Measurement of through-plane effective thermal conductivity and contact resistance in PEM fuel cell diffusion media

An experimental study was performed to determine the through-plane thermal conductivity of various gas diffusion layer materials and thermal contact resistance between the gas diffusion layer (GDL) materials and an electrolytic iron surface as a function of compression load and PTFE content at 70 °C. The effective thermal conductivity of commercially available SpectraCarb untreated GDL was found to vary from 0.26 to 0.7 W/(m °C) as the compression load was increased from 0.7 to 13.8 bar. The contact resistance was reduced from 2.4×10⁻⁴ m²°C/W at 0.7 bar to 0.6×10⁻⁴ m²°C/W at 13.8 bar. The PTFE coating seemed to enhance the effective thermal conductivity at low compression loads and degrade effective thermal conductivity at higher compression loads. The presence of microporous layer and PTFE on SolviCore diffusion material reduced the effective thermal conductivity and increased thermal contact resistance as compared with the pure carbon fibers. The effective thermal conductivity was measured to be 0.25 W/(m °C) and 0.52 W/(m °C) at 70 °C, respectively at 0.7 and 13.8 bar for 30%-coated SolviCore GDL with microporous layer. The corresponding thermal contact resistance reduced from 3.6×10⁻⁴ m²°C/W at 0.7 bar to 0.9×10⁻⁴ m²°C/W at 13.8 bar. All GDL materials studied showed non-linear deformation under compression loads. The thermal properties characterized should be useful to help modelers accurately predict the temperature distribution in a fuel cell.     

Role of Interfacial Carbon layer in the Thermal Diffusivity/Conductivity of Silicon Carbide Fiber-Reinforced Reaction-Bonded Silicon Nitride Matrix Composites

The role of an interfacial carbon coating in the heat conduction behavior of a uniaxial silicon carbide nitride was investigated. For such a composite without an interfacial carbon coating the values for the thermal conductivity transverse to the fiber direction agreed very well with the values calculated from composite theory using experimental data parallel to the fiber direction, regardless of the ambient atmosphere. However, for a composite made with carbon-coated fibers the experimental values for the thermal conductivity transverse to the fiber direction under vacuum at room temperature were about a factor of 2 lower than those calculated from composite theory assuming perfect interfacial thermal contact. This discrepancy was attributed to the formation of an interfacial gap, resulting from the thermal expansion mismatch between the fibers and the matrix in combination with the low adhesive strength of the carbon coating. In nitrogen or helium the thermal conductivity was found to be higher because of the contribution of gaseous conduction across the interfacial gap. On switching from vacuum to nitrogen a transient effect in the thermal diffusivity was observed, attributed to the diffusion-limited entry of the gas phase into the interfacial gap. These effects decreased with increasing temperature, due to gap closure, to be virtually absent at 1000°C.     

Thermal Conductivity and Contact Resistance of Compressed Gas Diffusion Layer of PEM Fuel Cell

This paper discusses the effect of compression pressure on the mechanical and thermal properties of gas diffusion layers (GDL). The stress–strain curve of the GDL revealed one nonlinear and two piecewise linear regions within the compression pressure range of 0–5.5 MPa. The thermal conductivity of the compressed GDL seems to be independent of the compression pressure and was determined to be 1.18 ± 0.11 W m^–1 K^–1 at room temperature. The thermal contact resistance between the GDL and graphite was evaluated by augmenting experiments with computer modelling. The thermal contact resistance decreased nonlinearly with increasing compression pressure. According to the results here, the thermal bulk resistance of the GDL is comparable to the thermal contact resistance between the GDL and graphite. A simple one‐dimensional model predicted a temperature drop of 1.7–4.4 °C across the GDL and catalyst layer depending on compression pressures.     

Temperature dependence of effective thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of treated and untreated polymer composites

Thermal properties, such as thermal conductivity, thermal diffusivity, and specific heat, of treated and untreated oil palm fiber–reinforced PF composites were measured simultaneously at room temperature and normal pressure using the transient plane source (TPS) technique. An increase in thermal conductivity was observed in the fiber‐treated and resin‐treated composites. Surface modifications of fibers by prealkali, potassium permanganate, and peroxide treatments increased the fiber–matrix adhesion by increasing porosity and pore size of the fiber surfaces. The increase in crosslinking enhanced the thermal conductivity of a composite of resin treated with peroxide compared to other composites. Also an attempt was made to explain the temperature dependence of thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of amorphous polymer samples using the same technique. It was observed that at the glass‐transition peak of the polymer, thermal conductivity and diffusivity were maximum. Below and above this temperature their values decreased. This has been explained on the basis of predominant scattering processes. An empirical relationship was established for the theoretical prediction of thermal conductivity and diffusivity. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 89: 1708–1714, 2003     

An investigation into the thermal transport properties of PP/EPDM/clay nanocomposites using a new combined experimental/numerical method

This research work is devoted to the study of the thermal transport properties of nanocomposites based on PP/EPDM/Clay (Polypropylene/Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer/Clay). Six different formulations were designed and the corresponding nanocomposites (with 0, 2, 4 and 6% of clay) were prepared via melt mixing. To achieve the goals, densities, specific heat capacities and thermal conductivities were measured as function of temperature and nanocomposites compositions. A new and novel methodology was developed to determine the thermal conductivity which was based on an inverse heat transfer problem. First, assuming a linear relationship for thermal conductivity, the transient heat transfer equation in a solid specimen was numerically solved. The obtained temperature profile was used as the input to an optimisation technique based on genetic algorithm and the parameters of the thermal conductivity relationship were found. The results showed that the specific heat increases both with increasing of temperature and clay contents. It is also increased with the addition of the rubber to the blend. In all samples, the thermal conductivity decreases with increasing of temperature with a linear relationship. In addition, at relatively constant ratios of PP/EPDM, thermal conductivity of nanocomposite and its sensitivity increase with temperature rise. Moreover, at constant value of clay content, the thermal conductivity is decreased with increase of rubber content. The explanations to above findings were also presented and discussed.     

A method for measuring transient thermal diffusivity in hydrating Portland cement mortars using an oscillating boundary temperature

The transient thermal diffusivity in early‐age, type I Portland cement mortars is difficult to quantify because the exothermic reactions cause significant heat generation which complicates the analysis of heat transfer. This paper outlines the theory and setup for a method of determining the transient thermal diffusivity of Portland cement mortars by forcing an oscillating temperature on one side of the material and measuring the attenuation of the temperature oscillation with distance. This experimental method also controls temperature to acquire data over a specific and narrow temperature range. The method is illustrated using computer models and laboratory experiments on wet and dry sand and Portland cement mortar. The values of thermal diffusivity of sand and mortar determined by this method correspond well to values found in literature. This general method could be applied to other materials, including cement paste, concrete, reactive solids, or biological tissue with appropriate modification to the apparatus.     

Thermo-physical properties of coal under transient conditions

Coal samples were obtained along the vertical axis in an eight-inch diameter experimental moving bed coal gasifier. This system had a throughput of half a tonne of sized (6 × 20 mm) coal per day. The specific heat and thermal conductivity were measured using the line heat-source method with a transient sample temperature. The coal sample was heated at a rate of 4 K/min during the property measurement. The heat capacity and thermal conductivity were obtained from an iterative fit of the experimental data to the heat conduction equation taking due account of the probe size and contact resistance. The apparatus was tested with samples of known properties such as alumina powder and glass micro-beads. The measurements reported here cover the range from 300–700 K. Effects of surface moisture and pyrolysis reactions can be identified. The results are compared with data in the literature measured at constant sample temperatures. The line source technique is well suited to transient property measurements.     

Thermophysical properties of densified pitch based carbon/carbon materials—I. Unidirectional composites

Unidirectional carbon/carbon composites were developed using high-pressure impregnation/carbonization technique with PAN and pitch based carbon fibers of varying microstructure as reinforcements and different types of pitches as matrix precursors. The composites have been given final heat treatment to 2500-2700 °C. Microstructure of these composites has been evaluated using scanning electron microscope and polarized light optical microscope. Thermophysical properties, i.e., thermal conductivity, coefficient of thermal expansion and specific heat have been evaluated. It is found that the type of fibers and matrix present in the composites influences the absorption (specific heat) and transmission (conductivity) of thermal energy. The temperature dependence of thermal diffusion, specific heat, thermal conductivity and coefficient of thermal expansion has been studied and correlated with microstructure of carbon/carbon composites.     

Thermal insulation characteristics of roll forming alumina ball material

Rolling ceramic thermal insulation balls have advantages of low cost, large output and easy control of particle size, so it is likely to become the main raw material for 3D printing in the future, but there is little research on its thermal insulation. In this study, we used three kinds of rolling aluminum oxide balls as raw materials to obtain single-granularity-level and multi-granularity-level bulk materials. And the effects of temperature, particle size, and thermal fatigue times on the thermal conductivity of the samples were analyzed. Additionally, the experimental results were verified by FloEFD heat conduction simulation software using finite analysis method to analyze their heat conduction characteristics. With the increase of temperature from 400 °C to 1500 °C, the thermal conductivity of single-granularity-level and multi-granularity-level bulk materials increased linearly. The thermal conductivity of single-granularity-level bulk materials have no direct relationship with the particle size, and the thermal conductivity of multi-granularity-level materials with small particle size difference was a bit lower than that of materials with large particle size difference, and a bit higher than that of materials with single-granularity-level. The simulation results showed that the main reason for the above phenomenon was that the point contact between particles played a dominating role in the heat transfer process. When the contact area increased, the thermal conductivity increased obviously, and the thermal conductivity with the increasing of temperature decreased in a quadratic curve. The improved model considering the shrinkage could improve accuracy of simulation results. Heat flux at the surface contact area was 10.19 times higher than that of the point contact and 15.10 times higher than that of the solid-gas contact at 400 °C. Therefore, reducing the surface contact area and increasing the porosity could significantly reduce the thermal conductivity of the materials.     

Measurements of specific heat,thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of Utah tar sands

A constant applied heat flux method has been used to measure the specific heat and thermal conductivity of large samples of Utah (North-west Asphalt Ridge) tar sands as a function of temperature. Independent measurements of density allowed for the calculation of thermal diffusivity. Constituent analysis of the tar sand samples also permitted the calculation of bitumen and sand specific heats. Specific heat of the bitumen was found to increase with temperature from 1.85 to 3.9 kJ kg^?1 K^?1 for temperatures between 300 and 480 K. Specific heat of the sand matrix increased only slightly, from 0.85 to 1.0 kJ kg^?1 K^? for the same range of temperature. Corresponding thermal diffusivities for tar sand were found to decrease with temperature, and had a range of 5 · 10^?7–9 · 10^?7 m² s^?1 over the measured temperatures. It was concluded that the latent heat of both bitumen and water have a strong influence on the apparent overall specific heat of tar sand.     

Fabrication and characterization of novel excellent thermal-protection Gd2Zr2O7/ZrO2 composite ceramic fibers with different proportions of Gd2Zr2O7

Three kinds of Gd₂Zr₂O₇/ZrO₂ (GZC) composite fibers with different proportions of Gd₂Zr₂O₇ were prepared by electrospinning method through changing the amount of Gd³⁺ in precursor solutions. The thermal decomposition, crystallization process, high temperature stability and heat-conducting properties of GZC fibers were fully characterized. The results showed that there were three crystalline phases, tetragonal phase ZrO₂, cubic phase ZrO₂ and defect fluorite phase Gd₂Zr₂O₇ in all the GZC fibers. The content of Gd₂Zr₂O₇ increased gradually with the increase of Gd³⁺ in precursor solutions which led to the gradual slowing down of grain growth rate, the decrease of thermal conductivity and the increase of high temperature stability of the obtained composite fibers. The thermal conductivities of all the GZC fiber sheets were lower than that of 7YSZ fiber sheet. The sheets of all the GZC fibers could keep the high temperature stability up to 1300 °C.     

MEASUREMENTS OF THERMAL CONTACT CONDUCTANCE FOR A PAPER/METAL INTERFACE AND EFFECTIVE CONDUCTIVITY OF MACHINE SAMPLES

ABSTRACT

The thermal contact conductance for a paper/metal interface and the effective thermal conductivity of paper samples were determined using an experimental contact conductance apparatus. The effects of pressure and moisture content on the thermal contact conductance and the effective thermal conductivity were investigated. The samples considered in the experiments consisted of paper machine samples from different sections of the drying section. The results are compared to those of the handsheets prepared in our laboratory.     

Thermal conductivity of high porosity alumina refractory bricks made by a slurry gelation and foaming method

Alumina has high heat resistance and corrosion resistance compared to other ceramics such as silica or mullite. However, for its application to refractory bricks, its high thermal conductivity must be reduced. To reduce this thermal conductivity by increasing the porosity, a GS (gelation of slurry) method that can produce high porosity solid foam was applied here to produce the alumina refractory brick. This method was successfully applied to produce alumina foam with high porosity and thermal conductivity of the foam is evaluated. At room temperature, the thermal conductivity was about 0.12 W/mK when the foam density was 0.1 g/cm³. At elevated temperature above 783 K, thermal conductivity of the foam was strongly affected by heat radiation and increased with increasing temperature, in contrast to the thermal conductivity of alumina itself, which decreased with increasing temperature. The alumina foams developed here achieved sufficient thermal insulating properties for use in refractory bricks.     

Characterization of isotherms and thin-layer drying of red kidney beans,Part II: Three-dimensional finite element models to estimate transient mass and heat transfer coefficients and water diffusivity

Three-dimensional finite element models with consideration of shrinkage and irregular shape were developed to estimate the relationships among the transient heat and mass transfer coefficients, the transient water diffusivity, and the temperature and moisture content of the red kidney beans being dried under different drying conditions. An equation was developed to calculate the transient mass transfer coefficient using the measured time–moisture content data. This calculated transient mass transfer coefficient was further used to calculate the transient heat transfer coefficient. To verify the predicted temperature on the surface of the red kidney beans, surface temperature was measured using a handhold infrared thermometer. These measured temperature and time–moisture content data were used to determine the transient water diffusivity using the least square method when the red kidney bean kernel experienced a shrinkage during drying. Strong relationship among the transient heat and mass transfer coefficients, the water diffusivity, and the ratio of the transient heat and mass transfer coefficients was revealed. This relationship could be used to predict temperature and moisture content of the red kidney beans during the entire drying period. The Lewis number?=?27, and the ratio of the transient heat over mass transfer coefficients was 10765?J?m^?3?k^?1 at 30 and 40°C, and 10729?J?m^?3?k^?1 at 50°C. Shrinkage did not significantly influence the value of the estimated transient water diffusivity.     

Thermal diffusivity measurement of papers by an ac Joule heating method

The thermal diffusivity (α) of paper, a porous and thin material, was determined by an ac Joule heating method developed in our laboratory. With this technique the thermal diffusivity of paper was obtained directly with high reproducibility without the need for special preparations, such as the black coating, required in conventional methods. The thermal diffusivity (α) of paper was obtained as a function of temperature and the apparent density (ρ). The apparent thermal conductivity (λ) of paper was calculated from α, ρ, and the heat capacity at constant pressure (C_p): α decreased with increasing apparent density, but λ did not show a density dependence. © 1998 SCI.     

Thermal conductivity of binary ceramic composites made of insulating and conducting materials comprising full composition range – Applied to yttria partially stabilized zirconia and molybdenum disilicide

The thermal diffusivity and conductivity of dense and porous binary composites having an insulating and conducting phase were studied across its entire composition range. Experimental evaluation has been performed with MoSi₂ particles embedded into yttria partially stabilized zirconia (YPSZ) as prepared by spark plasma sintering (SPS). The thermal diffusivity of the composites was measured with Flash Thermography (FT) and Laser Flash Analysis (LFA) techniques. Subsequently, the thermal conductivity was determined with the measured heat capacity and density of the composites. The actual volume fraction of the conducting phase of the composites was determined with image analysis of X-ray maps recorded with scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The phases present and their density were determined with X-ray diffractometry (XRD) using Rietveld refinement. The thermal diffusivity increases with increasing volume fraction of MoSi₂. Porosity reduces the thermal diffusivity, but the effect diminishes with high volume fractions MoSi₂. The thermal diffusivity as a function of the MoSi₂ volume fraction of the YPSZ composites is captured by modelling, which includes the porosity effect and the high conductivity paths due to the percolation of the conductive phase.     

Influence of graphite and quartz addition on the thermo–physical properties of bentonite for sealing heat-generating radioactive waste

Bentonite is one of the most favored buffer materials for the deep geological disposal of waste in clay and granite formations all over the world. Buffer material, used to isolate heat emitting waste canisters, has to take up a strong heat load. This paper presents results of investigations on enhancing the heat conduction within the bentonite sealing. Admixtures of quartz and graphite accelerate the heat transfer into the host rock. Test samples consisting of different bentonite–quartz and bentonite–graphite mixtures were prepared. The thermal conductivity was determined as a function of admixture content, temperature, water content, and sample density within 35° to 140 °C at a uniaxial pressure of 2 MPa. The necessary conductivity could not be achieved with quartz, but the addition of graphite led to a suitable thermal conductivity. A set of equations was developed for the calculation of the thermal conductivity and the design of an engineered geotechnical barrier with heat conduction properties similar to those of the particular host rock.     

Argon low‐temperature plasma modification of chopped aramid fiber and its effect on paper performance of aramid sheets

Chopped aramid fiber was modified by an argon low‐temperature plasma treatment to enhance the interfacial strength of aramid paper. The water contact angle of the aramid fiber and the tensile strength, tearing strength, and evenness of the aramid sheets were investigated under different conditions, and the parameters of the argon low‐temperature plasma modification, like gas pressure, discharge power, and discharge time, were optimized. The chemical structure and surface morphology of the fiber after plasma modification were characterized by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The strengthening mechanism of aramid paper by low‐temperature plasma modification was also studied. It was found that the argon low‐temperature plasma treatment introduced some new polar groups onto the fiber surface and increased the fiber surface wettability and roughness. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45215.     

拉曼方法同时测量单根碳纤维热物性和对流传热系数

主要完善并利用新近提出的激光拉曼测试方法,在333.15 K环境温度下测量了单根碳纤维的热导率（不考虑接触热阻）,并与直流通电法测量结果进行比较,两者符合较好,验证了新提出的激光拉曼测量方法的可行性。同时激光拉曼方法还测量得到了接触热阻、碳纤维的激光吸收率及与空气的对流传热系数,并处理得到考虑接触热阻后修正的碳纤维真实热导率。     

炭纤维/树脂复合材料导热性能的数值模拟

采用有限元方法对炭纤维/树脂复合材料的导热性能进行了数值模拟,分别建立一维结构和二维结构炭纤维/树脂复合材料计算分析模型,研究炭纤维含量、界面接触热阻、以及炭纤维直径对复合材料有效热导率的影响。研究结果表明炭纤维作为复合材料增强相,其含量越高复合材料的热导率越高;界面的接触热阻在10-3~10-5(m2 K)/W范围内对复合材料有效热导率有较大的影响,超出范围之后改变接触热阻对材料热导率的影响可以忽略;接触热阻比较大时,炭纤维的直径对复合材料的热导率有较大的的影响,当接触热阻比较小时,炭纤维的直径对于复合材料热导率的影响非常小。