temperature, so the
resistance of the filament, determined from current and voltage measurements, can be used as a
thermometer. The temperature of the filament can be controlled by the amount of current passing
through it, while the radiant power can be measured by means of a Moll thermopile.

Heat transfer through radiation takes place in form of electromagnetic waves mainly in the infrared
region. Radiation emitted by a body is a consequence of thermal agitation of its composing molecules.
Radiation heat transfer can be described by a reference to the so-called 'black body'.

The Black Body

A black body is defined as a body that absorbs all radiation that falls on its surface. Actual black bodies
don't exist in nature - though its characteristics are approximated by a hole in a box filled with highly

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 absorptive material. The emission spectrum of such a black body was first fully described by Max
Planck.

A black body is a hypothetic body that completely absorbs all wavelengths of thermal radiation incident
on it. Such bodies do not reflect light, and therefore appear black if their temperatures are low enough
so as not to be self-luminous. All blackbodies heated to a given temperature emit thermal radiation.

The radiation energy per unit time from a blackbody is proportional to the fourth power of the absolute
temperature and can be expressed with Stefan-Boltzmann Law as

q = σ A T4 (1)

where;

q = heat transfer per unit time (W)

σ = 5.6703 10-8 (W/m2K4) - The Stefan-Boltzmann Constant

T = absolute temperature Kelvin (K)

A = area of the emitting body (m2)

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 3. The Equipment

Experimental set-up is mainly composed of a heat source and a light source for the
Radiation experiments coupled with a radiometer and plate in order to measure heat
emitted from the heat source and the intensity of the light radiated, respectively.

Figure 1. Schematic view of experimental equipment.

4. Procedure
a. Mount radiometer at a distance (x) = 900 mm from the heat source.
b. Check connections of both heat source and radiometer.
c. Using the dimmer provided with graduated scale on the rear of the heater , set the temperature of
\the plate considering that the temperature range is 0-240 0C
d. Record the temperature reading and radiometer reading at ambient condition

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 5. EXPERMENTAL DATA SHEET

Where K = T+273 and σ = 5.67 x 10-8 (Wm-2K-4)

Room temperature = ………………0C

Experiments Calculations
Black plate Radiometer Ts Ta qr qb = σ (Ts4 –Ta4) F
temp. (Ts) Reading R (K) (K) (Wm-2) (Wm-2)
0
C (W/m2)

6. Calculation and Discussions

Stefan -Boltzmann Law states that:

q b= σ (Ts4 –Ta4)

Where:
qb = energy emitted by unit area of a black body surface (Wm-2)
(Note: Energy emitted by surface =3.040 X reading from radiometer R – refer to Radiometer Data
sheet for explanation)

σ = Stefan-Boltzmann constant equal to 5.67 x 10-8 (Wm-2K-4)

Ts = Source temperature and surrounding = black plate temp. (K)
Ta = Temperature of radiometer and surrounding = room temp. (K)

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  Compare calculated value for qb if the black plate is unity and the Stefan-Boltzmann relationship holds
(i.e. temperature to the fourth power) then the measured values of qr (radiation received by the
radiometer) should be the same.
 Compare the obtained value of F (F = q r /q b ) where F is a constant factor
 Compare the obtained value of F at different surface temperature of the heated plate and comment the
validity of the Stefan Boltzmann relation.

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 7. Conclusion

8. References

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