CL351 Heat and Mass Transfer Lab

Pre - Laboratory Report : Group G

Experiment Date : 28 August 2019

Thermal conductivity of a metal rod

Student Name:
Rajas Prasad Shah 17110118
1

Under the guidance and help of Prof. Prachi Thareja.

1
1 Objective
To determine the thermal conductivity of the given metal rod with the assistance of forced convection at the
ends.

2 Abstract
Whenever there exists a temperature gradient across a solid or a stationary fluid, the second law of
thermodynamics dictates that conduction of heat must take place in direction of the lower temperature.
The heat flux(the heat transfer per unit area) is thus proportional to the temperature gradient.

” q −dT
qcond = α
A dx
The negative sign shows that the flux is toward lower temperature.
The constant of proportionality is the thermal conductivity, k. In this experiment, we will use an
electrically heated copper rod and a cooling stream of water along with thermocouples used to determine
local temperatures. Then we will do a steady state analysis to determine k.

3 Introduction
3.1 Theory
Here,we are going to do a steady state analysis of the rod to determine k.
As stated above, the heat transfer through the rod by conduction is given by

” q −dT
qcond = =k
A dx
Thermal conductivity is the measure of the ease or the ability to transfer heat by the solid. Metals have
typically high thermal conductivities since the heat transfer is largely facilitated by the shared pool of elec-
trons.

Now, the heat absorbed by the cooling water is given by -

The heat conducted by the rod is given by -

A steady state energy balance implies they are equal, i.e -

Thus, we can determine the thermal conductivity form above equation;

2
3.2 Purpose/ Context of the experiment
• Conduction is a process of innumerable actual applications and significance. Thermal conductivity of
a material is an intrinsic property, thus in most cases, it is the most important property to decide the
application.
• If we need to minimize heat transfer, we would use the material with the lowest value of k, whereas, for
maximising heat transfer, we use one with high value of k. Examples of both cases being thermocole
and copper respectively.

Below are thermal conductivity values of some common materials:

CHART 01
Source : Nuclear-Power.net

4 References and credits

• Standard experiment manual provided by the instructor.
• CHART 01: Nuclear-Power.net