Mapa Institute of Technology

School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biological Engineering,

and Materials Science and Engineering
Chemical Engineering Laboratory 2
Experiment No. 2

Thermal Radiation
Arias, Joshua Daniele L.
CHE151-1L/B41, School of Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Biological Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering,
Mapa Institute of Technology, Intramuros

3. Results and Discussion

Thermal radiation is said to be a kind of electromagnetic radiation rendered by the thermal
motion of charged particles in matter. All matter known that has a temperature greater than absolute zero
(0 K) emits thermal radiation.
Basic properties of a thermal radiation system is evaluated using a heat source penetrating a
surface medium. The process is called thermal radiation since the energy mechanism is shown through a
thermal cycle. Thermal energy is converted to radiation and then converted back to thermal energy.
In this experiment, the properties and principles of thermal radiation is shown using a thermal
radiation unit control and monitoring device. To demonstrate the varying properties of thermal radiation,
the emissivity of three plates, namely the matte black plate, the silver anodized plate, and the polished
plate, were compared and evaluated. Aside from comparing the emissivity of the three plates, the effects
of varying heat source temperatures to the emissivity of each plate were also gathered. But since the
matte black plate is dysfunctional, only the silver anodized plate and the polished plate were evaluated.

Emissivity vs. T
0.9
0.85
0.8
0.75
Emissivity
0.7
0.65
0.6
310

f(x) = 0x - 0.29
R = 0.81

320

330

340

350

360

370

380

T (K)

CHE151-1L/B41
Experiment No. 2

Figure 3.1. Emissivity of a Silver Anodized Plate against

temperature

Based from Figure 3.1, as the temperature of the heat source of the thermal radiation unit is
increased the emissivity of the silver-anodized plate also increases. This increase in emissivity is caused
due to the plates color. Based from the principle of thermal radiation, emissivity is affected by the
amount of light absorbed by the surface and based from the principle of black bodies, the darker the
color of the object, more radiant energy is absorbed and less energy is reflected. Since the silveranodized plate is categorized as a dark colored object, it is safe to conclude that it will result to higher
emissivity and closer to 1.

Emissivity vs. T
0.14

Emissivity

f(x) = - 0x + 0.82
R = 0.6

0.09
0.04
305

315

325

335

345

355

T (K)

Figure 3.2. Emissivity of a Polished Plate against temperature

From Figure 3.2, the emissivity of the polished plate decreases as the temperature of the heat
source increases. Compared to the behavior of the emissivity of the silver-anodized plate, the behavior
of the emissivity of the polished plate is its direct opposite. Based from the principle of thermal
CHE151-1L/B41
Experiment No. 2

radiation, darker objects absorbs most of the radiant energy and reflects none. But this principle also
applies to reflective materials with contradicting results compared to that of dark colored surfaces.
Reflective materials tend to reflect more energy rather than absorbing them. This is the cause why the
polished plate has lesser emissivity compared to the silver-anodized plate.
If real surfaces are to be considered, the color of the surface makes small difference as regards
the heat transfer between objects at ambient or everyday temperatures of both the object and its
surrounding. In real surfaces, dominant emitted wavelengths are nowhere near the visible spectrum, but
rather in far infrared. Emissivity at those wavelengths have little to do with visual emissivity (visible
colors), since in the far infra-red, most objects have high emissivity.
Errors are inevitable in this experiment due to the defects of the equipment used. For the
emissivity of the silver-anodized plate, the percentage error calculated is 11.05% which is pretty low
given that the equipment showed critical errors in each trial. However, the percentage error calculated in
the emissivity of the polished plate is 68.71% which is actually pretty high. Even though errors are
inevitable in this experiment, the principles of thermal radiation are still established.

4. Conclusion
For the first part of the experiment, the effect of varying heat source temperatures to the
emissivity of the silver-anodized plate was evaluated. This is done by pointing a heat source directly to
the silver-anodized plate and changing the heat source temperature per trial. Based from the data
gathered, the graph of the emissivity against temperature showed that the emissivity of the silveranodized plate increases as the temperature of the heat source is increased. The reason behind this is that
darker objects or surfaces tend to absorb all radiant energy and reflect none. Thus, the emissivity of the
silver-anodized surface is certain to increase with respect to temperature.
For the second part of the experiment, the effect of varying heat source temperatures to the
emissivity of the polished plate was also determined. Just like that of the first part of the experiment, the
heat source was directly pointed to the polished plate with varying heat source temperatures per trial.
Based on the graph of the emissivity of the polished plate against temperature, the result is the direct
opposite of the emissivity of the silver-anodized plate. The emissivity of the polished plate decreases as
the temperature of the heat source is decreased. This is because reflective materials such as the polished
plate tend to reflect radiant energy rather than absorbing it. This is the primary cause of lower emissivity
among reflective objects.
Deviating results in the experiment are inevitable due to human and equipment errors. But still
the principles of thermal radiation are still established in both surface mediums used.

CHE151-1L/B41
Experiment No. 2

References:

Geankoplis, C.J. Transport Processes and Unit Operations. Third Edition. Prentice-Hall
International, Inc. (1993) 520-521, 533-540.
Green, D.W., Perry, R.H. Perrys Chemical Engineers Handbook 8 th Edition. McGraw-Hill
Companies. United States of America. (2008). 12-40 12-46.
Gutierrez, C. L., & De Guzman, M. R. (2005). Chemical Engineering Laboratory Manual Part 2
Som, S. K. (2008). Introduction to Heat Transfer. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd.
Heat and Mass Transfer, Yunus A. Cengel and Afshin J. Ghajar, 4th Edition

CHE151-1L/B41
Experiment No. 2

Appendix
Table 1. Emissivity of Silver-Anodized Plate
Readings
Heat
Tp (C)
Ts (C)
R (W/m2)
Setting
1
45
31.1
18
2
65
31.5
58
3
100
31.9
147

Tp (K)

Ts (K)

318.15

304.25

338.15

304.65

373.15

305.05

Calculations
Qemitted

(W/m2)
63.3514739
2
0.665739
204.132527
1
0.806212
517.370370
4
0.849595

Average
Percentage Error
Table 2. Emissivity of Polished Plate
Readings
Heat
Tp (C)
Ts (C)
R (W/m2)
Setting
1
35
31.9
1
2
47
32.3
2
3
78
33.1
6

Calculations
Tp (K)

Ts (K)

308.15

305.05

320.15
351.15

305.45
306.25

Qemitted

(W/m2)
3.51952632
9
0.173497
7.03905265
8
0.068874
21.11715797 0.058059

Average
CHE151-1L/B41
Experiment No. 2

0.773849
11.05187%

0.100143
5

Percentage Error

68.70524%

Sample Computations:
R ( 0.0632+ L2)
Qemitted =
2
0.063
18 ( 0.0632+ 0.12 )
Qemitted =
0.0632
Qemitted =63.35147392

6.2 107 R
T 4pT 4s

7
6.2 10 ( 18 )
318.15 4304.15 4

W
m2

=0.66574

ave =

1+ 2 + 3
3

ave =

0.66574+ 0.80621+ 0.84959

3

ave =0 .77385

Error=

ave theo
10 0
theo

Error=

0.773850.87
10 0
0.87

CHE151-1L/B41
Experiment No. 2

Error=11.0519

CHE151-1L/B41
Experiment No. 2