Absolute measurements of the thermal conductivity of mixtures of alcohols with water

New absolute measurements of the thermal conductivity of mixtures of methanol, ethanol, and propanol with water are presented. The measurements were performed in a tantalum-type transient hot-wire instrument at atmospheric pressure, in the temperature range 300–345 K. The overall uncertainty of the reported values is estimated to be less than ±0.5%, an estimate confirmed by measurements of the thermal conductivity of water. The mixtures with water studied have compositions of 25. 50, and 75%, by weight, of methanol and ethanol and 50%, by weight, of propanol. A recently proposed semiempirical scheme for the prediction of the thermal conductivity of pure liquids is extended to allow the prediction of the thermal conductivity of these mixtures from the pure components, as a function of both composition and temperature.