Design and manufacture of system for measuring thermal conductivity

2022-04-10

According to the directives of the President of University of Anbar (Prof. Mushtaq Talib Al-Nida) about the importance of applied research and the required laboratory equipment, Assistant Professor Dr. (Raad Khadher Salman) - Researcher at the Renewable Energy Research Center, design and manufacture of a control system for measuring thermal conductivity using the Lee disc technique, for measuring the conductivity coefficient (Thermal conductivity of poorly conductive materials).

This device enables researchers to control laboratory tests and reduce the effort and time required to measure samples, in addition to the high accuracy of the test results as a result of the use of sensors connected to a computer system specially prepared and programmed for this purpose. This is instead of the traditional methods that depend on the timer and the traditional mercury thermometer.

 The device includes the use of high-precision thermal sensors connected to an electronic system that converts the analogue signals received from a disk device into digital signals, which a special computer program (equipped with a special algorithm containing special thermodynamic equations) interprets and outputs the results of the examination with high accuracy and speed.

The program was also supported by a Visual Interface using Object Oriented Programming to make it easier for the researcher to read and track inputs and outputs, as well as add the parameters and variables required to complete the examination process successfully, and output the results and export them directly to computer files.

The system is currently available for use, either by the researchers at the centre or by our dear students, graduate and primary students at the University of Anbar. We would also like to point out that the system is open-source, which makes it scalable for other applications in the field of materials science and physical computing, especially in the field of thermal and thermodynamic examinations.