- #1
matt621
- 29
- 3
We have a customer asking us for the thermal conductivity of a product we sell.
None of the engineers have that number.
I can think of a simple experiment that might do it, but I don't know the math.
I want to take a piece of this material (it's a pipe), put a cap on the bottom, then fill it with boiling water, then cap the top. Hang it in a room of constant temp and measure the temp of the outside wall of the pipe using one of those infared temp sensors.
I figure if I use a small pipe (1" ID) the mass of the water will be small enough that it might take some time to work it's way thru. (it's plastic pipe.)
I will know the mass/volume of the water and it's temp. The surface area of the pipe and a temp over time graph. Is there a way to calculate the thermal conductivity of the material the pipe is made of using this data?
One thing I'm also not sure of is the surface area of the ID of the pipe which will be in contact with the water will be less than the radiating surface area of the pipe which is based on the OD of the pipe. So I'm not sure how I should consider that.
If you can help a big thanks!
None of the engineers have that number.
I can think of a simple experiment that might do it, but I don't know the math.
I want to take a piece of this material (it's a pipe), put a cap on the bottom, then fill it with boiling water, then cap the top. Hang it in a room of constant temp and measure the temp of the outside wall of the pipe using one of those infared temp sensors.
I figure if I use a small pipe (1" ID) the mass of the water will be small enough that it might take some time to work it's way thru. (it's plastic pipe.)
I will know the mass/volume of the water and it's temp. The surface area of the pipe and a temp over time graph. Is there a way to calculate the thermal conductivity of the material the pipe is made of using this data?
One thing I'm also not sure of is the surface area of the ID of the pipe which will be in contact with the water will be less than the radiating surface area of the pipe which is based on the OD of the pipe. So I'm not sure how I should consider that.
If you can help a big thanks!