Correct Use of the Transient Hot-Wire Technique for Thermal Conductivity Measurements on Fluids

Abstract

The paper summarizes the conditions that are necessary to secure accurate measurements of the thermal conductivity of fluids using the transient hot-wire technique. The paper draws upon the development of the method over five decades to produce a prescription for its use. The purpose is to provide guidance on the implementation of the method to those who wish to make use of it for the first time. It is shown that instruments of the transient hot-wire type can produce measurements of the thermal conductivity with the smallest uncertainty yet achieved (± 0.2%). This can be achieved either when a finite element method (FEM) is employed to solve the relevant heat transfer equations for the instrument or when an approximate analytic solution is used to describe it over a limited range of experimental times from 0.1 s to 1 s. As well as establishing the constraints for the proper operation of the instrument we consider the means that should be employed to demonstrate that the experiment operates in accordance with the theoretical model of it. If the constraints are all satisfied then an uncertainty in thermal conductivity measurements of as little as ± 0.2–0.5% can be obtained for gases and liquids over a wide range of thermodynamic state from 0.1 MPa to 700 MPa and temperatures from 70 K to 500 K with the exception of near critical conditions. It is observed that many applications of the transient hot-wire technique do not conform to the constraints set out here and therefore may be burdened with very much greater uncertainties, sometimes large enough to render the results meaningless.