THERMODYNAMICS LABORATORY EQUIPMENT, Study Guides, Projects, Research of Thermodynamics

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Thermodynamics laboratory equipment 1 THERMODYNAMICS LABORATORY EQUIPMENT Materials.................................................................................................................................................... 1 Variables usually measured ...................................................................................................................... 2 Sample experiments .................................................................................................................................. 2 Trials on thermometry ........................................................................................................................... 2 Trials on piezoometry and flowmetry ................................................................................................... 3 Trials on thermal properties .................................................................................................................. 3 Trials on heat transfer (and their numerical simulation) ....................................................................... 3 Trials on thermal machines ................................................................................................................... 3 Trials on combustion ............................................................................................................................. 4 True learning is by experimenting. Professors of Thermodynamics must propose to the students some key experimental work to be set up adequately (in a faculty lab or at the home sink) to gain hands-on experience in preparation, execution and analysis (and overall documentation) of experimental trials (the objective of experimentation), and to learn generic instrumentation and experimental techniques. An experiment is a purposely-executed trial which is set up, measured and compared with expectations. Care must be paid to safety and simplicity of the test-rig, and reliability of measurement, enhanced by proper redundancy and uncertainty estimation. Since most thermal processes involve invisible fluids, visualisation techniques are very helpful (seeing is believing). A trade-off between allotted time and desired wide scope dictates that individual students cannot do everything. As a trade-off here, they work in groups of three, and most routine tasks in preparation and termination of the experimental work are done off-line by laboratory staff. The types of feasible experiment heavily depend on available material. MATERIALS We have available at the lab: • Several types of thermometers: thermocouples, thermo-resistances, integrated circuits, infrared radiometers, liquid-in-glass, ,vapour pressure, bimetallic, chromophoric tapes, thermo-cameras, etc. • Several types of pressure transducers: U-tubes and different aneroid capsules (mechanical and electrical). • Several types of humidity transducers: sling psicrometer, capacitive probes and resistive probes. • Several types of anemometers: hot-wire tachometric turbine. • Thermal baths: ambient air, tap water, water heater, air heater, Dewar flask, ice cubes. • Mixing calorimeters (insulated flasks). • Several types of heat exchangers (plates and tube-and-shell). Thermodynamics laboratory equipment 2 • Burners for heating and flame studies, with a propagating flame transparent duct. • Piping (glass, plastic and rubber) and supports (tripods, rods, nuts). • In-house rigs: sudden gas expansion experiment (Clément-Désormes method and Rütchhard method), adiabatic humidifier, metal-tube dilatometer, distillation energy balance, etc. • Assembled equipment: educational heat pump (instrumented in-house), educational cooling tower. VARIABLES USUALLY MEASURED In thermodynamic experiments, variables to measure may be: • Geometrical variables: lengths, diameters, areas, and volumes. • Material properties o Mass and its derivatives: m, r, a, k, nrefract. M. o Chemical composition: xi. o Other equilibrium properties: cp, κ. o Non-equilibrium: k, µ, Di,. o Other: surface tension, electrical conductivity... • Thermodynamic variables o Temperature, pressure (thermodynamic), energy (U,H,S,Q,W...). • Kinematic variables o Time and frequency. o Position (linear), displacement (linear), velocity (linear), acceleration (linear), momentum (linear). Mass flow-rate, volume flow-rate. o Position (angular), displacement (angular, velocity (angular), acceleration (angular, momentum (angular). o Displacement field, displacement gradient, i.e. strain tensor (deformations), and rotation tensor. o Displacement rate (velocity), velocity gradient, i.e. strain-rate tensor (deformations), and rotation-rate tensor. • Dynamic variables o Force, torque, work, mechanical energy. o Stress, pressure (mechanical). SAMPLE EXPERIMENTS (Includes som documentation prepared by students.) Trials on thermometry 1. Measure ambient temperature at several points (surface and bulk) with several instruments, to see applicability and uncertainty. 2. Measure boiling and freezing temperature of pure water and aqueous solutions with several instruments. 3. Measure the heating curve, fusion, cooling and solidification of a salt. 4. Measure temperature distribution in the interior and the external surface of an electric water heater, with thermometers and a thermo-camera.