Thermal Conductivity Measuring System (TCoMS)

The Mechanical Engineering Technology department at Central Washington University is lacking a method to reliably measure the thermal conductivity of bulk materials, with dimensions of at least a 1 cm radius, within a teaching environment. Thermal Conductivity Measuring System (TCoMS) will be a useful tool to perform these measurements as it is able to obtain measurement readings for materials between 0 C and 50 C within 20 seconds. TCoMS will accomplish this by using the pulse decay method of measuring thermal conductivity, a form of transient heat transfer analysis. This method is performed by generating a pulse of heat at the measurement location and measuring the temperature change with respect to time which can then be used to determine a material’s thermal conductivity. To accomplish these tasks TCoMS runs on an Arduino Due, a programmable circuit board used for controlling, timing, and measuring the temperature and the heat pulses through the thermistor. A voltage divider in the form of a Wheatstone bridge is used to allow for the high accuracy needed in voltage measurements across the thermistor. These voltage measurements are then used to calculate the electrical resistance of the thermistor. To determine the temperature of the thermistor, using the coefficients provided by the thermistor’s manufacturer, the Steinhart-Hart equation is used to determine the thermistor’s temperature. These measurements are accurate to within 5% of a material’s actual thermal conductivity value. This was tested on materials such as water, potatoes, and apples.