Design and performance evaluation of a device for determination of specific heat capacity of thermal insulators
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Beni-Suef University Journal of Basic and Applied Sciences
RESEARCH
Open Access
Design and performance evaluation of a device for determination of specific heat capacity of thermal insulators Sunday Edet Etuk1, Ubong Williams Robert2 and Okechukwu Ebuka Agbasi3*
Abstract Background: Specific heat capacity is one of the prominent and deciding factors for selection of thermal insulation materials in thermal engineering. In recent times, there has been a great advancement in the manufacturing of a variety of advanced materials in order to meet the modern needs for thermal insulation. Unfortunately, certain drawbacks like high cost of procurement, low accuracy, and limited suitability are associated with the current device that can be used to probe the specific heat capacities of thermal insulators. Thus, there is need to devise a means of addressing the situation. A device, named SEUR’s apparatus, was designed, constructed, and used to determine specific heat capacities of some thermal insulators. Measurements were taken on 2 days, and KD2-pro meter was employed to obtain reference values. Results: The percentage error values in the specific heat capacity of plastic (solid), asbestos, and paperboard were found to be 0.09%, 0.14%, and 0.13% for day 1 measurements and 0.08%, 0.17%, and 0.13% for day 2 measurements, respectively. Reproducibility values of 7.4%, 6.4%, and 8.2% were obtained for the plastic, asbestos and paperboard, respectively. These values fall within the range for unconditional acceptability of a test device. Conclusion: Results obtained with the use of the SEUR’s apparatus are reliable, valid, and of high accuracy. The apparatus is cost-effective and very suitable for use in quick determination of specific heat capacity of porous, nonporous, homogeneous, or heterogeneous thermal insulating materials. Keywords: Calorimetry, KD2-pro meter, SEUR’s apparatus, Thermal equilibrium, Thermal insulation
1 Background Thermal insulators refer to materials that are capable of reducing heat when they are in contact with objects or in a range of radiative influence. Nowadays, irrespective of whether thermal insulators (thermal insulation materials) are porous, non-porous, homogeneous, or heterogeneous, they are useful in a wide range of applications in which minimization of unwanted heat losses is a critical consideration. As remarked by [1], thermal insulation is a key component in installations and industrial facilities (especially in pipelines, tanks, heat exchangers) as well as * Correspondence: [email protected] 3 Department of Physics, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Nigeria Full list of author information is available at the end of the article
building industry, power engineering, chemical process industry, refrigeration, firemanship, and aeronautics. In thermal engineering, one of the prominent and deciding factors for selection of thermal insulation materials is specific heat capacity. The importance of this property is based on the fact that as it gives an indication of h
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