ChE 135 - Process Engineering Laboratory Formal Report

The Effects of Varying Source Temperature, Aperture Width, and

Shielding on Heat Transfer through Thermal Radiation
Julliam A. Gadiane 1, Gene Loise R. Pecson1, Roobe Maynard B. Oracion1, Mary Joyce G. Tan1
1
University of the Philippines Diliman, Quezon City

Abstract. Heat as a form of energy can be transferred through three different ways - conduction, convection, and
radiation. Radiation is the transfer of energy through electromagnetic waves and does not require any medium for heat
transfer ot occur. In the experiment, the effect of temperature, geometry, and shielding on the radiation heat transfer of an
approximated black body was investigated. A thermal radiation setup which consists of a radiometer, a heat source and a
black plate was used to determine the effects of the aforementioned properties. For the effects of varying source
temperature, the experimental values of the Stefan-Boltzmann constant were computed. A calculated Stefan-Boltzmann
constant of 7.53 x 108 W/m2K4 with an error of 24.7% was obtained. Radiometer readings were also found to be
increasing with the temperature. For the effects of aperture width, greater aperture widths gave higher readings as more
heat is transmitted through the aperture. For the effects of shielding, reflective materials had higher shielding effects with
lower values of radiation emission as compared to those that allow radiation transmission. The possible sources of error
include unaccounted, simultaneously-occurring heat transfer such as convection, attenuation of radiation and effects of
ambient environment such as extraneous heat and light sources present in the experiment area. A better controlled
environment is recommended to allow more accurate readings of radiation, decreasing the ambient environment effects.
Keywords: radiation, Stefan-Boltzmann Law, shielding, view factor, aperture

1. Introduction where J refers to the amount of power transferred per

unit area (energy flux), σ refers to the Stefan-Boltzmann
Heat, a form of energy, can be transferred constant (5.6703E8 W/(m2·K4)), and T is the
through different ways. One method is through temperature of the radiating or absorbing body. The
conduction, where heat is transferred between objects in Stefan-Boltzmann equation shows that the energy
contact as long as a temperature gradient is present. radiated by a blackbody is proportional to the fourth
Another method is through convection, which is the power of its temperature (University of Warwick, 2010).
most efficient way of heat transfer in fluids, where hot Blackbody is a coined term used to describe an ideal
masses of fluid become less dense and rise up and cold radiator or absorber, that is all the energy produced by a
masses of fluid sink to replace the rising hot fluid. blackbody radiator is radiated and all the incident
Lastly, heat can be transferred via thermal radiation, energy to a blackbody absorber is absorbed (Branson,
where energy is conveyed through electromagnetic 2013). The concept of an ideal radiator and absorber is
waves traveling at the speed of light. This entails that important since factors such as angle of incidence and
heat transfer in this method does not require a medium frequency of energy affects the amount of energy that is
(Infrared Processing and Analysis Center, n.d.). absorbed and radiated.

Objects emit or absorb radiation. The amount of energy In this experiment, the effects of source temperature,
emitted or absorbed is evident on the object’s width of a blocking aperture, and shielding on the
temperature. The phenomenon of thermal radiation is amount of energy that is transferred were investigated.
described by the Stefan-Boltzmann equation. The data will also be fitted and compared with the
relevant equations.
4
J=σ T (1)
2. Materials and Methodology
 ChE 135 - Process Engineering Laboratory Formal Report

2.1 Materials and Set-up the maximum values. The aperture plates were then
installed assuring that there is no gap between the two.
For this experiment, sheets of aluminium foil, car The radiometer shield was placed, and the radiometer
insulator and Styrofoam were used to investigate the readings were then recorded as the offset. The process
effect of shielding on the transfer of heat. Two plates was repeated for two more trials. The gap was then
with a silver-like lining on one side and a cork lining on adjusted to 10 mm increments until it reached 50mm.
the other were used as shutter to investigate the effect of The same method was done for the different aperture
varying aperture width on the the transfer of energy. A widths. The same waiting time done in the first part
radiation set-up with a radiometer and a heat source was should be applied to allow the temperature readings to
used as shown below. stabilize first.

To investigate the effect of shielding the voltage was set

to maximum. The Styrofoam sheet was then attached,
replacing the aperture plates used in the previous part.
The radiometer shield was attached, and the offset
readings were recorded. The radiometer shield was
removed, and the radiometer data was recorded after
waiting for 5 minutes. The procedure was repeated for
two more trials and for the case of car insulator and
aluminium foil.
Figure 1. Thermal Radiation set-up
2.3.2 Calculation of View Factors and Energy Flux,
The black plate was placed 50mm away from the heat J
source and the radiometer was placed 400mm away
from the black plate. The aperture plate was placed The energy flux was calculated using the Stefan
250mm away from the heat source. The distances of Boltzmann equation for blackbody radiation. To include
each of the parts in the set-up can be adjusted using the the effects of aperture width on the theoretical energy
horizontal slider and the placed ruler. flux, the view factor was added to equation 1 as shown
below. The temperature gradient is also incorporated to
2.2 Data Gathering and Calculation of Required show the amount of heat transferred across the gradient.
Parameters
4 4
J ij =σ F ij (T source −T surroundings ) (2)
2.3.1 Data Gathering
where F12 refers to the view factor or the proportion of
For each part of the experiment, the temperature of the radiation that reaches surface j from surface i. The
black plate and the radiometer readings were recorded temperature of the surroundings during the experiment
based on the values shown on the set-up displays. was 299.15K. It is important to note that the
temperatures used in these formulae must be in the
To investigate the effect of varying source temperature, absolute scale. To calculate for the view factor the
the radiometer shield was placed first on the radiometer, equation below was used.
the voltage knob was then turned to ¼ of maximum and
the temperature and the radiometer readings were F ij=¿ ¿ (3)
recorded. These readings served as an offset for the
experiment. After that, the radiometer shield was
removed and a waiting time of five (5) minutes was
wi w
where, W i = and W j= j
allotted to stabilize the temperature reading. The L L
radiometer reading was recorded. The radiometer shield
was placed back, and the process was repeated for two The w in the equation refers to the width of the surfaces
more trials under the same voltage knob configuration. and the L refers to the distance between these two
The method was repeated for ½, ¾ and maximum surfaces. The equation was based from the view factor
voltage knob configuration. relations given by Incropera, et.al (2007) for parallel
plates with midlines connected by perpendicular. The
To investigate the effect of varying aperture width, the supporting figure is shown below.
voltage is first set to maximum. The temperature and
radiometer are then read, and the values are recorded as
 ChE 135 - Process Engineering Laboratory Formal Report

Temperature, ℃

Corrected Radiometer 5 13 32 34
Reading, W/m2

Using the data from table 1, the relationship of the

radiometer reading and the temperature source was
shown in figure 3 below.

Figure 2. Parallel plates with midlines connected by

perpendicular

For this case, the surfaces are the black plate and the gap
between the aperture plates. The width of the black plate
used was 12.7 cm. Once the view factors were
calculated per aperture width, a more accurate
theoretical energy flux can then be computed by
factoring the view factor in the Stefan-Boltzmann
equation. This theoretical value was then compared with
the actual radiometer readings. The actual radiometer
readings needed to corrected using the offset values
Figure 3. Radiometer Reading vs Temperature
obtained during the experiment.

As seen from Figure 3, the radiation emitted from the

3. Results and Discussion surface is proportional to the temperature of the radiator
as expected from the Stefan-Boltzmann equation. A 4th
3.1 Effect of varying heat source temperature degree polynomial curve was used to obtain the best-fit
equation. The experimental Stefan-Boltzmann constant
was 7.53 x 108 W/m2K4, with a deviation of 24.7% from
The effect of varying the heat source temperature was
the theoretical value. One possible source of error is that
first investigated in the experiment, table 1 shows the
at high enough temperature, heat transfer via convection
corrected radiometer reading at the varying heat source
may have changed the ambient temperature. In this
temperature.
calculation, it was assumed that the ambient temperature
was constant to be 26℃ throughout the duration of the
TABLE 1. CORRECTED RADIOMETER READING WITH experiment. For this experiment, it was also assumed
CORRESPONDING VOLTAGE SOURCE INPUT
that the ambient temperature is equal to the temperature
Trial 1 near the radiometer.

Black Plate 37 47 82 137

3.2 Effect of varying Aperture Width
Temperature, ℃

Corrected Radiometer 8 13 29 31 At the max temperature of the heat source, the width of
Reading, W/m2 the aperture was varied, and its effects were determined.
Table 2 shows the summary of the collected data from
Trial 2 the experiment.

Black Plate 40 67 108 164

TABLE 2. CORRECTED RADIOMETER READING WITH
Temperature, ℃ CORRESPONDING APERTURE GAP WIDTH

Aperture Black Plate Energy Flux Radiometer

Corrected Radiometer 5 16 32 65
Reading, W/m2 Width, Temperature, Theoretical, Readings,
mm ℃ W/m2 W/m2
Trial 3
0 165 0 7
Black Plate 41 68 112 167 10 166.3333333 39.57276031 22.66666667
 ChE 135 - Process Engineering Laboratory Formal Report

20 166 78.77920352 34 shielding effect because of their reflective nature. On the

other hand, materials such as Styrofoam allow more
30 165.3333333 117.1057177 48.33333333 radiation of energy thus a higher radiometer reading.
40 167.3333333 159.5157594 60.33333333
50 167.3333333 198.9363208 66.33333333 4. Conclusions & Recommendations

For the effect of varying source temperature, the

The theoretical flux and the actual radiometer readings
obtained experimental value of the Stefan-Boltzmann
were then plotted against the varying aperture width.
constant was 7.53 x 10 8 W/m2K4 with a percent error of
The trend can be seen in the graph below.
24.7% from that of the theoretical value. It was also
found out that increasing the aperture width resulted to
higher values for the view factor and the thermal
radiation measured. For the shielding, reflective
behaviour was observed for both aluminium foil and car
shade windshield cover, while radiation transmission
was observed for the Styrofoam. The possible sources of
error include unaccounted, simultaneously-occurring
heat transfer such as convection, attenuation of radiation
and effects of ambient environment such as extraneous
heat and light sources present in the experiment area. It
is recommended to conduct the experimental procedure
in a more controlled environment. to lessen the effect of
ambient conditions on the obtained data, additional
Figure 4. Theoretical and Actual Radiometer Reading vs window shades or covers may be installed in the
Aperture Width
experiment room. Also, the ambient temperature should
be controlled more precisely since the heat source can
As seen in the graph, at wider aperture widths the vary the ambient conditions.
radiometer reading is expected to increase since it
allows more of the radiation to pass through and reach
the radiometer. However, as seen in the graph, there is a 5. References
discrepancy between the theoretical and actual Branson, J. (2013, April 22). Black Body Radiation.
radiometer readings. This could be because black plate Retrieved May 6, 2019, from
used in the experiment may have lost its energy to the https://quantummechanics.ucsd.edu/ph130a/130_
surroundings through other ways such as convection. notes/node48.html
Also, the theoretical readings indicated in this graph
were computed without taking into account the
Incropera, F. P., DeWitt, D. P., Bergman, T. L., &
attenuation of radiation based on the inverse square law.
Lavine, A. S. (2007). Fundamentals of heat and
Radiation from a point source decreases in intensity
mass transfer(6th ed.). Hoboken, New Jersey:
proportional to the square of the distance where it is
John Wiley & Sons.
measured.
Infrared Processing and Analysis Center. (n.d.). How
TABLE 3. CORRECTED RADIOMETER READING WITH
CORRESPONDING SHIELDING MATERIAL
Does Heat Travel? Retrieved May 6, 2019, from
http://coolcosmos.ipac.caltech.edu/cosmic_classr
Shielding Material Corrected Radiometer oom/light_lessons/thermal/transfer.html
reading, W/m2

Styrofoam 11 University of Warwick. (2010, October 8). Stefan-

Boltzmann Law. Retrieved May 6, 2019, from
Aluminium foil 3.67 https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/sci/physics/intranet/pen
dulum/stefan/
Car insulator 6.67

From the results shown in Table 3, metallic materials Appendix: Sample calculations
such as aluminium foil and a car insulator have better
 ChE 135 - Process Engineering Laboratory Formal Report

Energy Flux Calculation:

J (W/m2) = σ(439.484-299.154) = 1661.207009

View Factor Calculation:

Width of Black Plate: 12.7 cm

Width of Aperture: 10 mm
L: 200 mm
Wi = 127/200 = 0.635
Wj = 10/200 = 0.05

F ij=¿ ¿

F ij=¿0.02382169116