EXPERIMENT 1 - THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF METAL ROD

AIM :
To determine the thermal conductivity of a given metal bar.

THEORY:

Thermal conductivity is a physical attribute that describes a substance's capacity to conduct heat. The
chemical composition, state of matter, the crystalline structure of a solid, temperature, pressure, and
whether or not it is a homogeneous substance all influence metal thermal conductivity. In this experiment,
a heater heats the metal rod from one side through which the heat is transferred to the sink. The rod is
insulated so it is assumed the heat is transferred only in the axial direction. If the heat is absorbed by the
water at the cooling end then we can say that at a steady state, the heat absorbed by the water is equal to
the heat transmitted.

Steady state balance can be written as :

𝑑𝑇
𝑄 = − 𝐾𝐴 𝑑𝑋

Where 𝑄 = 𝑀𝐶𝑃∆𝑇 ,

M= Mass flow rate of cooling water

Cp = Specific heat of water
△T = Temperature rise of cooling water

OBSERVATION:

X(mm) Temperature Sensor No. Temperature (in 0C)

 Distance from hot end

35 T1 85.2

75 T2 78.2

115 T3 70.5

155 T4 63.0

195 T5 55.7

235 T6 48.6

GRAPH:

From the graph , we get the temperature profile through the rod :

T = -184*X+91.7 ,
when X is in meter.

So ,
𝑑𝑇
𝑑𝑋
= − 184

CALCULATION:
Heat absorbed by the water , Q :-
𝑄 = 2 × 0. 998 × 1/60 × 4200 × (38. 3 − 38. 1) = 27. 944 𝑊

From steady state equation :

𝑑𝑇
𝑄 = − 𝐾𝐴 𝑑𝑋

= 299. 722 W/mK

27.944
𝐾= −4
5.067×10 ×200

Results :

Thermal Conductivity of Copper Metal Rod = 299.722 W/mK

DISCUSSION:
1.The temperature profile we obtained is not perfect because of different faults that occur during the
experiment. Heat loss from other surfaces in the equipment may occur, which is undesirable.

2.The temperature distribution for the copper bar made a linear relation between the temperature and the
distance.We see that that thermal conductivity is invariant of temperature from the plot (approximately
linear) as there is no heat generation inside.

3.We should place the Temperature Sensor in a location where the temperature distribution of the sensing
object will not change.
EXPERIMENT -2 THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY OF LIQUID

AIM:
 ● To find the thermal conductivity of liquid

THEORY:
Similar to the thermal conduction in metals , the heat transfer rate in liquid is given by :

△𝑇
𝑄 = − 𝐾𝐴 △𝑋

Where , Q = heat transfer rate as measured by heater

△T = Temp difference between top of liquid and the bottom of liquid
△𝑋 = Thickness of liquid layer
K = thermal conductivity of liquid
A = Area of the cross section normal to the heat flux

At steady state , Q is equal to the heat absorbed by the cooling water and it is given by,

𝑄 = 𝑀𝐶𝑃∆𝑇

M= Mass flow rate of cooling water

Cp = Specific heat of water
△T = Temperature rise of cooling water

OBSERVATION:
 Sl No. Water Volts Amps T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8
Flow
rate

1 10 47 0.20 79.1 62.8 39.5 41.7 38.7 38.1 21.1 35

ml/mi
n

2 10 46 0.19 87.8 70.8 45.5 47.7 45.8 45.5 21.3 41.0

ml/mi
n

3 10ml/ 47 0.20 88.9 73.9 49.0 50.7 50.6 50.6 21.6 45.4
min

CALCULATION:

Temp of liquid at top = (88.9+73.9+49.0)/3

Temp of liquid at bottom = (50.7+50.6+50.6)/3
𝑄 = 𝑀𝐶𝑃∆𝑇 = 0.17 X 10-3 X 4200 X (45.4-21.6) = 16.99 W

Thermal Conductivity , K:
= 1. 343 W/mK
16.99 ✖ 0.006
𝐾= 0.0038 ✖ (70.6 − 50.63)

RESULTS:
Thermal conductivity of liquid = 1.343 W/mK

DISCUSSION:

We should place the Temperature Sensor in a location where the temperature distribution of the
sensing object will not change. The temperature sensor values should be recorded at steady state.We
keep the heated plate on top of the liquid and the cooling water on the bottom to ensure that only one
dimensional conduction occurs. The flow rate of coolant water should be kept constant for the duration
of the experiment.
 EXPERIMENT - 3 Thermal Conductivity of Composite Wall

AIM:
● To determine total thermal resistance and thermal conductivity of composite wall
● To calculate the thermal conductivity of one material in composite wall
● To plot the temperature profile along the composite wall

THEORY:
We know that in conduction heat transfer rate is calculated by the following equation :
𝑑𝑇
𝑄 = − 𝐾𝐴 𝑑𝑋

Basically we can say that , q ∝ temperature gradient with a positive proportionality constant K, thermal
conductivity. So if there are more than one material (M1,M2,M3) the heat flow can be written as :
𝑑𝑇1 𝑑𝑇2 𝑑𝑇3
𝑄 =− 𝐾𝑀1𝐴 𝑑𝑋1
=− 𝐾𝑀2𝐴 𝑑𝑋2
=− 𝐾𝑀3𝐴 𝑑𝑋3

OBSERVATION:

Sl. NO. V I T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6 T7 T8

1. 45 11.08 39.5 45.9 48.1 50.5 51.4 47.5 44.6 39.1

2. 55 12.36 39.2 45.1 50.5 52.6 52.2 50.0 44.7 38.9

3. 65 14.66 39.2 45.5 51.5 54.5 53 50.6 45.3 39.1

 Average Temperature (0C)

Distance (m) V= 45V I = 11.08A V=55V I=12.36 V=65 I=14.66

0 50.95 52.45 53.75

0.02 47.8 50.25 51.05

0.035 45.25 44.9 45.4

0.047 39.3 39.05 39.15

CALCULATIONS:

For V=45V I =11.08A :-

Material 1 :

T = -158*X+51.1
∆𝑇
∆𝑋
= − 158

Q = - K1𝐴
∆𝑇
∆𝑋
 11.08
45 ×
K1 = 158×0.049
2
= 32.20 W/mK

Material 2 :

T = -170*X + 51.2
∆𝑇
∆𝑋
= − 170

Q = - K1A ∆𝑋
∆𝑇

11.08
45 ×
K1 = 2
170 × 0.049
= 29.928 W/mK
Material 3 :

T = -496*X+62.6
∆𝑇
∆𝑋
= − 496

Q = - K1A ∆𝑋
∆𝑇

11.08
45 ×
K1 = 496 × 0.049
2
= 10.258 W/mK

Total Thermal Resistance of composite wall :

' '
𝑇4−𝑇1
RT = 𝑄
= 0.047 K/W

Kcomposite = = 20.53 W/mK

𝑄×𝑋
' '
𝐴×(𝑇4−𝑇1)
Temperature Profile :

RESULTS:

Thermal conductivity of composite wall = 20.53 W/mK

Total Thermal Resistance of the wall = 0.047 K/W
Individual Thermal Conductivity
DISCUSSION:

We've assumed that thermal conductivity remains constant regardless of temperature or distance.
In reality, this is not the case and this assumption might induce some errors in our calculations.
After a reasonable interval of roughly 10-15 minutes, we should take our readings. However, the notion that
the entire configuration will reach a steady state is unrealistic. Heat conduction through the composite wall
is slow, therefore achieving a perfect steady state in a short period of time is impossible.
The experimentally determined thermal conductivity and thermal resistance values differ significantly from
those anticipated by theory, and this is due to all of the flaws that we have induced in our setup, as
explained.
 EXPERIMENT 4- PIN-FIN APPARATUS

AIM:

● To plot the variation of temperature along the length of pin under forced convection.​
​
● To determine the value of heat transfer coefficient under forced convection condition and to find​
a. Theoretical values of temperatures along the length of the fin. ​
b. Effectiveness and efficiency of the pin fin for insulated end condition.​

THEORY:

The heat transfer phenomenon from a heated surface to its ambient is given by the relation: q = h x A x ΔT.
In this relation, h is the heat transfer coefficient (W/m2 .K), ΔT is the temperature difference (K) and A is
the area of heat transfer normal to the heat flow. To increase q, heat transfer coefficient ‘h’ or temp
difference ‘ΔT’ or surface area ‘A’ may be increased. In some cases, it is not possible to increase the value
of the heat transfer coefficient or the temperature difference ‘ΔT’. Then, the only option is to increase the
surface area of heat transfer. The surface area is increased by attaching extra material in the form of rod
on the surface whose heat transfer rate is to be increased. This extra material attached is called the
‘extended surface’ or ‘Fin’.

The fins attached on a plane surface are called plane surface fins. If the fins are attached to a cylindrical
surface, they are called circumferential fins. The cross section of the fin may be circular, rectangular,
triangular or parabolic.

Temperature Distribution and Heat Transfer from Fins from End Insulated Condition:

Temperature distribution along the length of the fin is:

 θ 𝑇−𝑇 𝑐𝑜𝑠ℎ{𝑚(𝐿−𝑥)}
θ0
= 𝑇 −𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑓 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠ℎ(𝑚𝐿)
0 𝑖𝑛𝑓

Effectiveness of Fins: Effectiveness of a fin is defined as the ratio of the heat transfer with fin to the heat
transfer from the surface without fin.

For end insulated condition,

𝑝.𝐾
ξ= ℎ𝑐𝐴
𝑡𝑎𝑛ℎ(𝑚𝐿)

The efficiency of a fin is defined as the ratio of the actual heat transferred by the fin to the maximum heat
transferred by the fin if the entire fin area is at the base temperature.

With end insulated condition,

𝑡𝑎𝑛ℎ(𝑚𝐿)
η=( 𝑚𝐿
× 100)%

Specifications:

Length of the fin: 150 mm

Diameter of the fin: 12 mm
Thermal conductivity of the material: 110 W/m.K
Diameter of the orifice: 0.02 m
Width of the duct: 0.15 m
Breadth of the duct: 0.1 m
Coefficient of discharge of the orifice: 0.61
Density of the manometric fluid: 13600 kg/m3
OBSERVATION:

Serial Heat Input Pressure drop

No. of water Temperature(℃)
(cm)
Volt(V) Current(A) Power(W) T1 T2 T3 T4 T5 T6

1. 40 0.2 8 1.5 78.2 59.4 54.8 51.6 49.3 40.9

50 0.25 12.5 78.7 59.2 54.8 51.7 49.3 40.9

60 0.30 18 80.7 59.6 55.1 51.8 49.4 41.0

2. 40 0.2 8 2.0 72.7 56.3 52.5 49.9 47.9 40.4

50 0.25 12.5 73.7 58.0 53.5 50.5 48.3 40.6

60 0.30 18 78.2 58.0 53.5 50.5 48.3 40.6

3. 40 0.2 8 2.5 78.4 59.7 55.2 52.2 49.8 41.0

50 0.25 12.5 78.7 59.6 55.1 52.3 49.7 41.1

60 0.30 18 82.2 60.6 55.7 54.4 49.9 41.2

CALCULATIONS:
2𝑔ℎ(ρ𝑚 − ρ𝑎)
Velocity at the orifice 𝑣0 = 𝐶𝑑 × 4
ρ𝑎(1 − β )

Cd = Coefficient of discharge
h = pressure drop if water
3
ρ𝑚 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡𝑟𝑖𝑐 𝑓𝑙𝑢𝑖𝑑(1000𝑘𝑔/𝑚 )
3
ρ𝑎 = 𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟(1. 17𝑘𝑔/𝑚 )
𝑑0 0.02
β= 𝑑𝑝
= −2 = 0. 5249
3.81×10
 2
[𝑣0×(π/4)×𝑑0 ]
𝑣𝑎 = 𝑣𝑒𝑙𝑜𝑐𝑖𝑡𝑦 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑖𝑟 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡(𝑚/𝑠𝑒𝑐) = (𝑤𝑖𝑑𝑡ℎ 𝑜𝑓 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑑𝑢𝑐𝑡)

Average surface temperature of fin is given by

𝑇1 + 𝑇2 + 𝑇3 + 𝑇4 + 𝑇5
𝑇𝑆 = 5

◦
Ambient temperature: 𝑇6 = 𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑓 = 23. 5 𝐶

𝑇𝑚 = 𝑚𝑒𝑎𝑛 𝑡𝑒𝑚𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 = (𝑇6 +𝑇𝑆)/2

◦
The physical properties of air at 49. 82 𝐶 :

ν = 1. 798 × 10 ,
−5

K = 0.0235

df = 0.012

Pr = 0.7228
m = 5.7208

Trial-2

2×9.81×0.020×(13600−1.17)
𝑣0 = 0. 61 × 4 = 42. 856 𝑚/𝑠𝑒𝑐
1.17×(1−0.525 )
2
[42.856×(π/4)×0.02 ]
𝑣𝑎 = 0.15
= 0.0897 m/sec
𝑣𝑎×𝑑
Re = ν
= 99. 777

n = 0.466, C = 0.683
𝑛 3
𝑁𝑢 = 𝐶 × 𝑅𝑒 × 𝑃𝑟

𝑁𝑢 = 5. 236

Thermal conductivity of fin material K = 110W/m.K

 𝑁𝑢
ℎ𝑐 = ( 𝑑𝑓
× 𝐾) = 10. 254

𝑃 = π × 0. 012

A=
π×0.012×0.012
4

ℎ𝑐×𝑃 0.5
𝑚= ( 𝐾×𝐴
) = 5. 5743

𝑣0 𝑣𝑎
Sr. Ts Tinf Tm Re Nu h m
No.

1 37.11 0.0777 58.66 40.9 49.78

86.429 4.896 9.588 5.3902
58.74 40.9 49.82

58.72 41.0 49.86

2 4.856 0.0897 55.86 40.4 48.13 99.777 5.236 10.254 5.5743

56.8 40.6 48.7

57.7 40.6 49.15

3 47.914 0.1003 58.06 41.0 49.53 111.568 5.515 10.800 5.7208

59.08 41.1 50.09

60.65 41.2 50.925

Temperature distribution is given by:

θ 𝑇−𝑇 𝑐𝑜𝑠ℎ{𝑚(𝐿−𝑥)}
θ0
= 𝑇 −𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑓 = 𝑐𝑜𝑠ℎ(𝑚𝐿)
0 𝑖𝑛𝑓

◦
𝑇0 = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑇1 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 = 77. 9 𝐶
 ◦
𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑓 = 𝑎𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑎𝑔𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑇𝑖𝑛𝑓 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑛𝑖𝑛𝑒 𝑜𝑏𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛𝑠 = 40. 86 𝐶

𝑚1+𝑚2+𝑚3
𝑚𝑎𝑣𝑔 = 3
=5.562

L = 0.15

Distance from Base(x)

◦ ◦
Temp. from the experiment 𝐶 Temperature from the calc 𝐶

0.045 61.9 72.67

0.075 49.6 70.31

0.105 42.9 68.774

0.135 38.3 68.01

Effectiveness of the fin:

4*𝐾
ε = 𝑡𝑎𝑛ℎ(𝑚𝐿) ℎ𝑐*𝑑

= 40.9089
4*110
ε = 𝑡𝑎𝑛ℎ(5. 562 * 0. 15) 10.214*0.012

Efficiency of the fin:

η = 𝑡𝑎𝑛ℎ(𝑚𝐿)/𝑚𝐿 * 100 = tanh(5.562*0.15)/(5.562*0.15) = 0.818384

DISCUSSION:
The accuracy of the convection coefficients estimated from an average fin surface temperature is
dependent on the qf, Ac, and average surface temperature measurements. The heat loss through the
insulation contributes to the qf error; Ac is as accurate as the fin's geometry measurement; surface
temperature error is caused by thermocouple error, and averaging error is caused by the discrete positions
of the thermocouples, which results in an approximate rather than a true surface temperature average. The
assumption of constant temperature also leads to less precise h values.