Thermal Conductivity, k

Thermal conductivity is the property of a material that

indicates its ability to conduct heat. It has unit W/mK.

Table 9.5-1 (Gases) at 1atm pressure

Table 9.5-2 (Nonmetallic Liquids) at saturation pressures
Table 9.5-3 (Liquid Metals) at atmospheric pressure
Table 9.5-4 (Solids)

k depends on temperature and pressure (same as )

Page 265

Estimation of thermal
conductivity under different
T and p conditions

- For rough estimation only

- Should not be used in the
neighborhood of the critical point
- Tc, pc information in Table D.1
(Page 738)
2

Critical Properties

Table not complete, see page 738

Example
Please estimate the thermal conductivity of methane
(CH4) at 110.4 atm and 127 F.
Express your answer with SI unit (W/mK).

Fundamental Mechanisms
Atomic vibrations and free electron
in hotter region transport energy
to cooler regions.

increasing k

Thermal Conductivity: Comparison

Material
k (W/m-K)
Metals
Aluminum
247
Steel
52
Tungsten
178
Gold
315
Ceramics
Magnesia (MgO)
38
Alumina (Al2O3)
39
Soda-lime glass
1.7
Silica (cryst. SiO2)
1.4
Polymers
Polypropylene
0.12
Polyethylene
0.46-0.50
Polystyrene
0.13
Teflon
0.25

Energy Transfer
Mechanism
atomic vibrations
and motion of free
electrons

atomic vibrations

vibration/rotation of
chain molecules

www.csun.edu/~bavarian/Courses/MSE%20227/Lect
ures_Exam3/ch17-Thermal_Properties.ppt

Gases k
Chapman-Enskog Formula (for monatomic gases)
- Model based on rigid, nonattracting spheres of mass m

(9.7-13)

Eucken Formula (for polyatomic gases)

(9.7-15)

Not complete, see Page 738-739

Not complete, see Page 740

Example

Estimate the thermal conductivity of Argon (Ar) at 100

C and atmospheric pressure.
Compare your result with the observed value of 506
10-7 cal/cmsK.

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Liquids k
Bridgmans Equation:
- Derived assuming monatomic liquids, but also show
good agreement for polyatomic liquids

(9.8-3)

(9.8-4)

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Example

The density of liquid CCl4 at 20 C and 1 atm is 1.595

g/cm3, and its isothermal compressibility
is

90.710-6 atm-1. Please estimate its thermal conductivity.

12

Solids k

Usually measured experimentally due to dependence on

various factors (crystallite size, degree of molecular
orientation, void fraction, etc.)

Wiedemann-Franz-Lorenz Equation:
(9.9-1)

- ke: electrical conductivity

- L: Lorenz number, 22 ~ 29 10-9 volt2/k2 at 0 C and increases
slowly with temperature.
- Only for pure metal, because free electrons are the major heat
carriers in pure metals.
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Composite Solids keff

For one solid phase dispersed in a second solid phase, or

solids containing pores -> effective thermal conductivity

(9.10-1)
Maxwell Equation: (9.6-1)

Only for spherical inclusions

Assuming low volume fraction and
uniform sphere distribution (but
http://www.ruthtrumpold.id.au/designtech/pmwiki.ph
okay)
p?n=Main.ClassifyingMaterials
See other correlations in the textbook.
14
Find specific k information in the literature

Other Important Properties

k
Thermal diffusivity:
c p

Heat capacity at constant pressure

Density

has the same dimension as kinematic viscosity [L2/T];

and occur in similar ways in the equations of change for
momentum and energy transport
-

Prandtl number:
cp
Pr
k

relative ease of momentum and

energy transport

Peclet number: Pe = RePr

rate of advection / rate of diffusion

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