An experimental technique for measuring the effective thermal conductivity of saturated porous media is presented. The experimental method is based on the transient heating of a semi-infinite cylinder by a constant heat flux at the boundary. The data reduction technique is unique because it avoids determining the effective thermal diffusivity and quantifying the boundary heat flux. The technique is used to measure the effective thermal conductivity of glass-water, glass-air, and steel-air systems. These systems yield solid-fluid conductivity ratios of 1.08, 25.7, and 2400, respectively. The solid phases consist of 3.96mm glass spheres and 14mm steel ball bearings, which give mean porosities of 0.365 and 0.403. In addition, particular attention is paid to assessing experimental uncertainty. Consequently, this study provides data with a degree of precision not typically found the literature.

Issue Section:
Technical Briefs
Keywords:
thermal conductivity, porous materials, thermal diffusivity, glass, water, steel, porosity, data reduction, porous media, effective thermal conductivity, transient measurement technique
Topics:
Glass, Heat flux, Porous materials, Thermal conductivity, Water, Steel, Transients (Dynamics), Fluids, Thermal diffusivity
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 by American Society of Mechanical Engineers
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