A study has been carried out of calorimetric cells based on the coaxial cylinder method suitable for the thermal conductivity measurements in a C80D micro-calorimeter from Setaram (France). On the hypothesis of a pure conductive process, it has been possible to obtain the equation expressing the thermal conductivity k of a liquid sample in function of the heat flow measured by the calorimeter, and the relative thermal conductivity uncertainty has been analysed. To justify the hypothesis of practical absence of convection and negligible temperature differences during experimentation, a CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) study has been performed. With a view to testing our equipment and calibration method, the thermal conductivities of some pure liquids (toluene, n-decane) and systems (water + ethanol and nanofluid water/Al2O3), which cover a wide range, have been measured.
1. 1994 Vargaftik, AB, Filippov, LP, Tarzimanov, AA, Totskii, EE Handbook of thermal conductivity of liquids and gases CRC Press Inc Boca Raton.
2. Le Neindre, B Thermal conductivity 1987 KN Marsh eds. Recommended reference materials for the realization of physicochemical properties Blackwell Scientific Publications Oxford 321–370.
3. Labudová, G, Vozárová, V. Uncertainty of the thermal conductivity measurement using the transient hot wire method. J Therm Anal Cal 2002 67:257–265 .
4. Tian, F, Sun, L, Venart, JES, Prasad, RC, Mojumdar, SC. Development of a thermal conductivity cell with nanolayer coating for thermal conductivity measurement of fluids. J Therm Anal Cal 2008 94 1 37–43 .
5. Calvet, E, Prat, H Microcalorimétrie. Applications Physico–Chimiques et Biologiques 1956 Masson et Cie Paris.
6. Le Parlouër, P, Rouyer, M, Pithon, F. New experimental vessels for calorimetric investigations of gases and liquids on the Setaram C 80. Thermochim Acta 1985 92:375–378 .
7. Pithon, F, Rouyer, M. Vapour pressure, heat of evaporation and thermal conductivity determination by means of the C 80 microcalorimeter. Thermochim Acta 1987 14:91–96 .
8. MacGregor, RK, Emery, AF. Free convection through vertical plane layers–moderate and high Prandtl number fluids. J Heat Transfer 1969 91 3 391–403.
9. Ramires, MLV, Nieto de Castro, CA, Nagasaka, Y, Nagashima, A, Assael, MJ, Wakeham, WA. Standard reference data for the thermal conductivity of water. J Phys Chem Ref Data 1995 24 3 1377–1381 .
10. Assael, MJ, Charitidou, E, Nieto de Castro, CA, Wakeham, WA. The thermal conductivity of n-hexane, n-heptane and n-decane by the transient hot-wire method. Int J Thermophys 1987 8 6 663–670 .
11. Frezzotti, D, Goffredi, G, Bencini, E. Thermal conductivity measurements of cis- and trans-decahydronaphtalene isomers using a steady-state coaxial cylinders method. Thermochim Acta 1995 265:119–128 .
12. Ramires, MLR, Nieto de Castro, CA, Perkins, RA, Nagasaka, Y, Nagashioma, A, Assael, MJ, Wakeham, WA. Reference data for the thermal conductivity of saturated liquid toluene over a wide range of temperature. J Phys Chem Ref Data 2000 29 2 133–139 .
13. Assael, MJ, Charitidou, E, Wakeham, WA. Absolute measurements of the thermal conductivity of mixtures of alcohols with water. Int J Thermophys 1989 10 4 793–803 .
14. Das, SK, Putra, N, Thiesen, P, Roetzel, W. Temperature dependence of thermal conductivity enhancement for nanofluids. J Heat Transfer 2003 125:567–574 .
15. Timofeeva, EV, Gavrilov, AN, McCloskey, JM, Tolmachev, YV. Thermal conductivity and particle agglomeration in alumina nanofluids: experiment and theory. Phys Rev E 2007 76:061203 .
16. Wong, K-FV, Kurma, T. Transport properties of alumina nanofluids. Nanotechnology 2008 19:345702 .