CHE151-1L Chemical Engineering Laboratory

4th Quarter SY 2016-2017

THERMAL RADIATION: Evaluation of the Parameters Affecting the Emissivity of Plates

Jacobe, Lanz1, Mendoza, Theresa C1, Papa, Danielle1

1
Student, CHE151-1L/T, School of Chemical Engineering and Chemistry, Mapa Institute of Technology

ABSTRACT
Viscosity is the resistance of a fluid to flow. In this experiment, viscosities of some liquids were measured by
means of capillary flow method also known as the Ostwald Fenske method. An Ostwald viscometer, a U-shaped
glass tube, was the main apparatus used, wherein it was held vertically containing the liquid and allowing to pass
two calibration marks. The flow time was measured and by applying the Poiseuilles law, the viscosity was
calculated. This law is directly proportional to the density of the sample, flow time and the viscosity coefficient.
This viscosity coefficient, a constant for a certain viscometer, was determined by calibrating the viscometers used
by pure water. There were three factors affecting viscosity that were examined namely intermolecular forces,
concentration of a solution, and temperature. It was observed that stronger intermolecular forces and more
concentrated solution make the sample more viscous while higher temperature make it less viscous. It was noticed
that some obtained results were quite different from the actual viscosities. One possible reason for this would be
the accuracy of measuring the time of flow in the viscometer.

Keywords: viscosity, Ostwald Fenske method, Poiseuilles Law, intermolecular forces

1. Introduction Thermal radiation upon contact with a surface may either

Radiation heat transfer is the transfer of heat by
electromagnetic radiation. Thermal radiation is a process by
which heat is transferred from a body by virtue of its
temperature without aid of any intervening medium[1]. It
obeys the same laws as light: travels in straight lines, can
be transmitted through space and vacuum[2].
The mechanism of thermal radiation is composed of three
distinct steps or phases:
1. The thermal energy of a hot source such as the
wall of furnace at T1, is converted into the energy
of electromagnetic radiation waves
be absorbed in the form of heat, reflected into space or
transmitted through the body[3]. For most engineering
applications, opaque bodies are utilized so the transmission
will be neglected.
A blackbody is a theoretic idealization for a perfect
theoretical radiator where it absorbs all incident radiation
without reflection and emits isotropically[4].
Real bodies do not meet specifications of an ideal radiator
but emit radiation at a lower rate than blackbodies. If they
emit, at a temperature equal to that of a blackbody, they are
called gray bodies[3].

2. These waves travel through the intervening space Emissivity is the ratio of the emissive power of a surface to
in straight lines and strike a cold object at T2 such that of the body. In black body, emissivity is equal to 1. The
as a furnace tube containing water to be heated emissivities of the three plates tested in the experiment are
given as shown in Table 1.1.
3. The electromagnetic waves that strike the body
are absorbed by the body and converted back to
thermal energy or heat.

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 CHE151-1L Chemical Engineering Laboratory
4th Quarter SY 2016-2017
Table 1.1. Emissivity of Various Surfaces
Surface Emissivity
Matt black plate 1 equilibrium temperature of the plate. The heat sensor cover
Silver anodize plate 0.87
Polished plate 0.32
The objectives of this experiment are to (1) evaluate and
compare the emissivity of the three plates (matt black, silver
anodized and polished plate); (2) determine and compare
the effect of varying heat source temperature on the
emissitivity of the three plates.
2. Experimental
2.1 Preparation, Setup and Data Gathering
The materials that were used in this experiment were
thermal radiation unit, thermometer, matt black plate, silver-
anodized plate and polished plate.
The parts shown in Figure 2.1. are the following: (1) digital
thermometer, (2) silver-anodized plate, (3) heat source, (4)
sensor, (5) matt black plate, (6) polished plate, (7)
temperature reading, and (8) radiometer reading.
Figure 2.1. Thermal Radiation Unit Set-up
The thermal radiation unit, shown in Figure 2.1, wherein its
surface is placed next to a heat source. A sensor,
positioned at a distance from the heated surface, measures
its intensity of radiation; directly measures the emissivity of
the surface.
Theis experiment was to determine the effect of the heat
source temperature. The silver-anodized was placed at the
100 millimeters mark. The thermocouple was attached to
the plate in the instrument console. The power control knob
Experiment 02 Group No. 4May 18, 2017
was then set into three different settings, which were setting
1, 2 and 3. For each of the setting, there were 15 minutes
for the temperature to stabilize, which served as the
was removed and waited for 2 minutes before the plate
temperature (Tp) and radiometer reading (R) were
recorded. For the next plates, polished and matt black
plates, the same procedure were followed.
2.2 Treatment of Results
The basic equation for heat transfer by radiation is as
shown in Equation 1 commonly known as Stefan-
Boltzmann Law (Perry et al., 2012).
2 2 4
q r= ( T pT s ) (1)
where qr is the radiant heat energy (W/m2)
is the emissivity
is the Stefan-Boltzmann constant (5.676
W/m2K4)
is the refractive index (for air, = 1)
Tp is the temperature of the plate (K)
Ts is the temperature of the surroundings (K)
The thermal radiation unit for the experiment consists of a
heat source and a sensor with distance L from the plate.
The default equation for the calculation of the radiant heat
energy for the thermal radiation unit is as shown in
Equation 2.
2 2
R(0.063 + L )
q r= (2)
0.0632
where R is the radiometer reading (W/m2)
L is the distance of heat sensor from the plate
(mm)
The emissivity, , can be calculated by equating
Equation 1 and 2 which results to Equation 3
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 CHE151-1L Chemical Engineering Laboratory
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2 2
R(0.063 + L ) 80
= (3)
0.0632 2 (T 2pT 4s ) 60

40
Radiometer Reading, R (W-m^-2)
As for the treatment of results, it is required to (a) calculate 20
the radiation emitted by the surface, q, using equation (2),
0
(b) solve the emissivity of the plate, , using using 350
300
equation (3), (c) compute for the mean emissivity of each Plate Temperature, Tp (K)
plate and get the percentage error (refer to Table 1.1. for
the theoretical emissivities of the plates), and (d) plot the
following data: (i) Radiometer reading vs. Tp, and (ii) Figure 3.1b. Plot of Plate Temperature vs. Radiometer
Reading Silver-Anodized Plate
Radiation vs Tp .
Direct proportionality between plate temperature and
3. Results and Discussion
radiometer reading can be observed in Figure 3.2.
In this experiment, the radiation emitted by the surface and
emissivity of the three plates matt black, silver-anodized, 30
and polished plate had been determined. 25
20
15
Relationships of the parameters were established as the Radiometer Reading, R (W-m^-2) 10
emissivity is being determined. How the heat source and
5
heater setting affects the radiometer reading, qemitted, and 0
emissivity.

Plate Temperature, Tp (K)

150

100 Figure 3.1c. Plot of Plate Temperature vs. Radiometer

Radiometer Reading, R Reading Polished Plate
(W-m^-2)
50
Like the plot of previous plates, Figure 3.3 which represents
0
the effect of heat source to radiometer reading shows that
300 350 400 they are directly proportional. However, the range is more
Plate Temperature, Tp (K) narrow than the previous ones.

Figures 3.1a, 3.1b, and 3.1c show that as the plate

Figure 3.1a. Plot of Plate Temperature vs. Radiometer
Reading Matt Black Plate
Figure 3.1 shows that the radiometer reading increases as
the plate temperature increases. Hence, they are directly
proportional with each other.
temperature increases, the radiometer reading also
increases for all plates since second law of
thermodynamics prevents energy transfer from cooler to
hotter surface without any external work done on the
system. Hence, the radiometer reading must be increasing
with rising temperature [6]. Moreover, the 4th power of
temperature also explains the increase in radiometer
reading.

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 CHE151-1L Chemical Engineering Laboratory
4th Quarter SY 2016-2017

500 120
400 100
80
300
Radiation Emitted, qr Radiation Emitted, qr 60
200
40
100 20
0 0
300 320 340 360 300 310 320 330
Plate Temperature, Tp (K) Plate Temperature, Tp (K)

Figure 3.2a. Plot of Plate Temperature vs. Emitted Radiation Figure 3.2c. Plot of Plate Temperature vs. Emitted Radiation
Matt Black Plate Polished Plate

Figure 3.2a shows that plate temperature is directly Established relationship between plate temperature and
proportional to the radiation emitted by the surface for a emitted radiation for polished plate is the same for the
Matt Black Plate. previous plates. It can be observed that this plate has the
most narrow range of emitted radiation.
300
250 Comparing Figures 3.2a, 3.2b, and 3.2c, matt black plate
200 emits a distinct amount of radiation than silver anodized
and polished. This is due to the fact that an object with matt
Radiation Emitted, qr 150
100 or dull and black surface will emit radiation at a faster rate
50 than an object with a shiny face and light surface. The
0 concept of blackbody, which is the perfect emitter, is also
300 320 340 360 one of the explanation[6].
Plate Temperature, Tp (K)
Determining the emissivity is the main objective of this
Figure 3.2b. Plot of Plate Temperature vs. Emitted Radiation experiment. Figure 3.3 shows the plot of temperature and
Silver-Anodized Plate emissivity of the three plates for different heater setting.
Matt black plate has the highest emissivity among the three,
Similar to matt black plate, the emitted radiation increases again, with the concept of black body.
as the plate temperature increases for the silver-anodized
plate. However, the range of values of heat emitted is 1.3
narrower than matt black plate. 1.1

Emissivity, 0.9
0.7
0.5
300 310 320 330 340 350 360
Plate Temperature, Tp

Matt Black Silver-Anodized

Polished

Figure 3.3. Plot of Plate Temperature vs. Emitted Radiation

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 CHE151-1L Chemical Engineering Laboratory
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Polished Plate

Table 3.1 shows the values of the average emissivity of the

entire plates for every heater setting calculated using
equations 2 and 3.

Table 3.1. Comparison of Experimental and True Value

of Emissivity
Experimenta
True % Error
l
Matt Black 1.025 1 2.5
Silver-
0.803 0.87 7.66
Anodized
Polished 0.698 0.32 118.09 References

There are two things that can be distinctly observed on
Figure 3.3 and Table 3.1First is the value of silver-anodized
plate being close to 1. Meaning, it behaves more like a
black plate than a polished plate which is due to irregular
surface finish.
Second observation is obviously high emissivity which
resulted to high percentage error for the polished plate.
Several factors were to be considered; the sensitivity of the
equipment, the varying room temperature reading, and the
time when the reading was taken.
4. Conclusion
[1] Kreith, Frank, Manglik Raji M., Bohn, Mark S (2011).
Principles of Heat Transfer, 7th Edition. Cengage Learning.
[2] Geankoplis, Christie J. (2012) Principles of Transport
Processes and Separation Processes, 1st edition. Pearson
Education South Asia PTE. LTD.
[3] Welty J. R., Wicks C. E, Wilson R. E. and Rorrer G. L.
(2008) Fundamentals of Momentum, Heat and Mass
Transfer, 5th Ed. Wiley
[4] Perry, Robert H. and Green, Don W. (2008) Perrys
Chemical Engineers Handbook, 8th edition. McGraw-Hill
Book, New York
[5] Rathore, Mahesh M., Kapulo, Raul Raymond (2011).
Engineering Heat Transfer. Jones and Bartlett Learning
[6] Howell, J., Menguc, M. P., & Siegel, R. (2016). Thermal
Radiation Heat Transfer Sixth Edition. New York: Taylor &
Francis Group, LLC.
[7] P.A Hilton, Ltd. (1990). Experimental, Operating, and
Maintenance Manual: Radiation Unit. United Kingdom.

Experiment 02 Group No. 4May 18, 2017 5 of 8

Appendix A. Data gathered from the Experiment

Matt Black Plate

Readings Calculations
Heater
Tp (C) Ts (C) R Tp (K) Ts (K) qr
Setting
1 39.5 27 20 312.65 300.15 75.5555556 0.92513915
2 53 27 50 326.15 300.15 188.888889 1.04022102
3 76.9 27 115 350.05 300.15 434.444444 1.10950681

Silver-Anodized Plate
Readings Calculations
Heater
Tp (C) Ts (C) R Tp (K) Ts (K) qr
Setting
1 40 27 15 313.15 300.15 177.555556 0.66551514
2 55 27 47 328.15 300.15 268.222222 0.89908552
3 69 27 71 342.15 300.15 56.6666667 0.84560256

Polished Plate
Readings Calculations
Heater R Tp (K) Ts (K)
Tp (C) Ts (C) qr
Setting
1 40 27 15 313.15 300.15 22.6666667 0.59719860
2 55 27 47 328.15 300.15 56.6666667 0.79436262
3 69 27 71 342.15 300.15 105.777778 0.70212997
Appendix B. Sample Computations

Matt Black Plate, Heater Setting 1

Computing for radiation emitted by the surface, qr

Given:
R = 20 W-m-2
L = 0.105 m

2 2
R(0.063 + L )
q r=
0.0632

20
( Wm ) (0.063 +0.105 ) m
2
2 2 2

0.0632 m2
W
q r=75.56
m2

Computing for emissivity,

Given:
= 5.676 x10-8 W-m-2 K-4
Tp = 312.65 K
Ts = 300.15 K
= 1 (for air)
qemitted = 75.56 W-m-2

qemitted
=
(T 2pT 2s )
2

W
75.76
m2

W
(5.576 x 108 24
)(12)( 312.654300.15 4 ) K 4
m K
=0.925