Unsteady State Heat Transfer

Bench top apparatus that measures unsteady state heat transfer to bodies of different shape and thermal conductivity.

A sturdy, bench mounting frame contains a hot water vessel and instrumentation. A controller switches the power to an electric heater to keep a constant ‘bulk’ water temperature inside the vessel. A temperature controller maintains a constant water temperature for the test shape. Precision instruments measure the temperatures at key points, shown on clear multi-line displays.

The test shapes are of different dimensions and material to give different heat transfer areas and thermal conductivities. This gives multiple experiments in heat transfer. The student immerses the test shape and measures the transient temperature changes caused by the sudden immersion. They then immerse the other test shapes and compare the results to find how their different surface area, shape and thermal properties affect the heat transfer. The vessel has a large volume of water compared to the test shapes, so their immersion has a negligible affect on the bulk temperature.

Students can do tests with or without a computer connected. However, for quicker tests with easier recording of results, TecQuipment supply their Versatile Data Acquisition System (VDAS®) with this product. This gives accurate real-time data capture, monitoring and display, calculation and charting of all the important readings on a computer.