Measurement of effective thermal conductivity of compacted granular media by the transient plane source technique

School of Civil Engineering, the University of Sydney, Darlington, Sydney, Australia

^* Corresponding author: yixiang.gan@sydney.edu.au

Published online: 30 June 2017

Abstract

To successfully realise industrial applications handling granular media, especially those involving heating and cooling processes, the temperature fields must be properly evaluated according to the accurate thermal properties of the media. The knowledge the effective thermal conductivity is regarded as one of the fundamental aspects. However, due to the complicated relations between the effective thermal conductivity and the heterogeneity and complexity in the structures and composition of the granular media, the quantitative prediction of the conductivity is challenging. Therefore, experimental investigation of the effective thermal conductivity becomes desired and this can provide first-hand data for industrial reference and serve as the benchmark for the theoretical analysis. In this study, the transient plane source technique is employed to investigate the effective thermal conductivity of compacted granular beds by the application of the commercially available Hot Disk system. The granular beds of different particle size ranges are characterised under different mechanical loading conditions by different sensors. Experimental results are discussed and suggestion to achieve reliable experimental designs is provided.