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Summary
The purpose of these experiments is to gain an understanding of conduction of heat transfer through solid media, and the radiation and convection heat transfer modes. Conduction is the transfer of thermal energy through a solid medium, in this case, brass, steel, and aluminium. Fouriers Law of conduction states that the amount of heat transferred will linearly decrease over length while staying within the same medium. We will compare the experimental data to see if this relationship is true. Convection is heat transfer by fluid motion; we will look at both natural and forced convection. Natural convection is when a fluid comes in contact with a hot surface and its density decreases, forcing it to rise upward. Forced convection is when the fluid moves upwards with assistance from a pump or fan for example. Radiation is heat transfer by electromagnetic radiation, and it requires no medium. An example of this is the heat transfer from the sun through space.
Table of Contents
Summary List of Figures List of Symbols 1.0 Introduction 2.0 Theory 2.1 Conduction Heat Transfer Theory 2.2 Combined Convection and Radiation Theory 3.0 Description of Experiment and Apparatus 3.1 Conduction Heat Transfer Apparatus 3.2 Combined Convection and Radiation Apparatus 4.0 Experimental Procedure 4.1 Conduction Heat Transfer Procedure 4.1.1 Brass 4.1.2 Steel 4.1.3 Aluminium 4.2 Combined Convection and Radiation Heat Transfer Procedure 4.2.1 Natural Convection and Radiation 4.2.2 Forced Convection and Radiation 5.0 Results 5.1 Results for Conduction Heat Transfer 5.2 Results for Natural Convection and Radiation 5.3 Results for Forced Convection and Radiation 6.0 Discussion 7.0 Conclusions 8.0 References Tables Figures i ii ii 1 1 1 2 3 3 3 3 3 3 3 4 4 4 4 4 4 4 5 5 6 7 8 10
List of Figures
Table 1 Data Table for Brass Conduction Table 2 Data Table for Steel and Aluminium Conduction Table 3 Accepted values for thermal conductivity Table 4 Data Sheet for Natural Convection and Radiation Table 5 Data Sheet for Forced Convection and Radiation Table 6 Physical Properties for Air at Atmospheric Pressure Figure 1 Convection Heat Transfer Apparatus Figure 2 Combined Convection and Radiation Apparatus Figure 3 Temperature Gradient Chart for Brass Figure 4 Temperature Gradient Chart for Steel and Aluminium Figure 5 Convection Coefficient vs. Surface Temperature Figure 6 Surface Temperature vs. Corrected Air Speed Graph
List of Symbols
Rate of Heat Transfer: Q [W] Thermal Conductivity: k [W/m-K] Temperature Gradient: dT/dx [K/m] Thermocouple Temperature: T1-10 [K] Area: A [m2] Diameter: D [m] Voltage: V [V] Current: I [A] Overall Heat Transfer Coefficient: U [W/m2K] Resistance: R [] Input heat: Qin [W] Natural Convection Coefficient: hnat [W/m2K] Forced Convection Coefficient: hforced [W/m2K] Radiation Heat Transfer Coefficient: hrad [W/m2K] Heat transferred by convection: Qconv [W] Heat transferred by radiation: Qrad [W] Total heat transferred: Qtot [W] Surface Temperature: Ts [K] Air Temperature: Ta [K] Nusselt Number: Nu [dimensionless] Reynolds Number: Re [dimensionless] Prandtl Number: Pr [dimensionless] Air Velocity: Ua [m/s] Corrected Air Velocity: Uc [m/s] Kinematic Viscosity of Air: v [m2/s]
1.0 Introduction
The thermal conductivity of a specimen is the most important factor to consider when testing for conduction. This is a value that tells us how good a medium is at transferring heat energy. It can be a very important factor for many aspects of product development, ranging from insulators (low conductivity) to electrical circuits (high conductivity). If a product is using a material with undesirable thermal conductivity, there could be efficiency losses, which could translate into monetary losses. Convection is the transfer of thermal energy by fluid motion. Convection can occur naturally, such as a fluid coming into contact with a hot surface or it forced, by a fan or pump. Whichever the case, radiation will be a by-product of convection. We are interested in how much heat energy is being converted into convective heat, and what is being converted into radiation. This will give us an idea of the efficiency of the system of interest.
2.0 Theory
2.1 Conduction Heat Transfer Theory
Fouriers Law of conduction gives us the following relationship: =
(Equation 2.1.1)
Where Q is the rate of heat transfer (W), k is the thermal conductivity (W/m-K), and A is the cross-sectional area through which the heat is transferred (m2). dT/dx is the temperature gradient, a linearly decreasing relationship of temperature over distance that we expect to observe through the thermocouples on the apparatus. The rate of heat transfer can also be calculated by the V, the voltage (V) and I, the current (A): = (Equation 2.1.2) The area of a circle is given by the diameter as such: = 4 2
(Equation 2.1.3)
The overall heat transfer coefficient, U, can be calculated by the first, Ti, and final, To, temperature readings:
=
1
The thermal resistance, R, is given by: = Using the Microsoft Excel Trend line function, linear equations of best fit were given as: Brass 9V y = 24.875 - 0.1748x Brass 15V y = 51.608 - 0.4009x Brass 24V y = 100.27 - 0.8013x Pre-Steel Post-Steel y = 24.017 - 0.1434x y = 25.663 - 0.1500x
Pre-Aluminium Post-Aluminium
Where x is the position of the thermocouple in millimetres, and y is the temperature of the thermocouple in degrees Kelvin. We can therefore deduce that the temperature gradient dT/dx is the slope for each equation. We can also extrapolate values from this equation, which makes it possible to gather data inside the steel and aluminium specimens.
(Equation 2.2.1)
Where Qconv is the rate of convective heat transfer (W), h is the convection coefficient (W/m K), A is the surface area (m2), Ts is the surface temperature, and Ta is the air temperature (K). The convection coefficient is the most complicated part of this equation. For natural convection in a horizontal, heated cylinder, we can use this simplified equation: = 1.32
0.25
(Equation 2.2.3)
However, for forced convection, it becomes a little more complicated. We will need several non-dimensional coefficients, like the Reynolds number, Re, the Prandtl number, Pr, and the Nusselt number, Nu. =
0.62 0.5 0.33 1+
0.25 0.4 0.66
(Equation 2.2.4) 1+
0.5 282000
= 0.3 +
(Equation 2.2.5)
(Equation 2.2.6)
Where Uc is the corrected air velocity (m/s) defined as Uc=1.22Ua where Ua is the air velocity (m/s) and v is the kinematic viscosity of air (m2/s). D is the diameter of the cylinder. Values of v, k, and Pr can be obtained by table 13-6, using the following equation, and then interpolating for the correct values: =
+ 2
(Equation 2.2.7)
We are also concerned with radiation, by so applying Kirchhoffs law for grey surfaces, we can derive the following formulas:
4 = 4
4 4
Where is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant ( = 5.6710-8 W/m2K4) and is the emissivity, which we will assume to be 0.95 for this experiment.
4.1.3 Aluminium 1. Refer to section 4.1.2. 2. The equipment was turned off at the end of this test.
5.0 Results
5.1 Results for Conduction Heat Transfer
As observed in Figure 3, the temperature gradient for brass remains constant through the three regions (hot, specimen, cold). Therefore, the thermal conductivity remains constant through the brass. For the three tests of different voltages, 9, 15, and 24 V, the thermal conductivity was calculated to be 95, 114, and 146, respectively, with an average of 119 W/mK. The thermal conductivity of steel was calculated to be 21 W/m-K, and for aluminium, 169 W/m-K. The overall heat transfer coefficient for the brass-steel-brass composite was 583.4 W/m2K, and the thermal resistance was 0.001714.
6.0 Discussion
The following is a discussion for the conduction heat transfer experiment. Observing Figure 3, we notice a clear decreasing linear trend for all three sets of brass data. This is consistent with Fouriers Law of Conduction, as it requires the temperature to decrease linearly over increasing length. The average thermal conductivity for the three brass tests was 119 W/m-K. Observing Table 3, we see that the accepted range for values is 110-128, therefore the results of this test can be considered accurate. Figure 2 shows a three-step decreasing linear trend for steel. We notice that the sudden change in temperature gradient in consistent with the locations where the medium changes (from brass to steel, then back to brass). The steeper slope for the steel medium tells us that steel is a much less conductive material than brass, and it is confirmed when checking Table 3. The thermal conductivity of brass is in the 110-128 range, while steel is 25. One common application you might expect the thermal resistance to be advertised is fiber-glass insulation, since it would be costeffective to use an insulator with the highest possible thermal resistance. After analyzing the data for the three specimens for the conduction heat transfer experiment, it is apparent that aluminium is the most conductive material, as it has the highest thermal conductivity, and steel is the most insulative material, as it has the lowest thermal conductivity. In the event that conductive paste was applied only to the top face of the specimen, we would expect to see a gap between the specimen and the bottom brass piece on the thermal resistance chart. This is because the seal between the two mediums would not be a cohesive one, and heat energy would dissipate into the spaces between them. There is a small difference in the calculated values of thermal conductivity for steel, and a noticeably large one for aluminium. Some likely sources of error would be that the insulation around the specimens was not perfect, meaning some heat escaped through the insulation. We could also consider that the conductive paste was not applied properly, and thus a loss of heat upon changing mediums. A third source of error could be that the temperatures were not given enough time to stabilize, skewing the results.
Now we will look at the convection and radiation heat transfer experiment. Comparing the values of input heat with total heat transferred for the natural convection and radiation test, we notice that there is a loss of heat energy that becomes increasingly apparent with increasing voltage. Sources of error could again include imperfect insulation, and unstable temperatures. For the first two voltage tests, the natural convection coefficient is more dominant than the radiation heat transfer coefficient, but we notice by Figure 5, that the radiation coefficient increases exponentially, while the natural coefficient begins to plateau, so very quickly, the heat transfer by radiation becomes the most dominant mode of heat transfer. Comparing the heat transferred by convection with the heat transferred by radiation, we notice that convective heat transfer arcs in the 30-60 W range, while the radiation heat transfer stagnates in the 5-20 W range. It is therefore quite apparent that the heat transferred by convection is, and remains the dominant heat transfer mode. Since we noticed that the heat transferred by convection is the dominant mode of heat transfer, and the heat transferred by radiation remains in a lower range, we can see that all the major losses from the input heat to the total heat transferred are most likely due to losses in the heat transferred by convection. Therefore we can conclude that the efficiency of the apparatus in transferring heat by convection accounts for the largest sum of error. We might also consider the type of insulation used, and the possibility of unstable temperatures. If the apparatus was modified so that the diameter increased, we would expect the natural and forced convection coefficients to decrease. Equations 2.2.3 and 2.2.4 confirm this. We would expect this intuitively because the same amount of heat is being transferred, however it is being done so over a larger area. A notable source of error is that the cylinder was mostly covered, except for the top, which was exposed. We might also consider that the temperatures were not given enough time to stabilize before being recorded, and we might as well consider the accuracy of the given data (dimensions, constants).
7.0 Conclusions
The conductive heat transfer tests provided accurate data for brass and steel, and relatively accurate data for aluminium, because the calculated values of thermal conductivity were consistent with the accepted values. Aluminium is the most conductive material analyzed, and steel is the least conductive material. The natural convection and radiation test showed that radiation is the dominant mode of heat transfer, while the forced convection and radiation test showed that forced convection is the dominant mode of heat transfer.
8.0 References
MAAE 2400 Thermodynamics and Heat Transfer Lab Manual Carleton University December 2009 Fundamentals of Engineering Thermodynamics Moran and Shapiro 6th edition
Tables
Table 1 Data Table for Brass Conduction Position (mm) Brass 9V Brass 15V Brass 24V 0 15 30 45 60 75 90 105 24.7 22.2 19.9 16.9 14.8 11.5 9.1 6.5 52 46 40 33.5 28.2 21.1 15.9 10.2 101 88.4 76.5 62.9 52.3 38.7 28.6 17.2
dT/dx K 8.19 -174.8 95.45 22.65 -400.9 115.1 57.6 -801.3 146.44 K avg 119
Table 2 Data Table for Steel and Aluminium Conduction Position (mm) Steel Aluminium 0 15 30 37.5 67.5 75 90 105 36.5 35.2 34.1 33.47 9.79 9.4 8.7 7.9 24 21.9 19.7 18.64 15.54 14.4 12.2 9.9
Steel Aluminium
V A Q dT/dx K U R 583.4 0.001714 9 0.91 8.19 -789.3 21.14 9 9.95 8.55 -103.3 168.56
Table 3 Accepted values for thermal conductivity Metal Brass Steel Aluminium k 110-128 25 180
Table 4 Data Sheet for Natural Convection and Radiation Voltage Current T9 T10 Ta Ts Q in h nat h rad Q conv Q rad Q tot 5 0.83 21.3 92 294.45 365.15 4.15 12.10 7.82 1.88 1.22 3.10 10 1.62 21.6 215 294.75 488.15 16.2 15.57 13.71 6.62 5.83 12.45 15 2.4 21.3 345 294 618 36 17.71 23.01 12.62 16.39 29.01 24 3.3 21.9 496 295 769 79.2 19.48 38.88 20.30 40.53 60.83
Table 5 Data Sheet for Forced Convection and Radiation Air Speed T9 T10 Ta Ts Voltage Current Q in T film v (x10-5) k Pr Uc Re Nu h forced h rad Q conv Q rad Q tot 1 23 373 296.15 646.15 20 3.3 66 471.15 3.43 0.03847 0.6817 1.22 355.39 9.64 37.07 25.64 28.53 19.74 48.27 3 22.9 304 296.05 541.15 5 22.5 257 295 576 7 22.6 226 295 499
418.6 2.81 0.03492 0.6868 3.66 1304.29 18.80 65.66 17.16 35.39 9.25 44.64
435.5 3.00 0.03609 0.6847 6.10 2031.63 23.73 85.60 19.65 52.90 12.14 65.04
397 2.56 0.03343 0.6895 8.54 3337.03 31.07 103.88 14.37 46.60 6.45 53.05
Table 6 Physical Properties for Air at Atmospheric Pressure T film v (x10-5) k Pr 300 1.684 0.02624 0.708 350 2.076 0.03003 0.697 400 2.59 0.03365 0.689 450 3.171 0.03707 0.683 500 3.79 0.04038 0.68 550 4.434 0.0436 0.68 600 5.134 0.04659 0.68
Figures
Figure 1 Convection Heat Transfer Apparatus
Position (mm)
Position (mm)
600
550
500
450 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9